She Stole My Mum!

Jude was being edged out of her family. It was time to take action…

Lynn hadn’t been one of my best friends at school, but I’d hung out with her a bit, especially in art class, when most of my gang had done German instead.

After school, we hadn’t stayed in touch, but then she turned up one day at my exercise class in the leisure centre.

‘Hi, Jude,’ she said, walking over to me. ‘Have you been coming here long? This is my first time and I don’t know anyone.’

I’d only been going for a few weeks myself, and they weren’t the friendliest bunch, so I was happy to let Lynn stand alongside me. We were too busy following the instructor to chat much, but we exchanged a few smiles and groans and, at the end, I suggested we go for a coffee in the leisure centre café.

‘Hi, Mum,’ I called, as we dropped our bags at a table.

My mum works at the counter, taking orders and serving food and drink.

‘Is this really your mum?’ Lynn asked.

‘Yep,’ I replied. ‘But I’m afraid she’s too upstanding to sneak us free coffees — we’ll have to pay.’

‘Oh, I didn’t mean…’ Lynn said, looking horrified.

‘It’s OK. I’m just joking,’ I assured her. ‘What would you like? This is on me.’

‘Oh! Thanks!’ She turned to Mum. ‘I’d love a latte, Mrs Lyttle.’

‘Call me Sue,’ Mum told her. ‘Same for you, Jude?’

Five minutes later, we were sitting at a table overlooking the swimming pool, catching up.

‘So you’re not married yet, or anything?’ Lynn said.

‘Not yet. I’m in a relationship, though, and it’s looking good. We’re talking about moving in together, but we’re in no rush. I like my little house, and I’m not completely sure I’m ready to share it, even with Danny.’

‘Sounds like you have it all,’ Lynn said wistfully. ‘A home you love, a relationship that’s going somewhere, plus you’re close to your mum.’ I supposed I was lucky. ‘How about you?’ I asked. ‘Not so good,’ Lynn said, staring into her coffee. ‘I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me, so I dumped him. I know it’s for the best, but I still miss him every day. And my mum is very close with her new fella, so I don’t really feel welcome round there any more.’

‘That sounds tough,’ I told her.

‘I’m hoping to cheer myself up by finding a new place to live, though,’ she continued. ‘Matthew and I have sold our property, so

I’ll be on the move.’

‘Well that’s something to look forward to. Have you started looking yet?’

‘A little. I want a nice area, with good neighbours.’

Just then, Mum came over, on her break.

‘Mind if I join you girls?’ Lynn shuffled along the bench seat.

‘Sit beside me, Sue.

There’s plenty of room.’

‘You’re right — you’re a petite little thing. Not like you, Jude,’ she added, looking at me. ‘Too many biscuits. I’ve told you before, no amount of exercise classes can make you lose weight if you keep nibbling.’

I blushed. Mum often spoke to me like this, and I didn’t mind when it was just the two of us, but I didn’t appreciate being chastised in front of someone else.

‘You keep yourself trim,’ Lynn said to Mum.

‘I get a special staff rate for the facilities here,’ Mum explained, ‘so I swim first thing every morning, and I walk to and from work. I prefer it to taking the bus. It’s a great stress-buster.’

‘Is it far?’

‘Just Burnside Grove, by the high school roundabout.’

Lynn nodded. ‘I know it. It’s nice and quiet.’

‘Which suits me very well,’ Mum replied. ‘Why don’t you two girls come round for tea this evening? It would just be a salad, but that wouldn’t do you any harm, Jude.’

‘That would be lovely!’ Lynn exclaimed. Then she glanced nervously at me. ‘If it’s OK with you, Jude.’ ‘Sure,’ I said. ‘Why not.’ Mum was right, I needed to eat more healthily, and it was a lot easier when it was served up to you.

As it was my day off, I went home and did a bit of housework, decluttered my cosmetics baskets and read my library book. I’d said I would pick up Lynn at five and we’d go together to Mum’s.

