I had thought of everything when it came to bringing my grandchild into the world, the birth being foremost the most important part to consider. I had my knowledge of pharmacy, but babies, that was a whole different ball game. But I had done plenty of research and preparation. I was sure Daisy was going be fine. She was a strong healthy girl and I had been feeding her all the right things. Once the baby was born, all would be well again and that baby would never want to leave me the way Ben did.

37

GRACE

I continued with the cookery classes, in spite of my husband leaving. I had a baby to think of now. It was going to be just us.

When I arrived for one of our lessons, still with my secret growing within me, I saw Jenny standing in her usual place. She was beautiful and so tall it astounded me every time. Today her thick golden hair was falling naturally around her shoulders. I could see Jenny was fussing with it and patting her cheeks whilst holding a small compact mirror in her hand. When she saw me arrive, she snapped the mirror shut and her face stretched into a full beaming smile.

‘Grace! It’s so good to see you again. How have you been? Have you managed to practise any of the recipes yet? My husband is most impressed with the lasagne and he absolutely loved the scones. I think I might be getting rather good already and it’s only been a few weeks.’ Jenny wittered on. Every now and again her hand would rush to her cheek and she would try to turn her head but I had already seen it. Another bruise. This one was too big to hide. No amount of make-up was going to fix that mess.

I realised that the woman who was standing before me was no longer the same woman I envied on the first week, with her perfect home life, growing brood and fertile ovaries. It was obvious that Jenny didn’t want to share with me what had happened. Mikee had a bruise a few weeks ago, she had one on the other side of her face last week and now this. It was clear that she was the victim. I bent down slightly to see if she had brought with her the little boy. He sat in his usual place, playing quietly with the toy train and I gave him a small wave. This time he looked up and waved back and my stomach did a little somersault. It was a sensation I had never before experienced. He was incredibly endearing. He continued choo-chooing around under the table, every now and again looking at me and giving me a cheeky smile. I watched him for a few seconds longer and then stood back up and looked at Jenny.

‘What a good little boy,’ I said and Jenny looked forlorn. ‘And your husband? What does he think?’ But I already knew the answer. It was black and blue and shining across her left cheek bone. I saw tears spring to Jenny’s eyes. She looked across the room for a second to blink them away.