"So, where are we going from here?"
He shrugs. "I feel like you don’t love me
anymore."
"Well, when we start talking like this… I start to
doubt it as well."
"So, what are we doing here, Mac?"
"I don’t know."
"I love you, Mackenzie, but we both know this isn’t
working out, don’t we?"
I nod. "It shouldn’t be this hard."
"No, it shouldn’t."
"I’ll go," I say, getting up from where I’ve been
perched on the sofa. "I’ll get some things and go back to Mum’s."
"You don’t have to. I can crash at the restaurant for a
few days."
"No," I say. "You stay. I’ll go back and stay
with Mum."
"You’ll make her day."
"I know," I nod sadly. "I’m sorry, Dan."
"Me too, babe. Me too."
I leave him on the sofa as I go upstairs, unearth my
suitcase from the spare room and start throwing some clothes in it. I find that
I can’t even cry. I feel that I should have tears in my eyes, but they’re not
coming. Truth is we’ve both known for a long while that it shouldn’t be as hard
as it has been, and it’s kind of a relief to have finally said something and be
doing something about it. I finish packing—by packing I mean staring around the
bedroom and shoving in anything that I recognise as mine.
Dan is gone by the time I get back downstairs.
It really is over.
CHAPTER 52
I trudge down the road towards Mum’s
house, dimly aware that it is now past two in the morning and she is probably
in bed. But then I spy her kitchen light is on, so I knock sheepishly on the
door.
Mum answers quite calmly—nowhere near as panicked as I get
when someone knocks on my door at some ungodly hour of the night—she doesn’t
even look surprised to see me.
"Can I move back in with you?" I ask quietly.
"Oh, Mac." She hugs me on the doorstep. "Of
course you can."
She steps back and I haul my suitcase in. Even Baby doesn’t
bark at me for once.
"What happened?"
"Dan and I broke up," I say flatly. "It just
wasn’t working out."
"I know," she says.
"What do you mean, you know?"
"I just knew that you two weren’t right for each other
from the very beginning."
"Please, Mum, I don’t want to hear the
I told you so
speech
."
"I wasn’t going to say that."
"Oh, come on. Of course you were going to say that.
You’ve hated Dan from the very beginning. You’ve been waiting for this day to
arrive solely so you could say
I told you so
."
"That’s not true, Mackenzie. It’s not that I didn’t
like Dan. It’s just that I was afraid he was going to leave you like your dad
left me. I didn’t want to see you get hurt that way."
"So, what you’re saying is that it’s going to be the
same with any guy I ever meet."
"No," she says. "There was just something
about Dan. He seemed like the leaving kind."
"The leaving kind," I repeat. "There’s no
such thing."
"I saw the same look in Dan’s eyes as I saw in your
father’s eyes. I’m sorry if I interfered too much, Mac. I just didn’t want to
see you get hurt."
"It’s okay," I say finally. "It was never
going to work out anyway."
"I know how to cheer you up," Mum says over
breakfast the next morning.
"You do?" I ask, warily. It will probably involve
sitting in the lotus position for six hours or getting a small dog. Or both.
"It’s about my so-called mystery man."
My ears perk up. "Go on…"
"Well, I have to tell you something and you have to promise
that you won’t laugh at me because it’s pretty stupid. It’s very stupid,
actually. But you have to promise not to be mad."
I nod slowly. Oh god, Dan was right. She’s about to tell me
that he doesn’t exist and I’ve been on a wild goose chase for two months. I
just know it. Maybe I should run back to Dan right now and beg forgiveness and
promise never to speak to my mother again for the rest of my life.
"I’m in love with Jeff."
I choke on the toast I am chewing.
"Jeff?" I splutter. "Jeff who?"
"You know who. Jeff."
"
Jeff
? As in Jenni’s dad Jeff? As in my next
client Jeff? As in your
very first
date Jeff?"
She nods. "You promised you wouldn’t be mad,
Mackenzie."
Mad
? She thinks mad covers this? I take a few deep
breaths and think for a minute. "How can you be in love with Jeff?" I
finally ask. "You only met him four months ago, and you
hated
him,
remember?"
