Secret Love

Why Grannie what sharp teeth....

Flick opened her eyes, yawned, stretched languidly and smiled. She loved the feeling of the luxurious cotton against her naked body. Every nerve ending was firing on all cylinders these days. She felt, thanks to Tom, like a goddess.

She lay for a few minutes, looking out of the window, entranced by the movement of the treetops. Tom's bedroom faced in the direction of 'their' park, so without much effort, she could see the tops of the highest trees.

The sky was blue again, a few white clouds puffing their way across. It was, as the song went; a new dawn, a new day and she was feeling good.

The other side of the bed was empty, just the lingering scent of his aftershave indicating his presence at all, but she didn't worry. There was the muffled sound of a radio and the deliciously wafting smell of frying bacon. Not just bacon either, of sausages and toast, and was that fried eggs? She lay back in the deep feather pillows, contentedly relaxed.

They'd never made it to watching a movie. Hell, they'd barely made it to eating. Well, not food anyway. She grinned to herself, the warm ache deep down in her body attested to that much.

Running a gentle hand over her belly, she sighed lightly. He'd kissed her stretchmarks from the girls, pronouncing them to be beautiful. In her imagination, she wondered if one day, she might add to them. To see her grow another child, to watch as another new life was born of love. It was a dream she hardly dared imagine.

Pausing that daydream, she shook her head. Don't be such a romantic fool, she told herself. You just told him you love him, only recently made love with him, let alone make a baby with him. Still, it was a nice thought....

The door opened, and a ginger blonde head poked round.

"Morning Princess, you ready for breakfast?" He smiled, and she nodded, stretching again like a contentedly lazy cat.

"Ooooooof!" She flopped back onto the pillows. "Yes, please, be there in two?"

Tom winked. "ok love, dont be long. There's an art to getting it all ready at the same time, you know!" He closed the door, and she lay, staring at it for a few moments. An old memory replayed in her mind. The last time she'd woken to the smell of a cooked breakfast.

Flick closed her eyes and smiled softly. She spoke to him out loud, just as she always did. It had just always seemed the right thing to do. "John, darling, don't think badly of me? I waited a long time for this. He's a good man, and the girls seem to like him." In her head, she could see him nod. "He's special, John... I think he's the one.... for me and the girls. Be happy for me, love?"

She waited a few seconds and then opened her eyes. As she sat up, there was the sound of scuffling feet and a stair tread creaked. Tom, it seemed, had been listening. Part of her was overjoyed. Part was terrified. They loved each other. She knew that, but was he on the same page about the future?

Only time would tell.....

Sitting after breakfast, Jenny and Clare were grilling their Gran. Usually, stories about their mum and dad before they were born. They'd asked Flick at first, but understandably, she'd become upset, and they hadn't wanted her to be so sad.

So now, Grannie Watson was the oracle. Today, that oracle was to be tested to her limit.

Clare looked at Jenny, who nodded and then at her Gran solemnly. "Gran, why does Mr Tom want us to forget Dad? And what's a...." she paused and looked at her, head on one side, "cheap hussy? Are there expensive ones?"

Nancy, sipping the last of her coffee, almost swallowed her mug whole.

"Where on EARTH did you hear that?" She gasped. Clare shrugged casually.

"Oh, Grannie Etta texted me this morning. She said Mr Tom is trying to replace Dad, and that's what Mum was. She said Mum didn't love Dad anymore, and we should blame Mr Tom for making her do bad things to Dad. She's supposed to never look at another man again because she's still married to Dad even though he's in heaven. I just wondered if it was true. I don't think I should like him anymore, and I dont want to see him again. "

Not for the first time, Nancy regretted that it was normal for a 13-year-old to have a phone these days. Yes, they'd set btowsing controls on it, and she had promised faithfully to stay off things like Instagram, but texts from her family? They were open season.

"No, it most certainly is not!" Nancy was outraged. Etta Wilkes had - and she was willing to be quoted on this - been an embittered old bitch ever since John's death. She'd allowed her own grief to gnaw away at her until she was a shaddow of the woman she'd been when Flick and John had married. Now, it seemed her bitterness was turning to outright jealousy and twisted nastiness.

She tried not to make Clare think she'd done anything wrong. It wasn't the little girl's fault. Taking a breath, she smiled and reached over the breakfast table, taking a hand of each child.

Jenny looked at Clare and then her Gran. In a little voice she piped up. "I dont think I can like Mr Tom either, if I have to stop to love Dad anymore. I'm too sad. Mr Tom WAS lovely though.... He had a lovely smile and pretty eyes. And he called me J.... Ive never had a special name before..... I'm going to miss him". She looked at her Gran with a sad, faraway expression. She'd fallen under Tom's charming spell - like them all - and now? Now her little world was seemingly in tatters all over again.

Nancy sighed. "But Jenny...Clare.... Mr Tom cares about you and your Mum very much. Grannie Etta is, well, she's just upset. She misses Dad very much; he was her only child and she feels very sad he's gone. Sometimes when people are as sad as she is, well, they say mean and untrue things. They think they're right, but their sad hearts dont realise that you can live a life as well as remember the days before."

Clare and Jenny looked at each other. Neither looked convinced. "But Gran, he made mum keep secrets from us. Mum never did that until him. We think Grannie Etta might be right." They stood up. "May we be excused, please?"

Nancy sighed, there was no point in getting them upset. This was going to take all her tact and guile. "Yes, girls. Of course." They kissed her on the cheek, one each side.

"It will be ok, Grannie." Jenny piped up. " Mum has us. We're all she needs. Grannie Etta told us."

Nancy shook her head. "Go on, get out of your PJ's and into some beach clothes. We have a dog to walk."

They scampered off, and Nancy sat at the table, head reeling and heart torn. The last thing she wanted to do was interfere, but this had to stop. It had to stop now.

Not Flick and Tom, no. Etta and her quite frankly deranged attack on Flick, Tom, and their future happiness. As the girls thundered about upstairs brushing teeth and dressing, she reached for her own phone. This was going to take all her peacemaking abilities with the girls, and a frank conversation with certain bitter old bitches.

First, she sent a text to Flick. Short and sweet. "Ignore whatever drivel you get from Etta. Dont worry about the girls. Mum's got you, sweetheart. Speak later xxx"

Next, she sent a text to Etta. "Morning Etta. Hope you're well. We haven't had a good chat for so long. How about we meet for coffee? Im at a loose end today if you're free, too? How about we treat ourselves? Cafe at Fortnum's? 2.45 pm? Let me know, Nancy x?"

As she pressed send, she put the phone on the table and sat back. She smiled as she looked at a photo of Flick, John, and the girls taken the last summer before he died. Taking it out from under the fridge magnet where it was pinned to the freezer, she smiled gently. Then, carefully, she put it into the kitchen drawer.

"Time to practice what I preach."

Closing the drawer gently, she turned and waited. The phone pinged a reply. She picked it up, smiled and tapped out a quick acknowledgement, then put the phone back.

This afternoon would be a good time for them to visit her neighbour Mrs Grissom, they loved playing with her cats and she loved having them. It would give her just enough time to get to town and back.

What she had to say to Etta wouldn't take long at all.....