Maddy’s Christmas Wedding (Little Duck Pond Cafe #37)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

It was a Thursday, early evening, and Fen and Rob had organised a ‘Lapland Night’, starting at the local pop-up Christmas ice-rink. The plan was we’d do some skating then go back to their place for some traditional Finnish food and drink.

I wished Jack could be there.

But he was still away and communication between us had been scanty, to say the least. I kept telling myself he’d be too busy to check his phone. That’s why his replies to my texts had been patchy since he left. Sometimes I sent one in the morning and didn’t hear back until that night and I was finding his texts worryingly brisk and emotionless. But moving house was an exhausting task and he probably hadn’t had much time to reflect on what I’d told him. He’d still be processing it all.

Skating around the rink with Fen (well, wobbling might be a more accurate description), I was trying to put on a cheery face. But underneath, I’d been feeling a continuous, low-level panic fluttering inside me for days now. Jack was out of reach, physically and emotionally, and I kept imagining him talking to his mum and dad about the possibility that I’d inherited this awful genetic condition that would mean they’d never have grandchildren – not from Jack and me, anyway. He might also be unloading his worries about how I’d concealed things from him and hadn’t trusted him to stick by me – and how much that concerned him going forward. He could even be doubting if I was really the one for him . . .

Of course, going to the GP with Ellie and talking about Marfan syndrome and what it might mean for me hadn’t helped my emotional state either. I was a bag of nerves. The doctor had asked questions about my medical history and taken blood and I’d been to the hospital for all sorts of tests, including an echocardiogram that checked for heart problems. It would probably be weeks before I received the results, although my GP, who knew how anxious I was about them, said she’d relay them to me as soon as she heard.

But the wait for news was agony. Already, I was on edge, snapping at people who didn’t deserve it and just wanting to be on my own.

My friends had promised to keep my medical issues to themselves for now, so that it wasn’t general knowledge. I felt sad enough – for Marcus as well as myself – without people gazing at me in sympathy, head tipped to one side, as if there was a chance I could fall off my perch at any moment! I now knew exactly how Dad had felt when he thought he might have Huntington’s disease. He hadn’t wanted people to pity him and look upon him as ‘different’ ever afterwards . . . and I got that now. I really did.

‘Oops!’ giggled Fen, grabbing my hand and wobbling so much I thought she might be a goner.

Laughing, I tried to stabilise her and she managed to stay on her feet.

‘I’m freezing! Time for a gl?gi, I think?’ She nodded to the side of the rink.

‘You’ve brought alcohol with you?’ I asked, following her off the rink (to be fair, I didn’t need much encouragement).

She looked back and winked. ‘Just for medicinal purposes, you understand.’

‘Oh, of course.’

‘I brought a flask in case of emergencies.’

‘Good thinking.’ Leaving the rink, we looked back at the others.

Primrose and Sam were moving very slowly around the ice with little George in between them. Ellie and Zak were joining us later. (Ellie had told Fen they had something important to do first, which Fen thought very mysterious, although I couldn’t help thinking it might have something to do with the ‘dream house’ Ellie had taken me to see.)

As Ellie and Zak were arriving late, Jaz and Milo had brought a very eager Maisie along with her own daughter Emma, and Milo’s daughter Mabel. They were making slow progress around the ice with Milo and Jaz supervising. Maisie and Mabel were fairly proficient on the ice – they’d been skating a few times before – and they seemed to be instructing three-year-old Emma, who was holding Milo’s hand.

Seeing us standing at the edge, Jaz said something to Milo and skated over towards us.

‘What are you two up to?’ She grinned. ‘Had enough of the skating?’

‘We’re having a sneaky warm-up,’ said Fen, unzipping her backpack and taking out the flask.

‘Ooh, nice.’

Fen glanced at the café hut. ‘Shall we move over there by the tree with the fairy lights?’ she suggested. ‘I’m not sure if bringing your own food and drink is allowed.’

Jaz chuckled. ‘Don’t worry, Fen. It’ll be fine.’

I nodded. ‘Yeah, I don’t think they’ll chuck us out.’

But we started gravitating over to the tree anyway because it looked really festive, all strung with sparkly white lights.

‘Hey, this is like a “Lapland Girls Reunion”,’ pointed out Fen.

