A Merry Little Christmas

Chapter 20

Nell

Nell drove Max back home on autopilot; grateful for once that her stepson was engrossed in his phone and didn’t want to chat. She couldn’t get the image of Merry out of her head. Not the one where she shouted from the ladder about no one caring about her, but the look of terror on her face when she received the instruction to get to her dad’s residential home immediately. As far as Nell was concerned, that had been the wake-up call for both of them. It had pressed reset on the situation. They were best friends and had been for over two decades, and Nell wanted to be there for Merry in her hour of need. Nothing else mattered. Merry’s dad was clearly in a serious condition; whatever else was going on could wait.

Nell wished she had been firmer with Merry and insisted on driving her to Springwood House. Merry had been in no fit state to drive herself, but she was incredibly stubborn. Once she’d made up her mind, there’d be no changing it.

After Merry had gone, people had started speaking again. Someone had put the music back on, at a lower volume, Nell had been pleased to hear. Harley had watched anxiously, waiting for instruction; the two girls with the budgie had escaped into the night, along with several other customers, while Woody had done his best to regain the earlier mood by chatting to the remaining shoppers and topping up cups of mulled wine. Irena had stepped in to give Nell a hug and by the time she had extricated herself from her mother-in-law’s bosom and mopped her eyes, she was exhausted.

‘Not my call, darling, obviously,’ Woody had slid an arm around her shoulders. ‘But if I were you, I’d call it a night. What do you say?’

Nell had leaned her head on his shoulder, her eyes prickling with tears again, and nodded. ‘You’re an angel, you know that, Woody. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.’

He’d planted a swift kiss on her head. ‘You’d have managed, my love, like we all do. Come on, let’s call last orders on the mulled wine, as if we were a pub. I’ve always wanted to do that.’

‘Nell?’ From the passenger seat, Max’s voice penetrated her thoughts. ‘We’re here, you’re about to drive past.’

‘Sorry, love.’ Nell pulled the car to a stop outside Max’s house, and he jumped straight out.

‘Thanks for the lift,’ he called, slamming the door, as Yvonna appeared on the drive in her winter coat and slippers. ‘Hey, Mum.’

He gave his mum a lightning-fast kiss on her cheek and ran inside. Nell felt a rush of adrenaline at the sight of Yvonna.

What secrets did this woman hold? Nell wondered, as she prepared to turn the car around and drive away. What lies had she been keeping all these years? If mumps had made Olek infertile all his adult life, as Nell suspected, then Yvonna must have been having an affair as far back as when Max was conceived – years before Olek had found out about it. Not only had she cheated on Olek, but she’d allowed him to believe that Max was his, let him support the boy financially all this time after they’d separated, but, more important than that, she’d sat back and watched her ex-husband form an unshakeable bond with a child who wasn’t his.

Nell gripped the steering wheel, angry on Olek’s behalf. Should she tackle Yvonna on it? Hint that she’d found out the truth? She hesitated for a second, her foot hovering over the brakes. No, she wouldn’t, she decided. It was late in the evening, she’d had a stressful day already, and she still needed to check up on Merry to see how her father was.

She nodded at Yvonna out of politeness and selected first gear, but the other woman raised a hand to stop her from driving away.

Nell bit back a groan and lowered her window to Yvonna to talk to her.

‘Thanks for bringing him home. I owe you one.’ Yvonna was shivering. She was only wearing a strappy vest underneath her coat, and she pulled the lapels together for warmth. ‘I had one of those days at work and the bottle of Malbec in the kitchen was calling to me. Before I knew it, I’d had two glasses and didn’t dare drive.’

‘And Viktor didn’t fancy picking him up either?’ Nell couldn’t resist asking.

As his stepfather, naturally he wasn’t going to be as dedicated to Max as Olek or Yvonna, but in all the years she’d known Viktor, he’d only ever shown an interest in Max when there was something to boast about. He’d already asked for free tickets to the Derby v Liverpool match on Christmas Eve. Max only had two and he’d promised them to Olek and Yvonna’s dad, who’d been supporting Max’s football career since he was small. Viktor had apparently sulked for two days.

‘Viktor?’ Yvonna chuckled. ‘No, he’s had three glasses.’

Fair enough, thought Nell. It was Christmas, a time when lots of people were drinking more than usual. Plus, Yvonna had known either she or Olek would step in and bring her son home, as usual, but Nell couldn’t help finding the other woman’s casual attitude to Max reckless. If she had a child … She brought herself up short, she had to stop this sort of thinking, this criticism of parents who, in her mind, fell somehow short of her own standards. After all, what did she know, what would she ever know, about the true day-in, day-out responsibilities of parenthood?

‘Are you listening?’ Yvonna’s sharp voice brought her back to the moment.

‘Sorry?’ Nell replied with a start. ‘I missed that.’

Yvonna smirked. ‘If I didn’t know you were such a saint, I’d think you’d been drinking. You’re away with the fairies. I said, did it go well? Your little shopping evening?’

The hairs on the back of Nell’s neck prickled. Yvonna was pressing all her buttons tonight; the sooner she could drive off, the better.

‘Yes! Great, thanks for asking!’ she said with such enthusiasm that Yvonna’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

If only she knew that it had been Nell’s worst experience at work ever: she’d had a slanging match with her pregnant best friend, had to shut the shop early and in a fit of pique had resigned and was now jobless.

‘A busy night then.’ Yvonna hugged herself against the cold. ‘I’m surprised Olek didn’t offer to drive you. You two are usually joined at the hip.’

Nell gritted her teeth; the back-handed compliments were coming in thick and fast tonight.

