Chapter Forty-Two

Cross-country skiing was harder work than Lisa imagined. When Nathan had suggested it, she thought it sounded more romantic than joining everybody else queuing up at the local ski station and hitting the busy pistes. As they had breakfasted with her parents and Luke, she had thought a touch of ski de fond, on the undulating, groomed trails across the local parks and into the woods, sounded dreamy. As she face planted into the snow for what felt like the tenth time as she attempted to negotiate a small hill, she decided it was turning into something more akin to a nightmare. Under normal circumstances she was a competent skier, but switching her skis for ones that seemed twice as long and half as wide made the task of staying upright more difficult than she imagined possible.

A group out for what looked like a fun family outing passed by, all gliding without difficulty and saying ‘Bonjour’, as they floated by on their skis, waving and smiling at her predicament. Lisa tried to respond, and maintain some decorum despite the fact she had rolled over and was sitting on her bottom in the snow. Inside, she was desperate for them to pass and sure the heat in her cheeks, from the exertion and the embarrassment, might actually start melting the snow if they didn’t hurry along. When the last, a boy of about nine making ski de fond look like a casual walk in the park, had passed by, Nathan swung round in front of her. He offered his hand.

‘Come on, we’ll go across the park; it’s flatter there.’

‘I can ski,’ Lisa protested. ‘I just seem to be terrible at this.’

‘Next time we’ll get you classics instead of skate skis.’

Lisa smiled at the thought of there being a next time, as Nathan helped her stand and find her balance.

‘How come you make it look so easy?’

‘Hmm, well, I’ve had lessons; this is one of those sports that’s harder than people think, you have to learn the technique.’

‘And now you decide to mention that!’

Nathan laughed. ‘Come on you’re doing well.’

Lisa swiped her gloved hand over her head in an attempt to keep her hair out of her face while she got going again. She had started off wearing her woolly hat and a buff; she really wanted to take off her gloves and jacket, but knew Nathan would insist on carrying them for her and she didn’t want to add to his load. Not when he was already carrying a backpack that contained both of their water bottles, her woolly hat and buff, as well as a map, torch and whistle she had mocked him for. About to push off, Lisa heard her phone buzz. ‘Ah ha, saved!’ She took out her phone, and saw three missed calls from Felicity and a message. She felt the colour drain from her cheeks. Oh, please let everything be OK.

‘Lisa, what is it?’

‘Hold on, I don’t know yet. Flick has tried to call me.’

‘The signal dips in and out here; she’ll be wanting to share her news.’ Nathan smiled.

Pulling off her gloves Lisa pressed to read Flick’s message:

I’ve tried calling, but it’s going straight to voicemail. What should be such a happy day has gone so horribly wrong. I can’t believe it. Call me.

‘Oh no,’ Lisa felt the breath leave her, ‘it’s not good. Something bad. I need to call her.’

‘What?’

‘This bloody phone has lost its signal again. Nathan, I need to call her.’

‘But she can’t be upset. She should be happy, really happy!’

Lisa felt her feet slip from under her again and landed in the snow. ‘Please help me get out of these bloody skis and tell me what is going on. Felicity is clearly upset.’ With that she read Felicity’s text out loud.

‘Well, it must be the submarine trip. I told him it might be a step too far, but still, I think she’s overreacting.’

Lisa glared incredulous. ‘Nathan, please don’t make stupid jokes now. I’m really worried. Can we just go so I can call Flick?’

‘Of course, but it wasn’t a joke.’

‘Not a joke? Oh my God, Pete hasn’t joined the navy or something, has he?’

‘The navy? No.’

‘Then what?’

As they started striding back to the car, skis in hand Lisa was grateful for the fact Nathan had decided if Felicity now knew what it was Pete was hiding, then he wouldn’t be breaking his word by letting her in on the secret too. Lisa attempted to summarise the situation, still trying to process what she had heard.

‘So, Pete has worked all those hours at the bar to save up to take Felicity to Barbados.’

‘Yes, a long overdue honeymoon, I think he said.’

‘And that was his only reason for working at the bar and all that overtime?’

‘I guess … I don’t know him that well.’

‘And the waitress?’

‘What waitress?’

‘The one there the night I saw you, she seemed a bit … a bit over friendly with him … and you too, now I come to think of it.’

‘Katie? She’s the owner’s wife. I think she and Pete go back years, and, as for me, we put out a fire in the kitchen last year. She’s grateful, that’s all.’

‘Oh!’

Nathan stopped walking. ‘I do believe you were jealous there for a minute.’

