He frowns. ‘You’ll do no such thing. You’ll stay here with your mum today and make sure she’s okay. You don’t have to worry about us.’
‘Oh, but I can’t!’ I’m taken aback by his generosity. ‘I don’t mind coming over and cooking. Really I don’t. Mum will be fine for a little while on her own.’
He shakes his head firmly. ‘It’s all in hand. I make a mean fried chicken and chips. The chicken portions are defrosting as we speak.’
‘Chicken and chips? For Christmas dinner?’ This brings a wary smile to my face.
He grins. ‘Yeah, why the hell not? Nandos, eat your heart out.’
‘Well, at least Ruby will be pleased.’
‘Good point. It pays to keep the teenage contingency happy.’
‘The thing is, I’ve got the turkey and the pudding and everything in the kitchen. Do you want to take it?’
He nods. ‘Okay. It would be a shame to waste it.’
I lead him through to the kitchen and he hefts both large boxes of food out to the car.
‘Why don’t you and your mum come over and join us later?’ He closes the boot and turns. ‘I promise it will be edible.’ A smile lingers on his mouth as he gazes at me, and I’m suddenly covered in blushes at his lovely offer.
‘That sounds great, but—’ I glance quickly back at the house. ‘Mum – um – she doesn’t like venturing far from home. I think she’d prefer that it was just her and me.’ I shrug apologetically.
‘Hello?’
We swing round. Mum is standing at the door in my dressing gown, smiling over.
‘Mum! Get back inside. It’s freezing out here.’
Jed strides over. ‘You must be Poppy’s mum. Hello. I’m the very fortunate man your daughter agreed to cook for over the festive period.’ They shake hands. ‘And I’m delighted to see with my own eyes that you’re okay.’
‘Thank you.’ Mum smiles up at him in surprise. ‘It’s so kind of you to go out of your way for us. Isn’t it, Poppy?’
I smile at Jed, a lovely warm feeling creeping over me, despite the sub-zero temperatures. ‘It is.’
Unless my eyes deceive me, Mum is actually blushing slightly under Jed’s warm gaze. I can be quite cynical about charming men. Martin was good at turning on the charm – usually when he wanted something. But in this case, I feel sure it’s all perfectly genuine. Jed is just a lovely, caring man.
‘No need to rush back,’ he assures me as he leaves. ‘We won’t starve.’ Then he smiles that lovely lazy smile again. ‘But that’s not to say it won’t be brilliant to see you when you come back.’
From nowhere, a little arrow of desire shoots through me.
Jed slides into the driver’s seat of his car and I stand there, rooted to the spot, watching him drive off. Then I think of Harrison, far away in another country, watching dubbed soaps, drinking sangria to stave off boredom, and flamenco dancing in uncomfortable pants to please his mum. I turn quickly and head back into the house.
It’s probably a good thing Harrison is away, really. Having Mum here wouldn’t be quite so easy if it wasn’t just her and me. I’d like to keep her here as long as I can – and perhaps if she’s away from her familiar environment, you never know, she might start opening up a bit about how she feels about everything. Then maybe I can persuade her to accept help.
‘That Jed is nice,’ she remarks when I go in. ‘He reminds me of Al.’
‘Does he?’ I remember Alessandro as medium height and fairly slim, whereas Jed is powerfully built and very tall.
Mum stares away into the distance, a wistful look on her face. ‘I meant his kindness.’ She turns to me with a strange half-smile. It feels as if she’s apologising for something. For refusing point-blank to discuss Alessandro yesterday, maybe?
We settle in for a fairly normal Christmas Day, cooking the turkey and trimmings together. Erin calls round in the afternoon for a jolly half-hour, keeping us amused with her tales of dried-out turkey and Mark drinking far too much champagne. Mum’s spirits seem to be reviving as the day goes on, especially after she’s indulged in a small sherry or three.
When Erin leaves, I go with her to the door and she drops the jolly front.
‘Mark’s crashed out in front of the TV, snoring his head off. So much for a romantic Christmas, just the two of us.’
I grin. ‘Sounds like a pretty normal Christmas Day, really.’ But she doesn’t smile back.
