Nothing New for Sophie Drew: a heart-warming romantic comedy - Katey Lovell (best english novels for beginners .txt) 📗

we going then? We don’t want to be late. There’s no tradition of the bride being late for the rehearsal, is there?”

“I don’t think so, Mum,” Tawna said patiently, and I wondered how long it’d be before the two of them had a serious falling out. Rubbing each other up the wrong way was their speciality. There had been many times when Tawna’s dad was alive that he’d had to act as referee between their spats. “We won’t be late though. It’s only a five-minute drive. We’ve got ages.”

“You don’t want Johnny thinking you’re standing him up. He’s a good catch. He might start having doubts if you don’t turn up on time.”

“That’s hardly likely.” Tawna chuckled, but the comment was still enough to make her move towards the door. “Johnny loves me. That’s why he’s marrying me tomorrow.”

Tomorrow was going to be a big day. Bye-bye Tawna Maguire, hello Tawna Hamilton. Tomorrow, everything was going to change.

When Nadia was the first person I saw when we walked in, my heart sank. My gut reaction was to tell her to get out, that this was the wedding rehearsal for one of my oldest and best friends, but I didn’t do that. Of course I didn’t. What I actually did was smile as broadly as I possibly could and attempted to kill her with kindness.

“I didn’t realise you’d be here.” My voice sounded syrupy sweet. “It’s good to see you.”

“I had to be here, Summer’s the flower girl.” Nadia nodded in the direction of Summer and Darius, who were playing a complicated hand-clapping game. My body tensed at the sight of him. “Darius has enough on his mind with the best man duties so I booked us into a hotel for a couple of nights.”

“How lovely. A few nights away is as good as a little holiday.” The corners of my lips were tearing apart, I was smiling so hard.

“You’re right, it’s good to be away from it all. Newcastle wouldn’t have been my first choice though, I’d have loved to have taken Summer to the seaside.”

“There are some lovely beaches up here, but I guess you don’t need them. When you’re in Devon you’ll be able to spend as much time as you like at the beach.”

Nadia’s face contorted. “What do you mean?”

“Darius told me about how you and Summer might be moving to the coast.”

Nadia recoiled. “What? Why would we be moving to the coast?”

“To be with Rob,” I said. My mouth dried up, as did my courage, but I’d come so far that I kept going. “Darius said you’d only be willing to stay up north if he paid you.”

“Rob’s moving to Liverpool,” she said, looking confused. “Me and Summer going down there was never on the cards. I wouldn’t pull her out of school, not when she’s happy and settled. Rob was always coming to Liverpool. He’ll be away with work, obviously, but when he’s got leave he’ll spend it with us.”

“Let me get this straight; you were never going to move?”

“Never.” She looked so honest that I had to believe her.

“Darius told me you’d only stay in Liverpool if he gave you money. He asked me for a loan.”

Nadia gasped at the revelation. “You didn’t give it to him, did you?”

I nodded woefully, overcome by a sensation of nausea. “I gave him over a grand.”

“I know the two of us haven’t always seen eye to eye, but do you really think I’m vicious enough to take Summer to the other end of the country? Darius is her dad. I’d never tell him he couldn’t see her.”

“So why did Darius say that?”

“Because he’s desperate for money, most likely. He’s up to his eyeballs in debt, always has been. Surely you’ve noticed he’s got no control over his spending, as soon as he gets money it’s as though it’s burning a hole in his pocket and it’s gone. He barely pays his child maintenance, and he doesn’t give Summer the full amount.” Nadia scraped her hair back off her face, using her fingers as a comb. “I couldn’t live like that, not knowing if we were going to have enough money in the bank to buy a loaf of bread at the end of the month, that’s why I sent him packing in the first place. It was bad enough when it was just the two of us, but when Summer came along things had to change. She deserved more.”

“He told me half his wage came to you for Summer,” I mumbled. My mouth felt as though it was stuffed with cotton wool. Maybe my whole head was stuffed with cotton wool.

“Yeah, right,” Nadia said drily. “He loves her, and I know that – it’s the only reason I don’t drag him through the courts to make him pay his fair share – but what he gives Summer would barely keep her in shoes let alone everything else.”

Suddenly it all made sense, how there’d be times Darius would expect me to pay for things and other moments of extreme generosity. He’d spend until he had nothing, then get me to fund his lifestyle. How could I have been so stupid?

“I did try to warn you,” she said, pity etched on her face. “The thing is, you were so taken with him there was no way you were ever going to believe me.”

I thought back to our conversations, the ones where she’d told me to watch myself or to take care. I’d always thought her comments were deliberately patronising, but the truth was very different. She had been trying to teach me, pass on the lessons she’d learned from being with Darius.

“You thought I was a bitch, I know,” she continued, “but I’m not a bad person. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes but I’m no worse than anyone else. And if you ever want to spend time with Summer, you can. She’d love that, she really misses you.”

My heart burst. “I miss her too. Thank