The Perfect Gift

by Emma Hannigan

  She felt so sad and frustrated by it all. One thing was for sure, though, she needed some answers. She had to speak to her parents and find out what they knew. She hadn’t fully made her mind up, but she was also thinking that she’d finally like to try and trace her birth parents. As soon as she admitted this to herself, an image of Keeley and Doug flooded her mind … What if she never got anywhere? If the search was all a wild goose chase and yet she’d caused hurt and sorrow to her adoptive parents in the process. Should she do the selfless thing and let sleeping dogs lie?

  A new and determined voice inside her head was telling her that she had every right to know where she came from. That her parents loved her with all their hearts. That she loved them back, just as much. So where was the problem? They were adults. All she wanted was answers. That was OK, right?

  Minutes turned to hours as Róisín tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable and unable to stop her mind jumping from one question to the next.

  Chapter 7

  Keeley never slept particularly well when the little ones were staying over. With the best will in the world, Martin was an extremely heavy sleeper. He was used to sleeping abroad with his earplugs and eye mask. No amount of crying or noise ever woke him. Liv simply didn’t do getting up in the middle of the night, so Keeley felt the onus was on her to keep an ear out.

  As she lay in the darkness, she wondered what was actually written in that letter Róisín had opened today. How many more letters or cards were there? Many years ago she’d tried to find out exactly where they were being held, but she’d met a brick wall. She was probably being paranoid, but she couldn’t help feeling Róisín was out of sorts all day today. She hoped there wasn’t anything awful or sad written in the letter.

  Her dreams were exhausting – everything moving too fast, looking for people who weren’t there, shouting herself hoarse trying to find them. She was relieved to get out of bed at five thirty. The early morning light was already peeking around her curtains, and she was actually glad Doug had taken that booking last night. At least she had a purpose this morning, rather than roaming aimlessly until someone woke up. She peeped in at the children, who were both curled up like little rabbits on the camp bed in their parents’ room.

  She turned on the oven and began to weigh up ingredients for scones. All her guests commented on the freshly baked delicacies she served. Róisín had a wonderful range of home-made jams at Nourriture that she paired with them.

  She offered a full cooked breakfast and other delicious dishes, such as locally smoked salmon with free-range scrambled eggs. But Claus had seemed adamant that they only needed a continental breakfast today.

  ‘Good morning!’

  She almost dropped the mixing bowl in fright as she spun on her heel to see Claus standing there, looking pristine.

  ‘Hello Claus,’ she said. ‘I hope you slept well?’

  ‘Yes, I was most comfortable,’ he said. His perfectly pressed chinos, white shirt and loosely tied cravat set him aside from the thrown-together farmers she was used to seeing about the place.

  ‘I didn’t realise you were awake. I would’ve gotten up earlier …’

  ‘I’m a terrible sleeper. I have been for the past six years, since my wife died.’

  ‘Oh I’m so sorry to hear that,’ Keeley said.

  ‘It was such a shock. I still miss her every day and I still think she’s coming back. That probably sounds ridiculous,’ he said looking at the floor.

  ‘Of course it doesn’t,’ she said as she mixed the sour milk into the scone dough. ‘How long were you married?’

  ‘Thirty-four years,’ he said. ‘We met when we were eighteen, married when we were twenty. Heidi and I had a great time together.’

  ‘Have you children?’ she asked as she mixed the dough.

  ‘No, we didn’t have kids. That wasn’t a conscious plan. It just didn’t come about and we were busy with work. We owned a shop together and odd as it may sound now, that was our family.’

  ‘Have you retired now?’ Keeley asked.

  ‘Not yet, although Heidi always said we must do that once we hit sixty.’

  ‘I’m approaching sixty myself,’ Keeley said with a sigh as she expertly stamped out scone shapes. ‘Not for another while, mind you. But I’m sort of dreading it. I’ve no idea why. Silly really, isn’t it? It’s only a number after all.’

  ‘I understand,’ Claus said. ‘Don’t tell anyone, but it’s my birthday today.’

  ‘No!’ she said. ‘Your sixtieth?’

