Page 39

Chapter Thirty-Nine

P hilippa finally left the motorway and began to head towards Birmingham city centre. Sienna’s name lit up on the dashboard.

“Sienna, what can you see?” said Philippa, dreading the response.

“I can see a woman with red hair and a child, filling suitcases in the living room. They look like they’re going somewhere,” said Sienna.

“What?” said Philippa. “They’re still there?”

“Looks like it. What do you want me to do?” asked Sienna.

Philippa took an abrupt left turn, to head directly to Kings Heath. “Call Roderick. I’ll call Alex. We’ll meet you at the house.”

“What if they try and leave?” said Sienna.

“Well, you can’t stop them technically, but perhaps you could try and stall them somehow? Use your creativity.” Philippa wanted to be of more help than this, but it was the best she could do.

She hung up and dialled Alex. “Alex, she’s still at the house, but it looks like they’re leaving for the airport soon.”

“So it’s not too late,” said Alex, her voice thick with tears.

“Not yet,” said Philippa, “but we need to get there quickly. Sienna’s there, but there’s a limit to how much she can do.”

Alex’s voice was grim. “Ok, I’ll go straight to the house.”

Philippa leaned forward, willing her car to go faster. She had to stop this somehow. Ten minutes later she pulled up outside Jess’s house, where she could see a red-faced Jess remonstrating with Sienna.

“So sorry,” Sienna was saying to Jess. “I thought it was the taxi I’d booked and then didn’t need, so I told the driver to go. I had no idea it was yours.”

“We need to catch a flight urgently,” said Jess. “That taxi was taking us to the airport!”

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Look, let me pay for your taxi, I’ll get an Uber for you on my account now,” said Sienna, her performance befitting RADA. She pulled out her phone and looked for the Uber app.

Philippa could see Alex and Roderick walking up the street from the opposite end. Before long, they had all reached the bottom of Jess’s front path. Philippa could see Seren in the living room through the window.

“Jess,” said Alex, “what are you doing? The school said you were taking Seren to France.”

“Yes, I told you I was taking Seren there,” she said, looking around. “Who are all these people?”

“Good afternoon,” said Roderick offering his hand. “My name is Roderick Kent, and I am here to inform you that you do not have legal permission to take your child out of the country without written consent from my client, Ms Fletcher.”

Philippa made eye contact with Alex, who looked shaky and pale. Philippa nodded, to reassure her things would be ok.

“That’s total nonsense,” said Jess, although her voice gave way to doubt. “I’m the primary carer, therefore I can do what I think is best for my child.”

Philippa walked over to Alex and stood beside her. She wanted to take her hand, but at the same time she didn’t want to make the situation any more complicated than it already was.

“Actually,” said Roderick, “my client has full parental rights and can legitimately stop you from doing this. Now, if you want to have a conversation about where your child is educated and how my client can have more access to her, I can help facilitate that.” He looked hard at Jess, whose eyes had gone wide.

“But I would suggest you get yourself a solicitor pretty swiftly.”

Jess turned to Alex. “What the hell have you done?” she asked, raising her voice.

“Don’t shout at me,” said Alex. “Seren is watching all of this. I don’t want there to be a scene.”

“A scene? You’re the one who’s turned up mob-handed with all your solicitors on my doorstep,” said Jess. “And you were in on it too, weren’t you?” She looked towards Sienna, who was still pretending to book a cab. Sienna shrugged, but decided to put her phone down now the game was up.

“I’m protecting myself, and I’m protecting Seren,” said Alex evenly.

Philippa was impressed with how articulate and together Alex was managing to be.

“I’m happy to talk to you about what the future looks like, but you need to know that what you’ve been doing just isn’t right.

I need to be able to spend time with our child. Because that’s what she is. Ours.”

At that moment, Seren ran outside to greet Alex. “Mummy Alex, I missed you!” she said. Alex put her arms around her daughter and looked pleadingly at Jess.

“I cannot believe how manipulative you’re being,” whispered Jess.

“I think that’s enough,” said Alex, her voice low and calm.

