by Lily Hayden
Tim snarled in annoyance. “Typical.”
“I can have Toby Sunday, and I can come and get him from yours in the week to bring him here for evening visiting if it’s too much trouble.” Will rubbed his hand across his jaw wearily already wondering how Craig would react to the disruption.
Just the thought of the return journey, battling through rush hour traffic after a full day’s work, made Will feel exhausted, but the thought of Belle lying broken and vulnerable tore at his heart. He’d always thought of Belle as fiercely independent and strong. He had never thought that she needed any of them but seeing her like this made him realise that she wasn’t as invincible as he had thought.
Belle
“Don’t get up!”
Belle paused guiltily, one hand on the arm of the sofa for support as she hoisted herself up. Unable to hold the position for more than a split-second, she dropped back onto the seat heavily.
“I’m fine,” she protested as Eleanor’s mother breezed into the room snatching up the plate and mug that Belle had been planning on returning to the kitchen. “I can do it.”
Rosemary sat down on the edge of the sofa eyeing her sternly. “I’ve no doubt that you can, Belle, but if you carry on overdoing it, you’re going to end up straight back in hospital.”
As if on cue, Belle felt a fresh wave of pain rip through her despite the copious amounts of medication she had taken.
“Sorry,” she winced sheepishly. “I just feel so lazy and useless.”
Rosemary’s face softened as she moved closer to stretch a comforting arm around Belle’s shoulder. “I know you might feel like that, but you’re certainly neither of those things.”
Belle allowed her head to rest for a moment against the woman’s shoulder. Her brother’s mother-in-law was possibly the warmest, most maternal person Belle had ever met, and she couldn’t help wishing that she had someone like Rosemary in her life. She had finally been released from hospital after eight days under strict instructions to rest completely. It was agonising for Belle to be dependent on anyone, but her flat was on the third floor. There had been talk of Social Services providing help when the hospital realised she was a single mother and her siblings all lived too far away to be on hand, but she was loath to have them involved, fearing that they’d find any excuse to hang around after she was healed and stick their noses in. Her worst fear had always been losing Toby, closely followed by failing him in any way. The alternative, offered by a kindly Eleanor, was for Belle to stay with them temporarily. It was fine while Toby was off for the school holidays, but there were only a few days left and Belle still needed to figure out the logistics of getting him to school and back each day.
She had been so poorly that she had gratefully accepted Eleanor’s offer to stay with them, and she’d been naively hoping, and desperately wishing, for a quick recovery so that she and Toby could be home by the start of term, but now she was out, a few more problems had cropped up that she needed to deal with. Eleanor and her mother were lovely; so much so that she couldn’t understand how either of them tolerated her miserable brother. With a twelve-year age gap, she’d never had a lot to do with Tim, but she could see a striking resemblance to their father. She couldn’t deny that she and her oldest sibling had both inherited their father’s coppery-coloured hair and green eyes, but she’d always thought that any similarities were just skin deep. But just a few days in his presence had confirmed to her that Tim was as brusque and bad-tempered as Frank had been when she was growing up. He seemed to work all hours which Belle was almost grateful for as whenever he was around, he made her feel like her presence was a huge inconvenience. But Tim’s surly attitude was the least of her worries.
The biggest issue was that her job with Fantasies was a zero-hour contract. When she’d finally been well enough to get in contact with her boss, she hadn’t expected sympathy, but she’d at least anticipated a phone call. A curt email had informed her that she was entitled to a paltry Statutory Sick Pay, and she had suspicions that she’d soon receive a follow-up to tell her that she was no longer needed. Will had had to break it to her that Ben had not only abandoned her child but had taken almost everything of any value that he could from the flat. Her expectations of Ben had been low to begin with, but the revelation that he had taken the hidden tin full of cash she’d been saving for Toby’s birthday had broken her heart. She wished that she had the energy to be angry, but it was all too much effort. It had taken all of her strength to face tackling the endless forms to claim the benefits she would need to survive, and it felt horribly unfair that she could be waiting up to six weeks for her first payment. She’d tried calling to see if it could be fast-tracked before her monthly outgoings completely drained her current account, but nobody seemed able to help. The lease for the flat was up for renewal, and she knew there was no way she could afford to keep living there on her own. Her injured body and her groggy mind felt like they were working together to betray her. She had so much that she needed to sort out, but she didn’t have the strength to deal with any of it. She had thought about mentioning it to Eleanor, but Belle couldn’t bear to be thought of as a charity case. She was trying her hardest not to feel sorry for herself, grateful for Eleanor’s warmth and the fact that she hadn’t died in the hit-and-run, but she couldn’t help feeling desperate and trapped.
“Do you want another cup of coffee?” Rosemary asked.
“Better not,” she smiled self depreciatingly. “It takes me about an hour to get to the loo.”
Rosemary laughed squeezing her shoulder gently before getting back to her feet. “Right, I promised I’d take the little ones out to the park and for a slice of cake. I’m sorry that we’ll have to leave you here. Can I get you anything before we leave?”
“No thank you,” Belle replied.
