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end up in Ian's hands. He could already be in possession of it! she
realized with alarm. And if all that wasn't enough, Emma had
69
disappeared with no way of contacting her. Claire was appalled, not least
because the spider at the centre of this vile tangled web, was Ian.
70
9
Happy Christmas, Emma
"Here's to a great Christmas, and a happy and prosperous New Year
for everyone," said Simone, raising a glass of wine with Pete and Emma.
Rosie, boosted up to the table on cushions, raised her glass of
blackcurrant.
"Let's hope," said Pete, offering his seventh toast, "that fool of a
manager never thinks of selling Thomas Jacobsen, our glorious new
striker and the best thing ever to arrive at St. Andrews."
They drank to that too.
"How about you Emma, another toast?" he asked.
"I've already done four, Pete, on the first bottle. Or was it the second?
I'm a bit too squiffy. Anyway, I think Simone said it all in the last one.
About a great Christmas and New Year. Happy, healthy, prosperous, the
71
new parent and toddler group in the community centre and Birmingham
City's ... I dunno... goalkeeper or whatever he is."
Emma was spending Christmas Day afternoon with Pete, his partner
Simone and their beautiful mixed race daughter, Rosie. Simone loved the
dangly earrings Emma gave her, and Rosie her drawing materials,
particularly the bottles of coloured glitter and the pink, fluorescent paper.
She got Pete a quality dictionary so that he might spend more time at
home in future.
Emma had a surprising amount of fun playing with Rosie and Rosie's
Christmas presents. She drew cartoon characters for Rosie to finish in
primary colours with lashings of magical sparkle. Emma had never
thought much about children, considering them something like timeshare
apartments or varicose veins. They were things that other people had.
Still, she was very much charmed by Pete's little girl.
"Did you send a card to Trish?" Pete asked, his sleepy daughter
curled up on his lap.
"Yes I did, and I got one back. It came Friday," Emma replied.
"Did she have much to say?"
"A fair amount, she sent a bit of a letter with it. You were right about
her being with Gavin nowadays, but that aside, she seemed quite human
and friendly. She has invited me over to visit."
"Will you go?"
"Oh, yes. In the New Year, when I've found a new job. I'm curious to
see what she has been doing for the last ten months. Not what she's been
doing with Gavin, I can imagine that only too well, but if Trish can be
friendly, I guess I can be too."
Emma looked about her. She and was happy, enfolded into the heart
of Pete's family, four floors above any passers by. Pete seemed
contented, stifling a yawn and adjusting Rosie's weight on his arm. Emma
picked up her glass, accepting another refill from Simone. As she drank
her wine, she hoped for an end to her unsettled existence, silently
wishing for a life with a girl of her own.
"Well, Emma," said Pete later, "it's down to you and me now. Do you
want to wash or wipe?"
"I'll wash."
"We've got to sober up and get this place sorted out. The Campbells
are coming."
72
"Gosh, are they?" asked Emma.
"They are," replied Simone, returning from stacking Christmas
presents in Rosie's bedroom, "but only a cross section of them."
"Mrs C?" ventured Emma.
"Certainly. She'll want to see all her grandchildren on Christmas Day.
Plus she never misses an opportunity to chide Pete over his church
going."
Emma took her position at the sink, shoulder to elbow with Pete.
They sniggered and plotted, convinced that Simone had generated a
ludicrous amount of washing up to punish them for their conspicuous
absence during the preparation of the festive meal.
"What's this?" asked Pete.
"A turkey baster."
"Didn't know we had anything like that."
He filled it with greasy washing up water, then threatened to shoot her
with it. Emma snapped the damp tea towel painfully across his calves.
They laboured through the mound of dirty pots and pans.
Returning to the living room, they found that Simone had been busy,
putting away the table and having a general tidy up. After a quick dash
round with the Hoover, the three adults perched nervously on the sofa to
await the imminent arrival of Simone's family. They didn't have long to
wait.
The intercom sounded. Rosie scrambled on to a chair to press the
door release. Moments later Simone's sister and three brothers appeared
at the door, preceded by the indomitable Mrs Campbell, herself preceded
by her awe inspiring bosom. Emma exchanged greetings and handshakes
with each of the brothers, then with Beatrice, the youngest of the
Campbell siblings. Mrs Campbell signalled that Emma should kiss her.
Wading heroically through acres of bosom, she planted a kiss on the
matriarch's cheek. Mrs Campbell took off her pastel green hat then sat
squarely in the middle of the sofa. Everyone else sat wherever they could
find space. Simone leapt up to put on the kettle for tea, suddenly
presiding over a teetotal household. Pete dropped a sweater innocently
over the bottle of wine Emma had brought to the meal. All eyes turned [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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