Karen Aldous - One Moment At Sunrise

Back home, Evie lowered Charlotte gently down in her cot for her nap and swiped a warm kiss on her daughter’s pink cheek. She covered her with a light cotton sheet then, yawning, opened a window to let in the breeze and slumped into what she affectionately named the nursing chair. She slid her legs onto the footstall. It always reminded her of an old person’s chair, high-backed with wings but comfy nonetheless. Intent on just watching her infant, within seconds her eyes drooped. The cage – as she’d aptly named the house, even before Seb installed metal bars at the numerous blue-shuttered windows – for once felt refreshingly welcome, although it still never felt like home. It lacked that family vibe. In the early days here, Evie had imagined they would be more like a family by now, spending more time together, but it became less. She’d also hoped that her family would have accepted Seb by now, but that divide was wide enough to require a suspension bridge to cross it. She rarely imagined this beautiful villa as a refuge, but after today’s events she felt overwhelmingly grateful to be here safe, and with Charlotte out of danger. But then fear whipped its tail in her face. What if she had been killed, who would look after Charlotte?

Seb was the natural candidate but often so far from home. She decided she would have to discuss an emergency strategy with him and ensure somebody had Seb’s contact details. Seb led a parallel existence touring the world, singing and partying, it was likely he would probably hire some inadequate nanny. She shivered at the idea. But who else? Even if she hadn’t been killed, she could have been seriously injured, which could mean Seb would leave her with a nurse. She wondered if he would even bother to contact her family. Apart from a highly stressful visit on Charlotte’s first birthday, her parents and sister had all but disowned her because they found him vile. Maybe they had been right about Seb all along. Maybe he was just keeping her sweet. No, Seb did care. He was just busy. Vulnerability crawled into her skin. She would have to have some sort of emergency strategy, just in case. Maybe Suzanne was best placed to deal with any emergencies close to home.

Chapter 3

Evie must have dozed off because the next thing she knew she was being woken by her phone buzzing. She reached for her rucksack, snatched her phone from the pocket and dashed to the landing expecting it to be Seb, ringing up and apologising for this morning. She pressed the button and made her way down the stairs.

‘Hello,’ she said in a cheerless tone.’

‘Evie, how are you, and Charlotte?’ Cally’s voice blasted into her ear.

Mirroring the upbeat sound, she said. ‘Erm, very well, thank you. This is a surprise Cally. Unusual to hear from my big sister.’ Evie couldn’t believe the lively pitch of her own voice. Cally and she weren’t at all close. Quite the opposite in fact. There must be something wrong, she concluded. Something has happened to make her call.

‘That’s so lovely to hear. I’ve been meaning to call you for about a month,’ her sister continued. ‘It’s been chaotic. I wondered if you’d mind me coming over to see you both. And of course, it’s Charlotte’s second birthday next week.’

Evie felt her heart swell. At least she remembered. ‘Well,’ she coughed, still swallowing the surprise, ‘we haven’t seen you for such a long time. Yes. It would be nice to see you again.’

Cally took a paused breath. ‘Are you sure? Only I know I’ve been a bit harsh on you.’

A tinge of suspicion rose in Evie’s chest. She licked her lips. ‘Cally, nothing’s changed but I’d like to think we’ve both grown into adults who are capable of respecting how we each lead our lives. If you are just coming to judge and labour my past decisions, then don’t bother. I don’t want you here just to…’

‘Evie, I thought we could try to get along, even be friends. And, yes, I do have my reasons, I have to confess; I am worried about Mum’s health.’

‘They’re ok though, aren’t they? Mum and Dad?’

‘To be honest, Mum sounded pretty bad on the phone last night and it shook me a bit.’

‘Her asthma you mean?’

‘Exactly. I thought the whole idea of living in Florida was to improve her asthma but maybe she had a cold or something, she was rasping heavily.’

Evie felt the lump rise in her throat. ‘Oh God, she’s not going to die is she?’

‘No. Well, I hope not. I did get a bit scared. And, it sounds selfish considering I haven’t been the best sister, but I felt in need of support.’

Holding her head, Evie was tempted to blurt out that, like their parents, Cally had never offered her support since Evie had been in France… but she held her tongue. ‘No. You are right to ring me. I should ring them, and share the responsibility.’

‘Well, I’ve been going through some… let’s just say I’ve been thinking about us a lot lately, and I really feel we need to patch things up. I’ve come to realise life is too short and I need to make some changes. If you’ll let me?’

Evie’s chin jutted towards the ceiling. This was so out of the blue. Her sister had all but disowned her in the past, when she had virtually begged her for help when she was pregnant. Cally had sided with their parents, in the same vein, denying her even an ounce of support or understanding. ‘Perhaps we should both try to make amends. That is if you can overcome being ashamed of me.’

‘I’ve never been ashamed of you, Evie. Jesus, I didn’t know you thought that. No, like Mum and Dad, I thought you made some bad choices. One very bad one, but you and Seb have obviously proved us wrong. I regret saying that now though and… well, I really miss my family. And I promise I will be polite to Seb.’

A silence sliced the air as Evie collected her thoughts and wiped her cheek.

‘Well let’s not run up your phone bill – yes, come. I’ll bake a lovely cake. Charlotte would love it too. She may not remember you but she loves company. We will look forward to you coming.’

Cally sniffed a few times and replied. ‘Thank you Evie. I’m sorry it’s been so long and, I know, it’s tragic. She’ll forget she has an auntie. I’m so sorry, I’ve been so busy.’

‘Oh, don’t, it’s ok. I presume you’re still clubbing in Majorca?’

‘DJ’ing, yes. God, I’m so tired all the time but I’m taking a few days off so, if that’s ok, I’ll come next Tuesday about lunchtime, then stay till’ Thursday morning. Will Seb mind?’

‘He’s away but I’ll look forward to it. See you Tuesday.’

‘Ok. I’ve got the flights in front of me and I’m booking them now. See you next week.’

Her hands shaking, Evie pressed the finish button and stared down at the device, her heart confused but at the same time brimming with tenderness. Her sister cared enough to call and was really coming to see her. Ok, she had reasons, but neither she nor her parents had instigated it – which meant Cally had actually thought about them both, and remembered Charlotte’s birthday. As sisters they’d never really got on. Cally being the elder, by three years, typically she’d resented Evie being around her, especially when with her friends. She had regularly mocked Evie for being so stupid. Evie believed it until she excelled at her English composition, the polar end of her sister’s talent scale. The maths genius of the family. Cally was the straight-A student who must have swallowed a calculator because she just seemed to shoot figures out of her head and topped her crown with a first at uni.

Their parents, Jill and Steve, despaired of course when Cally announced she was off to Europe DJ’ing. Then, after hearing that Evie had got herself pregnant, they must have abandoned all hope for their girls. Evie sighed, reflecting momentarily on that particularly ugly episode of her past – aware that her mother couldn’t face the village gossip, or listening to how successful the other children had become. Evie couldn’t wait to wake up Charlotte and tell her the good news. What a day! She dashed up the stairs two at a time, feeling on top of the world for once. From near death to meeting a handsome stranger, and now Cally was visiting!