by Helen Rolfe
Contents
Title Page
About the Book
Part Two: An Autumn Promise
Chapter One: Veronica
Chapter Two: Audrey
Chapter Three: Sam
Chapter Four: Audrey
Chapter Five: Veronica
Chapter Six: Veronica
About the Author
Copyright
About the Book
This is part two in a heartwarming four-part serial from Helen Rolfe, author of The Little Village Library.
A little kindness can go a long way …
Veronica’s cottage is the neatest house on Mapleberry Lane. A place for everything, and everything in its place – that’s her motto. But within her wisteria-covered walls, Veronica has a secret: she’s hardly left her perfect home in years.
Then her teenage granddaughter, Audrey, arrives on her doorstep, and Veronica’s orderly life is turned upside down. With a little help from the residents of Mapleberry Lane, Audrey forms a plan to help her gran reconnect with the community: a kindness club, carrying out one generous action a day to make their world a better place – and perhaps help each other at the same time.
As their small acts of kindness begin to ripple through the village, both Veronica and Audrey find that with each passing day, they feel a little braver. There’s just one task left before the end of the year: to make Veronica’s own secret wish come true …
The Kindness Club on Mapleberry Lane is an uplifting story with community at its heart, about the little kindnesses that make the world a better place. This is Part Two.
PART TWO
An Autumn Promise
Chapter One
Veronica
Veronica’s daughter Sam had only moved in with her a week ago and already number nine Mapleberry Lane was fit to bursting with tension.
Seeing Layla coming down the front path now, pink backpack bobbing up and down, waving farewell to Bea, her childminder, Veronica felt a sense of relief – the little girl’s infectious enthusiasm was just what she needed after another day with her own family. To think that she’d been feeling so lonely a few months ago – but as the saying went, be careful what you wish for!
Veronica had the door open before Layla could knock and the little girl ran straight into her arms.
‘I missed you!’ she squealed.
Veronica hugged her tight. ‘I missed you too.’ Layla had no idea how special these hugs were. She was the only person Veronica got them from – Sam and Audrey might be here now, but they were all a long way off being able to show affection to one another. Sam had descended on Mapleberry and Audrey had gone from amicable to biting Veronica’s head off for no reason, schlepping around the place, leaving laundry on the bedroom floor, crumbs on the kitchen bench and unrinsed crockery in the sink. They’d been making headway before Sam showed up, and civility had even begun to teeter over into a friendship, but now Veronica had no idea what was going on, unable to read Audrey or Sam’s mood from one day to the next.
Some people might wonder how it was possible for so much tension to come between a parent and child, but Veronica knew more than anyone how easily it could happen. Sam and Audrey had been pleasant enough to each other on day one, but by day two they were less tolerant, day three they’d stopped talking, and now they could barely be in the same room. The only way Veronica was coping with the shift in the dynamics was to dig her heels in and stick with it because this might be her last chance to claw back some semblance of a relationship with her daughter. She longed to be the person who helped rather than the one who ruined everything.
Veronica had gone from living on her own and barely hearing from family, let alone seeing them, to having three generations all living under one roof, and to say it wasn’t easy was an understatement. But at least Sam had timed her arrival well, coinciding with young Layla being away on holidays with her dad, Charlie. It meant Veronica could focus on the changing dynamics, not that she hadn’t yearned for a distraction now and again when tensions mounted with her daughter and granddaughter.
Layla and Charlie lived at number twenty-five Mapleberry Lane, on the same side of the road as Veronica. Layla was only eight, but over time she and Veronica had become close and Layla visited most days. She loved to bring collections of fruit and vegetables from the veggie patch she’d cultivated with her dad, they’d spend time chatting or playing games, and Veronica had begun to teach Layla the piano. It was a secret from Charlie, at least until Layla improved. She wanted to be good enough to play Christmas songs as her mum once had before she died, and seeing her determination to succeed brought a tear to Veronica’s eye at the loss Layla had been through, as well as the memories she was trying to honour.
