Page 52 of One Day at a Time

Apparently, it was a standing tradition, and half the village came to Val’s house for a light refreshment on Christmas morning. Every time Maddie had a fleeting thought that all she wanted to do tomorrow was lie in bed until noon, then snuggle under a blanket and watch old movies, she reminded herself how lucky she was to have the company. If Val hadn’t taken her in, and Jessie hadn’t given her the job here, she might just be alone in some studio flat somewhere, without a single person to share the festivities with. If there was a choice between too many people and the sound of silence, she’d take the first option every time.

Although, she did have her friends from antenatal class now too. Orla was just lovely, and Sheena… well, they’d texted back and forth every day since their dinner last week, and Maddie was so grateful that they’d met. She had a feeling that the Messed-Up Mums Club was going to be a regular source of support over the next few months.

She’d just put Mrs Dawson under the dryer with the Christmas edition ofGood Housekeeping,when a tall blonde, in festive red trousers and a chic black polo-neck jumper, with a cream wool coat over her arm, came through the café and into the salon.

‘Hi, I have an appointment with Maddie.’

‘I’m Maddie. Welcome.’ Maddie took the coat from her next client and hung it up, while Jessie and Val got into an argument as to whether Leona Lewis or Mariah Carey had the best Christmas song of all time. And, of course, they had to sing lines from the songs as they attempted to prove their points. Val was belting out ‘Five More Sleeps’ as Maddie showed her new client to the chair she used for consultations.

‘You’re here for a cut and blow dry?’

‘That’s right,’ the woman answered with a smile.

‘Sorry, I didn’t get your name?’

‘It’s Rachel.’

Maddie was slightly thrown, because obviously Rachel was Dylan’s ex-wife’s name. What a coincidence. Also, weirdly, although this woman was replying to her questions, her gaze, reflected in the mirror, seemed to be concentrated on Maddie’s stomach.

‘Hi Rachel, pleased to meet you. So tell me what you’d like to have done today.’

Rachel’s hair was long and thick, so if it was an intricate cut or a completely new style, it could take a while.

Maddie was relieved when it was straightforward. Wash. Trim off split ends. Big bouncy blow-dry. Easy.

She shampooed Rachel’s hair over at the backwash basins, then brought her back to the styling chair, while Jessie took Mrs Dawson out of the dryer to tease out her curls and mould them into the finished style.

As always, Maddie made cheery small talk with her clients.

‘All ready for tomorrow then? Have you got something lovely planned?’ she asked, as she combed out Rachel’s long locks.

‘Actually, I’m having quite a quiet Christmas because I’m flying out to America on Boxing Day.’

Maddie met Rachel’s gaze, reflected in the huge, copper-edged mirror in front of them as a cold shroud of doom began to descend on her. Still, she kept up her best professional cheery act. ‘That sounds amazing! Where in America are you headed to?’

‘Nashville.’

Oh shit.

No. Still no. She had to have this wrong. It was a coincidence. There were lots of Rachels in this world. There had been two inher class at school, and she had at least one other Rachel who was a client. There had to be many Rachels who went to Nashville. Yet the hairs on the back of her neck were in full bristle. Maybe it was the way this Rachel seemed to be waiting for a reaction. Or perhaps it was just that the other woman’s stare kept flicking to her stomach. Or that her words seemed in some way loaded.

Whatever the reason, Maddie gritted her teeth, determined to keep the conversation breezy.

‘Oh, I’d love to go there.’ She didn’t mention that she had a ticket in her inbox that she’d cancelled. ‘Have you been before?’ She continued to section the hair and cut, ignoring the strange unease this woman was giving her, until…

‘No. But I’m actually going to visit someone. He’s a singer and he’s over there right now. I think you might know him. His name is Dylan Bennet.’

The sound of Maddie’s scissors dropping to the ground made Jessie’s and Val’s heads swivel like they were on sticks. They even took a break from the Mariah/Leona bickerfest.

‘You okay there, Maddie?’ Jessie asked, eyes narrowed, clearly ready to go straight to DEFCON one if there was any hint of an issue.

Maddie felt a boiling vat of panic begin to rise, but all the weeks at her antenatal childbirth preparation classes suddenly kicked in and she began to breathe through the confusion.

Breathe. Just breathe. And stay calm.

‘Yes. I do know Dylan. What a small world. He’s an old school pal of mine. He actually let me stay in his spare room for a while before he went to America.’

This had to be his Rachel. His ex-wife. Or was she even an ‘ex’?