The next day, after returning from a meeting in London, Camilla went straight to her mother’s house. There were things she needed to ask Jackie and they couldn’t wait. Even over lunch with one of her most important clients, she’d found herself drifting back to her discussion with her father when he’d told her that he had tried to stay in contact with his daughters. Had he been telling the truth?

She let herself into Jackie’s and called out, as she always did, to let her mother know she was there. It was five-thirty and the house was dark, which wasn’t that unusual as Jackie often worked on if she was needed, or if she got chatting to one of the people she cleaned for, but she usually left the lamp in the lounge on a timer.

She walked through the downstairs and there was no sign of life, so she went to the bottom of the stairs.

“Mum? Are you home?”

She heard a bang and someone swearing then a door upstairs creaked open.

“Camilla? Is that you?”

“Yes, Mum. Were you in bed? Aren’t you well?”

Jackie appeared at the top of the stairs, tying her dressing gown belt. Camilla flicked the switch on the landing light and stared up at her mother who was shielding her eyes in the brightness.

“God, Mum, what’s wrong? Is it the flu? You look terrible.”

She slipped off her coat then hurried up the stairs.

“Come here.”

She wrapped her arm around her mother’s shoulders then led her towards her bedroom.

“You get right back into bed and I’ll go and find some paracetamol and make you a cup of tea. Actually, I’ll go to the shop and get you some juice if there’s none here. You look like you need some PENIS!”

In the doorway to Jackie’s bedroom stood Laurence.

Wearing nothing except for an expression of horror on his face.

“Flipping heck, Dad, put it away!”

Camilla closed her eyes to prevent herself seeing the part of her father that she had never, ever wanted to see.

“Camilla!” her mother squeaked. “I’m so sorry, love. You weren’t meant to find out like this.”

“Is it safe to open my eyes?”

“Yes, love.”

Laurence stumbled out of the doorway, now clutching a towel around his middle.

“Camilla. Hello, sweetheart.”

Camilla gasped as she realised what was going on.

“I’m so slow!” She smacked her forehead. “You two are… oh… oh no!”

She released her mother and rushed back across the landing then down the stairs. In the hallway, she froze, not quite sure what to do next. She wanted to run out of the door and never come back, but that wouldn’t be very mature. Even as a teenager, she wouldn’t have done that. So, instead, she did the grown-up thing and went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

When the kettle had boiled, she poured water onto the tea bags she’d put in the pot, then gently swirled it to allow it to brew. There was always comfort to be found in familiar actions and right now she needed comfort. After she’d splashed milk into the mugs, she poured the tea in then dropped three sugar cubes into her own mug. She didn’t usually take sugar in her tea, but she was in shock and wasn’t that what they recommended on TV when someone had experienced a trauma?

She carried the mugs to the table in the dining room and sat down. The garden beyond the window was inky black so all she could see was her own white face. She got up and pulled the curtains then sat back down and sipped her tea, wincing as it scalded the tip of her tongue.

“Camilla.” Jackie entered the room, now dressed in jeans and a jumper, closely followed by Laurence who wore jeans and a t-shirt with a picture of a waterslide on it and The Biggest in Benidorm beneath it in neon writing. How inappropriate in light of what she’d just seen, crossed Camilla’s mind.

They pulled out chairs and sat down stiffly, as if it was a formal meeting.

“Are you all right?” Jackie eyed her daughter

Camilla stared at her parents with their flushed cheeks and shiny eyes.

“Yes, I’m fine. A bit… surprised, I suppose, but you’re both adults so I guess what you get up to is your own affair. Only… it’s bit… strange isn’t it?”

Jackie and Laurence looked at each other then back at Camilla.

“Why strange, love?” Jackie asked as she cradled her mug. Camilla noticed that she’d had her nails painted. Her mother rarely bothered with getting a manicure or pedicure, rarely ever had her hair cut at the salon, claiming that there was no need as who was going to look at her anyway.

“Well you two… Dad’s been gone twenty-five years and as soon as he returns, you jump into bed with him?”

“We didn’t mean for it to happen. It just did.” Jackie reached over and took hold of Laurence’s hand where it rested on the table.

“Sex doesn’t just happen, Mum. It takes effort.”

Jackie’s cheeks flushed a darker shade of red and Laurence lifted her hand and kissed it.

“Camilla,” he took a deep breath, “I have feelings for your mother. And I think she does for me.”

“How can you know that? You’ve been back for five minutes, Dad. If there’s anything between you, it’s nostalgia, surely?”

Camilla crossed her arms. Didn’t these two realise that they were behaving like irresponsible teenagers?

“Look love, we know we’re hardly Romeo and Juliet here, but even at our age, we still have sex… romantic feelings.”

Camilla wrinkled her nose.

“Don’t pull that face, Camilla.” Jackie frowned. “It’s like you think sex after forty is gross or something.”

