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14
Julie had not only turned up on time for Abigail today to collect her from school; she’d given their daughter a wonderful end to the week. Gus tried to ignore the fact Julie had given Abigail what looked like a pricey pair of earrings she’d bought on a trip to Milan, telling her to keep them safe and that she could wear them when she eventually got her ears pierced.
Julie had come into the house briefly when she dropped Abigail home at the time they’d agreed. And when Abigail went to have a shower, Julie asked Gus if they could talk.
He showed her into the kitchen and closed the door while she made small talk, asking him about business.
‘It’s going well?’ she smiled, clearly nervous, the way she was wringing her hands.
‘I had a steady flow of patients today.’ He’d go with it, although he wondered what bombshell she was going to drop. ‘News of the practice is already getting around, thanks to local word of mouth from Barney.’
‘People trust him?’
‘He’s a local favourite, yes.’ He checked his watch. ‘Julie, what’s going on? We’re off out soon.’
‘I know.’ She fiddled with the pendant on her necklace as they sat at the table. ‘Abigail told me.’ It was another moment before she thanked him for letting her collect Abigail from school today.
‘No need to thank me, she’s our daughter. And she looked really happy when she got home.’
Her eyes glazed over. ‘I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but having Abigail was never one of them.’ She pulled herself together enough to tell him, ‘I blamed myself so much for what happened because it was my fault, but our daughter, our beautiful girl, sat there today with an ice-cream cone in her hand and told me she forgives me.’ Her voice broke.
Gus found a tissue from the box beside the fridge. ‘She said that?’
‘It was as though she was talking about ice-cream, not scars she will have to live with forever.’
He clasped his hands together on the table in front of him. ‘As much as you think I’ve tried to take Abigail away or that I blame you for what happened, she and I have never had a conversation along those lines, I swear to you. We’ve never really talked about what happened, all our focus goes on moving forwards. In the early days, she’d cry, she’d get angry at the scars, but she never once got angry at you.’
‘She didn’t?’
‘She sees it as an accident – which it was,’ he added, because he knew that. An accident was by definition something unintentional and Julie would never hurt Abigail on purpose.
Julie took a deep breath. ‘I think she knows about the tension between you and me, and this is her way to try to help.’
‘That makes me feel terrible.’
She let out a little laugh. ‘A child sorting out the parents, not right, is it?’
‘It’s not.’
‘I’m sorry for all the times I didn’t turn up. Sometimes my excuses were real, sometimes I made something up because the guilt was swallowing me whole.’
‘I saw your pain and, contrary to belief, I didn’t like it.’
‘I’m sorry for the way things worked out,’ Julie sniffed.
‘All that matters is that the three of us move forwards. Abigail, me, you.’
She nodded. ‘I’m getting there.’
‘Good.’
When they heard the water in the bathroom stop, Julie smoothed down her top and stood. ‘Right, I’ll leave you both to it. I just wanted to catch you before you went out. I’ll be in touch in a few days to arrange when I can next see Abigail.’
‘Thanks for telling me what Abigail said to you. I appreciate it.’ He followed her along the corridor. ‘And about the beach house—’
‘Gus, it’s fine, let’s keep our meet-ups here in the village until you’re more comfortable.’ She’d reached the front door and faced him as she stood on the front step.
‘This isn’t about me,’ said Gus. ‘It’s about Abigail.’