‘There’s something not quite right.’ Her eyes are sad.
‘How?’
‘I don’t know, it’s like there’s something on his mind. I’ve tried to gently quiz him but he’s not giving anything away.’
I shrug. ‘Perhaps he’s having problems at work and he doesn’t want to bore you.’
Just as she’s leaving, a gleaming white Mini Clubman pulls up smartly outside the house. Puzzled, I peer in and so does Erin. Who could be calling on us uninvited on Christmas Day? I don’t recognise the car.
‘Visitors?’ murmurs Erin, as a woman gets out of the driver’s seat. Dressed in a fake fur and heels, she slams the door, locks the car and walks determinedly up to our gate.
My heart sinks into my fluffy slippers. ‘Oh, shit!’ I mutter to Erin. ‘It’s Mimi Blenkinsop. Come to check I’m really dying of the flu, no doubt.’
Erin frowns in sympathy. ‘Do you want me to stay?’
‘No, don’t worry. I’ll cope.’ I smile to show I’m fine, although inside I’m a bag of nerves, and Erin walks away.
‘So, fighting fit, I see?’ Mimi launches in. ‘I guess you’ll be able to return to work tonight, then.’
‘Er, no. I won’t, I’m afraid. Mum’s still recovering so I really can’t leave her.’
Mimi’s expression remains as hard as granite. Maybe she hasn’t been told what happened. I try again. ‘Mum had a fire at her house. I did phone this morning to explain and Maxine said she’d pass on the message? It was all such a shock when it happened, I’ve barely managed to get my head together. Mum could have died in the fire.’
Far from understanding, Mimi actually laughs. ‘Yes. We did get your message. But domestic problems are nothing to do with the hotel. We have a business to run. And if I can’t rely on my restaurant staff to show up when they’re supposed to be on duty, then we have every right to sack you.’
I stare at her incredulously. I’ve done the right thing, phoning to explain my absence, but it’s apparently not good enough.
‘I’ve spoken to the Nutters about this,’ she sweeps on, her nostrils flaring angrily, ‘and they’re in full agreement. I’m to issue you with a written warning, Miss Ainsworth. And if you’re not back at work within two days, then don’t bother coming back at all.
A fury is building up inside me.
I can tolerate Mimi Blenkinsop’s nastiness because I don’t know her and she certainly doesn’t know me. But the Nutters have known me for fourteen years and I’ve worked my arse off for them. Yet she’s saying they know about my family crisis but are completely unsympathetic! How many times have I gone the extra mile for them, for the sake of their stupid hotel? I really wish I’d never bothered!
‘You may be a good worker, Miss Ainsworth, but you are not indispensible. Mr and Mrs Nutter are furious at you for letting them down like this!’
‘I know I’m not indispensable,’ I tell her coldly. ‘No one is.’
‘So, can I tell them you’ll be back at work tonight?’
My whole body is trembling, but I swallow hard and say, ‘No, you can’t. I need to look after Mum. She’s infinitely more important than my poxy job.’
That’s silenced her!
‘In fact, you can tell the Nutters they can stick their job, because quite frankly, I’ve had enough. I’ve given my all to that place and this is the thanks I get. Well, no more!’ My heart is racing so fast, I think I might be about to keel over. As confrontations go, this is a corker. But I’m determined not to give in meekly the way I usually do.
I draw in a long b
reath. ‘I’m resigning!’
She blinks several times, very quickly. ‘Really?’
I smile cheerfully. ‘Yes, really.’
Mimi eyes me nastily. ‘You’ll regret this when you’re jobless.’
‘Well, I won’t be. As a matter of fact, I’m setting up my own catering company, specialising in Italian food. So you can bugger off, Mimi, because I have no intention of setting foot in that hotel ever again. And can I just say this feels incredibly liberating? God, I should have done it years ago!’
Mimi, red in the face with shocked indignation, stalks back down the path to her car.
‘Oh, Mimi?’
She turns, probably expecting me to start grovelling and changing my mind about resigning.
‘I do great dinner parties. Would you like a business card?’
