The Ugly Stepsister (15 page)

Ellie walked down the corridor to her mum’s hospital room. Tom waited out the front to give them a lift home. She was later then she’d planned to be, but she’d wanted to do the grocery shopping first. Knowing what the first weekend her mum had been in hospital had been like she’d left the door unlocked so it didn’t get busted open when the party had arrived. And it had arrived. Sunday afternoon had been spent doing the usual clean up. It also meant the bit of food she’d left behind had been eaten.

Ellie froze in the doorway of her mum’s room. She quickly stepped into the room when Heather turned towards her. She wanted to demand what she was doing here, but didn’t think that was the best tactic.

“Hello, Heather. I didn’t imagine I’d see you here today.”

“I’m sure you didn’t, Elizabeth.”

She barely managed to stop herself from demanding that Heather stop calling her that name. Only three people did. Her father, Pamela and Scott.

“I’ve been stuck with her for over an hour. You’d think she’d have more important things to do than hang out here with me,” Sharon muttered.

Ellie smiled. “That was nice of you to keep Mum company while she waited for me.”

“I know you’re not an imbecile, Elizabeth. And since I’m not either, you can drop the games. You’ve managed to avoid me for the past fortnight which is quite an accomplishment.”

Ellie shook her head and let her mouth fall open slightly while a frown marred her forehead. “I think you’re giving me more credit than I deserve. I’m sorry you’ve felt like I’ve been avoiding you. It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me and of course I wasn’t feeling well Thursday and Friday so I spent the weekend catching up on all I would have normally done those days.”

“I tried to tell her you’d have no reason to avoid her.” Sharon got to her feet with the help of the crutches beside her.

Ellie was instantly at her mum’s side. “You need any help, Mum?”

“Just grab my bag.” Sharon headed for the doorway.

“You will understand I have some concerns about your living arrangements after the way you’ve avoided me the past fortnight. And what I have heard from your stepmother leaves me with even more concerns.” Heather walked beside Ellie down the corridor.

“You’re welcome to come and check them out if you want. We live in an average house in an average neighbourhood. We’re shocking gardeners but we couldn’t find a house with a fake lawn. Don’t you think that’d be much easier to look after? Although I’m not quite sure how you’d look after it. Maybe you’d vacuum it once a week. And as for Pamela, well her and Mum have never gotten along.” Ellie pressed the button for the elevator.

“You’re willing for me to drop in now,” Heather said.

Ellie shrugged. “If you want. I’m never home on weekends, but any weekday I’m usually about. I like to get all my homework and assignments out of the way during the week so I can spend the weekends with my friends. That’s the deal, isn’t it Mum?”

“Schooling’s important.” Sharon entered the elevator when the doors opened.

Ellie pressed the button for the ground floor. “So, are you coming over? I’ve got homemade vanilla slice made fresh this morning before I went to school.” Ellie knew Sam wouldn’t mind her taking credit for his cooking. “And a lasagne ready to pop in the oven.”

“Homemade as well I suppose,” Heather said dryly.

Ellie nodded. “Of course. You’re welcome to stay for dinner. It’s quite a large lasagne.” Mainly because Sam wanted to make sure they had something decent to eat for at least a couple of days.

“This I have got to see,” Heather said. “I’ve been told by several people that you can’t cook.”

Ellie shrugged. “Some people are better at teaching than others.” She smiled. “We’ll meet you over there.” Ellie stepped out of the elevator and waited for her mum to exit. “You remember where we live, don’t you?” She barely managed to keep the sarcasm from her voice.

“I’ve been there enough times I could find it in my sleep.”

“I’m sorry you’ve wasted so much time trying to catch up with me. I was staying with friends.”

“So you said.”

Ellie saw Tom’s car and almost shouted with relief. “There’s our ride. I’ll see you soon.” She held the back door open for Sharon and waited for her to hop in. She smiled before she got in the car herself. “I’m glad we finally caught up.” Ellie held her smile in place until they’d driven away.

“What was that all about?” Tom asked.

“Bloody interfering government worker. You were brilliant, Ellie. Although I don’t know how you’re going to come up with all those things you said before she arrives.” Sharon shook her head. “You didn’t have to go overboard. She mightn’t have bothered coming if you hadn’t been so obvious.”

Ellie grinned. “But we do have all those things.”

“Not bloody likely. I don’t even know if the oven works.”

