‘You’ve really made this work. You’ve done so well.’ She felt a smile of pride sneak over her lips.
‘Thanks, sis. It hasn’t been easy, but I got there in the end. Dad was brilliant with helping me start up and, I have to give him his due, he’s always been around ever since.’
Zoe knew what she was doing. ‘Yeah, thanks for rubbing it in.’ She felt a surge of annoyance at the mention of her dad. Everyone knew that he worshipped Zoe and his princess could do no wrong. Ellie couldn’t do anything right when it came to her father. Not that she cared what he thought.
‘Oh, be quiet! I’m not rubbing it in. I’m just saying, he’s not as bad as you like to make out he is.’
‘Zoe, the man couldn’t give two shits about me. As far as he is concerned, he only has one daughter.’
‘That’s not true and you know it!’ Zoe’s voice was stern, but she wasn’t angry.
‘Of course it is. When Mum died, all he cared about was making sure you were okay. He wasn’t interested in what I had to say.’ She tried not to let the jealousy show, but she could feel the feelings from her childhood rear their ugly heads. She tried to push them back down into the box she kept them tightly locked in.
‘Ellie, that’s because you didn’t have anything you wanted to say. You were so hell-bent on self-destruction that you didn’t even talk to any of us. Dad had a hard time too.’
‘I spoke to you, didn’t I?’ She could feel the emotion already creeping up her throat, making it feel sticky and restricted.
‘Yeah, only because you had no choice.’
‘No, because you made time for me. He didn’t even care.’
‘Come on, you’re being silly. Stop making yourself the victim all the time. It was a hard time for us all. You can’t hold that against him for the rest of his life. You’re being selfish. Are you telling me that you would rather stay stubborn and have no parents than make amends and make the most of the parent you do still have?’ Zoe had leant forward now into Ellie’s face, making her argument more prominent.
Ellie stood up as a bolt of frustration shot through her body. ‘Are we really having this conversation? I came here because I wanted help from my sister, not because I wanted the third degree about why my dad doesn’t care about me.’ She stormed towards the kitchen door that led out to the back of the café shop.
‘Oh, for goodness sake, he does care about you.’ She threw her hands up. ‘Where are you going?’
‘Out.’ And she slammed the door behind her as she left. She had no idea where she was going to go, but she needed to go somewhere. There was no way she was going to cry over something as silly as her dad.
*****
‘Okay, this is it. Are you ready?’
Imogen smiled at Alice as she nodded. ‘As ready as I’ll ever be.’
She had spent the remainder of the car journey calming herself, using various techniques she had learnt previously to deal with her anxiety. Thankfully it hadn’t developed into anything she couldn’t handle. She put it down to the additional hormones that were whizzing around her body at the moment. Her poor body had been through so much recently, what with all the testing and medical interventions, it was no wonder she felt a bit alien to it.
They exited the car and made their way to the front door of Alice’s parents’ house. It was a beautiful detached bungalow with the most adorable little front garden. Whilst the front of the house was fairly close to the country lane it was built on, the back garden more than made up for it, stretching back as far as Imogen could see, reaching the woods that lay beyond. Alice’s parents took pride in their bungalow and this was clear to see from the well-kept gardens and immaculate furnishings within. Imogen remembered the first time she had been here years ago. Stunned by the modern refurbishment Alice’s parents had undertaken shortly after they’d moved in, the bungalow felt fresh, bright and free-flowing. Having downsized after Alice and her brother moved out, her parents had bought a smaller home, but had completely gutted it and transformed it into what they wanted. They had even built an annexe in the garden for when their children came to stay. Whilst Alice and Imogen only lived half an hour down the road, Alice’s brother had moved abroad and so, when he came to stay with his family, they were able to have some privacy but be close to their parents. It was the loving family that Imogen has always wished for, but had never really had. Even more reason to make sure her baby would have the upbringing she didn’t and Alice was more than up for the job.
Imogen felt nervous, but more of an excited nervousness. Alice parents were lovely and they totally embraced them and their relationship. The girls could be themselves whenever they were round there and it was like a breath of fresh air.
Alice rang the doorbell and bounced on her feet excitedly. ‘Here goes.’ She gave a little squeal to emphasise her excitement.
‘Alice, Imogen, come in!’ Alice’s mum was tall and slender and she had the most beautiful long, chestnut hair, which she always wore in a plait. Older than Imogen’s parents, Alice’s parents were both retired and having run their own business for many years, were in a very good financial position. She ushered the girls in and greeted them both with a hug and a kiss. ‘Your father is in the garden sparking up the barbecue.’
‘Oh nice! You should’ve said you were going to do a barbecue, we would’ve brought some food with us.’
‘Oh, it was a last-minute thing, you know your father. He has these good ideas and you have to strike while it’s hot. Plus we didn’t know the weather was going to be like this, so we’re doing it before the rain comes. We’ve got plenty of food anyway.’ She turned to Imogen. ‘Are you okay, sweetie, you look a little peaky today?’
Imogen was stumped for a response, concentrating so hard on not blurting out their good news just yet, she froze and couldn’t think of a reply that wasn’t ‘I’m pregnant!’
‘She’s fine, she’s just tired, that’s all,’ Alice chipped in and Imogen smiled in thanks as Alice’s mum walked off into the kitchen shouting, you’ll need a cardy on though, Alice – the wind is chilly.
‘I don’t know why that happened,’ she whispered as she followed Alice through to the conservatory.
‘It’s fine. We will tell them in a minute and get it out, so you don’t have to keep it in.’ Alice smiled lovingly at Imogen, her big brown eyes creasing around the edges as she did so. ‘You’re such a weirdo, I love it.’
They walked out into the brightly lit conservatory and through into the garden, where she could see Alice’s dad standing broadly over the barbecue, placing various slabs of meat onto the grill.
‘Hey, Dad,’ Alice called out as she approached him. ‘Any excuse for a barbecue, hey? What’s cooking?’
‘There’s my girl.’ He stepped away from the barbecue and pulled her into a huge embrace, kissing her forehead. ‘And there’s my other girl.’ He repeated the same for Imogen. From the word go, Alice’s parents had treated Imogen like a second daughter.
‘Hi, how are you?’ she asked as she pulled out a chair from the table and sat down.
‘Yes, I’m good. Been tinkering with that car I showed you both last week, you know, the Stag?’
Imogen loved how passionate Alice’s dad was about cars. Alice had grown up with going to car auctions with her dad and helping him fix up old cars to sell on. More recently, he had been branching out into classic cars and a Triumph Stag was one of his favourites. He was so excited when he found this one last week, he had