A Proper Family Holiday (37 page)

‘Come on,’ muttered Chelsea. ‘This isn’t the Nobel Fancy Dress Prize.’

Adam laughed, but Chelsea could tell that he too was anxious for the ‘right’ result.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,’ the hotel manager began, ‘first of all, we’d like to thank you for taking part in our Kidz Klub competition this afternoon. I have to tell you I’ve been judging the fancy-dress competition every week of the summer season for nearly five years now, but it’s rare we see a field of contestants as well turned out as this one.’

Chelsea and Adam shared a proud smile.

‘Of course, that makes my job more difficult than ever. When everyone has put so much effort into his or her costume, how can I possibly say that one is better than the rest? The winner would be happy, yes, but everyone else who entered might think I didn’t appreciate their hard work too.’

They’re going for a joint first, thought Chelsea.

‘Still, there can be only one winner today at Kidz Klub. There is one child here whose costume is a cut above the others, someone whose costume incorporates the colour and the magic that we’ve come to associate with fairy tales.’

Lily gave another little wiggle.

‘Aaaah, how wonderful,’ said the hotel manager.

The prize was Lily’s, Chelsea was sure.

‘We’re awarding first prize to …’

One of the coordinators flicked a switch on the CD player so that it played music from the judges’ deliberations on
The X Factor
.

‘Sheesh,’ said Adam. ‘Could they string this out any longer?’

Chelsea threw back her head and exhaled long and loud. So long and loud that she didn’t immediately realise they were calling Jack up to the podium.

‘Jack Benson!’

The crowd roared their approval.

‘Jack Benson-
Edwards,
actually,’ said Jack, as he took his place.

‘Jack Benson-Edwards it is.’

The hotel manager placed a crown rather precariously on top of Jack’s carefully made turban. He then handed him a silver-painted plastic trophy. Jack balanced the trophy on top of his lamp. He was not going to step out of character even to receive his prize. The hotel manager tucked an enormous packet of Haribo into the open cup.

‘I’m sorry,’ Chelsea said to Adam when she saw Lily’s face crumple with disappointment.

‘We’ll deal with it,’ said Adam bravely. ‘Got to start recalibrating her expectations somewhere.’

Chelsea squeezed his arm. ‘Thank you. You know this is really important to Jack.’

Jack returned to his aunt’s side triumphant, holding his prize above his head.

‘I’m a winner!’ he said. ‘We’re the winners, Auntie Chelsea!’

‘Well done,’ said Adam, offering Jack his hand.

‘Well done,’ said Lily. ‘Can I have some of your Haribo?’

Jack didn’t dare refuse.

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Jacqui

Jack’s triumph at the fancy-dress competition was the perfect start to Jacqui’s birthday, which, she decreed, started at teatime because that’s when she was born.

‘So, how does it feel being ancient?’ Dave asked his wife when four o’clock arrived.

Jacqui cuffed him round the ear. In all the years they had known each other, Dave had never ceased to be amused by the fact that his wife was almost six months older than he was. He made an especially big deal about it every time she had a birthday.

‘I’m hardly your Mrs Robinson,’ she told him. ‘You’ll be here soon enough.’

At half past five, the whole family went in from the pool to get ready for Jacqui’s birthday party. They were going to be eating early. Jack was tired after the previous night’s excitement, and Bill always slept better if he ate before seven. That didn’t mean they weren’t going to make a proper occasion of it, though. With great reverence, Jacqui lifted out the dress she had brought all the way from Coventry for just this moment. She had actually bought it in the summer sales two years earlier, justifying the splurge to herself by saying it would be the perfect thing to wear if one of her daughters got married. Neither of them had, but now the dress was going to have an outing anyway. Jacqui wrapped the green floral number round her body and tied it with an extravagant bow.

‘You are every bit as beautiful as the day I first met you,’ Dave assured her when she gave him a twirl. ‘Come here.’ He pulled her towards him.

‘Get off,’ she said. ‘You’ll crease me.’ Then she relented and let him hold her close.

Jacqui felt the tears spring to her eyes. She had managed to keep a stiff upper lip through all the drama of the past couple of days, but now she could hold it in no longer. The relief of having unburdened herself of her secret was enormous. The relief, too, of getting Sophie back safe and unharmed came rushing out now like a wave breaching a sea wall. Everything might have turned out so very differently. So very wrong.

