Chapter 28

CHAPTER

28

Matt felt dreadful. It was so long since he’d been drunk, he’d forgotten how truly awful a hangover was. Or maybe the way he felt was caused by more than alcohol.

He pushed himself into a sitting position and waited for the room to stop spinning around him. His eyes focused on his shoes, neatly placed together on the floor. He wouldn’t have done that in the state he was in last night. He hauled himself to his feet and shed his rumpled clothes before heading to the bathroom, where he stood under the shower, trying to clear his pounding head and remember the evening before. He’d sent his daughter to stay with Kelly, taking advantage of a friend to get Vicki out of the way so he could be alone with Bree. He’d hoped to … Well, whatever he’d hoped, it had all gone downhill after his second rum and Coke. There had been a third and probably a fourth. Things were a bit hazy after that. He remembered walking with Bree, holding her hand. And then he remembered breaking down, as two years of grief breached the defences he’d built so high around his heart. He was both embarrassed and deeply ashamed.

When he got out of the shower and started dressing, he didn’t even glance at the framed photo beside his bed.

Once he had some coffee brewing, he picked up his phone and rang Kelly.

‘I am so sorry,’ he said when she answered. ‘It was rude of me to expect you to take Vicki like that.’

‘Don’t be silly. I was happy to do it. Did you have a good evening with Bree?’

He avoided the question. ‘How’s Vicki? I hope she hasn’t been any trouble?’

‘She’s fine. She’s had breakfast and is watching TV with my two.’

‘I’ll be over to get her shortly.’

‘No rush.’

Matt took that as an opportunity to drink a much-needed cup of coffee—he couldn’t face the thought of breakfast—and set off to collect his daughter.

Vicki seemed happy enough to see him.

‘Where’s Bree?’ she asked innocently when he walked into the room. Matt could feel Kelly’s interest in his answer too.

‘Bree went home last night.’ Or he assumed she had.

Vicki’s face fell. ‘I wanted to talk to her about knitting club.’

‘Knitting club is this afternoon. I’m sure whatever it is can wait until then.’ He thanked Kelly again and took his daughter home.

For once, he didn’t argue with Vicki’s desire to watch TV. Saturday morning TV was usually off the agenda, but he welcomed her absence from his office as he sat staring at his phone and wondering if he should ring Bree. What would he say to her? Should he apologise? But how could he apologise if he didn’t remember what had happened? Well, he did remember some things, and he wasn’t very proud of them.

At last he reached for some actual work, cursing himself for being a coward. He wouldn’t be at knitting club this afternoon—he had a property viewing scheduled—but he would see Bree when he dropped Vicki off. Maybe by then he’d have thought of what to say. Maybe there’d be too many people and he’d get a reprieve, although at some point he had to say something about last night. At the very least, Bree deserved an apology.

When Matt and Vicki arrived at the hall, most of the knitters were already there. Some were already seated around the big table, while others were chatting as they poured tea and filled plates with cake.

‘Hi, Bree.’ Vicki bounded across the room. ‘I watched Frozen again last night. Did you and Daddy have fun too?’

Matt winced as all eyes in the room swivelled from him to Bree and back again.

‘We did,’ Bree said, her face devoid of anything like the discomfort Matt was feeling.

He could feel the eyes on him as he walked across the hall to talk to her. ‘Hi.’

She smiled at him and in that instant, he knew that whatever had happened last night, everything was all right. A huge weight lifted from his shoulders and he smiled back.

‘I hope it’s okay to leave Vicki here. I have a viewing.’

‘Sure is.’

‘I’ll be back in plenty of time to pick her up. If you’re not doing anything later, do you want to drop by mine?’ He’d been about to suggest a cup of tea after the knitting club, but he realised two things. Firstly the table was awash with tea and secondly, although the knitters’ eyes were on their work, every ear was straining in his direction.

‘Let’s leave it loose,’ he added hurriedly. ‘I’ll pop in on my way back from the viewing.’

He felt like an embarrassed schoolboy as he hurried out the door.

***

Bree watched him go, glad that everything seemed fine between them. She settled down to chat and had her back to the hall door when she heard Vicki’s excited yell.

‘Granny!’

Bree saw Sally walking in the door carrying a couple of large tote bags.

Vicki sprinted across the room. ‘Are you all right, Granny? Daddy said you were sick and that’s why I couldn’t FaceTime you.’

Sally knelt to hug her granddaughter. ‘I’m fine now, my lovely girl. I’m always better when I’m with you.’

