I'll Be There For You

‘This is my cousin Esme,’ I said as Susie bustled me over to the chairs and sat me down. ‘She’s a lawyer.’

Esme made a face at me that I took to mean ‘don’t worry about it’. She took herself over to where Clemmie was sitting on a mat bashing two bricks together with glee and was soon in deep conversation with another mum who had a baby boy snuggled into her shoulder.

You know that scene in Legally Blonde when Elle comes home from her date and everyone wants to know if she’s engaged? That’s kind of how it was for me. I was suddenly surrounded by women, all asking me questions and telling me how much they loved me and my business.

‘I go to your spa all the time,’ one woman said. ‘I love your acupuncturist. I’m sure that’s why I got pregnant so quickly.’

‘Do you remember me?’ another asked. ‘I came for counselling just after you’d opened.’ I smiled vaguely. I’d seen hundreds of women for counselling. She didn’t seem to care.

‘I love the way you’ve made a career out of your witchcraft,’ she went on. ‘You’re such an inspiration. I even read about you in the business section of the Evening News a couple of years ago.’

Suddenly I remembered why I’d recognised the mum – Vicky, was it? – at Esme’s group yesterday. She was the reporter who’d interviewed me for that business profile. I felt guilty again for dismissing all those women so easily.

The love-in was carrying on around me. The women cooing over how brilliant the spa was, how amazing I was, how cute the twins were… even how shiny my hair was. It was a bit uncomfortable to be the subject of so much hero worship but I couldn’t help enjoying it.

And then a black cloud came in. Not literally, of course, but though my powers were on the blink I could still sense an atmosphere.

‘Oh hello,’ said a chilly voice.

Chapter 12 (#ulink_5f122415-95c7-59af-b26c-141be8bf5baf)

Like naughty school kids, the women all stopped talking. I followed their gaze to where a woman stood, with a little girl on her hip and a stern look on her face. She was small and neat and absolutely immaculate. She had reddish-blonde hair that was pulled back into a bun and perfect make-up. She was wearing a black and white polka dot blouse with white, cropped jeans. WHITE. JEANS. At a toddler group. I admired her optimism. Her little girl – who was about four – had hair exactly the same shade of strawberry blonde and a cute face covered in freckles. Together they looked like they’d stepped straight off the pages of a glossy parenting mag. It wasn’t hard to understand why she’d caused such a reaction among the other mums.

‘That’s Brenna,’ the woman who’d talked about acupuncture said to me under her breath. ‘She’s kind of a big deal. She founded this group and her husband, Richard, owns the centre. He lets us have the room to meet in.’

A big deal? The old me would have eaten this Brenna for breakfast, but somehow her piercing green eyes made me feel a bit nervous.

‘Hi, Brenna,’ I said. ‘I’m Harmony.’

‘Hello,’ she said. She smiled at me but there was no warmth in it. Next to me, Fiona stacked bricks without touching them, then knocked the tower over – also without touching it. The blocks scattered across the parquet floor of the meeting room and bounced against Brenna’s feet. She glanced down and though she didn’t say anything, I felt guilty for not controlling my daughter.

‘Sorry,’ I muttered. I picked Fiona up and she started to squirm in my arms, shouting to be put down again.

‘Fiona,’ I said into her ear in a no-nonsense way that I hoped she couldn’t ignore. ‘Stop that.’

Fiona ignored me. Instead she squirmed some more and shouted louder.

‘She’s not normally like this,’ I said apologetically to the whole room and no one in particular.

Sensing my weakness, Finn toddled over and hung on to my leg.

‘UP!’ he shouted.

‘In a minute, darling,’ I said. Neither of the kids was talking much yet but when they decided to speak, they did it loud.

‘UP UP UP,’ he yelled. Meanwhile, Fiona arched her back and shouted to be put down.

The blonde woman who’d bound her naughty son when we arrived took pity on me. She clapped her hands and with a shimmer like a heat haze, the room filled with balloons.

‘Try to catch the balloons,’ she told the children, who were already chasing them round the hall. ‘There’s a prize for the person who catches the most.’

I put Fiona down and she and Finn wobbled off in pursuit of a red balloon that was bouncing along just out of their reach.

Embarrassed at how hopeless I’d been at controlling my own children, I slumped onto one of the seats. Brenna sat next to me, much to my dismay.

‘Must be hard when there are two of them,’ said the blonde woman with a smile. ‘As soon as Henry realised he could make stuff happen, my life was hell. Your two seem very advanced considering how small they are. Henry’s three now and I know I was a similar age when I started working things out.’

I glanced at Esme, who had got up off the carpet when the balloons descended and who was now sitting on a chair opposite me.

‘Us too,’ I said. ‘Esme’s younger than me, but we were both about three when we started. My two have just turned one.’

‘It’s very important to set boundaries,’ said Brenna. ‘You can’t just let them do what they want.’

Esme nodded.

‘Of course my Clemmie isn’t old enough to develop her powers yet but, funnily enough, I had that same conversation with a friend yesterday,’ she said. ‘She’s not a witch, my friend, but we all have the same pressures, don’t we…?’