Don gave a firm nod of the head. ‘It’ll have do till Nancy comes home,’ he answered. ‘I’ve kept me and the old dog going all right, but I’m blowed if I know what else to get the family. I know young David likes his cornflakes, and that Sammie looks forward to her marmalade on toast, so there you have it. The milkman is going to leave three pints tomorrow.’
While the shopkeeper packed the goods into a bag, he chatted as always. ‘So, the family have enjoyed their holiday then, have they?’ Don’s family were regular visitors, so he knew them well enough.
‘I think so, yes,’ Don informed him. ‘Apparently they’ve had excellent weather and they’ve each done what they wanted. Me and the faithful mutt have wandered hill and dale and even been swimming in the canal, so it can’t be bad, can it, eh?’
The younger man agreed. ‘So, it was daughter, son-in-law and two children, was it?’
‘That’s it, yes.’
‘Must be nice, having a grandson … especially as you don’t have a son of your own, eh?’
‘That’s right, and he’s a good lad, is our David.’
‘Me and the missus, we had three daughters and one son, though I would have liked more children.’ The shopkeeper smiled. ‘At least we had three girls … all of them Daddy’s little darlings.’ He gave a sigh. ‘I would have welcomed a dozen more just like them.’
‘Just be grateful for what you’ve got.’ Don was thinking of Judy. ‘We don’t always get what we want.’
‘So were you disappointed? I mean, it is just the one daughter you have, isn’t it?’
Taken aback by the other man’s pointed question, Don took a moment to answer. When he did, it was with a forced smile. ‘Just the one daughter, yes. But like I say, we don’t always get what we want, do we?’ With that he collected his brown carrier bag of groceries and took his leave.
‘Good afternoon, then. Nice seeing you.’ The shopkeeper was surprised when Don left so abruptly. ‘Must have been something I said,’ he muttered, closing the till with a clatter.
The bull terrier was excited to see Don emerge from the shop doorway. She could smell the ham. ‘Come on, old lass.’ Don untied her from the lamppost. ‘Let’s get off home, eh? We both need a bath, or the house will smell of canal water, and Nancy would not like that, would she, eh?’ he chuckled. ‘What! She’d be down on us like a ton of bricks and no mistake.’
No sooner had he got inside the kitchen than the telephone rang. ‘Hello?’ Dropping the groceries on the table, Don snatched up the receiver.
It was Sammie. ‘Hello, Grandad, are you all right?’ came her voice.
‘Hello, love – yes, I’m fine. Me and Lottie have just got back from a long walk.’ He told her how the dog went in after the stick and soaked him top to toe, ‘… shook herself all over me, the dopey mutt.’
When she laughed, he playfully chided her. ‘Oh, go on – mock your poor old grandad. Never mind that I might get pneumonia.’
They chatted for a while, about the holiday, and how Uncle Mac and Rita were already on their way home, and that they would all be together for their last night. ‘Uncle Mac said we’re to put our glad rags on, because he’s taking us out to dinner, as a thank you for looking after the house. We’ll be home tomorrow though, Grandad.’
‘So, you’re being wined and dined, eh?’ Don smiled. ‘That’s your Uncle Mac for you – nothing but the best, eh?’
‘I wish you were coming with us though, Grandad.’
For a moment, Don thought he detected something in Sammie’s voice, something not quite right. ‘Is everything all right with you, my love?’
Sammie sounded brighter. ‘’Course! Why shouldn’t it be?’
‘I mean, you’ve not caught the sun or anything, have you? I hope your mother’s keeping an eye on you.’
‘Huh! Mother ALWAYS keeps an eye on me, fussing and fretting. She doesn’t seem to understand that I’m old enough to look after myself.’
Now Don realised the problem. ‘Oh, I see. So your mother’s been laying down the law as usual, has she, and now the two of you are at loggerheads. So go on – tell me I’m wrong.’
‘Not exactly, Grandad. Only she caught me chatting to this boy I met at the beach, and now she’s watching me like a hawk.’
‘Oh, I’m sure you’ve got it all out of proportion. She just doesn’t want you getting in any trouble.’ Judy came to mind, and his heart sank.
