Christmas Magic. Cathy Kelly

children to sleep with their partners in the family home. You either respect that when your children grow up they have different values, or you don’t.’

      ‘Does that mean I can bring girlfriends to sleep in your flat?’ asked Ryan.

      His mother laughed. ‘Of course you can, love. But remember, it’s a small single bed. One move and you’ll both be on the floor, which is bare wood, by the way.’

      The pressure surrounding the anniversary grew.

      Rosalie inveigled her daughter on a shopping trip that somehow took in an expensive lingerie shop.

      ‘Isn’t this the cutest thing you ever saw?’ said Rosalie, innocently holding up a red silk bra and pants set with off-white lace trim. ‘The label on the knickers says they’re Brazilian cut.’

      Felicity eyed her mother, aware that Rosalie’s own lingerie tastes ran to severely cut white bras with the vaguely conical cups she’d worn as a young woman.

      ‘Brazilian cut means the knickers are high cut over the bum and you’d probably spend the whole day adjusting them. Should I go the whole hog and buy a G-string?’

      ‘There’s no need to go that far,’ said Rosalie crossly. ‘I’m only trying to help.’

      Felicity put the red outfit back on the rail. ‘I know you are, Mum. Let’s have a cup of tea and a bun, shall we? I’m not really a red silk person.’

      When Mel phoned with details of accommodation in the hotel where the anniversary party was to be held, Felicity finally lost her temper.

      The vast Morgan clan had taken over the entire hotel and one of Leo’s sisters was organising the room allocation.

      ‘Aunt Leslie has put all of us on the same floor. Shane and I have a double room, but she could only get a single room for you. The place is jammers! It’s going to be fabulous.’

      ‘A single room for me,’ repeated Felicity, incensed by the presumption that she’d be on her own.

      ‘You hardly need a double, do you?’ said Mel cheerfully.

      ‘What if I did?’ The question was out of her mouth before she had time to think.

      ‘Mum! You’re married to Dad, for heaven’s sake,’ said Mel.

      ‘Not any more,’ her mother replied.

      ‘Nanna Morgan’s right, you know,’ Mel said crossly. ‘You’re just thinking of yourself. I met Shane’s parents the other day and they have a lovely home and do you know what I felt? Lonely, that’s it. Lonely, because our family is all gone and I hate it, Mum. Did you think of me when you and Dad split up? No. It’s as if it’s not supposed to matter because me and Ryan are grown-ups, but it does. I hate all this, really hate it.’

      And Mel hung up.

      Felicity wondered where she had gone wrong. Mel had no thought for her mother’s pain during all the years Leo had cheated on her. Ryan had. But not Mel.

      Mel had Shane, her own busy life, and she wanted her parents back together because it suited her. She could see nothing else.

      Felicity didn’t sleep much that night. She looked back over her marriage and wished she and Leo had split up earlier, so that perhaps Mel might have grown to see that other people’s feelings were important. It was not enough to be blissfully happy yourself and wounding all around you in the way Leo had done, the way Felicity had facilitated, she realised sadly.

      When morning came and Miss Lillie crept up the bed to purr for attention, Felicity had come to a decision. She would go to the anniversary party on her own terms and she would show everyone that she mattered. She didn’t want to hurt Mel, but Mel needed to come face-to-face with some truth.

      She told Ryan when she’d finished making the arrangements.

      ‘I feel guilty,’ she said in the bar where they met for lunch. Now that she’d put it all in place, she was suddenly filled with anxiety. ‘I must be a bad mother, a bad daughter. I shouldn’t be doing this, or telling you either. I’m turning into one of those dreadful people who drag their children into their confidence when their children don’t want to be involved.’

      ‘Mum, it’s all right,’ Ryan said. ‘Mel, Dad and everyone else should realise that you have your own life now. I love Dad, but he didn’t do the right thing by you for a long time. What’s wrong with asking people to recognise that?’

      Michel’s car was a lovely old sporting thing with a long bonnet, low-slung leather seats and an air of romance about it.

      ‘It’s fabulous,’ said Felicity in delight when she saw it.

      ‘It’s very old,’ Michel said as he helped her in, ‘so it doesn’t have the suspension of modern cars.’

      Felicity grinned. ‘Us old things have quite good suspension, as it turns out.’

      They both laughed.

      On their fourth date, they’d ended up in bed in Felicity’s apartment and she found that the red silk underwear made her feel better than she’d imagined. After the party, she would say a big thank you to her mother for showing it to her.

      She was becoming very fond of Michel, whom she’d taken into her confidence about her plan early on, and his eyes had twinkled with mischief at the idea.

      There were so many things to talk about that Felicity didn’t notice the time passing on the journey to the town where the anniversary party was to be held. She’d cancelled her single room and she and Michel were staying in another hotel, a more elegant establishment where there was a double room complete with four-poster bed and claw-footed bath available. They arrived early so as to enjoy both the bedroom and then the spa and beauty salon, where they had massages before Felicity had her hair blow-dried into a becoming wavy style.

      ‘What are you wearing to this party?’ asked the hairstylist.

      ‘A red silk dress, it’s got a low back, and a high halter neck at the front,’ Felicity revealed. The strange thing about red, she’d realised, was that it suited her and somehow made her feel like a braver version of herself. Plus, the Brazilian knickers actually didn’t need to be adjusted every five minutes.

      ‘That sounds lovely,’ said the stylist. ‘You’re so tall and slim; you can carry that sort of thing off.’

      Felicity and Michel arrived at the Morgans’ ruby wedding anniversary celebration exactly on time. The anniversary couple were to make a grand entrance at five past eight, so the party-goers had been asked to assemble just before the hour.

      Ryan came up to them straightaway. He hugged his mother, told her how wonderful she looked and shook Michel’s hand.

      ‘I think I should make a run for it while I still have time,’ whispered Felicity to her son.

      He held her in a steely grip.

      ‘You’re not running anywhere.’

      Next to spot them was Leo’s sister, Leslie, she of the room-organising fame.

      ‘Felicity!’ she said, open-mouthed, staring.

      With Ryan’s hand still gripping her arm tightly, Felicity smiled and introduced Michel.

      ‘Mum’s partner,’ added Ryan, just in case Leslie hadn’t got the gist of it. ‘Boyfriend sounds too young, doesn’t it?’ Ryan went on cheerfully. ‘Lover sounds a bit too risqué.’

      Felicity could feel herself turning a bit pink, but it was nothing compared to the colour of Leslie. She’d kill Ryan. He was definitely enjoying this too much.

      ‘Does Leo know?’ gasped Leslie finally.

      Finally, Felicity felt the steel enter her own soul. ‘I doubt it,’ she said. ‘We didn’t discuss our arrangements. I presume he’s here with Sonya? It would be terrible if he couldn’t