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‘Wait, what?’ said Jess, as the three women looked at her in wide-eyed horror. ‘Graham’s there?’
‘Yeah,’ said Hannah. ‘Well, he was. He turned up on Friday with my mum. And my brother.’
‘Holy shit!’ squealed Gaynor. ‘What the fuck happened?’
‘That’s why I’m currently alone in the mountains,’ Hannah said. ‘It all got a bit much. I haven’t told you about seeing my dad yet.’
Trish squinted in confusion. ‘Your dad? Wait, I didn’t even know you had a dad.’
Hannah shrugged. ‘Yeah. It’s a long story.’
Jess laughed. ‘Mate, we only left you, what, nine days ago? And now both your parents are in Spain, and your brother, and your ex-husband. And you still haven’t told us about what happened with Rob.’
‘You forgot my brother’s boyfriend,’ said Hannah.
‘Fuck, this has gone fullEastEnders,’ said Gaynor. ‘Isn’t your brother about twelve?’
‘He’s eighteen,’ laughed Hannah, already feeling the tension in her shoulders start to ease. She should have called these guys days ago.
‘Hang on, did you say Rob’s parents were there too?’ asked Trish.
Hannah nodded and rolled her eyes. ‘They turned up a couple of hours before my family. We had no idea any of them were coming, so the whole thing was . . . a lot.’
‘Jesus Christ,’ muttered Jess.
‘He’s yet to make an appearance, but it’s still early days.’ Hannah rubbed her eyes with her left hand, realising what an absolute circus her life was right now. She was exhausted, but even saying this stuff out loud made her feel infinitely better.
‘So what do they all want?’ asked Gaynor, popping the tab on a can of Diet Coke on her desk and slurping it down.
‘Lots of things,’ said Hannah with a sigh. ‘It’s complicated. But before this all kicked off Rob and I were in an OK place, and now we’re not.’
‘An OK, horizontal place?’ asked Gaynor, complete with eyebrow theatre.
‘No,’ said Hannah. ‘Just a good place. We were working things through, deciding if we wanted to take the plunge.’
‘I can’t believe you spent a whole week with Rob and there was no plunging,’ said Gaynor. ‘Trish would have been like “plunge me now” within the first hour.’
‘I would NOT,’ said Trish, outraged. She was quiet for a moment, then smiled. ‘Yeah, OK. Maybe I would.’
‘Han, forgive me for being blunt,’ interrupted Jess. ‘But if you two spent a whole week together and still couldn’t decide you were a thing, is it possible it’s just not meant to be a thing?’
Hannah nodded sadly. ‘I know. You’re right, but I’m finding it really hard to let go. Because, you know, for a minute there I thought maybe it was going to work out.’
‘Tell me about it,’ muttered Trish. ‘It’s all fucking golden until they say “it’s just not what I’m looking for right now” or some other bullshit.’ The words felt like salt being rubbed into the open wound of Hannah’s heart, and she had to blink frantically to stop herself crying. She hardly ever cried, but right now she felt like a leaky tap. What was wrong with her?
‘So what are you going to do now?’ asked Jess.
‘I don’t know,’ Hannah said. ‘Mark’s given Rob his old job back, so he’ll be staying in Spain for the rest of the season. I couldn’t handle all the family drama so I’ve run away.’
‘Don’t blame you,’ said Jess. ‘Sometimes you need a bit of space. Like, when Tim is working away I sometimes book a babysitter for a couple of hours, then just go and sit in the car at the McDonald’s drive-thru and eat a bacon double cheeseburger while I watchReal Housewiveson my phone.’
‘You’re fucking joking,’ laughed Gaynor.
‘Nope,’ said Jess. ‘Did it last week while he was at a conference in Birmingham.’
Hannah cleared her throat. ‘Guys, I need your help. What should I do?’
Gaynor shook her head. ‘Mate, you can’t stay in Spain for ever, wandering the mountains like a fucking goat. It’s not safe on your own, for a start.’ Jess and Trish both nodded in agreement, their expressions full of concern. ‘You either need to go back to Club Colina and sort stuff out with Rob, or come home.’