‘I knew you’d say that.’
‘Well, if it all gets too much, you can always call me and have a moan.’
‘Sammie laughed, ‘All right, I will!’
‘Oh, and tell your mother she’ll find her house all spic-and-span. I’ve not been partying or entertaining, and the dog hasn’t chewed everything in sight. In fact, you tell her we’ve both been very well behaved.’
‘I will, Grandad. Got to go now and put on those glad rags. Apparently, we’re being taken somewhere really posh.’
‘Ah well, only ever the best for your Uncle Mac.’ Don was not surprised. ‘It’s very thoughtful of him, especially when he’s only just got back.’
‘That’s what I told David, but you know what he’s like.’ Her voice dropped. ‘David is always looking for a reason to dislike him. He says Uncle Mac is only taking us out to show off.’ She gave a grunt of disapproval. ‘I think he’s just jealous!’
Don gave a little smile. There had been a time when even he had been jealous of his younger brother, but not any more. Not since he’d seen how hard Mac worked, and how many hours he put in.
He relayed that to Sammie now. ‘Besides, your Uncle Mac enjoys treating people, especially family, and there is nothing wrong with that in my book. So, you tell David he’s to enjoy the evening, and not to forget his manners. All right?’
‘All right, Grandad. I’ll tell him.’
‘Have a good time then, and give my regards to everyone.’
‘I will. Bye then, Grandad. Love you.’
‘Love you too, Sammie. Bye, see you soon.’
Replacing the receiver, Don took a minute to consider his younger brother. ‘Mac has done very well for himself,’ he told the dog. ‘But it didn’t come easy. He always said he would be rich one day, and by God, he’s kept to his word. Even as a kid he would work after school, running errands and whatever else might earn him a pocket full of coins. All us other kids used to laugh at him, but we’re the fools now, because here he is, all grown up and making money hand over fist, with a big grand house, a boat in the Mediterranean and a healthy bank balance, while the rest of us have little to show for all the years of slogging.’
He laughed out loud. ‘If I’d let him show me a trick or two while we were kids, who knows? Even I might be a wealthy man now.’
In his mind he went back over the years. ‘Funny how we were so different,’ he muttered while unpacking the groceries. ‘I’d be out them school gates and off to the woods, climbing trees and collecting conkers, or swimming in the canal, and there was young Mac, doing his deals and leaving the rest of us far behind.’
He nodded approvingly. ‘Oh, yes! Whatever young David thinks of his Uncle Mac, he can’t deny that hard work pays off.’ He felt a rush of impatience with the boy. ‘Matter of fact, it might do our David a world of good, if he was to take an example from his uncle.’
He chuckled, ‘Especially when it comes to chasing girls instead of getting on with your school work. By! You would have never seen my brother chasing girls, oh no! Work first, play later, that was Mac’s philosophy.’
Pausing in his task, he looked down at the dog, who was waiting for a biscuit, her whipcord tail wagging and her soulful bloodshot eyes fixed on Don’s face.
Giving her a playful pat on the head, Don threw her a biscuit. ‘We may never be rich, Lady Lottie,’ he murmured, ‘but y’know what? You and me over the fields and down at the canal today – I wouldn’t swap that, not even if you were to offer me a heap of banknotes. Oh no!’
Though he regretted not having been succes
sful in material matters, he had lived his fair share of joy and contentment, and felt not a shred of envy towards his younger brother. Instead, he felt a rush of sibling pride. ‘The boy has done well! He deserves the best.’
Apart from his profound shock and sadness at Judy’s downfall, he was mostly content with his lot. ‘Best get this place shipshape.’ He gave the dog another biscuit. ‘Take it outside now,’ he instructed, ‘and don’t you be dropping crumbs, or Nancy will have our guts for garters!’
Nancy was in a panic as usual. ‘Honestly, Brian, we ought to be headed back to Mac’s now. There’s so much to do, what with all the clearing up and packing, and you know what Sammie’s like when she’s getting ready.’