‘This is a lovely street, all right,’ Lynn said when we

‘Why don’t you two girls come round for tea this evening?’

pulled up outside Mum’s bungalow.

She had brought Mum a very nice bunch of pink and white flowers and a bottle of wine, which made me feel a bit bad. When I called round, I rarely brought Mum anything.

‘Hi, Sue!’ Lynn cried, when Mum opened the front door. She handed Mum her gifts, then flung her arms around her.

Mum chuckled. ‘Now that’s what I call a greeting!’ she responded. ‘When’s the last time you hugged me, Jude?’

As we ate our meal, Mum and Lynn chatted merrily — mostly about clothes labels they both loved. I wasn’t a keen clothes shopper these days, although I wasn’t quite as tubby as Mum made out. I was a size up from my usual, and I refused to buy bigger clothes when I fully expected to lose the extra weight soon.

‘You love fashion just as much as I do,’ Mum said to Lynn.

‘We should go shopping together,’ Lynn replied.

‘Funny you should say that,’ Mum answered. ‘I spotted a gorgeous denim shirt-dress in town this week, but I’m just not sure if it suits me. I’d value a second opinion.’

I felt a stab of pain at that. I was usually Mum’s ‘second opinion’. We didn’t go shopping together, but she brought things home to try on, we looked at them and then she made up her mind whether or not to keep them.

As the evening wore on, I felt increasingly squeezed out, with Mum and Lynn drinking the wine Lynn had brought, and me nursing a glass of water, as I was driving.

Lynn seemed oblivious to my feelings. In the car on the way home, she told me how glad she was to have met me and Mum and how much she was looking forward to seeing me at our exercise class next week and going on her shopping trip.

She’d been downhearted just that morning, thinking about her cheating boyfriend and her estranged mother, so I supposed I should be glad for her that she’d found a bit of cheer.

Mum had lent me a few magazines and, as I tidied up on Sunday morning, I decided to put them together and return them, as I knew Mum passed them on to a neighbour, after me.

I have a key for Mum’s bungalow, so I used it to let myself in, calling ‘Only me!’ as I came through the door, so she wouldn’t think she was being burgled.

‘Come on in, Jude!’ Mum responded from the kitchen.

But when I did so, I found that Mum wasn’t alone. Sitting at the table, with a cup of coffee and a croissant, was Lynn.

‘Hi, Jude. How are you?’ Lynn asked, smiling.

I thought I’d been feeling all right, but suddenly my mood had dipped. What was Lynn doing back round at Mum’s, without me?

‘Lynn and I got talking, when we were clothes shopping yesterday,’ Mum explained. ‘And I mentioned how much satisfaction I get from walking. So we agreed to take a stroll round the lake this morning.’

‘Oh, I think it was a bit brisker than a stroll, Sue,’ Lynn corrected her. ‘Give us credit!’

‘I suppose it was,’ Mum agreed, grinning. ‘We did make pretty good time.

Want a coffee, Jude? You could have one of these lovely croissants Lynn brought.’

Part of me wanted to say yes, to give myself a reason to sit down and join in the chat.

Except, somehow, I felt that neither Mum nor Lynn really wanted me there and, in a state of hurt, I said I’d just called by to drop off the magazines, but that I had to go.

‘Don’t worry. I’ll keep Sue company,’ Lynn replied. ‘See you at exercise class on Thursday, Jude.’

I slunk off, feeling like a wounded animal.

When Danny came round to my place that night, he told me not to worry.

‘It’s good for your mum to make new friends, whatever their age,’ he said. ‘If Lynn was in her 50s, you wouldn’t be batting an eye-lid.’

‘That’s true,’ I acknowledged.

Danny was right. I’d normally be pleased that Mum had met someone with whom she got along and shared interests. So there was no reason to be jealous.

I resolved to be more generous and rang Lynn to see if she wanted a lift to our next class.

‘That’s so kind, Jude,’ she said, ‘but, actually, I’m walking in with your mum. She’s really inspired me to