  He nodded. ‘That’s part of the reason Ida, my sister, and I are in Ireland. I couldn’t bear the thought of being at home or in the shop without Heidi …’

  ‘So you came on a trip,’ Keeley finished. She popped the scones onto a tray and into the oven.

  He nodded. ‘Ida has booked a special day out on a small cruise ship.’

  ‘Ah yes, it goes from Seal’s Rest Bay. It’s fun, but it’ll probably be cold. You’ll hopefully see some dolphins and catch a fish or two.’

  ‘We get our lunch on board and Ida has some wine.’

  ‘That’s great,’ she said with a smile. Ida joined them, looking fresh and ready to go.

  ‘Good morning,’ Keeley said. ‘Your brother is telling me about your plans for today. If you’d both like to take a seat in the dining room, I’ll bring your breakfast. Coffee or tea?’ she asked.

  ‘Thank you,’ Ida said. ‘Coffee would be excellent.’

  She showed them to the dining room at the front of the house, which was separate to their family kitchen. It housed six tables and a sideboard that was filled with small cereal boxes and some other breakfast staples.

  She brought a jug of fresh milk and invited them to help themselves to cereal.

  By the time coffee and toast were made, the scones were cooked. She piled them into a basket and presented them with some local country butter.

  ‘Let me know if you need anything else,’ she said, leaving them to their conversation. Twenty minutes later she heard Ida and Claus walk to their rooms to fetch their coats.

  ‘Have a good day,’ she said. ‘There’s always someone here, so there’s no need to give you a key.’

  ‘Sure,’ Claus said. ‘We’ve booked a table at the castle restaurant for eight o’clock this evening. Do you know where we might order a taxi to take us there and collect again at ten thirty? We would like to have some wine with our meal and don’t want to cause an accident.’

  ‘I’ll organise something, don’t worry,’ Keeley promised. ‘Enjoy your day.’ She waved and watched as Ida drove gingerly toward the gate in their hired car.

  When Róisín appeared a while later, Keeley was still smiling.

  ‘Claus is such a charming man,’ she said, filling her in on the news.

  ‘Sounds as if he’s lonely,’ Róisín said. ‘At least that’s one plus to ending up as an old maid. I won’t know how it feels to be a married woman, so I’ll never feel bereft when I’m old.’

  ‘Hey,’ Keeley said. ‘Less of the defeatist talk and no more of the “old” word. Claus is the same age as me, give or take a few months.’

  ‘Oh yes, of course,’ Róisín said banging her forehead with the heel of her hand. ‘Your big six-oh is looming. What’s the plan?’ she asked. ‘Will you have a big bash? We could do something in the church hall. Or we could enquire at the castle. They have that grand banqueting hall.’

  ‘Oh no, I wouldn’t relax in there. I’d like to mark the day in some shape or form, but I’m not sure if a great big party is what I’d like.’

  ‘Ah Mum, you’d organise a bash with your eyes shut. What’s stopping you?’

  Keeley watched as Róisín helped herself to a scone and poured a mug of coffee.

  ‘Coffee?’ she asked, holding up the pot.

  Keeley shook her head. What she would really love was if someone, anyone else, took the initiative and organised a party for her. Why was she always the one to do everything? Didn’t any of her family
ever stop and think that she would appreciate being treated for once?

  ‘You OK, mama bear?’ Róisín asked as she put her arm around her shoulders. Keeley nodded and smiled. ‘Mmm, these scones are gorgeous. No matter what we do at Nourriture, they don’t turn out like this. We use your recipe and I’ve seen you bake them a thousand times, but nobody else has your touch. If you’re ever bored, I’ll sign you up instantly as my chief baker!’

  Róisín slugged the remainder of her coffee and kissed her. ‘Thanks for everything. I have to fly. Chat to you later on, yeah?’

  Keeley hid her tears until Róisín slammed the front door. Feeling utterly ridiculous for crying and not really knowing what had set her off, she wandered into the guests’ dining room. First she cleared the table Claus and Ida had used. Next she carried on to the kitchen and cleared the coffee pot, cup, side plate, jam and butter Róisín had used. She was about to sit and have a cup of tea when the two children appeared with rosy cheeks and their hair still fluffy from sleep.