“Yep. It does.”

Sharon stared at her for a moment. “What’s been going on while I’ve been stuck in that place? Who taught you how to cook those things?”

“No one. But she’s not going to know who cooked them. It’s not like they’ve been signed by the artist.”

Sharon chuckled. “I don’t think there’s a single ounce of your father in you, Ellie. Which is good. A more boring man I couldn’t imagine. I still have no idea how I ended up married to him for so long.”

Ellie turned to Tom who still looked confused. “Heather’s meeting us at our place. Can you unlock my bedroom door and throw the padlock in the top drawer of my duchess? And there’s a coffee table in Mum’s room that’ll need a quick wipe over and two large cushions in my room that can be put in the dining room. We can say we like to eat oriental style or something. And put the lasagne in the oven and make coffee.”

“Still plotting and planning, Ellie?” Tom took the keys she gave him, dropping them on his lap before he returned his hand to the steering wheel.

“Always. I’ll try and stall her as long as possible. Oh, and I’m not sure if I made Mum’s bed.”

“Sounds like I’ll be doing all the work. What’ll you be doing while I’m slaving away?”

“Barricading the front door for as long as possible. Good thing we bought groceries before we picked Mum up. Oh, and can you take the groceries out of the wardrobe in my room? I don’t know what she’s likely to poke her nose into.”

Tom pulled up in front of the house. “No problems, Lisbeth.”

Ellie grinned. “Oh I don’t know. Lizzie maybe. I don’t think I’d say Lisbeth quite yet.” She hopped out of the car and walked around to help Sharon out.

“I’m guessing that’s a private joke,” Sharon said.

Ellie nodded. “Yep.”

Sharon watched as Tom went ahead of them to open up the house. “You really like that boy, don’t you?”

Ellie nodded. “Yeah.”

“Other than Lauren I’ve never met any of your friends. Why’s that, Ellie?”

Ellie shrugged. “I don’t have many close friends.”

Sharon looked at her a moment longer before she started up the path to the front door. Ellie stood by the car for a minute, watching her mum. What was she meant to say? That she was worried what her friends might see? That she didn’t want to risk bringing someone home to find her mum completely and utterly drunk and passed out in the kitchen. It was bad enough Lauren had seen. She didn’t think many other people would be as understanding.

Ellie hurried inside and settled Sharon on the sofa. She put her mum’s bag in her bedroom and quickly made the bed while she was in there. Then she returned to Sharon.

“Get me a drink, Ellie?”

“Once Heather’s gone.”

“Drinking isn’t a crime,” Sharon snapped.

“Yeah, but we don’t want to give her any excuses to return, do we?” Ellie turned towards Tom who was bringing the pillows out of her room. “How are you doing for time?”

“Ten minutes would be good.”

Ellie nodded. “I’m guessing that’s her pulling up now. I’ll see how long I can stall her.” Ellie hurried outside and met Heather at the front gate. She gestured towards the yard and smiled wryly. “I did tell you we aren’t much for gardening. I really can’t see why some people are so into it.”

“I live in an apartment.” Heather shrugged. “I wouldn’t have the time to look after a garden either.”

No, because you’re too busy interfering in other people’s lives. Ellie kept her smile in place and her expression neutral. “It took us ages to find this place. Everywhere else we looked had huge yards. I know that’s what most people looking for a house want, but we just didn’t want to be in our neighbours’ pockets.”

“Are we going to stand out the front all afternoon? We’re rapidly losing light,” Heather said.

“Of course. Sorry. Terrible manners. I guess I’m just so happy to have Mum home that I’m not thinking right.” She leaned in close and lowered her voice. “I’d never tell my friends this because it’s really uncool, but I missed Mum. We’re close. But I guess that’s to be expected since it’s only the two of us.”

“You aren’t trying to stall me, are you?”

Ellie laughed. “Of course not. I just didn’t want to say that in front of Tom. No one admits to getting along with their parents. It’s just not done.”

“Elizabeth-”

Ellie held her hands up. “Sorry. I know. I talk too much. Come on. Let’s go inside. I asked Tom if he’d throw the kettle on for me. If we’re lucky he might even have made the coffee.” She slowly walked towards the front door, avoiding the loose floorboard. Had she given him enough time? Her knees nearly gave out on her when she stepped inside and saw the four side plates with a vanilla slice on each, cups of coffee sitting with them. She glanced at Heather and caught a quick look of surprise before it was masked.

