Chapter Eighteen
Winter 1998
The atmosphere at home had been very difficult since “the incident” with the church group. But when Gemma had started to date Greg, everything changed overnight. Her Dad was on her side, she knew that. But he was always under stress – presumably because he had less and less in common with the woman he was married to! Now that Gemma was dating a boy though, her Mum was suddenly as nice as pie; and that seemed to make her Dad’s life a lot more pleasant too.
Gemma’s Mum thought Greg was a lovely young man – and indeed he was. He was polite, very presentable, and when he began to help Gemma at the hospice she thought her Mum would actually explode with delight.
Her Dad spoke to her privately one day.
“He’s…well I hope he’s not religious is he, chuck?” he said