  ‘We’re hungry,’ Billy said as Jess nodded. Wiping her damp eyes with the back of her hand Keeley lifted each of them up to sit at the table and served their breakfast.

  She normally enjoyed looking after others. More than that, she’d made a good living out of it. But lately she’d begun to feel like a dogsbody. As if she was some sort of unnoticed fairy godmother who flittered in and cooked, cleaned and washed things as everybody else got on with their lives.

  ‘Keeley?’ she heard Doug shouting from their bedroom. ‘Any chance of a cup of coffee, love?’ If the children weren’t there she might have yelled back, ‘Get it yourself’. Not sure what had come over her, she berated herself for being so cranky and rushed to set a little tray for her husband, and another for Liv and Martin.

  She was ready to deliver both when Martin appeared.

  ‘Morning, Keeley,’ he said. ‘Oh you’re a step ahead of me.’ He yawned and scratched himself agitatedly. ‘Her hung-over Highness is in there acting as if the world is ending and wants breakfast in bed. I said I’d do it. It’s either that or listen to her griping all day.’

  Keeley looked over at Martin, expecting him to be grinning as he got a tray together. But instead he was scowling and muttering under his breath.

  ‘I’ll do it for her now. I’m bringing something to Doug anyway. Why don’t you sit with the children and have a nice little breakfast party?’

  ‘Cool, thanks Keeley, you’re a doll,’ he said. He poured a coffee and wandered into the living room and switched on the news.

  ‘Jess!’ Billy shouted. ‘She poured the cereal all over the floor.’

  ‘I didn’t mean it,’ she said, with tears forming.

  ‘It was an accident,’ Keeley said, leaving the tray and rushing to clear it up. ‘Maybe if your daddy would come and sit here he could help a bit?’ she said loudly.

  Martin didn’t respond, so Keeley poured more cereal and continued setting the tray.

  She hurried to her own room and delivered Doug’s tray, telling him she’d be back in five minutes, then she brought Liv hers.

  ‘Thanks, Mum,’ she said. ‘I’m so wrecked. I’ve all these kids arriving in the next few weeks too. I don’t know how I’m going to cope. It’s worrying me so much that Martin is going to do the supermarket shop for me and take the kids with him. Would you be able to come over to mine for a bit? Just to give me a dig-out with the rooms? I have all the stuff there, but I’m not good at making them look nice the way you can. You love all that sort of thing really. I hate it, if I’m honest.’

  ‘Yes, love,’ Keeley said. ‘Of course.’

  She walked back to her own room, where Doug was sitting up, enjoying the scones.

  ‘These are delicious. Are there many left? I know Jimmy would enjoy a few if you could see your way to splitting some and putting that lovely rhubarb and ginger jam inside. He didn’t love the raspberry jam you used last time. He has trouble with his dentures and he said the pips from the raspberries stick in his gums.’

  ‘Do they really?’ she said. ‘Poor Jimmy. I’ll make sure I don’t upset him with the scones today. How’s that?’

  If Doug noticed the sarcastic tone to her voice, he didn’t acknowledge it.

  So that was her husband’s roundabout way of telling her he’d be off in a boat bobbing around the water talking rubbish to Jimmy for the day, she mused.

  Martin was standing in the living room munching a scone, dropping crumbs all over the carpet. With a full mug of coffee in the other hand, he was glued to Sky News. The children started running around, also with food in their hands.

  ‘Please sit at the table with your food or I’m going to have to vacuum the entire place again,’ Keeley said weakly.

  Nobody listened and by the time they all ran in to wake Liv and get ready to go out, Keeley knew she’d need to do the floors again.

  ‘Would you mind stripping your bed so I can wash the sheets?’ she called down to Liv. ‘I need to freshen that room before a customer needs to use it.’

  There was no answer, but Keeley’s face dropped when Liv and Martin appeared with their bags a few moments later.

  ‘I’ve to go and get the shopping done,’ Martin said. ‘Can you drop Liv over to ours?’

  ‘I already told you Mum is coming to help me. I’ve been left with everything as usual,’ Liv said with a pout.

  ‘Where are the bed sheets I asked you to strip?’

