Page 28 of The Mistake

‘Jesus Christ, Natalie.’ Eve chokes the words out, shaking her head as her face twists with an expression, something raw and broken, that Natalie has never witnessed on her before.

‘I’m Erin’s mother, Eve, not you. This ismyfamily, not yours.’ Aware that she is a little drunk, her anger forcing the acidic white wine straight to her head, Natalie grimaces some semblance of a smile at her other guests. ‘If you’ll excuse me.’ And she sweeps away towards the patio doors just as Erin takes up her screaming again. As she reaches the house, Natalie glances back to see Eve’s shocked face, one hand pressed to her mouth. At the other end of the garden Pete stands with Emily and Jake, completely unaware of his crying child and the events that have just taken place, and Natalie feels the swell of nausea in her belly. Making her way upstairs, she’s not sure if it’s resentment or regret, or just a horrible sense of foreboding, making her chest feel tight and her head feel heavy, but one thing she does know is that she can’t wait for this party to be over.

Pete

What the fuck is she doing here?Pete steps down from the garden chair, intent on finding Vanessa and telling her to get the hell out of his house, when he catches sight of Emily and Jake standing together at the end of the garden. Pete pauses, his gut telling him something feels off, when Emily swipes at her cheeks, her head bent low as Jake stands over her, his arms folded across his body. It’s clear from the way he’s standing that Jake isn’t happy about something, and Pete feels a surge of something hot and spiky at the way Emily seems to cower before him.

‘Em?’ Thoughts of Vanessa forgotten, Pete crosses the garden in what feels like a few steps, coming to stand in front of his teenage daughter. ‘Are you all right?’ Pete wishes he hadn’t made that speech now, regretted it the moment he saw her face fill with colour, but what can he say? He’s fucking proud of her. They both are – him and Natalie.

‘I’m fine, Dad.’ But Emily turns her face away as she sniffs delicately, and Pete knows instinctively that she’s not OK. He turns, searching the garden for Natalie, hoping she’ll catch his eye and come over and deal with whatever this is, but there’s no sign of her. No sign of Erin, either.

‘Emily, I can see you’re not all right. You’re crying, for God’s sake.’ Pete turns to Jake, who stands there toeing the grass, a mutinous look on his face. ‘Do you want to tell me what’s goingon?’

‘Me?’ Jake looks up, and there is a flash of anger on his features as his brows draw together and his lip curls. ‘Sure, Pete. I’ll tell you what’s going on.’

‘Jake, please …’ Emily puts out a hand, and Jake shrugs her off, batting her hand away with more force than is necessary.

‘No, Em, I’ll tell your dad what the problem is.’ He turns to Pete, his eyes narrowing. ‘Great speech, Pete. Really brilliant. The only problem is, I thought Em wasn’t going to university.’

Oh. Pete doesn’t know what to say; he’s still trying to process the way Jake knocked Emily’s hand away. ‘Well, Jake, I don’t know why you’d think that. You knew she was looking at universities. You offered to take her to the open day at Durham, for goodness’ sake! And to be honest, it’s not really anything to do with you, it’s Emily’s decision—’

‘Emily told me she wasn’t going to university,’ Jake says, as Emily covers her face with her hands, a fresh sob erupting. ‘She told me she was going to look for a full-time job. Isn’t that right,Em?’

Emily looks up, her eyes wet. ‘I just said I might, that’s all. I never said I was definitely going to stay home and get a job.’

Jake shakes his head, a white-hot rage shimmering around him. ‘Don’t lie, Em, just because your dad is around. You told me you were going to get a job, and then once we’d saved up we could look at getting a flat.’ He looks at Pete. ‘She did. That’s what she said, all those times we’ve been looking after Erin together.’

Pete glances at Emily, who looks away, not wanting to meet his eyes. ‘Em?’

‘We talked about getting a flat, and then maybe once we were settled, getting married and having our own baby, and now …’ Jake breaks off and Pete realises that all those times that Jake and Emily took Erin for a walk in the pram around the park, Jake saw it as a glimpse into a life he could have. A chance at the kind of family he’d never had and, deep down, desperately wanted. Pete feels ill at the thought of it – of Emily settling down with a baby, the way he and Natalie did. She’s hardly more than a babyherself.