"Um."
"Um? You think this is good enough for an
um
?"
"I didn’t meet Jeff four months ago. I met him nine
years ago."
"How is that possible?"
"He was my divorce lawyer."
I have made the mistake of taking another sip of tea, so now
I am choking on that as well. "But… He… I… But… Jeff?"
"I’m sorry we didn’t tell you. We recognised each other
straight away when you set us up on that date. I couldn’t believe it. You’d
found the love of my life and set us up totally by random. It was
incredible."
"So…" My brain is running ninety miles an hour. I
have a hundred questions to ask, and they are competing in my brain for which
one is to be voiced first. "Why didn’t you say something?" I ask
finally. "Why didn’t you tell me?"
"I couldn’t give you and that boyfriend of yours the
satisfaction," she says. "I knew what you were doing. I knew you were
only trying to fix me up because I was spending too much time at your house. I
just couldn’t bring myself to admit that you were right, and tell you that I
wanted to be with Jeff."
"Does Jeff… um… know?" I ask.
She nods. "But I told him my situation and he agreed
that he wasn’t going to push me into anything with him."
"You’ve really been in love with this guy for nine
years?"
"Yes."
"And you let something trivial like that stop you from
getting together with him when he was presented to you on a plate? Doesn’t that
seem like fate to you?"
"Actually, it seemed like you two trying to get rid of
me."
"We weren’t trying to get rid of you… Exactly. I just
wanted you to be happy…"
"And stop watching
Corrie
at your place,"
she finishes the sentence for me.
"Okay," I say. "And Jeff likes you as
well?"
She nods.
"But…" Oh, wait. "Jenni said that Jeff fell
for some client, some divorced lady nine years…"
No way
!
"You?" I ask incredulously. "It was you?"
She shrugs. "He said he had feelings for me the moment
I walked into his office all those years ago."
"Jeff fell for you nine years ago, and you liked him as
well. Why on god’s green earth didn’t you do anything about it?"
"He was married, and I was scared I was projecting any
left over feelings for your father onto the first man who came along."
"But how can nine years have gone by without you doing
anything about it?"
"I didn’t know if he was still married or not. I didn’t
know he and his wife had split up until he opened your car door for me all
those months ago."
"I can’t believe this," I say. "But I was
right about one thing—the answer was right in front of me all along."
"I am sorry, Mac. For all the trouble I’ve put you to
with the other men and everything."
"Forget it," I say. "That’s not important.
This Jeff thing is important."
"Do you think he’s still interested?"
"Well, I’m fairly sure he’s not interested in anyone
else. I was going to start date hunting for him this week."
I whip out my mobile. "I’ll get this sorted straight
away."
Jenni answers when I dial Jeff’s number. She must have
stayed at his house last night.
"Mac?" She asks groggily. I must have just woken
her up.
"You’re never going to believe this," I say
excitedly. "I’ve found out who my mum’s mystery man is and who your dad’s
client he fell in love with nine years ago is. You’ll never guess."
"I don’t care," she says. "It’s eight a.m. on
a Sunday morning."
"It’s my mother," I practically yell. "Your
dad’s mystery client is my mother, and my mum’s mystery man is her divorce
lawyer—your dad."
"No way," she says, suddenly alert. I hear her sit
up in bed.
"Can I talk to him?" I ask.
"Sure," she says. "I can’t believe that what
you’re saying is true, but I’ll hand you over."
She scuffles around a bit and I hear her yelling for Jeff to
pick up the phone.
"Oh, Dan and I broke up, by the way."
"Thank god for that." I can imagine her smiling
across the line. "It's about bloody time. Oh, here’s Dad."
"You son of a bitch," is the first thing I say to
him.
"Good morning to you as well, Mackenzie."
"I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. I mean, I get why
my mum didn’t tell me but I expected more from you."
He laughs. "Hey, I’m not going to make her do anything
she doesn’t want to do. How’d you find out, anyway?"
"She told me," I say. "I guess it’s my job to
set you two up on a date for real this time."
