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It was weird, how your own brain could actually convince itself of something no matter how ridiculous. At some point in the future, she had to confront Joe and to have even considered otherwise had been ludicrous. That was epic fail number two.
Coming to France was just ridiculous, her logic totally flawed, based on stupid fantasies and tales of the bloody unexpected. And now she was in no-man’s land, stuck between Ace and Joe, holding a grenade and when she took out the pin, La Babinais was going to explode. She was never going to be able to walk away, not from Ace, nor walk with him without telling the truth. And now, when she could see all of this and knew that she would have to put on her big girl pants, there were other huge, life-changing issues getting in the way.
Jenny hadn’t helped matters either because it was far easier to be pissed off with her than like her, which against Edie’s better judgement, she did. The logical explanation was that the vibes Jenny had been giving off when she arrived were due to jet lag and stress, or maybe when the news broke and they were all sitting in the lounge, watching Joe’s world implode, Jenny realised the enemy was at the doors in Notting Hill, not sitting across the way on the sofa. Edie wasn’t the bad guy, not in the true sense of the word anyway.
That was why when Ace had stormed from the room, and Jenny suggested she went to see her son ‘if that’s okay with you, honey’ Edie was happy to let her go. It was one of those intuitive moments, like Jenny was scrubbing away the line in the sand and saying, let’s start again.
Ever since, Edie could tell that Jenny was making the effort, including her in conversations and asking for her opinion, as though she was edging one step closer all the time. She’d even taken to shortening her name to Ede. Shortened names were, Ace said, Jenny’s favoured term of endearment. There was so much going on that she hadn’t overanalysed Jenny’s motive or questioned her own willingness to accept the hand of friendship. Things were messed up enough without Edie being arsey and to use one of her gran’s favourite expressions, belligerent, so rather than be wary of Jenny she was giving it a go.
Placing the present and card on the bed, Edie was about to zip up her case when the urge to touch base with home overwhelmed her. She missed her gran a lot.
Taking out the grey hoodie that lay inside she rested it on her knee, unfolding it carefully to reveal the contents. Placing her hands on the scrapbooks, and her most prized possession, a tatty dog-eared book, Edie closed her eyes and soaked up the energy she imagined was held within them. Around her the storm raged but inside she did feel peace, only for a moment though because then a gust hit, rattling the windows, and a draught caused her bedroom door to creak open an inch, and the connection was broken. With a deep sigh, Edie wrapped everything up in the hoodie and placed it back inside her case and after zipping it up and fastening the paisley belt, she slid it back under the bed. Taking Ace’s things, she stood, grimacing when her stiff legs complained loudly and once they’d come back to life, she flicked off the light switch, leaving the room shrouded in grey morning light and the storm outside to do its worse.
The celebrations began at breakfast while Joe and Gus were still in bed. Jenny had overruled Ace and thrown him an impromptu celebration. She had also turned up the crazy dial and was obviously in the mood for a party, slicing one of the not very secret birthday cakes that Nanou had baked the day before, the aroma wafting through the house and up the stairs for hours.
Jenny had been up since the crack of dawn and after raiding one of the garages used for storage and dragging out an old box of decorations, had tied balloons and old bunting everywhere. She was currently wearing tinsel in her hair and had glittery Christmas baubles dangling from her ears. When they entered the kitchen to calls of ‘surprise’, Ace shook his head and laughed, which made Edie think he’d expected as much.
Edie actually admired Jenny’s ballsy ability to turn things in on themselves and get her own way, commonly known as playing the guilty conscience card and as she listened to her pitch, took notes, and learned from a master. ‘Ace, honey. If you think for one second that I am letting the day my greatest, most wonderful creation arrived in this world pass by without celebration you are sadly mistaken. And, I do expect some amount of adulation for the thirty-one hours of labour I endured to get you here.’ Jenny was drinking champagne and turned to Edie as she poured her a glass.
‘Ede, baby, you should have been there. I was stuck in the Nevada desert, Indiana Springs to be precise, holed up on a free reservation when sonny Jim decided to make an early appearance. I was living in a bone-shaker RV, the air con had given up the ghost and the only person around to deliver my baby was a retired cattle farmer.’
Edie was fascinated, already picturing a hot dusty desert scene, and having to give birth in a dingy, muggy motorhome. ‘So, you didn’t have any pain relief?’
Jenny’s eyes were wide. ‘Hell no. All I had was water from a bottle, and this,’ she tapped her temple, ‘mind over matter, and a rancher with hands like spades who yanked my boy right out and smacked his skinny ass. I can still remember walking like a cowgirl days after, and my baby’s first breath and the sound of his newborn squawk as he lay on my breast, covered in slime and steaming like a hot potato – which is why today, I’m going to drink champagne and eat eggs and bacon for breakfast. Not water and fried afterbirth like I did on this day twenty-four years ago.’
At the same time as Edie forced herself not to retch, across the table Lance dropped his spoon into his cereal bowl and shoved it away in disgust. Jenny simply smirked and raised a toast to her boy.
Those gathered had obeyed and whether it was insensitive or not, by the third glass, everyone seemed to have chilled slightly. When Joe and Gus finally roused themselves and wandered in, both seemed taken aback because for the first time in days they hadn’t entered a room smothered in gloom. And as Jenny poured them both a glass, Edie secretly applauded her, and it was nothing to do with being slightly tipsy at 10am.
It was because it was true, what Nanou had said, Jenny might just be a ‘happy angel who comes to stay and makes everyone smile because she is kind and sees good in everyone’. As she watched the family and took another sip, she wondered also, if Jenny’s benevolent spirit saw good in Edie too.