Slapping the sun-tan lotion on her hands and face, she smothered her legs with it before tucking the bottle underneath the cushion. ‘I swear, that girl believes the world revolves round her.’ Phew! She couldn’t believe the amazing weather they had had this week. One or two days had been hotter than July. They were all tanned and healthy-looking.
Lying beside her on his deck chair, Brian seemed not to have heard, or he had shut his ears as he had long ago learned to do when Nancy was on the rampage.
‘Brian!’
‘Yes?’
‘Did you hear what I said?’
‘Er … yes, and I totally agree with you.’ He had not the slightest idea what she was talking about.
‘Brian!’
‘What now?’
She gave a loud tut. ‘I swear, the world could be tumbling round your head and you wouldn’t even notice.’
‘What’s wrong now?’
‘Nothing – at least, nothing I can’t handle.’
Thankful that he was let off the hook, he flicked the pages of his newspaper. ‘Ah!’ Arriving at the racing page, he scanned the list of runners in the four-thirty. ‘Fair Play, eh?’
‘Are you talking to me?’ Nancy stared down at him.
‘No.’ He tapped the page with his finger. ‘I was just talking to myself.’
‘Huh!’ She gave him a scornful glance. ‘That’s about right.’
Igoring her cynical comment, he concentrated on the horse’s form. ‘I think I’ll put a couple of quid on Fair Play. It’s won the last three times out, and was pipped at the post just last week.’ Licking the end of his pencil, he put an asterisk beside the horse’s name.
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, is that all you can think of … horse-racing?’
‘Ah well, you wouldn’t say that if I won a fortune. You’d be up the high street, shopping for another holiday before I could say Jack Robinson!’
‘You might be right,’ she conceded with a little smile. ‘But just now, I’m more concerned about getting us all back to the house. First we need to clean ourselves up, and then make sure the house is thoroughly clean before Mac and Rita get home.’
‘Which won’t be for at least another six hours.’ Brian looked at his watch. ‘It’s just gone midday. They’re not due home until after six. There’s plenty of time, so stop panicking. Just enjoy the beautiful day – our last day remember – before we get back to the hustle and bustle of life at home.’
Nancy had to smile at that. ‘Heath and Reach is hardly hustle and bustle, is it?’
‘Stop nit-picking. You know very well what I mean – daily routines, driving to work, keeping to schedules. All that.’ His smile fell away. He felt really down now. The reality of this wonderful, lazy holiday coming to an end had only just dawned on him.
Nancy had stopped listening. She was too busy keeping an eye on Sammie. At the far end of the beach, talking and laughing with a group of people her own age, Sammie was in her element. ‘I do wish she wouldn’t keep talking to strangers.’
‘Who?’ Shifting his sunglasses to the end of his nose, Brian followed his wife’s concerned gaze. ‘Oh, you mean Sammie? Oh, now look, Nancy, you’re going to have to stop treating her like a little kid. She’s a teenager. She likes to chat. Where’s the harm in that, eh?’
‘Don’t you dare take her side on this!’ She was still bristling from the other day when she and Sammie had strong words, about the very same subject. ‘I was hoping you might back me up on this, but I should have known better than to count on any support from you.’
‘I’m sorry, Nance, but I just don’t happen to think Sammie will come to any harm talking to people of her own age. Especially when she’s never out of our sight.’
‘I see.’ Turning away, Nancy lapsed into one of her famous silences.
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, don’t go all sulky on me!’
Putting her back to him, Nancy lay on her side.
‘Nancy!’
She ignored him.
‘Oh, right! So now you’re not talking, eh? Well, that’s just dandy, isn’t it? All four of us, invited out to a special dinner in a special place, and my wife won’t even talk to me. That’s wonderful! Bloody wonderful!’
Nancy swung round. ‘Stop that swearing and cursing.’
‘Only if you stop the sulking.’
‘So, do you want an ice cream, or not?’
‘Are you offering?’
‘I might be.’
‘Are you paying?’
‘If I have to.’
He grinned from ear to ear, the winner of round one. ‘Go on then, I’ll have a choc ice.’
‘You’ll get fat.’