Before Sam turned up Veronica felt she’d begun to make some headway with Audrey, despite her granddaughter’s changing moods. Lord knows she’d had to work hard at it, tolerating rudeness and setting ground rules without seeming to be a total ogre, and all while hiding her own insecurities. One day Audrey had come right out with it and asked Veronica why she never left the house, and finally, Veronica had admitted her fears. But it had felt like a blessing rather than anything shameful, not that Veronica had given her problems a label in front of Audrey – she hadn’t needed to. Audrey got it, she understood Veronica had agoraphobia, and that day had marked a change in her granddaughter’s attitude. Audrey had become more pleasant to be around, more polite, and although she had her moments – she was fifteen after all – they were making progress. Veronica had even been starting to think she’d be able to send Audrey back to Sam a happier person; she’d have won at something and maybe it would be a path back into her daughter’s life too.
But now, with Sam around, Audrey was back to taking offence at the simplest of things. Yesterday it had been when Sam dared to ask whether she’d tested the walk to her new school around the corner to see how long it took. The way Audrey reacted was as though Sam had asked her whether she was going to do the walk naked. Although given Audrey’s reaction to changing schools when Sam had told her they were staying on in Mapleberry for the time being, and the way she’d frozen Sam out after she told her, Veronica supposed the filthy looks and huffs and puffs were a step up from the silent treatment. Mind you, this morning Audrey had slammed the front door so hard on her way out for a walk that Veronica thought she’d have to call a glazier to reinforce the glass ready for next time.
Layla’s visits brought a bit of normality for Veronica. She might be the weird lady from number nine, but she had a friend in Layla, and Charlie too. ‘What’s that tucked under your arm?’
‘The kindness calendar, of course.’
‘How could I forget something so important?’ Veronica smiled. The kindness calendar was something Layla had started at school well before the long summer holidays set in and the children were all tasked with carrying on with the allotted tasks during their break. ‘Now, how does chocolate milk and a slice of carrot cake sound?’
Layla followed her into the kitchen and sat herself down at the little wooden table as Veronica cut the cake. ‘Did you use the carrots from our veggie patch?’
‘Of course I did, you gave me enough before you went away!’ Veronica poured the chocolate milk and handed it to Layla. ‘I want to hear all about your holiday – how was Wales?’
‘I loved camping.’ Layla’s dark ginger bobbed hair swung as she animatedly told Veronica all about the muddy field they’d stayed in, the trek to the toilets in the middle of the night, the cows at the farm nearby who’d woken them with their mooing every morning. �
��They were so loud, worse than my alarm clock when it’s time to get up for school.’
‘It sounds as though you got plenty of fresh country air.’ She looked at the rolled-up kindness calendar Layla had set down on one of the chairs. She was a part of it now that she was teaching Layla to play the piano and being involved had lifted something in Veronica, it made her feel as though despite her limitations, the big wide world out there hadn’t been completely taken away from her. ‘Did you manage to do any of the calendar while you were away?’
‘I ticked off “Be a Good Samaritan”. That was easy. You could do anything.’ She didn’t leave a crumb behind from the cake. ‘We helped two people who couldn’t put their tent up. The wind made it really hard and they needed more pairs of hands. I got to hammer in the tent pegs with the big wooden mallet – I like doing that.’
‘It was very kind of you.’
‘The people let me take photos with daddy’s phone too because then I can show the class when we go back to school.’
‘Let’s look what else there is for this month?’ Veronica unrolled the calendar to look at the squares. The children hadn’t been inundated with items; you could probably do them all in a week if you put your mind to it, Veronica thought, but she approved of how the children were having to come up with ways to help people with simple things. She pointed to a square. ‘Now this one is easy: pick up litter.’
‘I picked up some litter in Wales; one man was very naughty and left behind empty tins and a box from his tea bags.’
‘Very naughty,’ Veronica admonished.
‘I put it all in the right bins – rubbish and recycling.’