“I agree,” said Roderick. “I would urge you to reread your letter. I will be in touch in the next few days with an appointment for mediation, where we can iron all of this out.”

“Well it’s pointless trying to get to the airport now, we’ve missed our flight anyway,” said Jess, holding her hands up.

“Can we go for milkshake?” asked Seren, looking up at Alex.

Alex looked across at Philippa, who gave another almost imperceptible nod. “Yes, darling,” said Alex. “Mummy Jess needs to unpack some things now that plans have changed a bit.”

Jess rolled her eyes and stomped back into the house. The door closed firmly, and Alex stood, hand in hand with her daughter, tears streaming down her face.

“Mummy, what’s wrong?” asked Seren, concern etched in her face.

“It’s ok, Seren, I’m just pleased to see you. It’s been a stressful day.” Alex wiped her eyes. “Let’s go and get that milkshake.”

The Vine was as busy as usual, and today, Philippa, Alex and Seren were joined by Roderick and Sienna. “I think we’ve all earned these,” said Philippa, looking around at their drinks. They’d all opted for milkshakes apart from Philippa, who had stuck to her favoured double espresso.

“You certainly have,” said Alex, looking around at Roderick and Sienna. “Thank you both for all you did. I really don’t think I can possibly tell you how grateful I am.”

“Not at all,” said Roderick, waving it off.

“It really was the least I could do,” said Sienna, with a sheepish smile.

Alex winked at her. “You’re probably right there.” She grinned.

Philippa smiled. A happy ending for Seren and Alex. Or at least, that was now more likely. They’d still need to go through the process with Jess, but she had been prevented from making disastrous and chaotic decisions that would have been hugely damaging for both Seren and Alex.

Alex looked around the table and abruptly stood up. “I’ll be back in a sec,” she said, before escaping out onto the High Street just outside the cafe bar. Philippa excused herself to follow.

“Are you ok?” she asked Alex, who was pacing up and down.

“Yes and no,” replied Alex with a smile. Her eyes were shining with more tears. “I’m beginning to think you’ve seen me cry more than pretty much anyone in the short time you’ve known me.”

“I have that effect on you, it would seem,” said Philippa, holding out her arms. Alex walked into them and let Philippa hold her.

“You have many effects on me,” said Alex. “I’m sorry, I was just a bit overwhelmed by everything. I thought I’d lost Seren. Really. It felt like I might never see my daughter again.” She sobbed into Philippa’s shoulder.

“I know,” said Philippa. “And I’d have felt the same way. But it’s ok. It’s all going to be ok.”

“I think that’s why I’m crying,” said Alex, pulling away and brushing her face with her hands. “Well, that’s part of it.”

“Say more,” said Philippa, desperate to do anything to make this woman happy, and aware that she was increasingly falling for her.

“I was thinking about that conversation we had yesterday, about my fear of committing and not wanting a relationship.”

Philippa’s heart flip-flopped. Was this it? Was she about to be dumped? She swallowed.

She had to do the right thing, for Alex and Seren. There was no point making it harder for all of them.

“I get it,” she said. “You’ll be wanting to focus on Seren, not on me. I totally understand if you want to walk away.” She fought the tears collecting in her own eyes and contemplated returning to her empty house after the last few days. It made her feel sadder than she wanted to admit.

“No,” said Alex. “That’s not it. What I wanted to say is that yes, I’m afraid, and I haven’t done this for a while. But the truth is, Phil, I really am falling in love with you.”

“You are?” said Philippa, her eyebrows hitting her hairline.

“Yes. I think I knew that from the moment you swooped in to save me from that oaf at the networking event,” said Alex. “Remember what I said about meeting you at that dinner with Gerry?”

Philippa nodded, not trusting herself to say anything for now.

“Well,” said Alex, “the reason it was so believable is that it was true. I wanted you from the moment I saw you.”

“And I you,” admitted Philippa. “And I fell in love with you ages ago.” Her heart soared as she looked into Alex’s glittering eyes and pulled her in for a passionate kiss.