Rosemary was a hands-on grandmother and it seemed that she loved being around the children as much as they loved her. It made Belle feel sad that Toby didn’t have any grandparents to dote on him like his little cousins. She reminded Belle a little of her own mother, and she thought that Kathleen would have been just as attached and involved if she’d had the chance. It stung that her father had never been interested, and even now that she was desperate, he’d be the last person that she turned to for help.
Once she’d waved off Toby and his cousins, she pulled out her phone to tackle the task she’d been dreading. Will was the only one she felt comfortable enough to ask for help, but the call went through to voicemail. Her stomach sunk at the thought of delaying the inevitable humiliating conversation. Being in Tim and Eleanor’s beautiful house made her feel ashamed that she hadn’t managed to make something of her life.
If it wasn’t so depressing, Belle thought to herself as she stared blankly at the muted television screen, it would be laughable that Tim of all people is the one moaning about Dad selling off the fields.
She had overheard him on the telephone one evening snootily informing his father that if he did sell the fields then Tim would have to speak with a solicitor. The conversation was quite cordial on the whole; the threat was wedged in between Tim updating him about her accident and enquiring about the wedding. She felt a little like her brother had used her injuries to drop the warning in without creating a rift, but regardless, she was glad that one of the siblings was smart enough to make sure none of them were short-changed. While she’d been searching for cheaper flats online, she’d had a quick browse to see if she could figure out how much the farm was worth, and the results had caused her to inhale sharply in surprise.
It was an awful thing to think, so she tried to push it out of her mind, but she couldn’t help thinking that if he died she’d finally have the money to free herself from the vicious circle she was trapped in.
Will
Will’s phone buzzed in his pocket, but Craig’s frown stopped him from reaching for it. They were sat in a stuffy office at Craig’s bank, opposite a smartly dressed woman who was sweating uncomfortably trying to look like the lack of air-conditionin
g wasn’t a problem.
“I’m awfully sorry,” she tugged at the jaunty polyester scarf at her neck. “I might wedge the door open if you don’t mind.”
As she stood up, Will clocked the huge, healthy bump that was contributing to her internal thermostat and quickly got to his own feet to open the door for her.
“Thank you,” she sighed dabbing at her brow. “I’m positively melting. So, you’re looking to get a mortgage, is that right?”
Craig nodded enthusiastically.
“Have you seen anything you like?”
“Oh, we’re just exploring options for now,” Will protested quickly. “Obviously rent is so expensive that we’re looking to see if there are better options.”
“Oh, of course,” she nodded turning back to Craig. “Craig, you bank with us, so I know your salary details, your expenditure, and so on. Do you have any loans or credit agreements with any other lenders?”
Craig shook his head confidently, and Will felt his heart sink as she turned to him.
“Did you bring some ID and your payslips?”
“I’ve got my passport,” he said sliding it across the desk to her. “But, I’m self-employed so…”
“Oh, that’s fine,” she waved a hand dismissively. “I can work out an average if you’ve got some bank statements.”
Craig had already demanded that he print them all out ready to meet him on his lunchbreak, but Will’s stomach was in knots at the thought of how annoyed Craig was going to be when he realised that he had downplayed his debts. He watched nervously as the woman scanned the documents before looking up at him, a flicker of sympathy flashing across her face.
“Uh, the business is quite new, is it?” She looked back down; her eyebrows knitted together seriously.
“Yes,” he nodded.
“And do you have any other income at all?”
“No,” he could feel Craig starting to fidget next to him.
“Ok,” she went through a few more transactions, her expression growing bleaker with every entry she made on her computer. “Right, I’m just going to see if you pass our credit check.”
Will was no banker, but he was pretty certain of the outcome before it came.
Back out on the street, Will apologised to Craig for the third time in as many minutes. He could tell that he was annoyed but trying not to show it.
“It’s fine,” Craig sighed. “At least we know how much I can borrow on my own now. I mean, it’s not ideal and we wouldn’t get anything decent around here, but back home, we could get a nice place for that. Once you’ve built up the business and your credit rating, you can always be added at a later date.”
“Craig,” Will felt awful but he couldn’t keep going around in circles. “My job is here, and I don’t know if I do want to move.”
“It’s such a waste paying rent though,” Craig protested. “I’ve got a deposit saved up, and I should really be on the property ladder by now.”
“If that’s what you want to do,” Will began hesitantly. “That’s fine, but I can’t agree to move to Bristol. I don’t want to hold you back from buying though. You’ve got to do what’s right for you.”
“That’s not what being in a couple is about, Will,” he shook his head. “We have to make this decision together.”
Will felt his heart sink. Raya was planning on leaving in a couple of months, and he could keep working easily enough on his own or even relocate like Craig wanted to, but in his heart, he didn’t want to live five minutes down the road from Craig’s mum, even though she was nice. He didn’t even know if he wanted to stay in London.
“Don’t worry about the money,” Craig said gently when Will didn’t answer. “I know it’s a long way off, but one day you’ll be back on your feet. Maybe you should start thinking about a normal nine-to-five. Photography isn’t really a stable income.”