‘Why haven’t you ticked the item off yet?’ Usually Layla usually put a big coloured line through the square the second she’d completed another task.
‘It was only one bag; I’d like to do more first. Daddy said I can go over the road to the playground and pick up any rubbish there.’
Veronica zoned in on another item on the calendar. ‘What will you do for this one?’ The square had the words ‘Help a local’. Talk about ambiguous.
‘My teacher says that’s the good thing about the calendar: it makes us think. I want to come up with something really good.’
‘Then we’d better put our thinking caps on, hadn’t we?’
Veronica was always happy to listen to Layla natter away. She rabbited on at ten to the dozen and the sound filled the lonely walls of Veronica’s home. It wasn’t exactly quiet with Sam and Audrey both living here, but they both spent a lot of time in their rooms, avoiding her and steering clear of each other. It was amazing how three people could live under the same roof and yet Veronica still felt lonely. At least she had until Layla had come. It was the highlight of her day, not just today, but every day she showed up.
Layla talked about how the community mosaic wall was coming on, how she and Charlie had been down there already and played a part sticking pieces of broken china to the wall which separated the community centre from the road. Veronica longed to be a part of it. Even Audrey had been smashing up china and gone down there to join in, although Veronica wondered whether Audrey’s favourite part was the destruction of bowls, cups, and any old crockery. It was a good way to vent her frustration if watching her from the window was anything to go by.
Veronica told Layla all about her latest visitor to the house. She’d already met Audrey of course, but Sam was new.
Layla’s eyebrows knitted together. ‘It’s nice you have company,’ she said after a considered pause.
‘Yes, I suppose it is. And I was thinking we should give the piano playing a rest this week, let Sam settle in a bit more.’ If Veronica was honest, it would also give her eardrums a break. Layla did love to use the loud pedal whenever she thought she could get away with it. As for Sam settling in, she wasn’t sure that would ever happen.
Layla groaned but reluctantly agreed. ‘I missed it when I was away. Daddy asked me one day why my fingers kept twitching.’ She giggled. ‘I keep trying to remember the tunes and I can’t help it but my fingers move when I don’t mean them to.’
Veronica laughed. ‘It’s our secret, but he’ll be glad of the surprise in the end. How about we make a deal? Instead of practising every morning, I could phone your house when my daughter and granddaughter go out – let you know when the coast’s clear.’
Layla’s smile returned. ‘Is your daughter like you?’
‘Does she look like me? Not really, she doesn’t have grey hair or so many wrinkles for a start.’
‘Does she like to stay inside like you do?’ Children definitely had a way with questions. Veronica thought about the looks that passers-by sometimes gave her if she was at the front door taking a delivery or talking to the gardener, the looks that told her she was an anomaly, she wasn’t like them, she was the odd one out. ‘It’s okay if she is,’ Layla went on, ‘because I like you just the way you are.’
‘I’m pleased you do. But no, Sam isn’t like me in that way,’ Veronica smiled, basking in the affection that had been so absent from her life in recent years. ‘Speak of the devil.’ Sam had come downstairs and came into the kitchen, Veronica assumed in search of coffee, although she had her handbag over her shoulder.
‘Hello.’ Sam beamed a smile at Layla. ‘Who do we have here?’ You wouldn’t think she’d been wandering miserably around the house for the last couple of days, lost in her own world.
Veronica introduced Sam and Layla, who instantly launched into a getting-to-know-you conversation covering where they both lived, the long summer holidays, camping and a fondness for Veronica’s delicious carrot cake.
‘Do you know Veronica used the carrots that I grew?’ Layla asked.
‘I’ll be sure to remember when I have a slice later – it’ll make me appreciate it more.’ Sam turned to Veronica, managing to stop a frosty exterior taking over. ‘Do you have a spare key I could use?’
Veronica fished in the top kitchen drawer and found one at the back to give to Sam. ‘Are you going anywhere nice?’