‘Ha.’ The word slips out of Pete’s mouth, a harsh bark of laughter, as Jake’s mouth twists. ‘Sorry, Jake,’ Pete says, ‘but are you serious? Emily, are you listening to this?’

‘Dad, please don’t get involved.’

‘Of course I’m going to get involved, Em. He’s making you cry at your own party.’ All the resentment and anger Pete feels for Vanessa bubbles up, with Jake the new target. ‘I’m sorry, Jake, but why on earth would Emily want to settle down and have a baby at her age? She’s just achieved three A stars at A level – she’s been offered a place at Durham, for Christ’s sake. The world is her oyster, so why in thename of Godwould she throw that away?’ Pete can hear his own voice rising, knows people will be turning to look at him, but he can’t help it, he’s just sofurious.

‘Dad, please. Jake, I think you need to go. We can talk about it later.’ Emily is sobbing properly now, her chest hitching and the sight of it – of his firstborn crying her heart out over this absoluteloser– fans the flames of Pete’s fury. He reaches out and grasps Jake by the arm, tugging him towards the patio doors.

‘Get off me, man.’ Jake wrenches his arm away, his rage still smouldering. ‘She led me on – she made me think there was a future with her when all along she was just going to leave.’

‘No, Jake.’ Emily’s tears take a breather and she gives him a hard look, one that reminds Pete of Natalie when she’s convinced she’s right about something. Emily might look like Pete, but she has her mother’s grit. ‘That’s not fair – I never said I would definitely stay. We talked about it, but it was never set in stone. I think maybe you should go.’

Pete takes a tighter grip of Jake’s arm, not letting him shrug him off this time. ‘You heard her, let’s go.’

‘Wait. Emily, please, let’s just talk about this.’ Jake’s voice becomes a whine, as several of the party guests turn to stare. There is still no sign of Natalie, but Stu catches Pete’s eye and steps forward, ready to help out. Pete shakes his head gently,and marches Jake towards the house, leaving Emily standing in the garden, her face blotchy with tears. ‘Emily, just talk to me! Please, tell him to let me stay. I love you, and I don’t want things to end like this.’

Emily turns away, her shoulders rounded, and Pete frogmarches Jake into the house, aware of the eyes that follow.

‘Time to go, buddy.’ Jake is still resistant, and Pete feels his blood boil up again.Who does this little prick think he is?‘You need to leave, all right? Emily doesn’t want you here – she’s made that pretty clear – and after the show you’ve just put on out there, I don’t blame her. You don’t belong here, Jake, OK? This party is for Emily and her family and friends.’

Part of Pete knows that telling Jake he doesn’t belong will rile the lad even further, but even so, he’s not prepared for the way Jake wrenches himself free and pushes his face into Pete’s, his hands reaching up to Pete’s chest and giving him a small shove. ‘You think I don’tbelonghere?’ Jake’s voice is low and full of menace, and Pete can smell the beer on his breath as he presses his face in Pete’s. ‘Fucking hell, I always knew you were snobs, you Maxwells, but this takes the cake. Do you have any idea how miserable Emily has been lately? Trying to juggle school and exams with looking after Erin, because you and Natalie can’t seem to do it yourselves? Neither of you evenseeEmily any more, do you?’ Jake shakes his head, his fists clenched. ‘I’m the only one who’s been able to make her happy, and now she’s lied to me because ofyou, but because I don’t have a degree, I’m the one who’s at fault?’

‘Jake, mate.’ Pete takes a step back, holding up a hand in a peace gesture, not wanting to admit that his heart is pounding a little harder than it should be. ‘Calm down.’

‘Calm down? Fuck off,mate. You think just because I work in a pub and I was raised by a single mum, I’m not good enough for your daughter?’

A hush has descended now on the party, the air filling with a thick silence as the song on the Spotify playlist draws to a close, and all eyes are on Jake and Pete in the hallway.

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