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7

It was irrational how much two words could play on Holly’s mind. For the entire weekend and the following week, they dominated her thoughts. No matter how hard she tried to forget about them.Aunty Sienna.Sometimes, she would ruminate on them properly. It was clearly the medication that had caused Giles to say such a thing. Confusion caused by the pain he was in. That was the conclusion she would always come to in such moments, but at other times, she was preoccupied with something entirely different – work, Hope, driving – and Giles’s voice would echo in her ear again. The two words would resonate around in Holly’s head and refuse to shift, regardless of how much she had to get on with.

He’d never designated any of his other girlfriends ‘Aunty’ before. Was it a sign? Were things perhaps more serious between him and Sienna than she had realised? Every time the thought arose, she would battle to quash it. Of course that wasn’t the case. They were only a few months in. Even when he and Joanna had passed the year mark, Hope and the other children still called her JoJo. It was the painkillers. She was sure. After all, she had spoken to him several times during the week and he hadn’t even mentioned her in those conversations.

As Friday rolled around, Holly finally made peace with the slip of the tongue, although she was still terrified Jamie was going to hold her to her word and make her sit next to Sienna for the meal. Fingers crossed, Sienna had been called away for one of her fancy charity functions that she constantly name-dropped about. While Holly wasn’t exactly sure what Sienna’s role involved, she knew it was a lot more fancy – and substantially better paid – than your standard volunteering job.

‘Right, you are not allowed to stay up past eight thirty, do you hear me?’ Holly said as she slipped on her dress. ‘And you need to stop playing games at seven as well. Tim and Izzy are in charge and they’re going to put a film on for you guys to watch. You need to listen to them. If they tell you to do something, you do it. Without fuss. They’re in charge. Hope, are you listening? Put that down, please. What did I just say?’

‘You said Tim and Izzy are in charge and I have to do what they say.’

‘And you’re not allowed to stay up late, either. Remember?’

‘I know,’ Hope said with a groan.

Holly knew what a great kid Hope was, but she also knew how much mischief she could get into when she was with her friends, so a little reminder never hurt.

‘Just be sensible, that’s all I’m asking. You know how much the twins look up to you. Randall too. I want you to set a good example.’

‘I will. I promise. If anyone misbehaves, I will sort it out.’

‘You mean you’ll let Tim and Izzy sort it out?’ Holly corrected.

‘Exactly. Yes, of course that’s what I meant.’

With a light chuckle, Holly planted a kiss on the top of her daughter’s head.

Hope was only in Year Three but had already been voted class counsellor twice. It was probably because of her extreme organisation and willingness to get stuck into any situation, but Holly also wondered how much Hope had coerced her classmates into voting for her. While both Holly and Ben were people pleasers who hated to cause any form of discord or upset, Hope was bold and fearless, and went into every situation ready to give it her all. Regardless of what else was going on around her. It was a confidence that Holly admired greatly, although she sometimes wished Hope would rein it in a little at home.

When Holly was dressed, she headed next door to find Jamie giving her boys the same talk. There was no doubt that every child knew exactly what their parents’ expectations were. Whether they stuck to them would be another matter entirely.

‘Did you see the necklace Fin got me for our anniversary?’ Jamie said, as they walked down into the village. ‘He made it himself, obviously.’

‘Obviously.’ Holly laughed. She had long since learned that there wasn’t anything Fin couldn’t do if he put his mind to it. Apparently, that now included ironwork.

‘I feel bad. I just got him a card. He said we shouldn’t worry about presents this year.’

‘He says that every year,’ Holly reminded her. ‘And then he always gets you something.’

‘I know,’ Jamie said with a groan. ‘But I’m not going to fall for it again. I’ve already looked it up. It’s copper. I have a full year to source the best copper cooking pans I can.’

‘Nothing like being prepared.’

‘Of course, I’ll probably have a couple too many drinks tonight and forget about it entirely, so you’re going to have to remind me.’

‘Deal.’ Holly laughed.

‘What are you talking about?’ Fin said as he came jogging up behind them. ‘Not me, I take it?’

‘As if we’d ever talk about you,’ Jamie said, reaching up and pecking him on the cheek.

As far as relationship role models went, Holly knew she couldn’t do much better than her friends. There were no concerns about their relationship. No worries, no uncertainties. Jamie could start preparing Fin’s anniversary present a year in advance because she knew, without a doubt, they would still be together. It was the same for Michael and Caroline, and Ben and Georgia too. It was the same way for her parents and for those brief but wonderful years, how she and Evan had been. But would she ever feel that way again? The older she got, the less likely it felt.

All her friends had spoken to her more than once about moving on. About at least thinking about dating again, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t risk losing anybody else. Besides, she had all the company and support she could ever hope for. Why would she ever need anybody more?

8

Each year, they went to the same restaurant to celebrate Jamie and Fin’s anniversary. It was the one in the centre of the village, where he had celebrated her birthday by hanging hundreds of paper cranes from the ceiling. It was obviously a place with great sentimental meaning for Fin, although for Holly, it was the place where Michael had let slip to everybody that she was pregnant with Ben’s baby. At the time, it hadn’t felt like good news at all, considering the pair of them had just split up. But now she found something comforting about coming back at the same time every year and seeing how different her life was from how she thought it was going to end up all those years ago.