  Martin bundled the children out the door.

  ‘Yeah, we only slept in them for a few hours, Mum. I pulled the duvet straight. Nobody would even know we’d been there.’ Liv switched on the kettle as Keeley marched to the room and began to pull the duvet cover, sheets and pillowcases off the bed.

  No matter what her daughter thought, Keeley was not going to sell a room with used sheets on the bed. She folded the small duvets the children had used and placed them in a blanket-box in her art room. Clicking the beds in thirds, she wheeled the camp-beds away too.

  It would only take her a few minutes to freshen up the bathroom, so she decided to do it there and then.

  ‘What are you doing, Mum?’ Liv asked in shock.

  ‘I’m cleaning the room, Liv. I know you don’t think it needs it, but I have high standards and for all I know, I could have a tourist board inspector here tonight and I’d lose my high rating.’

  Liv shrugged and left her to clean the bathroom and run the vacuum cleaner over the carpet.

  By the time she had all the sheets in the washing machine, Doug was up and chatting to Liv.

  ‘Ah there you are, love,’ he said with a smile. ‘I’m out of here. Jimmy is going to swing by and collect me. I’ll be out for the day so you can put your feet up and relax.’

  He kissed her on the head and clicked his fingers. ‘Shoot, the scones! Did you manage to put some of that jam on for Jimmy?’

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘But you can do it if you like. The jam is in the fridge and the scones are right there on the cooling rack.’

  ‘I won’t bother in that case,’ he said. ‘See you later.’

  By the time they locked the house and drove to Liv’s place, Keeley was feeling completely disgruntled. She actually thought she’d cry when she saw the state of the duvet covers and sheets Liv was planning to use.

  ‘They look as if you’ve put them through a mangle,’ she said in horror. ‘How on earth did you make them so creased?’

  ‘I dunno,’ Liv said defensively. ‘Look, I’m not as good at all this stuff as you are. It’d probably be easier if I drop these to your place each week. You have that roller iron for doing the duvet covers …’

  ‘Well I’ll do this lot for you now,’ she agreed. ‘Help me put them into my car. I’ll be back as soon as possible. Meanwhile I want you to put the fitted sheets on each bed.’

  ‘But I’ve had gel nails put on,’ Liv moaned. ‘If I start tugging about with mattresses one will be whipped off and Lorna who does my nails is away at a wedding today.’

&nb
sp; Keeley was still furious by the time she got all the linen into the boot of her car. As she slammed the door shut, Liv appeared looking like a string of misery.

  ‘I can’t keep this up, Liv,’ she said. ‘It’s not my responsibility. I have the B&B to run. That’s enough for me.’

  ‘But you said it was a good idea,’ she said bursting into tears.

  Keeley sighed, then went over and put her arm around her daughter. ‘I encouraged you to do something for yourself. That didn’t mean I wanted to tear from my house to yours, working like a slave.’

  ‘I’m never going to manage. Martin is going to hate me. We’ll probably get divorced and I won’t see my children any more. Why did I take this on board?’

  ‘There now,’ Keeley said. ‘That’s enough silly talk. You can cope with all of this just perfectly. It may mean breaking a nail the odd time, but that’s not life-threatening. If you’re taking the students in, you have to ensure you’re able to look after them. Let me assure you, I will not be doing it for you. Now as I said, I’ll do this for today, but after that it’s down to you, OK?’

  Liv nodded and stood leaning against the front door. Keeley went back to her car. From her rear-view mirror, Keeley watched her daughter for a moment. She was like a sulky teenager. Liv needed to grow up.

  As she drove home, a thought struck her. Poor Claus had nobody in the world bar his sister, yet he seemed upbeat and cheerful. She’d dispel her rotten mood by baking him a birthday cake. Even though he was going out to eat that night, it would be a lovely surprise for him when he returned.

  Taking advantage of the empty house, Keeley turned on the radio and tuned into an oldies music station. Slowly but surely she began to relax. She ironed the bedclothes for Liv and left the folded pile at the front door. She returned to the kitchen and made double the amount of cake mixture and divided some into mini bun trays. They’d be handy to have in the freezer for the grandchildren.