Deep Wate - Sarah Epstein Page 0,68

Mason was looking around. ‘They’re lining up for those inflatable orb things over near the playground.’

Mason nodded. He’d been at the workshop all day and hadn’t even seen his mother or brother. He assumed Henry would be with Chloe, the same way he expected his mother would be parked on a bar stool at the pub down the road.

‘Can we take you up on that slice later?’ Rina said. ‘I want to go and say hi to my mum.’

She grasped Mason’s hand firmly and he let himself be led past the row of food tents to a small stage area with spotlights. Rina waved at her mother, who was herding a troupe of young children in glittery hip-hop outfits onto the stage. Families were already parked on picnic rugs eagerly awaiting the performance, and it wasn’t long before the kids were in formation and waiting on the music. Mason’s attention was drawn to a raucous burst of laughter at some nearby tables behind a white picket fence. Poor event planning meant the alcoholic drinks tent and beer garden was situated right next to the stage.

It didn’t take long for Mason to spot his mother’s blonde ponytail in a large group of adults. He recognised some of them from the pub, including the guy with the shaved head and sleeve tattoos. Judging by the volume of her voice, Ivy was well and truly buzzed.

The stage music started up but it was far too quiet. As Rina’s mother fiddled with the audio equipment, the kids started their dance moves as another roar of laughter boomed from the oblivious beer garden crowd. Mason didn’t want to look, but his eyes were drawn in that direction. Ivy was now standing up and making her way unsteadily around the table. She was talking at the top of her voice, nails-on-blackboard shrill. And while her drinking companions thought whatever she was saying was hilarious, the parents on picnic rugs were unimpressed and restless. It wasn’t long before a couple stalked off and returned with a security guard. Darren bloody Foster.

As Foster snaked his way past tables and patrons in the beer garden, edging closer to Mason’s mother and her friends, Ivy took a wobbly step backwards and toppled over the picket fence. She, along with several fence panels, landed heavily on the grass, narrowly missing a picnic rug occupied by an elderly woman and two small children. There was a collective whoa from the crowd. Mason found himself running to his mother from one direction as Darren Foster closed in from the other.

Foster reached her first.

‘Get up!’ he barked, grabbing Ivy’s arm and yanking it roughly. ‘Your night’s over. Come on.’

‘Hey,’ Mason called. ‘Get your hands off her.’

Ivy struggled to stand, pulling Foster off balance. He jerked forwards, almost falling on top of her.

‘Get up!’ he said again, his fingers digging deep into her upper arm.

Mason closed the last few metres and pushed through the crowd of onlookers who’d gathered to gawk. ‘Back off, Foster.’

Foster glanced at Mason, then ducked his head for a closer glimpse of Ivy. ‘Holy shit. Is this your mother, princess?’ He smirked. ‘She’s so trashed I didn’t even recognise her.’

‘Let go of her,’ Mason said, trying to keep his voice calm. He was aware of how many eyes were on them. There were little kids close by.

Foster smirked again and let his fingers spring open. Ivy fell straight back from her seated position, her head thumping hard against the grass.

Mason lurched forwards and shoved Foster in the shoulder, who took a swing and missed. People around them yelled, ‘Hey, hey, hey!’ Before anything went further, Mason felt firm hands on his shoulders, dragging him away. It took him a second to realise they belonged to Chloe Baxter’s father.

Liv and Sally were running over from their food stall, and in seconds they were helping his mother to her feet. Ivy stared through Mason, glassy-eyed and worse for wear, an afternoon of drinking suddenly catching up with her.

‘Get her out of here,’ Foster said. ‘She’s an absolute mess.’

‘Oh, all right, Darren,’ Sally snapped. ‘Take your little power trip somewhere else.’

Mason scanned the crowd. Faces stared back at him from the beer garden, the picnic rugs, the food stalls. Chloe stood off to one side with Henry, her hands placed protectively on his shoulders. And Tom. Tom was watching from over near the stage, standing beside a horrified Rina.

Mason dropped his gaze, his face burning. He moved towards his mother, but Liv stepped in-between