Page 45 of One Moment in Time
Zara sighed. This was not the time to be leaving your specs, your phone or your copy ofLandscapers Weeklyon a table in a restaurant in the bloody Bellagio. All she wanted to do was to get them all out of there, so they could go back to their hotel, climb into their comfy clothes, and spend the next few hours day drinking while finding out every single detail of what had happened here three decades ago.
Her dad passed them on his way back to the table, and as Zara turned to see what he’d forgotten, she saw Aiden, his mum and dad all rise from the table, clearly getting ready to leave, his dad clutching his credit card as he waited for the bill.
Zara, Millie and their mum kept an eye on Dad, just to make sure that he didn’t get into any sort of further discussion with his old friend. He didn’t. Instead, he walked right up to Gary Gregg, stretched up slightly on to the balls of his feet, and swung a right hook that would have taken down a tree.
‘I’ve been waiting to do that for thirty years,’ Colin told him, as Gary Gregg staggered and fell back down onto the seat he’d just left, clutching that admirable jawline.
Beside Zara, her mum gasped, while Millie let out a hoot of hilarity. ‘Who invited Lennox Lewis to the party?’
Their dad didn’t hear either of their reactions. Across at the other side of the room, he simply turned on the heel of his left loafer, spun round and marched back towards them, leaving a visibly stunned Gary clutching his face.
‘You okay, Dad?’ she asked, when he reached her.
‘Fine, thank you, Zara. Now let’s get out of here and get back to the room please.’
‘Sore hand?’ she asked, spotting the problem immediately.
‘So bad I want to cry. Now, let’s keep moving so I can get this in ice before it starts to swell.’
He strutted right past them, leaving the three women in the family going like speed walkers to keep up with him.
Zara didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She’d never been prouder of her parents. She’d never been more shocked by her father.
And she’d never been more concerned that she might not have enough bail money to keep her holiday companions out of a foreign jail.
23
BRENDA
Flanked by her daughters, and rushing to keep up with her husband, Brenda had walked back across to their own hotel, taken the elevator up to their floor, and made it to their room, all with considerable calm… right up until they got into the privacy of their own space, when her body shot a cannon of adrenaline around her bloodstream and she couldn’t stop the trembling in her hands, her arms, her whole body.
Brenda had checked out Colin’s hand in the lift, and she was fairly sure nothing was broken. She’d suggested going to A&E for an X-ray, just to be on the safe side, but he’d refused, saying it felt fine.
In the end, Zara went to help her dad sort out ice for his hand, while Millie came to the room with her, ostensibly to provide moral support, but more because Millie had the practical skills of a floor lamp, and at the first challenge, she’d abandon the ice for Colin’s hand and just pop a few cubes in a gin and tonic instead.
These were all the thoughts that were going through Brenda’s mind, while she somehow managed to get her shift dress off and pull on her comfy red cotton yoga pants and matching T-shirt – staples in her wardrobe despite the fact that Colin’s tightness had put her right off actually going to yoga.
Millie had poured her a glass of wine from the minibar, and if Brenda ever needed it, it was right now. It was hard to say what had shaken her more: coming face to face with Gary Gregg or meeting Eileen again after all these years. She still wasn’t sure that had really happened. Gary and Eileen. Even saying their names in her mind made her heart race and her stomach twist. She’d loved them both – more than she’d ever loved anyone else except her girls. Maybe even more than she’d ever loved Colin. Although, of course, the only person she would admit that to was herself.
She was mulling that over when there was a knock at the door and Millie opened it to let Zara in, face pale and an unopened bottle of wine in hand. ‘I brought reinforcements,’ she said, holding it up. ‘Figured we might need this.’
‘Sometimes I think we have nothing in common and then you bring vino,’ Millie quipped, taking the bottle and putting it in the fridge, then pouring a glass from the open Prosecco for her sister.
‘How is your dad?’ Brenda asked, feeling guilty that she hadn’t gone with Colin to take care of him, instead of letting Zara do it.
‘All sorted. I got him the ice and he’s taken it next door to our room. I went with him, but he says he wants to just take a minute to think things through, while he sorts out his hand. I think he’s in shock. I’ll go back in and check on him in a wee while and just make sure he’s okay. Do you want to talk about what just happened, Mum? I’m so sorry,’ Zara apologised yet again and Brenda’s heart went out to her. She’d meant well. In fact, under different history and circumstances, Brenda could see that this would have been an incredible surprise.
‘Zara, please don’t apologise. I can totally understand how you thought this would be wonderful. And it would have been, only… well… you heard. Can you give me a minute before we talk about it anymore though? I just need the shaking to stop.’
Zara reached over and hugged her, while Millie went for changing the subject.
‘Did you call Kev while you were next door too?’ Millie asked, attempting to adopt her most innocent expression. It was a waste of time. Millie hadn’t looked innocent in at least a decade.
‘Yeah, I did…’ Zara answered, and Brenda heard the twinge of emotion in her voice.
Millie, not usually particularly perceptive on matters of the heart – especially after a drink or four – heard it too. ‘But?’ she challenged her sister.
Zara immediately went on the defensive. ‘But nothing.’
