It had been another week of sleeping at Megan’s until my furniture arrived, and I’d bought all the necessary items. My first night in my new home felt a little bit like I was closing one book and starting a new one. My decree nisi had arrived a week earlier meaning I only had five weeks of marriage left to James. By the end of October, I’d be rid of him but I was numb when I thought about it. My phone buzzed, breaking my thoughts.
My new class really want to help your charity. They saw the posters my old class designed, and to be honest, there are some right of horrors in my new class and anything positive they want to do I’m going with. They want to run a mile but would love ‘that pretty lady’ to come and visit them. Basically, they all idolise Skye and she’s still nattering about you. Would you like to come and run/walk a mile? A x
I smiled at my phone. It was wonderful that I’d had such an impact on the children, and getting them involved in fundraising was fantastic. It wouldn’t hurt to see Andrew again either – see him, his beautiful eyes, and those biceps. Eye candy was all I could hope for at that stage in my pregnancy.
That’s why I found myself clad in Lycra leggings, leading a group of kids around the field in the freezing cold a few weeks later in late September – and loving it. Andrew ran beside me, keeping pace, which must have been excruciating since I was mostly just power-walking (waddling?). The kids had a great time, and one hundred and twenty-eight pounds was raised for the Springwell Hospice, which I knew they’d be grateful for.
After the children had gone home, I helped Andrew and some other members of staff pack away cones and things that we’d got out for the event. ‘I’ve never seen them so keen!’ he said. ‘I spent the whole of last year dreading having that class, and with a little something to focus on, they’re not too bad!’ He smiled ruefully. ‘We are only a month in, though.’
‘You’re a great teacher. They really idolise you,’ I said, recalling how they wouldn’t leave him alone and how they all wanted to run next to Mr Watts.
He batted away my comment. ‘I’m the only male teacher in the school. It makes me more unique, and believe me, that novelty has worn off.’
‘You’re very modest!’
He smiled. ‘You did amazingly well today. I really admired how you ran all that way.’ He stretched out a hand to brush a hair away from my eye, which I hadn’t noticed was there. My skin tingled where his hand made contact, and I looked down at my trainers to avoid meeting his eyes. There was too much energy in such close proximity.
‘Ran!’ I laughed, cutting through it. ‘You’re very sweet but that wasn’t running – I’m too big. Just you wait until I’ve had the baby. I’ll show you real running,’ I said when I eventually composed myself.
‘You’re on.’ He grinned, and a little butterfly danced in my chest. Finding reasons to see Andrew again and succeeding felt strangely triumphant.
He drove me home. Since I’d walked to his school and the run had tired me out I was happy to accept – tiredness seemed to be a by-product of pregnancy.
‘It’s a pretty house you have,’ he said, pulling up at the end of the gravel driveway. He turned to me. ‘I’ve got you a present.’
‘A present?’ I was surprised.
He produced a packet of salt and vinegar crisps from his glove box. ‘I thought you might have worked up quite a craving running around like that.’
I laughed as I took the packet. It was a far cry from the gifts James used to give me, but somehow so much more benevolent. ‘Well thank you, it’s very thoughtful of you.’ I couldn’t believe he’d remembered. ‘Goodbye, Andrew.’ I sat facing him with my hand on the door handle but I couldn’t motivate myself to pull it.
‘Bye, Charlotte,’ he replied, and we sat for a moment, eyes locked. My stomach fluttered and at first, I mistook it for those inner teenaged-girl feelings I always had whenever I was around Andrew, until it happened again. I clasped my hand to my mouth.
‘The baby just kicked.’ I gasped.
‘What, just now? Are you sure?’ Andrew said. I nodded, smiling widely as tears brimmed in my eyes.
‘It’s the first time she’s done that.’ I’d felt flutters before but they were never strong enough to know for sure. I put my hand to my stomach and felt her again. My chest swelled with love and instinctively I grabbed Andrew’s hand. ‘Feel.’
We sat for a few moments, waiting. All I could feel was the heat from his hand and I prayed she’d kick again.
She did.
‘Oh my God,’ he said, smiling.
I let out a small laugh. ‘It must have been all that running.’
‘Or the excitement of salt and vinegar crisps,’ he replied.
‘Well, you can’t underestimate salt and vinegar crisps,’ I joked.
I was about to be brave and invite Andrew in for a coffee when a familiar gold car pulled up across the road. ‘Oh, no,’ I groaned.
‘Unwanted visitor? You could always borrow my holiday snaps if you want to bore them away,’ Andrew said, keeping the mood light.
I giggled. ‘Thanks, but I’d need something more along the lines of holy water and burning sage to keep this one at bay.’
Concern flashed across his face. ‘I can come in if you like?’
‘Oh no, don’t worry. It’s the ex-mother-in-law.’ He gave a knowing look. ‘Thank you for the lift. I had a great time.’