‘I’ve got an interview.’
‘A job interview?’
‘What else would it be, Mum?’ So the defensive attitude was back. ‘I’ll see you later.’
Veronica cut herself and Layla another slice of cake to take the edge off what should’ve been a conversation with her daughter, not a confrontation. But it seemed the latter was all they could manage at the moment. Baking was at least a distraction neither Sam nor Audrey resented her for, so she was happy to carry on making cakes, biscuits and delicious meals. She’d do anything if it meant another chance with her family.
When Audrey clattered into the kitchen in search of something for lunch, Veronica suggested Layla do the litter run now. ‘I can watch you from the front window.’
Audrey muttered, ‘Litter run…eww,’ under her breath and didn’t even look over.
‘Audrey, could you please see Layla across the road?’ Veronica seized the opportunity to involve Audrey, although she couldn’t deny her hands were clenching at the thought of Audrey turning round and telling her she would do no such thing.
Veronica’s tension abated when Audrey grunted but didn’t protest. ‘Come on then, but be quick, I’m hungry.’
‘Take a bag,’ Veronica called after them, snatching a carrier bag from the cupboard in the hallway, but Layla was out of the door, Audrey close behind.
Veronica watched Audrey hover at the front gate while Layla crossed the road carefully. She tried to get Audrey’s attention, waving the plastic bag, but Audrey’s gaze was firmly fixed on the other side of the road. Either she was doing it to be responsible with Layla or she was deliberately avoiding her gran. Veronica had no idea which. Her role seemed interchangeable, from ally to enemy, with only the slightest nudge; giving Sam the last remaining room upstairs and forcing Audrey to live with her mum in close quarters again hadn’t gone down well. Veronica had never been to Sam’s house in Cheshire but she had looked up the address on the internet and
seen it on Google Earth, so she knew they’d both had a lot more breathing room when they were still living there. Sam had bought the house with her ex-husband Simon – typical of him, doing anything he could to impress those around him. Well, he’d never impressed Veronica. The fact he reminded her so much of her own husband Herman when he was alive made her wish her daughter had had more sense than to marry a man just like her father.
Veronica pushed the front door so it was only open a crack and retreated more inside the house when a couple she recognised from the neighbourhood looked her way. She’d kept a low profile for years and couldn’t see any way for that to change. She tried to remember the last time she’d walked over to the shops on Mapleberry’s main street, or bought an ice-cream on a hot summer’s day. She couldn’t remember when she’d last taken the bus to the nearby National Trust stately home where she could walk the grounds in autumn and have the leaves crunch beneath her feet, or when she’d visited the local café to enjoy a hot chocolate with a side order of whatever cake they had on special that day. It had all become too hard, and as for being a part of a team of nurses at the hospital where she’d once worked, those memories almost felt as though they belonged to someone else.
With tears in her eyes, she sniffed and left the girls to what they were doing. She cheered up when she saw the kindness calendar on the table again, thinking of all the items Layla had managed to tick off so far: baking for a neighbour, being a Good Samaritan, being kind to yourself. The list was endless and hearing about it always brought a brightness to Veronica’s day. She wondered what she and Layla could come up with for ‘Help a local’.
Veronica had only just finished rinsing the plates from the cake and wiping the ring of chocolate milk from the table when she heard giggling and commotion from the front of the house. Audrey and Layla came barrelling through the door together. A far cry from the way Audrey usually acted around Layla, detached yet polite; now they were thick as thieves and Veronica saw a warmer side to her granddaughter that she wished Audrey would show more. Although she was one to talk: she’d found smiling difficult when Audrey first came to stay, not knowing whether it was welcome or not, and her first attempts at talking to a teenager had been as tentative as if Audrey had come from another planet, Veronica feeling unsure of the best way to communicate with her. But now, watching the animation on Audrey’s face, it seemed like the barriers were lowering enough from each of them to make a difference. Veronica only wished those barriers wouldn’t spring back up every time Sam was around.