Will tried to hide his surprise at Craig’s comment, but before he could even begin to think of how to respond, his phone rang again.
“It’s my sister,” he told him grateful for a distraction. “Hey, Belle. Sorry I didn’t call you back.”
“Hey. I need a favour,” she sounded nervous.
“Of course,” Will replied quickly. “Is everything ok?”
“Yeah, well, no,” she stuttered. “It’s just being at Tim’s is a little tricky. Toby is meant to be going back to school Monday, and I still can’t walk further than from the sofa to the loo. Is there any chance you can help me or…”
“I thought Eleanor had a neighbour who travels that way who can take Toby?” Will asked.
“Yeah, yeah,” Belle said hurriedly. “It’s a short-term solution, and I’m very grateful of course, but we’ve still got to figure out how to get him back. I was thinking if Toby and I could stay with you, then after a week or so I could take him on the bus. I know it’s a long bus trip, but I’ll be sat down and…”
“But then won’t you be back in your flat?” Will asked in confusion. He’d made the suggestion to Craig when she was in hospital, but he’d pointed out numerous reasons why it wouldn’t work and they’d all agreed it made more sense for her to be at Tim’s much larger, child-friendly house.
There was a long silence, before Belle cleared her throat.
“My contract is up at the end of the month,” she admitted in a small voice. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to go back to work, and without Ben’s income, I can’t afford to stay there. I need to find somewhere else, but then that’s going to mean I need a deposit and I can’t keep being a burden on Tim, and I just thought…”
“Oh, Belle!” Will felt his heart expand in sympathy for his sister. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about all those things.” He glanced at Craig who was frowning in concentration as he tried to pick up the gist from one side of the conversation. “I’ll have to speak to Craig, but our place is so tiny, and I don’t know…” He felt wretched letting her down, but he couldn’t see how it could possibly work. “How long do you think it would be for?”
“Ummm, about six weeks,” she admitted sheepishly. “Just until I get my first payment and hopefully get my deposit from the flat back.”
“Is there anyway Tim could lend you the money?” Will was thinking on his feet now, desperately wishing he could help her. “I’m sure he would. Maybe you could find something ground floor too. That would be ideal.”
Belle sighed heavily. “There’s nothing I can afford. I’ve been checking online every day, and I’ve got my name down with all the estate agencies if anything comes up.”
“Have you tried the council?”
She laughed bitterly. “Yeah, I’ve been on that list for the last three years. The only way I can become a priority is to become homeless and move Toby into a hostel or temporary B & B, and I really…”
“No, no!” Will interjected hurriedly. “You can’t do that. Look, I can’t promise anything, but I’ll speak to Craig and have a think to see if there’s anything we can come up with.”
“Ok,” her voice was hollow and dejected, and Will felt awful as he ended the call.
He recounted the conversation to Craig as they walked back to the car. He made all the right noises to convey his sympathy, and when Will finished with a sigh, he wrapped him in his arms.
“I wish we could help,” Craig said earnestly. “But it just wouldn’t work. You’re barely home as it is, and it’s not like you’re any better off than her financially. Maybe try speaking to Tim’s wife. She seems lovely and I really don’t think they’d mind her staying longer or giving her a loan if they knew the extent of her situation.”
He softened his words with a sympathetic smile, but it didn’t lessen how useless Will felt at not being in a position to help his sister.
Rose
Rose watched the clock in the corner of her screen exhaling with relief as the end of the shift arrived. Exuberant whoops rang out from her colleagues that the weekend was finally here, and even though she had nothing more exciting to look forward
to than a leisurely amble around the garden centre, their youthful excitement made her smile.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come out?” Harry hung back from the group as she was putting on her jacket. Rose had developed a fondness for the polite, cheery young man who was the same age as her youngest son. “Just for a couple of drinks?”
“Thank you for thinking of me, but I really can’t tonight,” she politely declined. “I’m looking forward to hearing all the gossip on Monday.”
She wished that she had a group of like-minded friends to make plans with, but sadly her few friends were always busy with their own family plans, and the rare invitations she received these days were either grossly expensive or clashed with her shifts. Since her trip back home, she’d resolved to make more of an effort to be sociable, but Tom’s expensive accident had resulted in not only Phil’s wrath but Rose having to go further into the red to stump up the five-hundred-pound insurance excess. Phil was apparently refusing to help to ‘teach Tom a lesson’, but Rose thought that his withdrawal of financial support to their son had more to do with his holiday to the Maldives with his new wife that she’d heard about when she bumped into a mutual friend at the supermarket. She rolled her eyes just thinking about pretentious Phil.
As she opened the door to her house with nothing more to look forward to than a quiet few days in front of the television, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She withdrew it feeling a little flutter of excitement to see Gareth’s name on the screen. They had exchanged numbers when he had helped her jump-start her car in case it cut out again on the way home, and she’d sent him a friendly text to thank him once she was home safe. He’d replied with a pleasant message, but it was worded in a way that made it impossible for her to respond without looking desperate to carry on the conversation. She might not have much dating experience, but she still had enough dignity left to know when someone wasn’t interested in that way.