‘Una?’ I queried.
‘My boyfriend, Liam’s late wife,’ Josie told me. ‘Alex also had an affair with her. It’s a long story, so we won’t go into that right now. Not until we’ve beaten some sense into my stupid sister, that is. I can’t believe you’re even giving this a moment’s consideration, Di. The man cheated on you for years. Do you honestly believe that just because his mum is dead, he’s completely changed overnight?’
Diana raised her head and stuck out her chin. ‘Actually, I do. You’ve hardly spoken to him other than to give him your condolences, but if you did you’d see he’s not the man he was. He’s deleted a whole list of women’s names from his phone. He did that in front of me so I know it’s true. And he’s added that ‘trace my phone app’ to his and my phones so that I can see exactly where he is, and if he calls and tells me he’s working late, I’ll be able to see if he’s actually at the hospital.’
‘He could get another phone and leave his there,’ Josie said. ‘And deleting a list of women doesn’t mean he hasn’t got their numbers elsewhere. Or that he won’t start a new list. I’m sorry but I just don’t trust him.’
‘I know,’ Diana said. ‘But I told you in the summer that I’d always loved him beyond all reason. I thought I’d broken the hold he had on my heart, but I haven’t. This week I’ve realised that I still love him beyond all reason. I do love Mikkel too, so this is really hard. But I’ve thought about it a lot this week and I love Alex more. I need to give him another chance. I need to do this for me and for the kids. I want him back. But more importantly, I honestly believe he wants me. And in a way that I don’t think he ever really had before. Me telling him to get lost this summer was a real wake-up call for him. Bernice’s death has made him realise that we can lose those we love in the blink of an eye. It’s made him realise what and who he truly wants. And he wants me, Josie. He really does. I don’t expect you to agree with this decision but I know that you and Elsie love me and that you’ll support me if this is truly what I want. And it is. It definitely is.’
Josie held her gaze and then glanced at Elsie and at me and she shook her head and sighed.
Elsie stepped forward and took Diana’s hands in hers.
‘I can’t say I agree, but if you want to be with Alex, then of course I’ll support you and help in any way I can. Just remember that you’re a powerful, beautiful woman, Diana, who can be in control of her own life. Don’t let Alex, or anyone else, ever take that away from you again.’
‘I won’t. Alex knows that if he ever cheats on me again that really will be it and he’ll never have another chance, no matter what.’
Josie let out another heavy sigh before smiling at her sister. ‘You’re mad. But then you’ve always known that. Of course, I’ll support you if this is your choice. But be careful, Di. And this time I’m not stepping in when you tell Mum and Dad.’
‘Oh God. I’m not looking forward to that. I might get Alex to do it.’ She grinned. ‘Sorry about this, Lottie. You must be feeling a bit left out. I should’ve kept it to myself once I saw you were here, but I couldn’t. I needed to tell my sister and my aunt before I tell Mikkel. And I’ve got to tell Mikkel today. I can’t postpone it, unfortunately.’
‘I don’t envy you that conversation,’ I said. ‘My boyfriend just dumped me and I have to admit, I didn’t take it well. In fact, I behaved rather badly.’
Why on earth had I just told them that? I hadn’t meant to. And why were tears pricking at my eyes? Surely I’d cried enough already, hadn’t I?
‘Oh, sweetheart,’ Elsie said, and to my astonishment she dashed to me and pulled me into her arms. ‘Why didn’t you say something earlier?’
And then Josie and Diana came and joined in the hug and I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. Even Merry nuzzled her way in between us.
I didn’t cry for long and it was a truly weird moment but one that filled me with hope and a sort of strength. I felt as if I were a part of this family. Diana and Josie had shared some intimate details of their lives with a complete stranger, and I had shared some of mine with them.
Isn’t that what families did?
This Christmas might not be as bad as I’d expected.
‘Why don’t we have some more hot chocolate?’ Elsie suggested, as the four of us and Merry, eased apart. ‘Then we’ll snuggle up on the sofas and you can tell us all about it. But only if you want to, that is.’
And that’s exactly what we did.
Christmas was looking more promising by the minute and with the prospect of the carol concert and the Meet and Mingle Jingle tomorrow night, it might be even better than I’d ever imagined it could be.
Ten
By the time I’d told them what had happened with Clark and me, explained why I no longer had a job, and filled them in on the various mistakes I’d made regarding my living arrangements, it was almost 12 and Diana said that now we could all go for lunch.
‘Don’t you think you should tell Mikkel that you’re breaking up with him and going back with Alex?’ Josie asked.
‘I’ll do that after lunch. I promise. I think I need some wine before I face that awful task.’
Josie frowned at her. ‘You’ve had two of Elsie’s hot chocolates. There were at least two measures of brandy in each of those. If you add wine to the mix you’ll be too drunk to say anything sensible.’
‘Just one glass of wine,’ Diana pleaded. ‘And I’m hungry, so I need to eat first or my tummy will be growling at him the whole time I’m telling him.’
‘What? The three mince pies you’ve eaten weren’t enough?’
Diana tutted. ‘Sometimes you can be such a grouch.’
‘And sometimes you can be very selfish, Di. Mikkel loves you. He needs to know that it’s over between you two, sooner rather than later. It’s not fair to him to delay this. And what if Alex says something to someone and Mikkel finds out that way? He’ll be devastated.’
Diana sighed. ‘Alex has hardly been outside the house since Bernice’s passing. But you’re right. I know you are. There’s always a chance someone might call round to see him, or telephone to ask if there’s anything they can do. It’s surprising how kind everyone has been, especially as we all know Bernice wasn’t exactly popular. I just … I don’t know what to say to Mikkel or how to break the news as kindly as possible. I really don’t want to hurt him.’
‘Diana,’ Elsie said, with a hint of exasperation, ‘Josie is right. You are being selfish. We all know this is difficult but sometimes we need to be cruel to be kind. No amount of alcohol is going to make this easier. Put on your big girl pants and go and tell Mikkel it’s over.’
‘This is just a suggestion,’ I said, ‘but we could meet for lunch after you’ve told him. That way you’ll be able to ‘drown your sorrows’, as the saying goes. Unless Josie and Elsie have other plans.’
‘That’s an excellent idea,’ Josie said.