“It’s not that!” Camilla slammed her hand on the table. “I know people can have sex all their lives and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. What’s wrong here is that Dad left us a long time ago. You were broken. You told me and Dawn, time after time after time that he was a bad man. In fact, you told us that all men were bad and that they couldn’t be trusted. You fell apart after he left and we had to pick up the pieces. It was heartbreaking.” Her voice trembled at the memory. “But you did get better… well, you never let it go entirely, but you got on with life. And now… he’s here for three days and you’re in bed with him?”

Jackie nodded. “After your dad left, I was ill. I did fall apart. And I am so sorry that you had to take care of yourself and Dawn. You took care of me too, I know. I should have been stronger but I loved this man and he broke my heart. But…” Jackie glanced at her ex husband. “It was, as you keep saying, a long time ago and seeing him again made me realise that I’m over it.”

“You are?”

“Yes, Camilla. But I also realised that I am still very fond of him and that I fancy him like mad. I haven’t… you know… had any lovers since he left.”

“Mum!”

“And it was nice to just let things take their natural course. We had a drink at the pub at lunchtime then came back here and well…” Jackie giggled.

“Camilla, I know it’s a bit of a shock but all I can ask of you is that you give us some time.”

“Time for what, Dad?”

“To see where this goes.”

“But you were just basically dumped by your much younger wife. How do you know this isn’t a rebound thing?”

Laurence shook his head. “This isn’t. If anything, every relationship I had after your mother was my way of trying to replace her. I never felt I was good enough for her and that one day she might leave me for someone better. I was trying to prove my worth, I guess. And in Benidorm, nothing seemed as real as it does back here in Heatherlea.”

“Your father told me all about his… other two wives and what happened there, Camilla, so you don’t need to worry. He’s not hiding anything.”

“And what about you?”

“What?”

“Well, Dad didn’t tell me exactly but I gathered from what he said that you hid things from us after he left.”

Jackie looked at Laurence and he nodded.

“You mean the cards and letters he sent?”

“And the fact that he phoned. We might not even have wanted to speak to him or to read the cards and letters but the option would have been nice. He left you but he still tried to keep in contact with Dawn and me and you let us believe he didn’t want to know us.”

Jackie covered her mouth and her eyes glistened.

“Your mum was upset, love. She was very angry at and she had every right to be—”

“It’s okay, Laurence. Camilla’s right. It was wrong of me and I’m sorry. I just wanted you to hate him for leaving us. That was so, so wrong of me.” She shook her head.

“Camilla, everyone makes mistakes, some of us more than others. But I’m back now and I’m not running away again. Please give me a chance. Your mother wants to.”

Jackie got up and stood next to Laurence then wrapped her arms around him. “I’m not letting you go again.”

“Okay…” Camilla released a shaky breath. “Okay. A lot to take in but I get it. At least I want to get it. I can’t say it won’t be strange having my parents together but you are capable of making up your own minds. Just don’t… hurt each other again. And think about Dawnie, won’t you? Don’t throw this information at her, please, just take it easy and try to handle it sensitively. She’s pregnant and… and vulnerable at the best of times. And as for the children, your grandchildren, think of them too.”

“Of course we will, love. Our lips are sealed and as far as they know, your father’s just staying here over Christmas until he gets something else sorted. We weren’t going to tell you for a while anyway.”

“Then you caught us in flagrante!” Laurence shook his head. “Apologies for that too.”

“I’m scarred for life now, Dad.” Camilla flashed him a smile to try to diffuse some of the tension in the dining room, even though she didn’t really feel like smiling.

“Do you want to stay for dinner, love?” Jackie asked.

“No thanks, Mum. It’s Tuesday.”

Laurence frowned. “What happens on Tuesdays?”

“Camilla, Dawn and their friend Honey all go to The Cosy Cottage Café where the owner Allie makes them food and they put the world to rights.”

“Ahhh. It’s good to have friends.”

Camilla nodded. She drained her tea then stood up.

“Right you two. Be careful and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” She grimaced. “I meant… just be careful.”

She hugged her mother then her father and they walked her to the door, still holding hands.

“See you in the week, but don’t worry, I’ll ring first. I don’t want to see Act two of Fifty Shades Over Fifty.”

She smiled then marched down the path and out into the street. When she was out of sight, she allowed the smile to slip from her face and she slowed her pace. She’d just caught her parents up to goodness knows what and she wasn’t sure that either one of them was thinking about how this could go wrong. And it could go very, very wrong indeed. Her mother had been broken when her father left and Camilla couldn’t bear to see that happen again. Yet Laurence had told her that he was back for good and that he had feelings for Jackie, so all Camilla could do was hope for the best. She couldn’t exactly ban them from seeing each other or make them sleep in separate bedrooms.

Besides, she’d never seen her mother look so young or so happy. Laurence clearly had the ability to make Jackie feel alive and however long that lasted, surely it was a good thing? Although, of course, she preferred not to think that any of it had to do with sex. Who could stand the thought that their parents were doing it?

Nope. She would hope that Laurence was making her mum smile again and that he would continue to do so. There was nothing wrong with hoping now, was there?