Lisa trudged on, sticking to the edge of the piste, the rough snow helping her keep her balance. ‘No. Just curious.’ She felt her cheeks flush.

‘Jealous.’ Nathan laughed, running to catch her up.

‘No more than you seeing me with Dom,’ she retorted. She had explained that she and Dom were just friends, and, while at no point Nathan’s interest in their relationship felt like the kind of jealousy she had experienced with Ben, the fact that seeing them together had inspired his trip to France meant he could hardly argue.

‘Ha, touché!’

Having won the point, she returned to establishing what Pete had planned for Felicity. ‘And they’re leaving the day before New Year’s Eve, for a week?’

‘Apparently.’

‘And, along with wildlife and beach excursions, he has booked an Atlantis submarine excursion?’

‘Yes, that’s the brochure I saw. I said I’d travelled a bit so we had a chat about it, before he knew that I knew you, obviously.’

‘OK.’

‘And I said to him that maybe a two-hour submarine trip, going over forty metres below the sea might not be for everyone. I guess he didn’t listen.’

‘I don’t think that can be it. Can it?’

‘Whatever it is, if Flick needs you, if you need to get back, I can drive you, OK?’

Lisa looked at Nathan, warmth spreading through her, and wondered why she had ever let him go.

Not wanting to risk a dodgy signal, Lisa waited until they were back in the chalet before calling Felicity, and her heart sank at the sound of her friend sobbing at the other end of the phone. Lisa told her to take a breath and to start at the beginning. She listened, while Felicity told her how wonderful Pete was and about their trip to Barbados. Despite the fact she already knew, Lisa found she didn’t need to force a reaction, she felt genuinely happy for them. Barbados would be Felicity’s idea of heaven and Lisa knew the two of them loved their children to bits, but needed some time for themselves. As Felicity continued Lisa could hear the strain of holding back tears in her voice.

‘And Pete’s mum was going to have the children. That’s why he wanted to tell me while she was here. She wanted to help. He said she had offered when he mentioned it. I couldn’t believe it, I’m not sure Pete could either. But then … then …’

‘What? What happened?’

‘She fell down our bloody stairs. Trod on some Lego and lost her balance.’

‘Oh no! Is she all right?’

‘No, that’s the thing.’ Felicity sniffed.

‘Oh, Flick, what’s happened?’

‘Pete’s at the hospital with her now; she’s broken her ankle. Just like that, on our stairs. How bloody unlucky is that?’

‘That’s terrible.’

‘I know, so now we are going to have to cancel.’

Lisa didn’t like to say she meant it was terrible for Pete’s mum, not when Felicity had had the holiday of a lifetime whipped out from under her before she had even felt the sand on her feet. ‘But isn’t there anyone else?’

‘No. Pete’s sister will have to look after his mum and Melissa’s away with friends until just after New Year. She said once she’s home it’s no problem to have them until we’re back. It’s the worst timing ever. We can’t change the flights and we can’t leave the children home alone for three days until Melissa returns. We’re buggered. What a bloody disaster.’

‘Oh, Flick.’ Lisa took a deep breath in as a sudden realisation hit her. ‘What about me? I could do it.’ Her words sounded more confident than she felt, but it made sense. It’s just covering until Melissa gets back. You can do it! Lisa was supposed to be away and so knew she had no clients booked in, and while she would be sad to leave her parents earlier than expected it would be with the knowledge that they were all due to meet up again at Easter, when her parents would be flying home for a few months. It seemed a logical – if not entirely sensible given her childcare credentials – solution.

The line went silent. Lisa stared at the phone, wondering if the signal had gone. Finally she heard Felicity breathe. ‘Flick? Are you OK?’

‘That’s … I mean, really? Are you sure? Aren’t you in France until next week?’

‘Nathan said he could drive me. If you need me, Flick, I’ll be there.’ The words felt good to say. She had absolutely no idea how to look after four children, but her friend needed her and she was determined to do her best not to let her down.

Felicity burst into new tears, her sobs loud in Lisa’s ear.

‘Flick, it will be OK. I can do it.’ Perhaps if I say it enough …

‘It’s not that, I know you can.’

Lisa couldn’t help but think Flick’s confidence was perhaps misplaced, but she didn’t want to quash her optimism if it meant she would get on the plane and have her holiday. ‘Then what?’

‘I’m so pleased you’re back. I’ve missed you, Lisa. I forgot what it felt like to have you covering my back in a crisis.’

Lisa felt a tear run down her face.