CHAPTER 88

CHAPTER 88
Wednesday August 19th

‘Song and Splash’ with Althea today.

It took ages to get Katy into the car with her swim nappy, swimming costume, water wings, rubber ring, rubber duckies, baby goggles, snacks, nappies, wet wipes, stroller, rain cover, change of clothes, teething ring and warm jumper just in case.

When I parked at the sports club, the car cut out. It wouldn’t start again, but I was so late I ran into the club.

Then I found a text message from Althea:

Can’t get Wolfy out of the bedroom. He’s wrapped himself around the cot leg and won’t let go. Don’t want to upset his power centre by being too brutal. Sorry baby cakes. See you soon. Kisses!

Considered going home. But Katy looked so happy to be in the shiny, posh sports centre I thought – sod it, we’re here now.

Wore the new black-sequinned swimming costume Althea bought me yesterday.

Even before we got into the pool, Katy had eaten two sequins.

In the swimming pool, I noticed three more stuck to her face.

The teacher had a big smile, pigtails and a swimming costume with cupcakes all over it.

It must be nice to be happy all the time.

As soon as the singing started, Katy started splashing like a maniac, kicking her arms and legs around and getting water all over the other mums and kids.

By the end of the class, there were two metres of space around us.

As we were leaving, I noticed one of the mums looking at me. Then, as we all walked to the changing rooms, I realised who it was.

Clarissa Fielding.

God, I haven’t seen her in years.

Not since the school sports day, when she stopped being my best friend. I think because Mum turned up in a see-through purple vest. No one knew where to look when she ran the Mother’s Day race.

Clarissa looked great, actually.

Even with soaking wet hair, you could tell she had lovely caramel highlights.

I tried to catch her eye in the changing room, but she just gave me an embarrassed, ‘I don’t know you. Okay?’

After I’d changed, I went to the Sports Centre café and phoned Dad. He must have been in the beer cellar, because the call went through to answer machine.

As I was trying to get a tea from the vending machine, Alex Dalton walked past.

By the way he was swinging his racquet I guessed he’d just pummelled an opponent.

He was wearing black shorts and a T-shirt like a sporty hit man.

Alex noticed me, frowned and said, ‘Juliette. You’re not a member here.’

I said I was just here for ‘Sing and Splash’.

Alex said, ‘Katy has a sequin on her cheek.’

And then out of nowhere Clarissa appeared at my side. She did the whole, ‘Juliette!’ (Big fake pretend laugh.) ‘It is you, is it? I wasn’t sure …’

She kept glancing at Alex and smiling.

There was a beautiful blonde baby on Clarissa’s hip in a spotless dress and white frilly socks.

I said, ‘This must be your little one?’

Clarissa said yes. Then she looked at Katy and said, ‘And she must be yours.’

Katy gave a big half-tooth grin, snot running out of her nose, wet hair plastered to her little head. She tried to grab Clarissa’s scarf.

Clarissa took a step back.

I said, ‘She likes to grab things. I should train her to go for jewellery. She could make a fortune.’

Clarissa, still with half an eye on Alex, told me about all the things she’d been up to. The sailing club socials and how her husband had just reached ‘the next level’ in his banking job.

She asked me where Nick was, and I told her we’d split up.

She said, ‘Oh.’ But it was three syllables long. ‘Oh-hh-hh.’ Then she added, ‘You weren’t married then? Before you had Katy …’

I said that we’d nearly got married. But we’d fallen at the last hurdle, i.e. saying ‘I do’ in the church.

Clarissa said, ‘Oh wait. My God. It wasn’t you … … who was stood up at the village church?’

I said, ‘I wasn’t stood up. I was the one who left.’

Clarissa gave me a pitying smile. ‘Ohdear. Very sad. Especially for Katy. That you couldn’t make a go of it …’

I felt myself nodding. Then, out of nowhere, I started crying.

Alex’s black eyes went all serious. He snapped at Clarissa, ‘Do you make a habit of upsetting people?’

Clarissa said I was obviously having ‘an emotional day’. She rummaged in her Ollie and Nic handbag and thrust a business card at Alex, saying, ‘Jonathan and I have been meaning to catch up since the Granger thing.Dogive us a call.’

Alex didn’t take the card. Instead he turned his back on Clarissa and asked me how I was getting home.

I said my car had broken down so I’d probably end up catching the bus.

Alex frowned at my stroller, laden down with water wings and soggy swimming towels.

