A Hope Christmas Love Story by Julia Williams

Author:Julia Williams [Williams, Julia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2014-12-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

After the party it feels like something has shifted. We spend all our time together at college, and everyone seems to have accepted us as a fixture. Sometimes we go back to his in our lunchbreaks. Often Izzy’s there and they have good natured rows about how much more time she should be spending at school. She’s doing AS Levels, but her grades from the previous year hadn’t been great, and Will is on her case nearly as much as Mum is on James’. It makes me laugh. Sometimes Will behaves like an old mother hen, nagging her about eating right. But his own diet seems to consist of pot noodles and baked beans. No wonder he’s so skinny.

“You need some proper food inside you,” I say, “don’t either of you ever cook properly?”

I can see that with situation he’s in, Will is as tied down with Izzy as I am with Lou Lou. We have that in common. I wish I could let him know.

“Not one of my life skills,” admits Will.

“Why cook when there’s Maccas and Dominoes,” says Izzy, rolling her eyes.

“Haven’t you heard of the obesity epidemic?” I say laughing. “Seriously. You two should cook properly.”

I look in the fridge to find a bit of ham and cheese.

“Mum orders us food from Ocado, to make sure we eat,” says Will.

I check the contents of the freezer and find some ready meals.

“Right,” I say. “Next time I come round I’ll bring you some proper food and teach you how to cook.”

It’s really weird how those two have so much money and don’t know how to spend it properly. Neither of them have a clue how to budget.

“How do you know all this stuff?” says Will.

“My mum,” I say, “she’s big on cooking.

I neglect to mention Mum is also famous cookery author, Cat Tinsall.

“You should send her our way,” says Will.

“Yeah, I should,” I grin.

But now I’m committed. I’ve got find an excuse to come round for an evening and cook for them. I’ve been putting Will off a lot recently, with having to look after siblings while Mum sorts Granny out. Which is partly true. We seem to be having lots of Granny related crises recently, the latest of which seems to have ended up with her staying permanently.

But I can’t tell Will the real reason I can’t see him in the evenings. I’ve kept Lou Lou secret so long, I don’t know how to begin to bring her into the conversation now. I feel really bad about it. But what can you do?

***

Melanie comes round a couple of nights later, good as her word. She brings bags and bags of shopping with her. And before I know it the fridge is full. Like it used to be years ago, when Mum could still be bothered to cook.

I feel a sudden pang of loss and anger. Why did she have to leave us? Of all the parents in the world, why did Izzy and I get the

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