The Cruel Friend Who Stole Our Dream Holiday

Gemma Hilton, 34, and her family were off on a once-in-a-lifetime trip – but someone had other ideas…

- Rebecca Shepherd & Louise Baty

As she cradled my baby daughter in her arms, my best friend Rebecca Waterfall chatted away about her latest trip abroad. It was the enviable perk of working as a travel agent – she was forever getting discounted holidays.

‘I could get you one, too,’ she said with a grin. I shook my head. It was September 2012 and my husband Michael and I were just getting used to being parents since the arrival of little Lola six months earlier. Going abroad was the last thing on our minds.

Rebecca and I had become friends after we had moved in next door to her in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, in October 2011. She loved popping round for cuddles with Lola, often bringing us gifts from her travels.

So I was gutted when she told us a few months later that she was moving to London for a new job. ‘But I’ll keep in touch on the phone,’ she said.

A great deal

Rebecca was as good as her word and she would ring up for a chat once a week. And when my Grandma Doreen died, aged 84, in November 2015, Rebecca was one of the first people I called. ‘I’m going to miss her so much,’ I sobbed.

I explained how my dad, Philip, 64, wanted to take the family to Walt Disney World, Florida, to cheer us up. Rebecca leapt in. ‘Let me help you get a discounted deal,’ she said. ‘It’s the least I can do.’ By then, she’d moved to Manchester and was working for Virgin Travel.