‘True,’ said Jaz. ‘Which means we probably need Laurel and Katja as well to complete the team.’

‘There they are.’ I pointed to where they were chatting beside the rink. ‘I’ll go and get them.’

So the five of us gathered under the tree, and Fen produced some small plastic cups from her backpack. The hot gl?gi steamed in the night air as she poured it out and, chuckling like naughty schoolgirls playing truant, we toasted each other and took a sip.

Fen had done a good job. It tasted deliciously of Christmas and reminded me quite poignantly of our time in Lapland. We could almost be back there, standing in the deep snow outside our chalet beneath the twinkling lights strung along the balcony rail, and stamping our feet in an effort to keep warm. If only the memories for me had all been good ones, I thought, as I felt the drink gently warming me. But it had been bitter-sweet.

I’d visit again – with Jack this time.

My heart lurched painfully.

Would I really, though? I’d seen the shock and the worry in Jack’s eyes when I’d told him my scary news. Even if he forgave me for not trusting him sooner, the children thing might still be an issue. I needed those test results. But every day, getting back from work, I’d been disappointed to find that there was no official letter from the hospital or my GP on the doormat.

‘Hey, what’s wrong?’ Fen asked, nudging me. ‘Is the gl?gi not up to scratch?’

I drank it down in one, smiling at her anxious expression. ‘Fen, this is as good as anything we drank in Lapland. It’s amazing.’

‘Where’s my brother tonight?’ Fen asked, topping up Katja’s cup. ‘Don’t tell me he’s working late again?’

Katja laughed. ‘You know him too well.’ Fen’s brother, Richard, had been in a relationship with Katja for a few years now. ‘Has he told you he’s going to be working out of the New York office in January?’

‘What? No!’

‘It was just confirmed yesterday, so I’m sure you’ll be hearing all about it.’

‘New York. Wow!’ said Laurel. ‘How long will he be there for?’

‘Just a few months, I think. Someone’s retired over there and they need someone to plug the gap temporarily, so to speak.’

‘If you’re going to be a temporary plug, let it be somewhere as amazing as New York!’ chuckled Jaz. ‘Do you think you’ll have time to visit before he comes back?’

‘Oh, I’m sure I’ll be able to fit in a little trip over there.’ Katja smiled gleefully. ‘I’ll make sure of it.’

‘Ooh, you lucky thing,’ I murmured, linking her arm. ‘I love New York. Not that I’ve ever been.’

‘Hey, you’ve got your gorgeous honeymoon to look forward to.’ She squeezed my arm. ‘Two weeks in Antigua. So romantic.’

I nodded, not knowing how I felt about that now. What if Jack was still being cool with me? I checked my phone. He still hadn’t replied to the text I’d sent first thing, wishing them good luck for the house move the following day, and panic stirred my insides. I just wished he was here so I could tell him again how sorry I was and reassure him that of course I trusted him. I’d never keep secrets like that again. He was my immediate family . . .

‘Here’s Ellie and Zak,’ said Fen, craning her neck and waving.

Zak had gone over to join Maisie on the ice but Ellie hung back to talk to us.

‘So . . . what’s the big secret?’ Fen asked.

I smiled. ‘You’re having twins and you were getting checked out?’

Ellie laughed. ‘No. I think there’s just one in there.’ She gave her tummy a loving pat.

‘So what were you doing?’ asked Laurel.

‘Well . . . we were putting in an offer on the house I told you about.’

‘Wow, that’s great!’ gasped Fen, and there followed an excited burst of questions from us.

Ellie, however, didn’t look quite so enthusiastic, and we soon found out why.

‘I tried to convince Zak it would be the perfect house for us and we went to take a look. But he wasn’t impressed. He said it needed far too much work to bring it up to a decent standard and it wasn’t practical, especially with a baby on board.’ She stroked her tummy gloomily. ‘I mean, I guess he’s right. You saw it, Maddy. What did you think?’

‘I . . . erm . . . well, I wouldn’t be buying it, let’s put it that way. But then, I’ve always preferred modern properties. There’s less likelihood of things going wrong?’

‘I suppose so. I just love that house and I wouldn’t care how much work we had to do or how long it would take to make it perfect. I’d live in a caravan until we could move in.’

‘You cannot live in a caravan when you’re pregnant.’ Fen looked quite distressed at the very thought.

