The First Mistake(82)
If she wasn’t out of breath from blowing up the balloons, and didn’t have twenty party bags still to fill, she’d go to the door herself. But as per usual, she’d thought she still had plenty of time, only realizing there was less than half an hour to go when Olivia danced into her bedroom in her Elsa dress.
‘Shit,’ she says out loud. ‘Nathan, can you get the lemonade in from the garage and find somewhere to hang the pi?ata?’
‘I’m on it.’
‘Grandma’s here!’ squeals Olivia from the hall.
Alice instantly feels calmer now that backup has arrived. ‘In the kitchen, Mum,’ she calls out.
Screaming kids whizz back past her, followed by Linda, who raises her eyebrows as if to say, Are you mad?
‘I know, I know,’ Alice says. ‘It just seemed like a good idea at the time.’
‘Right, where do you want me to start?’ asks Linda, in her typical no-nonsense way.
‘Mummy, can we do the pi?ata?’ Olivia calls out from the conservatory.
‘No, not just yet Livvy, you’ve still got one or two friends who aren’t here. Mum, can you just put the sausage rolls in the oven?’ Alice asks Linda, feeling her fringe sticking to her forehead. ‘And a few bowls of crisps out on the table? It’ll give them something to nibble on.’
‘Hi Linda,’ says Nathan as he comes in from the adjoining room, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. ‘You okay?’
Alice watches her mum smile and make all the right noises, but it seems forced. As if she’s dealing with a bothersome cold caller who she’d like to tell to sod off, but feels obliged to continue listening to, at least until they’d got to the end of their script. Does she feel ‘obliged’ when speaking to Nathan? Alice wonders. Has it always been that way?
‘I’m good,’ she says. ‘What’s going on with you?’ But she’s already turned her back on him to put a baking tray into the oven.
‘We’re completing on Japan tomorrow,’ he says, going up behind Alice and wrapping his arms around her. ‘You should be very proud of your daughter. She’s going to be an international property tycoon.’
Linda laughs, but Alice is sure there’s a bitterness to it. ‘I’m always proud of my daughter, Nathan. So it’s all going ahead then?’ She directs the question at Alice.
‘Mmm, four o’clock tomorrow. I can’t decide if I feel sick with fear or excitement.’
‘It’s a big commitment,’ says Linda. ‘It’s a lot on your shoulders.’
‘I’ll be right there beside her,’ says Nathan.
Alice shrugs him off and a tense silence hangs in the air, only broken when Olivia bursts in from the conservatory, crying.
‘Look what Phoebe did to me,’ she wails, holding her arm out.
Alice throws Nathan a look that says, If that bitch of a girl has made my daughter cry at her own birthday party, I’m going to kill her.
He glares back at her, silently saying, Okay, calm down. I’ve got this.
‘Look, there. She scratched me. Ow,’ cries Olivia, though no real tears are yet to materialize. Alice gives her arm a rub and a magic kiss.
‘Okay girls, can we please be kind to each other,’ says Nathan, going through to the conservatory and ushering the sea of blue polyester floating and spinning in front of him out into the garden. ‘If you carry on twirling, Phoebe, you’re going to make yourself sick.’
Alice hopes she might, though not on the polished wood floor.
‘Is that the little girl you think’s bullying Olivia?’ asks Linda, as the two girls link pinkies and vow to be friends again.
Alice rolls her eyes. ‘I honestly don’t know what’s going on. One minute they’re at each other’s throats and the next they’re making up again. I didn’t realize I’d told you.’
‘You didn’t,’ says Linda. ‘I was talking to Beth when you were away.’
Alice’s stomach lurches at the sound of her name, knowing that she’s going to be here any minute.
‘Well, believe it or not, it’s now being suggested that it’s actually Livvy that’s being mean,’ says Alice.
Linda folds her arms and takes a territorial stance, like a mother hen ruffling her feathers, ready for battle. Alice can’t help but laugh. ‘She might not be the angel you think she is.’
‘Absolute rubbish,’ says Linda. ‘And I’ll take on anyone who says otherwise.’
The doorbell rings and Alice immediately feels breathless. ‘Mum, would you mind?’ she says, tilting her head towards the front door.
Despite Beth insisting that she has to get off, Alice can hear her mum insisting, even louder, that she must come in. Her heart drops and she knocks back the biggest mouthful of wine that she can manage when she hears Millie coming down the hall saying, ‘Just come in for a bit, Mummy, and then you can go.’
‘Hi,’ says Beth, looking as if she’s quite literally on the back foot.
‘Hello,’ says Alice tightly.
With the people that matter to her all in one place, the magnitude of the secret they share weighs heavy on her shoulders. She’s not ready for it to be revealed, here and now, and shoots Beth a warning look, which if her old friend knows her at all, she’ll take notice of.