"Well, I am officially one of your clients now, aren’t
I?"
"I guess you are. Although I’m about to write you off
as complete. And if it doesn’t work out between you, I never want to see either
of your faces again. Clear?" I say, addressing Mum as well, who is standing
right next to me. She giggles and Jeff laughs down the line.
"Clear," he says.
"Clear," she agrees.
"Now then, how does tonight suit you both? Shall we say
eight o’clock?"
"Great," Mum says.
"Great," Jeff agrees.
I don’t believe it. My very first match.
Later that night, at the exact same time, on the exact same
day, in the exact same spot as I was in four months ago, I’m parked in a no
waiting zone with Mum in the car, waiting for Jeff to show up. Everything is
exactly the same, except for the fact that I’m early this time. And this time
there will be a second date, obviously.
Jeff shows up, right on time, and he is dressed in a
gorgeous looking black suit and carrying a single red rose. He comes around to
the passenger side of the car and opens the door. He smiles and greets Eleanor
with a kiss on the cheek.
Jeff leans down and pops his head in the car door.
"Evening, Mackenzie, are you joining us?"
"I hope you’re joking."
"Don’t worry." He grins. "I am. Don’t wait
up." He shuts the door with a wink, and Mum waves at me over her shoulder.
I laugh to myself and wait in the no waiting zone just long enough to watch
them walk into the restaurant together, arm in arm, like they’ve known each
other their whole lives.
And maybe they have. Because that’s love for you. And fate,
and karma, and the laws of the universe and the kismet. If it's meant to be,
it'll come back to you.
And I’m going to be a part of making that happen, even
though it hasn’t happened to me yet.
But one day it will. I hope.
EPILOGUE
The party is buzzing. By buzzing, I
mean a majority of the attendees have left their knitting needles at home. My
mum is actually happy to be fifty. After all, Jeff is fifty-three, so there
can’t be too much wrong with hitting the big five-o. Jeff and I cleared the
living room out this afternoon and invited all Mum’s friends round for a
surprise party. She didn’t know anything about it until she walked in the front
door five minutes ago, and now she’s schmoozing her way through the gaggle of yoga
class biddies, while Jenni and I stand in a corner soliciting for business.
She’s my new business partner. Turns out that she wasn’t nearly as fond of
hairdressing as I'd thought. And Jeff, being a lawyer and all, is an invaluable
help on the business front. I mean, I actually know how to run one now, thanks
to his help.
Jenni and I have been working out of Jeff’s spare room,
seeing as our office isn’t ready yet. Not until the decorators come this week.
I wanted us to do the decorating ourselves, but, hey guess what, we’re too busy
dealing with clients. Actual clients who pay a few hundred quid per date.
"I can’t believe you girls did this," Mum says,
finally making her way over to us.
"Well, we need the practice," I say. "After
all, we have the wedding reception to plan next year."
"Now, you know Jeff and I haven’t set a date yet."
"Yes, but he’s got down on one knee and popped the
question already. That’s the important part."
She smiles and flashes the diamond on her engagement finger
at us for the millionth time. "I hope you girls find someone anywhere near
as wonderful as Jeff to marry."
"Oh, I’ve had more than enough marriage for one
lifetime. More than enough living with someone, anyway."
"Now you don’t mean that," Jenni says as Mum
wanders away.
"Oh, I do."
"Nah, you don’t. Just think how much fun it will be
when we actually get some clients our own age and have to start dating
thirty-something men. It’ll be much better than the fifty-somethings."
"I’m sure," I say. "Then we’ll get to meet
twice as many men and be even more depressed that being a moron isn’t exclusive
to one generation."
"For such a good matchmaker, you sure are cynical about
love."
"Just my own love," I say. "Not other
peoples."
"Just as well," Jeff comes up behind us, making me
jump. "Because I have two colleagues over there who want to sign up. One
is thirty-four and very cute." He winks at me.
"No, thank you," I say. "I’m enjoying being
single for the first time in two years. But I’ll sign them up for work."
"Actually," Jenni says, glancing in their
direction and obviously seeing something she likes. "
I’ll
sign them
up."