‘I know. You’re right. I know,’ murmured Ellie, and I could see how crushed she was that Zak wasn’t on board with the idea.

‘Hang on. You said you were putting in an offer?’ pointed out Katja, puzzled.

Ellie gave a bitter laugh. ‘Well, yes. I finally managed to get Zak to relent – but only by agreeing that we’d put in a ridiculously silly offer. Honestly, it’s nowhere near the asking price. I’m quite embarrassed about it, to be honest. I’m sure I heard the estate agent chuckle when Zak told him our offer.’

I happened to be on Zak’s side in this. I’d had a bad feeling about it from the moment I’d stepped inside with Ellie. That house would be a financial black hole! But all I said was, ‘I suppose Zak’s thinking that if your very low offer is accepted, you’ll have lots of spare cash left over to get the renovations done.’

Fen nodded. ‘If the seller rejects your offer, you could surely up it just a little bit?’

‘Nope.’ Ellie shook her head. ‘Zak was very clear that it was our first and final offer. So in other words, girls, I can forget about it!’

Laurel frowned. ‘Well, you never know. If the vendor is desperate to sell . . .’

‘No one’s that desperate.’

‘Nothing wrong with a cheeky offer,’ said Jaz.

Ellie laughed. ‘Cheeky? Downright insulting would be a better description.’ She shrugged. ‘Never mind. It was a silly idea, anyway. Imagine being heavily pregnant and having nowhere comfortable to sit because walls are being knocked down around you, there’s dust everywhere and the kitchen’s just been ripped out. I think my raging hormones just got the better of me.’

‘Your place is looking lovely, all newly decorated,’ I said encouragingly.

‘It is,’ agreed Fen. Then she waved across at someone.

‘There’s Rob with the twins. He said he might bring them if they weren’t settled. I hope he’s wrapped them up well. It’s cold out here.’

‘They’ll be fine,’ I reassured her. ‘It’s not actually that cold.’

‘You only think that because you’ve experienced the well-below-zero temperatures in the Arctic Circle,’ grinned Jaz. ‘It’s all relative.’

We all walked over to join Rob who’d clearly abandoned the double-buggy as a lost cause in the snow and was carrying a wriggling twin in each arm. When he set them down, Lottie immediately started picking up handfuls of snow and throwing them at her brother, giggling excitedly.

‘Can I have your phone to take a video of them?’ asked Fen, and Rob – holding onto Lottie with one hand – fished in his pocket with the other and handed the phone to his wife.

Fen, laughing at Rob trying to corral the twins into the same shot, took lots of footage. Then, as we all swooped in to help with Lottie and Liam, she started looking back at what she’d taken.

‘Brilliant,’ she said. Then she frowned and stared at something on the screen. ‘Rob? What the hell is this?’

She was staring at him, looking shocked and amused all at once.

‘What?’ he asked, looking puzzled.

‘I thought it was odd that the twins were so super-well-behaved for you while I was away, when usually they’re little scallywags and into everything when they’re at home with me.’

She chuckled. ‘Gather round, girls, and watch my husband bribing our kids!’

Sure enough, there was Rob – clearly unaware that his phone was in video mode – saying to the twins, ‘Right, remember what I said? Sit still next to me on the sofa. Be very, very quiet and well-behaved. And if you’re very good, then what will we do?’

‘Pizza!’ shouted Liam.

‘I-cream!’ added Lottie with a shriek of delight.

Everyone started laughing, even Rob, who pretended to cover his face in shame.

‘Rumbled,’ he groaned. ‘The truth is, Fen, I never realised just how hard it is looking after these little monsters all day long. I’m so in awe of you now for doing it on a regular basis.’

Fen was finding it all highly amusing. ‘Did you hire a cleaner to make the place look spotless as well? There wasn’t a single toy lying on the carpet, which is completely unheard of!’

Rob grinned. ‘The place constantly looked like we’d been burgled – well, ransacked would be a better description – until about fifteen minutes before we were due to FaceTime. I spent that quarter of an hour tidying up and whipping out the hoover while the kids watched Peppa Pig.’ He shrugged sheepishly. ‘I didn’t want you to think I was useless.’

As we all roared with laughter, Fen – grinning from ear to ear – went over to kiss him . . .