‘Come on,’ said Dave. ‘It’s your birthday. You’ve made it to sixty. That’s something to be happy about.’

‘You’re right,’ said Jacqui, wiping the tears from her cheeks. She knew Dave. She knew he wasn’t being in any way dismissive of the huge emotions she was feeling. He was just trying to help her get her game face on. Wasn’t that one of the things she had always loved about him? His ability to pull her back from whatever precipice she found herself on the edge of? Dave was the one person who could always make her smile.

‘You should probably touch up your make-up, though,’ he said. ‘Otherwise it’ll look like there’s an even bigger age gap between us.’

‘You sod.’ Jacqui made another playful swipe at his head. ‘You go on down, then. I’ll catch you up.’

She dabbed away the smudges of mascara and gave her nose another pass with the powder puff before examining herself in the mirror. Not bad for such a significant birthday. She walked out onto the balcony and looked down to the poolside restaurant, where they would be celebrating that night. Dave was already there with Bill and Mark. Sophie was sitting on the low wall that surrounded the restaurant. Texting, as usual. Ronnie had let Sophie have her phone until they could get her a new one back in Coventry. Ronnie was talking to one of the waiting staff. Chelsea and Jack were sitting at the table, engaged in a thumb wrestle.

‘I am so lucky,’ Jacqui breathed to herself.

Jacqui wasn’t quite so lucky with her timing when it came to joining her family. As the lift travelled down towards the lobby, it stopped at the third floor and Gloria stepped in.

Jacqui had not set eyes on Gloria since the engagement debacle that lunchtime. She had hoped she would get away with not seeing her at all before they went home to the UK. What was she supposed to do now?

Jacqui looked straight ahead at the lift doors. Gloria did the same. There was something about the way she stood that made Jacqui feel she was being judged. The cheek of it! As if it was her fault that the stupid woman’s gold-digging plans had come to naught. Jacqui felt her blood pressure start to rise as the lift dropped. Just as the lift came to the ground floor, Jacqui opened her mouth to give the other woman a piece of her mind.

Gloria beat her to it.

‘I just wanted to say I’m sorry about this lunchtime,’ she said.

‘What?’

‘You’re a nice family,’ she added. ‘I could always tell that.’

‘Thank you,’ said Jacqui. The angry words she had intended to spew had disappeared altogether. The two women stepped out of the lift on the ground floor. Gloria caught her arm.

‘And Bill …’ Gloria hesitated. ‘Is he—?’

‘He’s not heartbroken, if that’s what you’re worried about,’ said Jacqui.

‘Good,’ said Gloria. ‘I didn’t want him to get hurt.’

‘I’m sorry if you felt misled,’ said Jacqui.

‘Oh, I misled myself. I’m a silly old woman sometimes,’ Gloria admitted. ‘A lot of the time.’

Gloria suddenly looked her age. Beneath the hair extensions and the warpaint, Jacqui recognised a contemporary. Before now, she would have put Gloria at any age between forty-five and fifty. Now Jacqui could see that Gloria had at least sixty years on the clock. What must it be like to be that age and have no one to look after you, in the way that she had Dave?

Taking both of them by surprise, Jacqui suddenly gave Gloria a genuinely warm hug. Gloria didn’t seem like such an awful woman right then, just tired and worried and a bit vulnerable. And if nothing else, she had given the family some entertainment. They would laugh about Bill’s holiday romance for years to come.

‘You made Bill happy,’ said Jacqui. ‘Fortunately, he won’t remember how it ended.’

‘Thank God for that,’ said Gloria.

‘Come and join us for a drink later on.’

At last the Benson family sat down for Jacqui’s birthday dinner. The manager of the hotel brought over a bottle of cava. The birthday girl had a dry Martini with lemonade. Ronnie had a Bacardi Breezer. Sophie asked for one too.

‘No way,’ said Ronnie. ‘You’re fifteen years old.’

For once, Sophie didn’t protest.

Later on, the chef brought out a birthday cake. He had somehow managed to fit sixty candles on top of it, even if half of them had been blown out by the sea breeze by the time he reached the table.

The family sang and Jack helped his grandmother to blow out the rest of the candles.

‘Make a wish,’ said Bill.

