Free Black Valley by Charlotte Williams

At nearly seventeen, she was too old to be treated like a
child.
    ‘Is Gareth coming over tonight?’
    ‘No, we’re going out.’ Nella paused, as if there was something more she wanted to say, but had decided against it. She looked guilty about something, Jess thought. She wondered
what it was.
    ‘Well, text me if you stay at Gareth’s, won’t you.’
    ‘Course.’ Nella came over and planted a wet kiss on her mother’s cheek. ‘I may stay over at his place for the weekend, though.’
    Jess couldn’t help feeling disappointed. Nella could be moody, but more often these days she was a cheerful, affectionate presence around the house. When she wasn’t there, Jess
missed her, and she sensed that Rose missed her too, although she’d never have admitted to such a thing.
    Nella went off to get ready. Just as she left the room, the phone rang. Jess picked it up.
    ‘Hiya. How’s things?’
    It was her friend Mari.
    ‘OK. Kind of.’ Jess hesitated before continuing. Mari had been a pillar of strength during the split with Bob, but now that the drama was over, she tried not to offload on her every
time they spoke. Besides, there was nothing particularly wrong at the moment.
    ‘You don’t sound very sure. What is it? Bob again?’
    It was no good trying to hide her worries, Jess realized. Better to tell all, and then move on.
    ‘Well, I had lunch with him in the week. He says he’s seeing this woman’ – Jess tried not to sound censorious as she said the word – ‘and he wants her to meet
the kids.’
    ‘Who is she?’
    ‘Tegan Davies. She’s a newsreader.’
    ‘Tegan? Never!’ Mari had a weakness for gossip, but rarely of the malicious kind.
    ‘So you know her, do you?’
    ‘Not well. But I see her around quite a lot.’ Unlike Jess, Mari was immensely sociable, and knew everyone in Cardiff’s media and arts world.
    ‘Well, I wouldn’t worry about that,
cariad
,’ Mari went on. ‘I doubt it’ll last.’
    ‘Why d’you say that?’
    ‘She’s a nice girl, Tegan.’ Jess remembered that Bob had said the same thing about her. It had struck her as odd at the time, faint praise from a man supposedly in love.
‘But from what I hear, she’s high maintenance. She’ll start stamping her foot, and wanting it all her own way, and then Bob’ll be off. You’ll see.’
    ‘I wouldn’t be so sure.’ Jess hesitated, knowing that she shouldn’t pry. Then her curiosity got the better of her.
    ‘How old would you say she is?’
    ‘Late thirties, probably. But it’s hard to tell. She’s had a bit of work done – they all do.’ Mari paused. ‘Anyway, she hasn’t got kids. So the old
biological clock will be ticking pretty loud by now. And that’ll scare Bob off, too.’
    Mari had a cheerfully pragmatic view of life. An actress who was always in work, mostly in Welsh-language TV, she was thoroughly enjoying life as a single woman now that she was divorced and her
children had grown up. She and Jess were like chalk and cheese – Mari flamboyant and impulsive, Jess reserved and reflective – but they were close, sharing a strong bond of affection
and concern for each other.
    The mere thought of Bob going on to have a new family with Tegan upset Jess, so she quickly changed the subject.
    ‘How are things with you, then?’
    ‘Pretty good. I’ve got a fabulous part in a new theatre production,
Sexual Perversity in Chicago
. I’m playing a bitter, twisted, man-hating bitch.’ Mari spoke the
words with relish. ‘I’ll tell you about it when I see you, but I’m in a bit of a rush now.’ She paused. ‘I was just ringing to ask if you want to go to a party with me
at the museum tomorrow evening? It’s a private view for this trendy new artist, Hefin Morris.’
    ‘Oh yes?’
    ‘He’s a total mystery, apparently. Like Bansky. A bit of a firebrand. Doesn’t want to be part of the whole art circus.’ Mari warmed to her story. ‘The rumour is,
he’s an ex-miner living somewhere up in