*
When I get back inside, I’m trembling so much that Mum’s really worried about me. She makes me sit down and put my head between my knees, then brings me a cup of hot, disgustingly sweet tea ‘for shock’ and stands there waiting while I drink it.
I tell her about Mimi and the Nutters, and she smiles admiringly. ‘Well done, love. This catering business of yours is going to be brilliant. I always knew you could do marvellous things if you tried.’ She winks. ‘You are your mother’s daughter, after all.’
We smile rather wistfully at each other, and I wonder if she’s thinking what I’m thinking. I’m also my father’s daughter, and he’s a chef. So maybe I was born to it!
I phone Harrison again, but when I get through, I can barely hear him. It sounds like last night’s party is still going on in the background.
‘The Flamenco crowd,’ Harrison groans. ‘It’s a nightmare, Poppy. They’re all several sheets to the wind and practically dancing on the tables.’
I giggle. ‘Can’t hear any castanets! What are you drinking?’
‘Lime and soda.’
‘Oh, poor you.’
‘I’ve also realised that Mother didn’t much like my father.’
‘What?’
‘Yeah. This is basically a party to celebrate her new status as free and single. Can you believe it?’
‘Wow.’
Actually, I really can’t believe it. I met Harrison’s mother once and she was strait-laced and rather stern, with a fondness for twin sets and brogues. I can’t imagine Mrs Ford kicking up her heels in wild abandon at a flamenco class and toasting the passing of Mr Ford. I suppose you just never know what’s really going on in people’s relationships.
‘Oops, better go,’ says Harrison. ‘The turkey won’t fit in the oven and Mother’s trying to butcher it with a hacksaw.’
‘Harrison?’
‘Yes, Puss?’
‘I resigned from the restaurant today and I’ve decided to go full steam ahead with the catering business.’
There’s a brief silence. Then he says, ‘Gosh. Well. That’s a bit of a bombshell.’
‘I know.’
‘We’ll have lots to talk about when I get back, then.’
‘I can’t wait. I’ve been really missing you.’
‘You, too, Puss. You, too. Right, better go.’
He rings off, leaving me feeling decidedly out of sorts. Not being able to see his expression, I’ve absolutely no idea how he really feels about me resigning. I can’t wait for him to come home so things can get back to normal.
For some reason, I think of Jed Turner’s strong arms around me, when he was comforting me earlier, and my insides do a funny loop the loop. But I give my head a little shake. I’m just missing Harrison, that’s all. Once he’s back, I’m never going to let him go to Spain alone again. I can’t wait to let him know that, after our ‘cooling-off period’, my answer is the same as it was when he first asked me to marry him.
A big fat yes!
Chapter 24
I feel closer to Mum than I’ve felt in years.
However much she tried to mediate between Martin and me, we could never be as naturally affectionate with each other as we might have wanted to be. Martin resented our closeness so we tended to play it down when he was around.
This week, it’s felt really easy to be around each other. I think the fire is making Mum think about her situation, and I’m even hoping she might be amenable to some clearing out, although I certainly won’t be rushing her. It has to be her decision.
In the kitchen this morning over breakfast, she quite naturally starts talking about Alessandro. It’s as if mentioning him yesterday made her realise that the world won’t actually come crashing down on her head if she talks about him.
‘I loved Al so much, you know, but I thought I was too young for commitment. I was in Naples for my gap year with my friend, Joan, serving coffees in a little side-street café, and it was just a holiday romance. Or so I thought.’
‘You must have been really sad having to leave Italy – and him.’
She nods. ‘It was really hard. But I was so single-minded then. I’d made up my mind to study medicine and I had my university place, so the only solution was to bring you up alone.’ She sighs heavily. ‘Little did I know that I’d never feel the same way about any man ever again in my life.’
I pause in buttering my toast. ‘Not even Martin?’
‘Not even Martin. I loved him at the start but, of course, he was on his best behaviour then. We all are at the beginning of relationships. He even seemed to take to you, and I was so delighted because that was always my goal: to find you a lovely dad.’ Her smile is wistful. ‘It was only later, I realised what a damaged man he was.’