‘He had an emergency call-out to fit new locks after a break-in. Poor family had all their Christmas presents stolen from under the tree. He is having to secure all doors and windows before he can leave.’

Yvonna pursed her lips. ‘I used to hate his long hours, especially when my friends were all going out with their husbands, and I was sitting at home watching TV alone.’

Except when she was having an affair with Olek’s friend, thought Nell.

‘Well, have a nice evening tonight with Viktor,’ she said, preparing to wrap up the conversation.

‘I will, Viktor is always here. The good thing about being a baker is that he finishes early; he is always home in the evenings, ready for an early night.’

‘So no going out with this husband either then,’ Nell pointed out slyly.

‘Not anymore, we’re past that now,’ said Yvonna with a sniff. ‘Back in the early days, we were party animals.’

‘That must have been a challenge when Max was so young.’ Poor Max, Nell thought, imagining him as a little boy, bewildered by the replacement of his quiet, mild-mannered father with Viktor, the jolly baker.

Two pink spots appeared on the other woman’s face. ‘I meant while Max was with Olek. One of the best benefits of splitting up from a good dad is that you’ve always got a willing babysitter.’

The nerve of the woman, thought Nell indignantly. She seemed proud of the fact that by splitting from her husband, she’d got such a good babysitter for Max.

Olek had caught them red-handed, and Yvonna had never admitted how long their affair had been going on. But Nell wanted to know. Because if Viktor was around at the time Max was conceived, then the chances were that they were father and son.

She really wanted to find out. Yvonna had just said she owed her one, but this was a biggie. On the other hand, when else would she get an opportunity like this, just the two of them?

‘Yvonna, can I ask …’ She hesitated, watching as Yvonna leaned in, her gaze intense. What the hell was she thinking? Of course she couldn’t ask. ‘No, no, it’s nothing, forget it.’

Nell gave the other woman a tight smile and retreated into her car.

‘What? Go on, you can’t leave it there,’ Yvonna probed. ‘I’ll be thinking about it all night. I hate mysteries.’

Nell wavered. Her heart was knocking against her ribs. This was not one of her best ideas. And what if it got back to Olek?

‘Nell.’ Yvonna folded her arms. ‘Out with it, what do you want to know?’

‘OK, hold on.’ Nell couldn’t do this sitting down with the other woman looming over her. She got out and faced Yvonna directly, eyeball to eyeball. ‘You said you owed me one.’

Yvonna’s eyes narrowed. ‘It was a figure of speech, but carry on.’

The night air was freezing, and their breath swirled mistily in front of their faces. Nell didn’t like conflict, she was the good-natured one. Olek sometimes joked that he couldn’t have married two more different woman.

‘This must never reach Olek.’ She looked back at the house to check that no one was in earshot.

‘Well, well, well.’ Yvonna smirked. ‘I’d never have had you down as someone to keep secrets from your husband. But yeah, sure, if you want.’

You don’t know the half of it , thought Nell. The list of lies she’d told him was getting longer by the day.

‘Olek and I had some tests.’ This was a dangerous game she was playing; she licked her dry lips. ‘At a fertility clinic.’

Yvonna’s gaze intensified. ‘Oh? You’re having problems? Sorry to hear that. Although, at Olek’s age, I’d be surprised he wants to go through the baby years again; I certainly wouldn’t.’

‘Unfortunately, we might not be. It turns out that he can’t …’ She licked her dry lips. ‘Look, the thing is, I wondered if … Oh God.’ Nell pressed her hands to her face. ‘What am I doing?’

‘No idea,’ Yvonna scoffed. ‘But I’m freezing out here, so spit it out, or let me go in and get on with the rest of my evening.’

The audacity of the woman. She’d had an uninterrupted evening so far, thanks to Nell, who’d come out of her way to drop off Max and still had to go back to the shop to finish tidying up. Nell felt her anger bubble up and spill over.

‘OK, fine. Is Max … I mean, was there any doubt that Olek …?’ she blurted. Even as her words came spilling out, regrets started to smother them. ‘Actually, forget I said that. Please. Ignore me. It’s been a long and stressful day and I’m tired.’

The colour drained from Yvonna’s face, and her eyes were wide with shock. ‘Are you insinuating that Olek might not be Max’s dad?’ Yvonna drew herself up ramrod straight and tilted her chin at Nell.

‘I didn’t say that. I didn’t finish my sentence.’ Nell stared at her, but Yvonna could scarcely meet her eye, guilt etched into every line on her face. ‘Interesting that you assumed that was what I was going to say.’

‘How dare you?’ Yvonna seethed. ‘How bloody dare you? What happened before you came on the scene has absolutely nothing to do with you. ‘You’re right,’ said Nell. ‘It’s none of my business, but it is Olek’s.’ ‘I’d like you to leave now.’ Yvonna glared at her. ‘Go on, get out of here.’

Wow. What was that saying about the lady protesting too much? Nell mused.

‘Fine. I’m going.’ Nell opened the car door and threw herself into the driving seat. The hem of her coat was hanging over the doorsill, and she quickly whipped it into the car as Yvonna bent over her.

‘I think this conversation is best kept between us, don’t you?’ Yvonna said, archly. ‘If you ever mention this again, I’ll be going straight to Olek and commiserating with him on his infertility. He’d be very surprised to find out who was gossiping about him behind his back, would’t he?’

‘You wouldn’t do that.’ Nell felt sick at the thought of Olek hearing anything of the sort from Yvonna.

Yvonna simply gave her a smug smile.

She was hiding something, it was obvious. Not that it made the situation any better for Nell and Olek. In fact, having her worst suspicions confirmed made it much, much worse. Now not only had Nell lied to her husband, but she was withholding information about the most important person in Olek’s life: his beloved son.