‘Me too,’ he replied.
I forced myself to get out of the car, but the tingly feeling in my tummy stayed with me until it was scared off along with all small creatures and children in the vicinity.
‘Hello, Frances, what a pleasant surprise,’ I trilled, as she got out of her car and approached me when I was pushing my key into the door.
‘Can I just have a moment of your time, Charlotte, please? This won’t take long.’ Her face was worn and crumpled like it was straight off my ironing pile. She wasn’t herself.
I gestured for her to come in and she entered after me, taking in the room as she did before clearing her throat. ‘Well, this is . . . delightful.’ She forced a terse smile.
She hated it. I folded my arms protectively across my stomach in case somehow she could see the baby kick and want in on the private moment I’d just shared with Andrew.
‘I’ll cut to the chase. That little flyer you sent . . .’ I furrowed my brow – it was supposedly anonymous. Miraculously, she picked up on my expression and changed tack. ‘I received a flyer anyway. In an unmarked envelope. It was like a promotional flier for Emsworth, Haiden & Haiden Law but it had been tampered with.’ She paused to read my expression again but I held the confused eyebrow furrow like I was a feature in Madame Tussauds. It was strange because just beneath the surface, within my muscle tissue, was humour just itching to break out. I caught my reflection in the stainless steel splashback. Confusion was holding up well. She drew a breath, obviously dissatisfied that I appeared to know nothing about it. ‘I know what James did to you, Charlotte, and I wanted to say, I’m sorry.’
My words caught in my throat. I wasn’t expecting an apology – a tirade of abuse or one hundred and one reasons to go back to her precious son perhaps but not an apology. It threw me a little. ‘Oh.’
‘I didn’t have him marked as the sort who’d have an affair and quite frankly I’m furious with him.’ She shook her head. ‘So you weren’t aware of any leaflet?’ I probably should have just come clean but I couldn’t be bothered with a lecture about decorum.
‘No, but to be fair, of all those office women there was bound to be one with a grudge.’ I think I sounded convincing.
‘I suppose so, and any one of the office staff could have sent it. I’ve always been on the company Christmas card list after the initial investment I put in to help them get started.’ I’d forgotten she’d helped set the practice up. ‘Anyway, the fact is, I don’t blame you for leaving him and I wanted you to know I’d like to help you out.’
She reached into her handbag and pulled out an envelope, which she placed on the kitchen counter. ‘I know that James wasn’t just deceiving you, he also betrayed the trust of his business partners and the fact I supported him financially when he went into business with the Haiden brothers makes me all the more cross at what he did. Ambition I love, but greed I despise. That’s a little something for you and the baby and don’t offend me by trying to give it back. James has lost everything and won’t be supporting you for a while and that’s entirely his fault. I’d kept this aside for him but he can sort himself out.’ She clenched her jaw. ‘I would have come sooner but I’ve had a lot to sort out thanks to James. Anyway, I wanted you to know I’m happy to help you out with her if you need me to and this is just a start.’ She tapped a well-manicured fingernail on the envelope.
I softened to her a little. My parents were gallivanting; James’s father was dead. She was the only grandparent available and for all her faults she was trying. ‘Thank you, Frances, I’m sure I’ll need all the help I can get.’ She smiled a proper smile – it was her ‘James is wonderful’ smile and I’d received the baton.
‘I appreciate it, Charlotte. I know we haven’t been close and perhaps I’m to blame.’ Perhaps? ‘But James has proven me wrong about himself and you seem to be trying your best. That’s something I respect.’
She declined the offer of a coffee and left a short while after. I took the envelope and sat on the sofa gorging myself on crisps. It was a cheque, no note or anything, just a cheque, for a sizeable sum – enough to live off for a couple of years probably, or enough to do something meaningful with. Kate’s determination to set up a business had motivated me. I was sure there was some kind of business that would suit me, I just didn’t know what.
I’d already spent time planning and plotting my future, trying to establish where my skills were, and the money would certainly help. I’d contemplated going back to accountancy work but I’d never really enjoyed it all that much and wanted to do something more creative. My real strengths were knowing what looked good and organising people and things. I almost baulked when Megan suggested it but the idea of being a wedding planner grew on me over the course of a few days. I liked clothes and accessories, I had an eye for interiors, and I wasn’t afraid of telling people what to do – and despite everything, I was still a believer in marriage.
With Kate’s help for promotion, I’d put together some literature advertising my services as the best wedding planner in Cheshire. Despite being a little bit (a lot) pregnant, I felt up to the job and my father always said ‘there’s no time like the present’ so I had to just get out there. If you counted my own, I had a one hundred per cent track record of planning amazing weddings. I offered no guarantees that the marriage would last though – that was down to the bride and groom.