‘He didn’t have the greatest of starts in life.’ Martin’s parents had died in a car crash when he was eight and he grew up in children’s homes.
‘I know. I thought I could change him. Mellow him,’ she says. ‘He did try. But in the end, he didn’t try hard enough.’ She reaches for my hand. ‘It broke my heart, knowing he couldn’t love you the way I wanted him to.’
‘You could have left him when you realised it was never going to work.’
‘Yes, but I had you to consider. I kept thinking that two parents were better than one. That’s why I married him, really. I felt deeply guilty that I’d deprived you of a proper dad. I kept telling myself things would get better eventually, and the years just rolled by.’
I can’t believe she’s talking about it at last. It’s as if being away from her crowded bungalow – essentially her prison, where she’s been stuck for years – she can finally breathe new air and see her situation from a different angle.
There’s one thing I really need to know, though.
‘I wish … I wish you’d kept in touch with Alessandro. Al. Why didn’t you, Mum? You’ve just admitted he was the love of your life.’ I stare at her sadly, wanting desperately to understand.
But that’s clearly a question too far, and I can almost see her retreating into her shell.
‘I think I’d like to go over to the house later,’ she says, and my heart sinks. I really don’t want her to go back there just yet..
‘Actually, Erin and Mark have offered to go over there with me,’ I tell her. ‘Just to check out the extent of the damage. So maybe you could just take it easy today. Watch that old black-and-white Bette Davis movie you were talking about?’
Mum smiles. ‘The Old Maid. Yes. She lost the love of her life, too.’
A car draws up outside. It’s Jed. Instantly, my heart starts beating faster.
I open the door to him, feeling oddly shy after blubbing all over him the day before. ‘Hi! How was the turkey?’
‘Very good, actually. Clem and Ryan took over the kitchen and wouldn’t let anyone else in. They did a great job.’
‘So Ryan isn’t missing Jessica too much, then?’
‘Doesn’t look like it.’ He smiles. ‘Listen, do you need any help at your mum’s house? That’s why I’m here.’
‘That’s so good of you, thank you.’ His offer takes me completely by surprise.
‘No p
roblem. Happy to help.’
I nod gratefully. ‘I just need to make sure Mum knows how to work my TV system, then I’ll get changed and be with you.’
‘Don’t worry about that. Go get changed and I’ll show her.’
I smile knowingly at him. ‘I’m sure she’ll love that.’
Ten minutes later, we set off in his car to Mum’s bungalow, a few minutes’ drive away and instantly, my stomach starts grinding round like a washing machine. I’m dreading seeing the state of the place. I psych myself up to follow Jed through the front door, trying to breathe through my mouth because the smell of smoke is still so disgustingly strong. The boxes normally piled up near the front door have been forcibly shoved to the sides of the hallway or trampled underfoot by the firemen in their haste to get to the source of the fire in the living room. Even this small space will take ages to clear up.
But what is stressing me out even more is the fact that Jed has now seen the state the house is in. I know Mum will hate that. And I can’t help feeling a little bit embarrassed myself.
Jed, to give him huge credit, doesn’t do what most people do when they see it for the first time. Generally, jaws drop open and people’s eyes grow large and as round as saucers as they mutter something like ‘Jeez’ under their breath.
‘Mum’s a bit of a hoarder.’ I have to say something by way of explanation, even if it is stating the obvious.
Jed turns and grins. ‘She’s certainly got some stuff. I suppose we all have our crutches in life.’
I laugh. ‘That’s one way of putting it.’
We make our way along to the living room. On the way, I pick up a maroon coat that Mum sometimes wears. It’s on a pile of other clothes, but when I hold it to my nose, it reeks of smoke. I throw it back on the heap.
‘All her clothes are going to stink of smoke. Everything will.’
Jed turns. ‘White vinegar and baking soda in the wash gets rid of the smell apparently.’
‘Really?’
He chuckles. ‘Yeah. I’m a mine of useless information like that.’
I smile at him, my eyes welling up. ‘Thank you.’
‘What for?’
Christmas at the Log Fire Cabin Page 20