The next half hour crawled by for Ellie. Heather was a difficult woman to convince that everything was normal. Ellie was glad when she declined joining them for dinner, but she wasn’t surprised Heather had peeked in the oven to confirm it was homemade lasagne. She owed Sam big time.

Ellie saw Heather out, stopping on the verandah.

“Why would your father be so concerned about you living with your mother? Both he and your stepmother are highly concerned about the situation. Everything he said was confirmed by the earlier reports I read about your circumstances.”

“Oh he’s still living in the past. Either that or he can’t believe Mum’s managed to get her life sorted out, without his help. He was onto her for years. I guess she just needed him out of her life to be able to change it.”

Heather nodded. “Possibly.” She paused. “If the situation does change, you have my card. I’m here to help.”

Ellie nodded and watched as Heather headed towards her car. She returned inside, relieved to have that drama sorted out.

“Now can I have a drink?” Sharon demanded when they heard Heather’s car drive away.

“Sure. I’ll grab a beer out of the fridge for you, Mum.”

Tom, who was in the kitchen, opened a bottle and handed it to her. She smiled at him in thanks before she took the beer to Sharon. Returning to the kitchen, she wrapped her arms around him.

“We’ve got half an hour before dinner’s ready. You want to listen to some music in my room,” Ellie asked.

Sharon snorted. “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

Ellie ignored her mum and let Tom go so she could take his hand and lead him to her room. She imagined the next few days were going to be difficult. Either that or she’d be sent out to buy half a dozen bottles of spirits so her mum could work on forgetting all her problems. She wasn’t sure which was the worst scenario.

Ellie was slightly out in her guess as to what would happen. After dinner Sharon asked Tom to give her a lift to the drive thru bottle shop where she bought the bottles of spirits herself and then locked herself in her bedroom. Tom stared at Ellie in concern.

“Will you be okay?”

Ellie nodded. “Yeah. She missed two binges. She’s working on making up for it.”

“Is she likely to invite anyone over?”

“I doubt it. When she’s feeling miserable she doesn’t like company.”

“I feel like a bastard leaving you to deal with this.”

“You’re not. There’s nothing either of us can do. I’ll be okay. And you’ve got an early morning ahead of you.” Ellie leaned forward to kiss him.

“I can stay if you want me to.”

Ellie shook her head. “Nah. On my little bed? There’s barely enough space for one person let alone two.”

“Sounds cosy.”

Ellie laughed. “Typical.”

Tom smiled fleetingly. “Call me if you need me. I don’t care what hour or what the reason is.”

“Okay. But I can-”

Tom pressed his fingers to her lips. “Try again. This time you stop at okay. Got it?” When Ellie nodded he moved his fingers. “Call if you need me.”

Ellie smiled, drawing the word out. “Okay.” Tom kissed her until she clung to him, wishing she hadn’t told him to leave. She reluctantly let him go when he pulled away.

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

Ellie nodded. “Night.”

“Sweet dreams, Beth.” Tom strode to the door and let himself out.

Ellie locked the door and listened as his car drove off. She looked at her mum’s bedroom door and sighed. Nothing she could do. She might as well get ready for bed.

A loud crash woke Ellie from a deep sleep. She stumbled out of bed, unlocking her room. The lounge room light was on but no one was in there. She heard swearing in her mum’s room. She hesitated and then knocked on the door. More swearing. She swung the door open and saw her mum on the floor, trying to pull herself up onto the bed.

“Give me your hand, Mum.” Ellie pulled her up and turned her so she landed on the bed.

“What would I do without you, Ellie?” Sharon’s words were slow and slightly slurred.

“You’d manage. Did you want something?”

“Bottle’s empty.” Sharon pointed to the bottle lying on the floor. “Need another one.”

Ellie nodded and headed for the kitchen without a word. She picked up one of the three bottles left on the bench. She stood there holding it for a moment, trying to get a grip on her emotions. “Suck it up. Some people have it far worse,” Ellie muttered. She forced herself to return to her mum’s room.

Sharon took a swig from the bottle, patting the bed beside her. “What would I do without you, Ellie?”

Ellie reluctantly sat on the bed. “Are you alright now? It’s late. I should head back to bed.”

“I don’t deserve you, you know.” Sharon threw an arm around Ellie and hugged her awkwardly, the smell of alcohol surrounding her.

