‘What do the doctors say?’ Di asked.
‘A lot,’ Henry said, turning to her. ‘I’ve got a specialist. I’m only in the early stages, and they’ve got various medications they can try nowadays, apparently.’ He sounded disgusted at the thought.
‘Dad,’ Di said, sounding upset now. ‘That’s good. You know, you’re not in this alone.’ She reached across and stroked his arm, since Henry had kept his hand tucked away.
‘I’d be better off in a home out of everyone’s sight,’ Henry mumbled. ‘Less embarrassment all round.’ He looked pointedly at his wife.
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Emily said. ‘Come home, Henry. Go to the doctor’s. Get on with your life. Stop all this silliness. You said yourself that it’s been caught early. It’s not the end of the world.’
Henry flared up again, but the spark of it was diminished now. ‘Easy for you to say,’ he said wearily. ‘Wait until you get a diagnosis like this.’
Emily looked like she was about to snap back, but then Mark’s phone began beeping. He pulled it out of his pocket. Neil’s name was flashing on the screen.
‘I’ve got to take this,’ he told them, pushing himself up off the sofa with an effort, and hurrying out of the living room. ‘Neil,’ he said, while going outside, not wanting to be accused of waking Di’s boys.
‘Mark,’ Neil sounded weary and tense, ‘have you heard about Chloe?’
Mark felt his heart do a quick, painful tremble in his chest. ‘No? What’s happened?’
‘She collapsed at work, and was taken to hospital. Turns out, she was pregnant. Now she’s been consigned to bed rest for two bloody weeks! Mark, I need you to help me handle everything she’s dropped, this is the worst possible time -’
Neil sounded almost frantic now, which temporarily turned Mark’s mind from worrying about Chloe.
‘Of course,’ Mark said. ‘Surely the family law can wait for her, or one of the legal officers can help out there? It’s only really Abbott that’s urgent…’
‘Only Abbott!’ Neil replied, his voice rising. ‘I could have the whole firm working on this case and still not feel prepared – it’s a nightmare.’
Mark was surprised to hear Neil sounding out of his depth. ‘No problem, Neil,’ he said. ‘I’ll get in touch with Chloe and get everything we need from her, and liaise with you tomorrow on what else we need to do. Okay?’
‘Fine.’ Neil still sounded somewhat panicked. ‘Thank you. Good night.’
Mark snapped his phone shut and walked back towards the house in the dark, his feet sinking on the dewy grass. He felt he was missing something. He’d never heard Neil this stressed. Then he stopped in his tracks by the door. He’d said Chloe was pregnant. Did that mean…?
Surprisingly, he didn’t feel the relief he had expected upon thinking the baby might not have survived. He had thought of the baby as an encumbrance he would have to take on if he were to have a chance with Chloe, but he realised now that, deep down, he had imagined being part of a family, the three of them, and it had felt all right. Better than all right, even. Much better.
Di met him at the door and interrupted his reverie. ‘I’ve just left them for a minute,’ she told him, looking worried, as though they might hear a scuffle break out at any second.
‘Okay,’ Mark said. ‘Look, I can’t stay too much longer.’
Di nodded. ‘I’ll take Dad back home tomorrow. Let him pack his stuff and get himself organised.’
‘Right.’ Mark was still distracted by the tone he had heard in Neil’s voice.
‘You should come more often,’ Di continued quietly. ‘The boys would love to see their uncle a bit more.’
‘Hmmm,’ Mark replied, then registered what she’d said and looked around. ‘Yes, I -’
But Diane had turned away and was heading for the kitchen. ‘Tea?’ she called over her shoulder.
‘Please,’ Mark said in reply. He walked towards the living room. He would have a quick drink, then get away. He wanted to sit in silence for a while and process everything he’d heard tonight. His Dad. Parkinson’s. Neil. Abbott. And he wanted to call Chloe.
There was just a chink in the living-room door where it hadn’t quite been pulled to. Mark headed to open it, then stopped as he saw his mother and father. His mother had moved to the end of the sofa nearest Henry and taken hold of his hand. They were whispering to one another, and the conversation still looked animated and not totally friendly, but their hands were firmly linked, and gripping on tightly.
Mark moved away from the door and headed to the kitchen to have tea with his sister.
88
Something was banging but Chloe didn’t want to acknowledge it. She pulled a pillow over her head, but it wouldn’t stop. Sighing, she flung the pillow away and then listened again. Silence.
She lifted herself on to her elbows and looked at the clock. Two thirty a.m. It must have been neighbours coming home late, banging doors. She collapsed back onto the bed again, closing her eyes.
A sharp crack against her windowpane startled her.
Chloe threw back the bedclothes, padded quickly to the window and opened the curtain.
She hadn’t dreamed it. There was a crack in the glass. Heart thudding, she looked down to the pavement, and saw a familiar face with a hand pressed to her mouth; whether suppressing shock or a smile, it was impossible to tell in the dark.
‘I’m so sorry, darling,’ her mother said when Chloe got downstairs and opened the door. ‘I’ll get it fixed for you in the morning. You should really get a bell, you know.’ She began to move bags from the doorstep into the hall. Chloe counted one, two suitcases, and some smaller luggage. How long was her mother planning on staying? she thought with alarm.
‘What are you doing here?’ she said.
Her mother looked up at her sternly, as if she were stupid. ‘You called me, Chloe, don’t you remember?’
‘Yes, but,’ Chloe stammered, ‘I didn’t mean you had to come immediately.’
‘Well, I didn’t come “immediately”, did I – I tried to get a train but I couldn’t get one until tomorrow morning, and I didn’t want to wait that long. So then I called June, because I was worried about my car lasting the distance, and so I’ve swapped and they’ve got mine and I’ve got George’s…’ she gestured behind her at a pristine BMW standing proudly against the kerb, ‘… it was lovely to drive. And I have to say that – no, don’t lift that, dear, I don’t want you lifting anything for now, I’ll do it myself in a minute – yes, I have to say that even without much traffic, it seemed to take forever. I hadn’t realised just how long you would be spending in the car, because although the train takes a long time, well, that’s just because it’s the train, isn’t it -’
‘Mum, stop!’ Chloe was feeling giddy from the torrent of words rushing from her mother’s mouth so quickly there was barely time to digest them. ‘But you never drive on strange roads?’
‘My daughter needed me,’ Margaret said, reaching forward to kiss Chloe’s cheek as they stood crowded against the cases in the hallway. ‘And so I’ve come.’
Margaret was still wired from the drive, and Chloe was wide awake, so she let her mother make them some tea.