Miracle on Regent Street (55 page)

‘So how did you get involved?’ I ask defensively, still concerned by the unexplained pictures of Will with another woman. If he thinks he’s getting out of it that easily, he
can think again.

‘We all sat down with him that last Sunday afternoon and told him he had to end it, that if he didn’t we’d tell you girls. He begged us not to, said it would destroy you all.
But he didn’t say he’d stop. He said that every man had a mistress and that we were fools to think that we’d go through a marriage without one. He said that we’d be
responsible for tearing the family apart if we said anything.’ Will is struggling to hide the disgust from his voice.

I glance at Mum, but she is still staring into the distance.

‘So when reasoning with him didn’t work, Jonah, Noah and I decided to take matters into our own hands. We took the woman’s name and number from Charles’s phone and I sent
a text arranging to meet her. I said I was a friend of Charles and that I had a business proposition for her. We thought that if we offered to pay her to stop seeing your dad that would be the end
of it, Charles would realize we were serious and he’d stop his mid-life crisis nonsense before it destroyed his whole family.’

Will looks down at his mug and shakes his head before reaching across to stroke Delilah’s hands. Suddenly I realize what the pictures were that Delilah’s private investigator took:
Will trying to pay off Dad’s secret lover.

‘I just didn’t realize that it would come so close to destroying mine. I’m sorry, Grace,’ he adds. ‘I shouldn’t have got involved. I was just trying to
protect you all . . .’

I cover my mouth with my hand. It’s so wrong. Not Dad. They were supposed to be the perfect couple. The ones who made it. Thirty-five years of devotion from Mum and he does this?

‘Will went down to Norfolk last night looking for Dad,’ Delilah adds. ‘That’s where he was. He wanted to tell him himself that his mistress had accepted the pay-off and
the affair was over. But Dad wasn’t there.’

Mum smiles wanly. ‘No, and now I know why. She must have gone straight back to the flat after taking your money, Will.’ She sobs and muffles it with her handkerchief, not wanting to
lose control in front of us. Her quiet strength makes my heart hurt.

Will nods solemnly. ‘When I turned up at your house and realized that Grace was alone and Charles was in London I thought that might be the case. I had to pretend to Grace that I had come
on business. I didn’t want her to know what had happened. I foolishly hoped I could make it all go away. But I just made things worse.’

I see Delilah squeeze his hand and Will looks at her with such tenderness it makes me want to cry even more.

‘Where did you go after you left the house?’ Mum asks Will. ‘It was too late to get a train back . . .’

‘I stayed in a hotel next to the train station and went straight into work from there this morning. I left early today so I could come and see Delilah and explain everything. I had no idea
what she thought . . . what you all . . . well. I’ve never been unfaithful to your daughter, Grace. Never have, never will.’

Mum looks at Delilah and Will. ‘You’re a good man and a good son-in-law, Will. Delilah is lucky to have you. I hope she knows that.’

Delilah bows her head and grips Will’s hand even more tightly.

‘The truth is I’ve suspected Charles has been having an affair for some time. I just haven’t had the courage to confront him,’ Mum says quietly. ‘Ignorance is
bliss, I guess. And then when Evie told me about Will . . .’

I look at Will apologetically and he nods his head as if to say, ‘It’s all right.’

‘. . . it just made me realize what any sane woman should do if they found out their husband was cheating on them. Of course, I didn’t know for sure that he was, so I felt safe in
the knowledge that I mightn’t actually have to do anything at all. And then . . .’ She pauses, draws breath and continues bravely. ‘Then I walked into the flat. And they were
there. Together. In bed.’ She dabs her lips with her handkerchief and puts it carefully down on the table, flattening it with her hand. She pauses and dabs her eyes again. ‘I’ve
been such a fool.’

I throw my arms around her and shake my head defiantly. ‘No you haven’t, Mum. You couldn’t have known, no one could. God, I hate him for this!’

‘Don’t say that,’ Mum says dully. ‘He’s still your father.’

I scoff and Delilah shoots me a warning look to say, ‘Not now.’

‘So what are you going to do, Mum?’ she asks. ‘You can stay here if you like – for as long as you want, right, Will?’

‘Of course,’ he nods, and I feel such relief that Will wasn’t the villain in all of this after all. I don’t mind admitting that I’ve got him wrong. I’ve got a
lot of people wrong recently. Maybe Mum was right: maybe I was jealous of him coming between me and Delilah.

‘That’s very kind of you but there’s no need,’ Mum says calmly. The initial shock has passed and she seems to be growing stronger and more assured in front of my eyes.
Then again, maybe it’s just the effect of the large brandy Will has poured for her. ‘I’ve already taken your father’s keys to the flat and after I’d kicked him . . .
and
her
. . . out I had the lock changed by a locksmith. I’ve already decided I’m going to move permanently to London. I hate being stuck so far away from you all. It was never
my choice to live in Norfolk, and I don’t want to go back to the house on my own.’ She pauses. ‘Not now.’

‘Oh, Mum,’ Delilah cries, standing up and running around the table. ‘I’m so proud of you. You know we’ll all do anything we can to help, won’t we?’

I nod and cling on to Delilah and Mum.

Will stands up too. ‘I’ll go and see to the children.’ He hovers for a moment, then comes over and kisses Mum and Delilah on their foreheads and squeezes my arm. ‘You
Taylor women are pretty incredible; I’ve always thought so,’ he says, and walks out the room, which sets us all off into a fresh bout of tears.

‘He’s a good man, Delilah,’ Mum says, patting her hand. ‘Do you promise me that you’ll get some counselling and work out your problems together?’