He said, ‘You’re not taking the bus. I’ll drive you back.’

I told him that Katy needed a car seat.

He said, ‘We can take the car seat from your broken-down car.’

And then the stupid tears came again, and I couldn’t talk anymore.

When we got to Alex’s MG, he had a bit of trouble folding up the stroller. He kept kicking at the folding mechanism like he was trying to start a motorbike. But he managed it eventually.

Then he took Katy from me and put her in the child seat, testing all the straps to make sure they were secure.

He even blew raspberries at Katy and made her smile.

‘You’re just like Jemima,’ he said. ‘When she was a baby. Utterly adorable.’

The car seat looked a bit weird in Alex’s sports car. If the MG could have talked, it would have said, ‘This indignity must never be spoken of’.

I ended up in the front seat.

I was such a mess that Alex had to reach over and do my seatbelt for me.

I sniffed, ‘I really don’t mind getting the bus.’

Alex said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous. You have a baby with you.’

I said, ‘They do let babies on buses.’

He said, ‘Still. Public transport with children …’

I said, ‘Some people have to take the bus. Not everyone can inherit a hotel chain.’

Alex said, ‘I didn’t inherit a penny. The Dalton hotel chain wasn’t left to me – I had to fight for it. I was never given any money by my family. Everything I own, I earned myself.’

I said, ‘Including this flashy car?’ Trying to make a joke, sort of.

Alex said, ‘It isn’t flashy. It’s elegant.’

I said, ‘But a vintage MG sends a message though, doesn’t it? You know – that you’ve done well in life.’

He said, ‘I don’t drive an MG to show off how much money I have. I drive it so people know I’m Alex Dalton. Not Harold Dalton. My father hates this car.’

I said, ‘Why?’

Alex said, ‘Because Mr Dalton Senior owns car manufacturing plants in China, India … all over the world. He could have given me any number of brand new cars for free. Yet I bought British. And just to rub it in, vintage British.’

As we got nearer the village, Alex said, ‘Just so you know, I think Nicholas Spencer is an idiot.’

I said, ‘Why?’

He said, ‘Because he let you get to the church without marrying you. Zach told me about the wedding.’

I said, ‘Don’t you have more interesting topics of conversation, like the New York stock market or the best marble for your hotel floors?’

Alex said, ‘He thought I’d want to know.’

I said what a big mess everything was. Katy not living with her dad.

‘From what I heard, she never had much of a dad anyway,’ Alex said. ‘You can do much better than Nick Spencer.’

I said that I didn’t want to do better. I wanted Katy to have two parents.

He said, ‘Would you take him back?’

I said, ‘If he did some really serious apologising. Maybe.’

Alex said, ‘The man’s a car crash. Don’t throw your life away.’

I asked Alex what made him an expert on relationships with us commoners.

And he said, ‘Commoners? You think that’s a word I’d use?’

I said yes.

He said, ‘Just because I drive an expensive vintage car doesn’t mean I look down on people.’

I said, ‘You do though. Don’t you?’

He said, ‘Only men like Nicholas Spencer. And that’s because of who he is. Not where he comes from.’

I said, ‘What about people who use public transport?’

He said, ‘I don’t look down on them. You have me wrong there.’

We were a few roads from the Oakley Arms and I said, ‘Just here will be fine. We can walk from here.’ Like I was talking to a taxi driver.

Alex said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll drop you outside your mum and dad’s pub. You’re staying there, aren’t you?’

I asked him how he knew that.

He shrugged and said, ‘I noticed.’

When we pulled up outside my parent’s pub, I caught myself wondering what Alex must think of the place.

To most people, our house is quite big. Posh, really. Well – big and flashy. Lots of bedrooms. Tudor beams. Great big garage and garden.

But to Alex it must look a bit tasteless. What with the big neon sign that says ‘Bob and Shirl’s Place’. And all the gnomes in the garden.

Alex helped me with the stroller and baby swimming stuff.

Then he took Katy out of the car while I got the stroller ready.

I thought Katy would cry when he took her, but she didn’t.

Alex held her against his chest and stroked her downy little head.

Katy gave him an unexpected gummy half-tooth smile – something she hardly ever does for strangers.

I was a bit worried that Mum might come running out in her see-through dressing gown and offer to help unload. But luckily she didn’t.

Alex lowered Katy into the pram and strapped her in.

He stood for a moment, watching her. Then he said, ‘She’s a beautiful baby. Goodbye Juliette. Take care.’

And then he was gone.