‘What’s in the bags? Is that knitting?’

‘Yes, Vicki. I thought I would join the club, so I brought my knitting. And I brought some more wool for you too. Really pretty wool so I can help you learn to knit.’

‘But Bree has already taught me how to knit. I’m very good at it. Aren’t I, Bree?’

Sally threw an icy glare at Bree, then drew Vicki’s attention back to her tote bags. ‘Look at all the lovely wool I brought you.’

Within seconds, Vicki was entranced, pulling all the wool out of the tote bags. A couple of the other ladies gathered around, equally impressed by the contents of the bags. Bree knew knitting yarns and one look at the bundles told her Sally’s was expensive. There must have been a couple of hundred dollars’ worth in the first bag alone. It was far too expensive for a child just learning to knit. Too expensive and, in some cases, too hard to use.

But the biggest question in her mind was, what was Sally doing here? Neither she nor Matt had heard anything since the formal letter she’d sent to Sally’s solicitor, yet here the woman was. Somehow Bree didn’t think it was a sign that Sally was going to be reasonable and give up the legal challenge she’d started. But if she wasn’t giving it up, she shouldn’t be here. Matt had made his feelings very clear. Sally should not be around Vicki when Matt wasn’t.

Rose emerged from the kitchen with a newly filled teapot. Bree got to her feet and intercepted her.

‘Sally’s come to see Vicki,’ she whispered to her grandmother. ‘I need to call Matt. Make sure they don’t leave.’

Rose’s face registered shock for an instant. Bree hadn’t told her much about what was happening, but Rose was astute enough to have figured a lot out on her own. She nodded and Bree reached for the phone in the pocket of her skirt as she vanished through the kitchen door.

Matt didn’t answer. Instead, his voice told her if she had an inquiry relating to the buying or selling of a property, she should leave a message. She hung up. She didn’t want to risk Sally walking into the room and hearing her. A text would be better.

Sally’s here. Call me or come back as soon as you can.

She put the phone in her pocket, but a second later pulled it out again.

Vicki’s fine. I’ll keep her with me.

Hopefully that would ease his mind.

When she returned to the main room, the knitting club was back in full swing after the late arrival. Vicki was sitting next to her grandmother, her small hands wielding her pink plastic needles with inexpert skill. Sally was knitting too and Bree could see that she was no expert either. It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that she had learned to knit very recently, in order to join this very club.

Bree took her seat and picked up her own work, but she was too tense to do more than fiddle with it. Amid the hum of voices around the table, she caught bits of the conversation between Vicki and Sally.

‘This is from Bree’s alpacas, Granny. Isn’t it pretty?’

Bree had a feeling the conversation was only making matters worse.

‘… come and visit your grandpa and me in Newcastle …’

Sally’s words sent a shiver along Bree’s spine.

Bree lost track of the conversation then, until Vicki’s childish voice rose with excitement above the hum of the others.

‘I had a sleepover at my friends’ house. It was fun. And I think Daddy had a sleepover too.’

Bree caught her breath. In the corner of her eye, she saw Sally’s face harden. The woman turned her way and Bree knew it was too late. There was no point denying anything—even if she was telling the truth.

The minute hand of the clock on the wall seemed to crawl towards the top of the hour. Bree checked her phone for about the fifth time, but there was still no word from Matt. She was about to try calling him again when a knitter pushed back her chair and declared it was time she headed home.

A general movement in that direction followed. Bree looked around for her grandmother and saw the same tension reflected in Rose’s face that she felt in herself. Sally was helping Vicki put her knitting things back into her bag.

‘As your father’s not here, I’ll take you home, my lovely girl.’ Sally’s voice was tinged with excitement—or was it triumph?

‘But Granny, Daddy said to wait here for him.’

‘That’s all right, he won’t mind that you have come with me.’

Bree had to step in. There was no way she would ever let Vicki leave with anyone other than Matt, unless he’d agreed to it. But how to do it without upsetting the child?

‘I did promise Matt I would keep Vicki here until he called for her,’ Bree said in a firm voice.

Sally spun to look at her. The woman’s face was a mask of anger.

She stepped closer, whispering so the child wouldn’t hear.

‘Don’t you dare try to come between me and my granddaughter, do you hear? You will regret it if you do. You might be fooling Matt, but you don’t fool me.’

Bree took a step back. The vehemence and threat in that voice was terrifying.

‘You will not take my daughter’s place. Do you hear me? Not while I have anything to do with it.’

There was nothing Bree could say. Nothing at all.