Delilah nods and buries her face in Mum’s shoulder, and I stroke her hair.

‘I don’t deserve him,’ comes Delilah’s muffled voice.

‘Yes you do,’ Mum says sternly, pulling her face up and looking intently at us both. ‘Girls, listen to me, I may have made mistakes in my marriage – no,’ she holds
up her hand to stop us from protesting, ‘I have, trust me, I
know
I have. Just promise me one thing?’

We nod, still gripping on to her tightly.

‘I want you to promise that you’ll never change who you are for a man.’

Suddenly I find it hard to look my mum in the eye, but she is gazing wistfully out of the window anyway.

‘I had my own life and a career before I met Charles, but I gave it all up for him. I changed who I was to fit in with the image of a wife and mother that he had, and in the process I lost
myself. I always thought I’d have a career
and
kids but . . .’ She strokes a strand of hair from her face and gathers herself, smiling back at us lovingly.’ Of course, I
ended up with my four wonderful children so I don’t regret it. I just don’t want either of you girls to make the same mistakes. Know who you are and believe in yourself fully, because
no matter who you share it with, this is your life and you only have one chance. Now,’ she says, cupping our faces and kissing each of us on the cheeks, ‘I’d like to see my
gorgeous grandchildren.’

Delilah nods and lifts herself off Mum’s shoulder, and I stand up.

‘You know,’ I say, ‘I think I’m going to go for a walk, if that’s OK?’

Suddenly I feel like I have an awful lot to think about.

I
walk up the hill slowly. It’s dark and the paths are slippery with the glistening evening frost that has already settled. The cold and
surprisingly strong wind is whipping my hair into a tail spin and I feel as if I might just take off. I stop for a moment, swaying on my feet and look back down the hill at the rows of perfect
houses that surround it and that are emitting a warm saffron glow. Suddenly they appear to be more like bleak statues than homes. It’s like I can suddenly see through the outward perfection
to what is underneath and it isn’t as attractive as I’ve always thought.

I plunge my hands deep into my pockets and continue the climb. Despite the shocking bombshell about my father, everything suddenly feels clearer somehow and I am left, not with the cotton wool
of confusion I’ve had about my life for the last few weeks, but just with my mum’s words whirling about in my head as if blown by the wind.
Promise me you’ll never change who
you are for a man.

Her words circle around again and again as I climb, making me rewind the past three weeks of my life since I met Joel. What have I done apart from completely change for him? I turned myself into
someone I thought he wanted and, in the process, became someone I didn’t like any more. Self-obsessed, vain, impatient, I stopped listening to the people I really cared about because I became
so focused on changing
my
life. Oh, I wrapped it up in a pretty parcel, convincing myself that I was helping others by changing Hardy’s and making it a better place to work for
everyone and saving their jobs in the process. But if I’m honest, it wasn’t exactly an entirely selfless act. After all, I was doing what I’ve always dreamed of: being on the shop
floor, being creative, making a difference. And in doing so I neglected my family. And all because of a man.

The wind whistles in my ears as I trudge further up the hill. It seems to be calling me. ‘
Ev-ie Ev-ie,
’ it moans as if reminding me who I am again. Not Carly and not Sarah.
Poor Mum, if only she’d realized just what she was worth before she married Dad. Perhaps then she could have had her own identity
and
a happy marriage. As it is she’s spent the
last thirty-five-odd years fading into obscurity behind the childrearing, cooking, baking, crafting and homemaking.

‘
Ev-ie Ev-iee .
. .’

Suddenly I realize that it isn’t the wind calling my name, but a figure standing at the top of the hill, waving at me. I squint and quicken my pace, breathless with exertion and cold as I
reach the top, unable to believe that the person I most need to see is right here. I bend over to catch my breath, then stand up.

‘Sam!’ I exclaim, taking in his watering eyes and wind-ruffled hair. ‘Fancy seeing you here again.’

‘I thought you’d never hear me,’ Sam smiles. ‘You looked completely lost in thought.’

‘I was,’ I reply gazing down at the twinkling lights of London across the horizon. ‘It’s been a crazy day.’ I plunge my frostbitten fingers deep into my duffel coat
and bite my bottom lip, then begin to talk, the words falling out of my mouth. ‘I thought my sister had taken an overdose because her husband was cheating on her.’ Sam’s jaw drops
in alarm and I hurriedly add, ‘It’s OK, she hadn’t and he wasn’t.’ I take another deep breath. ‘But then we found out my dad has been cheating on my mum. God
knows how long for.’

Sam doesn’t say anything. He just puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me close. I turn and nestle into the warmth of his body, thankful for his support. He feels so steady, safe,
reliable, like nothing bad could ever happen when I’m around him. I look up and see him staring down at me with a worried expression.

‘Do you want to talk about it?’ he murmurs softly.

‘Do you know what? I don’t think I do,’ I say, wiping away a stray tear. ‘I actually want to forget all about it.’ I look up at him and a crazy, reckless thought
suddenly occurs to me. ‘Have you got any idea how?’ I tilt my lips up towards his. I don’t know what has come over me, but suddenly all I want is to feel the warmth of Sam’s
mouth on mine and for him to take me away from the last few hours of my life. I know he has the power to do that, I can feel it. I don’t know why I’ve never noticed it before.

But he turns his face away and I am overcome with embarrassment. I’m an idiot. I’ve turned him down once already, I still haven’t sorted out everything with Joel and I’ve
just told him about my messed-up family. Ella’s probably following behind him and will appear over the hill at any second.