The Way We Were_ A Novel - Marcia Willett [54]
She remembered her mother's words: ‘It can be dangerous’, and her own confident assertion that there was nothing to worry about, that she would never do anything to hurt Val. But what if Val insisted on hurting herself, damaging her relationship with Chris because of her obsessive need to control? The question was: how much effect was her, Liv's, presence having on the situation between Val and Chris? Did Chris depend too much on her support and approval when Val was being tiresome?
Liv banged the iron to and fro over the sheets and pillowcases, defending herself against the charge of taking sides. It was precisely because she hadn't wanted an unequal fight that she'd spoken to Val earlier, pointing out the dangers of her behaviour. Presently, piling the laundry into the big airing cupboard, slamming the doors, Liv decided to call it a day.
She went into the annexe, poured a glass of wine and sat down at her laptop. Andy's email was such a shock that she quite forgot Chris and Val and simply stared at the screen, rereading his message.
To: Liv
From: Andy
OK I might as well tell you before someone else does. Cat has come back into my life. I know! I know! But it's rather different now than when we were all kids. Anyway, she's fun and she sends her love. Says she'll look you up when she's down in Cornwall! Can we be adult about this? Please!
Liv was filled with a mixture of anger and dread. It was absolutely out of order that Andy should allow family loyalty to be elbowed aside for the beastly Cat and she wrote at once to tell him so.
To: Andy
From: Liv
I simply can't believe I'm reading this stuff. Right up to sixth form you utterly loathed her. We all did. She was always mean and spiteful and loved getting people into trouble at school. And remember what she did to Zack. You can't be that desperate, surely!
She took her glass and went to curl up on the sofa, feeling confused and miserable, yet a small part of her remained secretly elated by Chris's expression. As usual the panoramic view calmed her: the great curve of stormy green-black sea filled the whole of the horizon, its long curling breakers racing inshore to smash themselves into arcs of flying spray against the stony, unyielding cliffs. In the face of such elemental force, her problems and anxieties seemed puny.
Nevertheless, she went eagerly back to her laptop several times during the evening to check her emails but there was no other message from Andy.
1976
The thing that is the most difficult to get used to, once they've gone, is the silence in the house. There is no sound of the twins arguing over the Lego, Charlie's scribble-talk or Julia humming to her favourite Carly Simon album while she does the ironing; no plans made over breakfast; no voices singing along with Big Ted or the Wombles; no bedtime nursery rhymes.
The dogs follow Tiggy around, puzzled by the empty rooms but pleased by the extra walks they are getting.
‘It's something to do,’ Tiggy tells Aunt Em when she comes for lunch one day. ‘I miss them all dreadfully.’
‘Julia was worried about you being alone so soon after your grandmother's death. She feared that you'd have too much time to think.’
‘She's right. I'm not quite as good at being alone as I thought I'd be.’
‘There are an awful lot of hours to be got through,’ says Em. ‘I found from four in the afternoon till seven were the longest when Archie was at sea. But of course I had no children to keep me busy, though I sometimes worked part-time. I refused to do anything that might interfere with being at home when he was on leave. It restricted me but I did quite a lot of voluntary work.’
‘I miss teaching,’ Tiggy says. ‘I've begun to see that having some kind of structure to the day is important. Children give