Page 26 of You Lied First

‘W hat was that about?’ I ask Celine after Margot stalks off. ‘She seems upset?’

Celine shakes her head. ‘She’s supersensitive sometimes. Doesn’t want to hear the truth. It’s nothing.’

I don’t want to pry so I just say, ‘Are you two good? Or do you need me to mediate?’

Celine laughs. ‘Don’t waste your energy. She’ll get over it.’

We sit with our drinks as the light starts to turn from orange to a hazy apricot. The sun grows larger and redder as it slips slowly downwards and then, eventually, the kids reappear on the quad bike, looking windswept and sandy. They get off and Guy climbs on.

‘Shotgun! Or whatever you call it!’ Celine shouts and jumps on behind him, throwing her arms around Guy’s waist. I steal a look at Margot but her back is turned as she’s fixing something on the table.

‘Do you want a go, Margot?’ I call over to her.

‘Later!’

‘Oh my God, Mum, that was so much fun!’ Liv says. Her face is radiant with excitement. ‘Can we go quad-biking back home?’

‘What, to Tesco?’ I say.

Liv tuts. ‘I’m sure they have places in the country where you can ride on tracks. I bet there’s one near us.’

‘I’ll look into it,’ I say. And I will, because Liv’s happiness is my priority. Every weekend she spends with me, we try to do something special. Quality over quantity, that’s what I tell myself. It’s the only way I’ve been able to get through her living with Michael and Nancy.

I step closer and drop my voice so Margot won’t hear.

‘So, err … how am I doing? With the Forrests, I mean. I’m not embarrassing you or anything?’

‘No! You’re doing really well.’

‘Really?’

‘I mean – yeah! And Guy’s so impressed with Sara Says .’

‘That was cool, wasn’t it?’

‘Cold. Oh, and I meant to say, I had a message from Sophie.’

‘Sophie, as in …?’

‘Yeah, Sophie from school. Look.’

Liv opens her phone and navigates to a message, which she shoves in front of my face. I squint and push the phone away, the black letters a blur at such close range. Sophie is a friend of Liv’s, who came to me as a client for some help dealing with her parents’ acrimonious divorce.

‘What did she say?’

‘Oh my God, she thinks you’re amazing. You’ve really helped her. She was saying that the techniques you taught her have been so useful.’

‘That’s so good to hear. Thank you.’ I beam at her.

‘It makes me feel really proud. Everyone’s jealous that I have such a cool mum.’ She winds her arm around my waist and rests her head against mine. My arms snake around her, too. ‘I’m sorry,’ she says.

‘For what?’

‘For being so awful when all “that” happened. For moving out.’

There’s a lump in my throat. These are words I’ve waited to hear for so long. I thought I never would.

‘It’s okay,’ I lie. ‘All that matters is that we’re in a good place now. And that we’re here together, having fun. Okay? It’s all water under the bridge. Gone.’

‘Aww,’ Liv says. ‘I’m so glad you came. It’s the best holiday ever, isn’t it?’

I bask in the glow of Liv’s pleasure, hoping that Margot glances over and sees us standing there with our arms around each other. I’ve been feeling a little jealous of her closeness with Flynn and I want her to see that I have it with Liv, too.

Liv drops her arm and nods towards the dunes where we can just about make out the quad bike zipping around. It looks like Guy and Celine are doing doughnuts. ‘You seem to be getting on really well with her .’

‘She’s nice,’ I say.

‘You sure about that?’

‘Yeah? I mean, she’s been really lovely to me.’

‘Flynn says she’s a fake friend. He says you should be careful. She’s a snake.’

‘No! She …’

‘I’m just telling you what he said, that’s all. He really doesn’t like her.’

‘I thought they got on really well?’

We have no chance to continue the conversation because Celine and Guy are suddenly back, flushed and full of laughter. Celine dismounts, and Guy turns his attention to me.

‘Hop on!’

‘Oh, no,’ I say. ‘Not me. I’m cooking.’ I’m nowhere near the barbecue.

‘I’m sure Margot can spare you,’ Guys says, hiding a smile. ‘Just there and back. No tricks, I promise I’ll go slow. Best way to face your fears is to … face them.’

‘You may as well, while you’re here,’ Margot says.

‘Go on, Mum!’ Liv says, ‘You’ll love it.’ I can see how badly she wants me to join in with everyone else and not be the boring mum, so, reluctantly, I straddle the quad bike behind Guy.

‘Hold on tight,’ he says, so I slide my arms loosely around his waist.

‘Tighter,’ he says. ‘I’m not being funny. I can’t have you falling off the back.’

I tighten my arms and peer over his shoulder as he moves the quad bike away from the camp.

‘You okay?’ he asks.

‘So far, so good.’

‘Shall I floor it?’

‘Nothing crazy, okay? We have children!’

Guy laughs and opens the throttle gently, easing us away from the camp.

‘You okay to go a bit faster?’ he asks.

He sends the bike leaping forward, which forces me to cling on to him even tighter.

I shriek, and the rest of the ride’s a blur of sand as we crest dunes and plunge down them again.

Sand in my hair? It’s everywhere; I can even feel the crunch of it in my mouth.

Back at the camp, I dismount with shaking legs and grab my drink, glad it’s over.

‘Margot?’ Guy asks, revving the bike suggestively. ‘Your turn?’

‘No, thanks,’ she says, so Guy gets off and Flynn climbs back on.

‘Livvie?’ he asks.

She stops gulping water to shake her head. ‘I’m good.’

Flynn’s about to drive off when Celine yells, ‘I’ll come!

’ and climbs on behind him, slinking her arms around his waist. I see Flynn roll his eyes at Liv.

They roar off and then, with the ever-changing colours in the darkening sky and the birds wheeling, silhouetted, across my view of the sinking sun, the accident I’ve been picturing since I first set eyes on the quad bike actually happens.

I mean, come on. We’re town dwellers from England, with a good few drinks inside us, on a powerful quad bike, at dusk in an unfamiliar desert. What would any sensible person say? What the hell were you thinking, you absolute muppets? How was that ever going to end well?