Page 66 of Plot Twist

‘She said she’s coming back to Bellinder Cottage.’

‘Oh, is she now?’ Bridget replied, frowning. ‘Well, that’s good to know.’

Ellie was waiting for us outside as we arrived.

‘Sorry, I came back as soon as I saw her there,’ she explained. ‘I didn’t want it to get too overcrowded and overwhelm Ivy.’

Bridget nodded and gathered Ellie into her arms.

‘Jaysus, Ellie, I got such a fright. When I heard someone had just lifted her from the nursery. . .’ she whimpered into Ellie’s shoulder.

‘Hey,’ Ellie soothed. ‘It’s OK. She’s safe. She’s here.’

Ivy squeezed my hand.

‘I don’t know what everyone’s making such a big fuss about,’ she said to me. ‘It’s just my mammy.’

‘I know, Ivy.’ I smiled at her. ‘Why don’t you show me where you sleep when you’re here? I’d love to see. We can have a special girlie sleepover tonight. I can paint your nails.’

‘Yeeaaah!’ Ivy exclaimed, pulling me into the house.

Bridget and Ellie shot me a look of gratitude and I followed Ivy into the house, feeling very much like the other child in the situation. I might as well just play with Ivy and let the grown-ups sort it all out.

If I was honest, it suited me fine. I was tired of having to be grown up all the time. Painting our nails and plaiting hair sounded much less stressful right now. Ivy showed me the spare bedroom, with all her teddies lined up on the bed, while Bridget and Ellie stayed in the kitchen, talking in low voices.

Ivy threw some toys on the ground and placed others on the bed.

‘What did those poor guys do to you?’ I asked, looking at the group on the floor.

‘You said it was a girls’ night,’ she explained. ‘They’re the boy teddies.’

‘Oh, I see. Well, we don’t have to discriminate. They could stay. I’m sure they’ll not get in the way.’

Ivy shrugged and put them in the corner.

‘Do you think everyone is mad with me?’ she asked, without looking up at me.

‘Ivy, no, why would they be mad at you?’

‘Because I went with Mammy. I just wanted to see her.’

Her whole face crumpled as her eyes filled with tears that quickly began to drip down her face. The more she blinked, the faster the tears fell.

I gathered her into my arms and her little body shook in mine. No matter how articulate she was, she was really only a baby. And while she understood what was going on, how could she possibly understand the implications of it all?

I wiped away her tears as she started to hiccup.

‘I really, really hope Mammy and Daddy are back together. That’s my biggest wish in the whole world,’ she said.

I cuddled her into me without replying. What could I say? A few hours ago, I had been kissing Riley. . . and the rest. My stomach flipped at the thought of it, partly with guilt, while the other half was willing it to happen again. But things had changed drastically in the past few hours.

I wondered if there was a trope about being a homewrecker.

Ivy crawled off my knee and wiped away her own tears. And just as quickly as she’d started crying, she seemed fine again. Over it. She started humming as she set to work, tucking her teddies into bed, one by one.

‘I promise I’ll do bath and bedtime tomorrow night,’ she whispered to each of them as she kissed them on the head before wishing them sweet dreams.

I sighed and wished someone was tucking me into bed, too. And some of those sweet dreams would be lovely right about now. In fact, any dreams would do.