Ronnie, Chelsea, Mark and Dave knew exactly what Jacqui would be wishing for. Chelsea gave Ronnie’s hand a squeeze.

‘I have had the best birthday ever,’ said Jacqui.

‘Even with me going AWOL?’ Sophie asked.

‘Even with you going AWOL. Awful as it was at the time, it was the perfect reminder of how much we all mean to each other, wasn’t it?’

Everyone agreed.

‘Just don’t do it again.’

Jack proposed a toast with his glass of Coca-Cola. ‘I love my family,’ he said. It was the perfect sentiment.

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Ronnie

‘Come for a walk on the beach,’ said Mark. ‘Your mum and dad will keep an eye on Sophie.’ Jack had already gone up to bed with his auntie.

‘Are you sure?’ Ronnie asked.

‘I’m sure. In any case, I don’t think Sophie’s going to be doing anything too stupid any time soon, do you?’

‘Let’s hope not.’

Ronnie followed Mark out of the hotel grounds onto the beachside path. He held out his hand to her. She took it and let him help her over the sea wall onto the beach itself. They took off their flip-flops. In the darkness, the sand, which had been too hot to walk on during the heat of the day, felt cool and damp. Ronnie commented on it.

‘Are you sure that’s not just where some dog peed?’

‘Mark!’ She playfully cuffed his head. ‘What a thing to say. I want to put my flip-flops back on now.’

‘Don’t be silly. Come on, let’s sit down here.’

‘Not on the wet bit. I’m not sitting on the sand.’

‘How about here, then?’

Mark lifted a sunlounger off the hotel’s neatly stacked pile and opened it out so that Ronnie would not have to sit on the ground.

‘You’re such a gentleman,’ she said.

They sat down side by side. There was a chilly breeze coming in from the sea.

‘Snuggle up,’ said Mark. He opened out his arm so that Ronnie could tuck herself in to his side and take advantage of his body as a windbreak.

‘It’s lovely here, isn’t it? I can’t believe we sat in the bar every night.’

‘
You
sat in the bar every night,’ she corrected him.

‘I know,’ he said. ‘I should have made more effort.’

‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘No, it does. I should have tried harder. Not just this week either.’

Ronnie waved his mea culpa away.

‘Last night was the worst night of my life,’ Mark continued. ‘I thought I was about to lose you both.’

‘Both?’

‘Yes: Sophie and you. To be honest, I thought I’d already lost you.’

Ronnie felt tears prick the back of her eyes. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she said, hoping to avert the conversation altogether.

‘We’ve let things slide, haven’t we? Or maybe I should say I’ve let things slide. I know I haven’t been the best partner in the world. I should have made more effort to keep you happy. I was so wrapped up in my own unhappiness with the way that things were going with work. I went out every night because I couldn’t face seeing you looking so disappointed every time I got home. Getting so tired with the work and the kids. Stupid, isn’t it? I should have just tried to help you. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d run off with someone else. God knows there are enough men out there who fancy you.’

Ronnie blushed. She was glad it was dark.

‘I just tried to ignore what was happening. I did pretty much ignore what was happening until you started working again. I saw the way it boosted your confidence and the way men started to look at you. I knew then that I could lose you. I’d always taken you for granted. I even spoke to your mum about it.’

‘Did you?’

‘She did her best to reassure me, but she also suggested I pull my finger out.’

‘That sounds like Mum.’

‘So I bought you this. I was going to take you out to dinner – just you and me on our own, while your mum looked after the children – but last night’s events put the mockers on that.’

Ronnie stared at the little blue box Mark had pulled out of his pocket. It was unmistakeable. Tiffany.

‘How did …?’

‘I afford Tiffany? I didn’t. Cathy next door lent me the box. I thought it would be a laugh.’

‘Cathy lent you the box?’

‘Yeah. The charm bracelet her Tony gave her for her fortieth came in it, and she’s been breaking my balls about when I was going to ask you ever since. She got quite into helping me plan everything.’

‘Hence all the texts?’

‘Hence the texts.’

Mark opened the box to show Ronnie the contents. Sure enough, there was no Tiffany ring inside it; instead there was a cheery-looking plastic number with a luminous-pink rock the size of a boiled sweet. Ronnie was sure she recognised it as one of the prizes from last year’s Christmas crackers. He must have saved it. Mark plucked the ring out of the box and held it towards Ronnie’s finger.