“Sure you do, Mum.”

Sharon shook her head and had another drink. “I’m a terrible mum. Stupid Bitch would be a better mother to you.”

Ellie smiled slightly. “The doctor warned you alcohol doesn’t mix well with your pain killers. I think it’s messed up your mind in a big way. Pamela wishes I was never born.”

Sharon patted her on the cheek. “What would I do without you, Ellie?”

Ellie sighed and rose to her feet. “I’m going back to bed.”

“I’ve got money for you, Ellie.”

“That’s nice, Mum.”

“For when you start uni. Your father’s paying for it, but I wanted you to have some so you could enjoy yourself.”

“Okay, Mum. Why don’t you get some sleep? Have you had any yet?”

“It’s in the bottom drawer. Go on, get it out.” Sharon pointed to the chest of drawers beside her bed.

“Okay.” Ellie knew it was best to humour her mum when she was in this type of mood. “But then you should get some sleep.” She opened the drawer and saw the unopened envelopes addressed to her at a post office box.

“Don’t tell your father, okay? He’ll try and get out of paying.”

Ellie took the envelope off the top and opened it up. “Mum! There’s a fortune in this account.”

“I know you won’t touch it until it’s time. Just wanted you to know about it. In case something happened to me.”

Ellie dropped the statement back in the drawer, closing it. She sat on the bed with her mum again. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.” She wouldn’t let it.

“When I was falling down those stairs I thought I was going to die. And all I could think was, I didn’t want Stupid Bitch to turn you into her clone. I’m the worst mum.”

“No you’re not. Becoming her clone would be a fate worse than death. Any decent mum would be concerned about it.” Ellie forced herself to smile.

“What would I do without you, Ellie?”

“Go to sleep, Mum. You’ll feel better after you have some sleep.”

“You remember me getting you to sign some forms because I was going to open you a bank account?”

Ellie nodded. It must have been a few years ago. She’d thought her mum had forgotten all about it. That it was yet another idea that had died before it had barely lived.

“I’ve been getting money directly deposited into it. Even I can’t drink every cent I earn.”

“I never thought that.” Okay, so maybe she had. But she wasn’t about to admit it to her mum when she was in this kind of mood.

“I probably would if it was left in there. I’m sorry, Ellie. I’ve screwed your life up in a big way, haven’t I?”

“Only your life, Mum. I’m keeping mine on track.”

“You shouldn’t have to.”

Ellie shrugged. “I like to.”

“What would I do without you, Ellie?”

She rose to her feet again. “Get some sleep, Mum.” She dropped a kiss on Sharon’s forehead.

Once she was back in her room, Ellie leaned against her closed bedroom door. Well that had been unexpected. Not the apologies. She heard them often enough. A few hours sleep and her mum would forget all about them. The money was what had surprised her. Setting up the account must have been one of the few things her mum had managed to finish in her life. Other than a bottle that was.

Ellie sighed and locked her door. She dropped onto her bed, glancing at the time. Half past four. She was never going to get back to sleep now. She smiled, picking up her phone to send a text to Tom.
Where are you? I’m waiting. Are we still going to the pool this morning?

She laughed when she read the text he sent back.
Who’s this?

I thought a momentous occasion like this would be something you’d remember.

Is this Lisbeth? Stop toying with me. Return Ellie.

I’m holding her for ransom. You going to rescue her? –Lisbeth

I’ll be there in 20.

Ellie quickly dressed, putting her bikini on under her clothes. She grabbed her school uniform and bag then headed for the kitchen. By the time Tom arrived, she’d organised her lunch and eaten breakfast. She met him on the verandah.

Tom kissed her then stared at her for a moment. “Is everything okay?”

Ellie nodded and smiled. “How could it not be? I’ve just been kissed senseless.”

Tom grinned. “Flattery will not distract me.”

“You’ll be late to the pool.”

“We still have plenty of time.”

“Can we go?” Ellie pressed her fingers against Tom’s lips when it looked like he’d argue. “I promise I’ll talk to you later. I’ve got to get my head around it first.”

Tom kissed the fingers that still rested against his lips before he pulled them away. “Before school starts.”

Ellie nodded and let him take her schoolbag. She linked her fingers in his and walked beside him to the car. She yawned. It was far too early to be awake. She wouldn’t be surprised if she fell asleep during English. Her teacher had a voice that could put a teething baby to sleep.