‘So there’ll be more for you to cuddle, won’t there?’ He peeped at her. ‘What are you having?’
‘Same as you.’
‘Don’t you care if you get fat then?’
‘Nope!’
‘Well, neither do I.’
He watched her treading through the sand. ‘Oh, Nancy, Nancy!’ he groaned. ‘When will you ever learn that Sammie is a young woman now. Keep crowding her the way you do, and we might lose her altogether.’
The very thought of that made his skin crawl. Sammie was his special person. She was what put the smile on his face and the spring in his step. His daughter could be unpredictable – deeply caring, yet fiercely argumentative, she was one of the most generous, loving creatures on God’s earth, and Brian Wells was the proudest father alive.
A short time later, Nancy came back carrying the cornets, with the ice cream dripping over the backs of her hands, ‘Quick!’ Handing him his one, she then proceeded to wrap her tongue around the steady trickle of ice cream, meandering down the side of her cornet.
‘Mmm!’ Easing herself into the deck chair, she fished a hankie out of her bag and handed it to Brian. ‘Look at the state of you,’ she grinned. ‘The chocolate is all round your face. You’re worse than the kids!’
Brian called her attention to the string of donkeys travelling across the beach in front of them. ‘Look there!’ He pointed to the donkey at the back of the line, a great lump of a thing with huge sticky-up ears and a long tail that brushed the sand as it went along.
Shading her eyes with the palm of her hand, Nancy peered through the sunshine. ‘It’s our Sammie sitting on it!’ Horrified, she stood up to make sure. ‘Whatever does she think she’s doing?’
‘She’s enjoying herself.’ Brian drew her attention to their son, who was kicking a football about with a group of youths. ‘David and Sammie are making the most of their last day, and so should we,’ he advised. ‘Leave them be for another hour or so. Then we’ll pack up and head back, all right?’
His wife nodded. ‘If you say so.’
There were times when she had to give in, albeit reluctantly, because as Brian frequently pointed out, David was more than capable of looking after himself, and Sammie would all too soon be leaving her childhood behind. It was a terrifying thought.
Nancy consoled herself with the idea that Sammie still had a way to go before she was a young woman, so, until then she meant to keep a firm hand on the girl, whether she liked it or not!
The plane was late landing. ‘I’m not so sure I want to go out tonight now,’ Rita said tiredly. She did not like airports as it was
, let alone hanging about after luggage when they were already over an hour late. ‘Can’t you ring the family and explain?’
‘I’ve already phoned them,’ Mac told her. ‘You saw me go off in search of a phone booth.’
Usually placid and non-argumentative, Rita came back with, ‘Yes, but you only told them we would be late. You didn’t ask them if they would mind staying in tonight and having fish and chips.’
Mac patiently reminded her, ‘I wouldn’t even dream of it! My brother’s family have been good enough to take care of our property while we’ve been away. Don’t you think the least we can do is take them out for a decent meal?’
His wife felt ashamed. ‘Of course you’re right. I’m sorry if I sounded ungrateful. It’s just that I’m really tired and fed up. It’s almost seven-thirty now, and there’s still no sign of the luggage.’
Three-quarters of an hour later, they were actually on their way home. ‘Feel better now, do you?’ Mac asked.
‘Yes, thank you.’ Leaning back in her seat, Rita gave a sigh of relief. ‘It’s a good job you rang and changed the time of the restaurant booking.’
‘It will still be a bit of a rush,’ he reminded her. ‘I’ve allowed half an hour for us to wash and change, and another fifteen minutes for the drive to the restaurant. Do you think you can manage that?’
‘Of course.’ Sometimes he had a way with him that made her feel inadequate. ‘If you can manage it, then so can I.’
‘Good girl!’
It was just as well he did not see the frustration on his wife’s face.
‘SAMMIE!’ Nancy’s voice sailed up the stairs. ‘Aren’t you ready yet … they’ll be here before you know it!’
‘I’ll be down in a minute!’
‘Oh, look!’ When the car drew up outside the house, Nancy was frantic, ‘SAMMIE! THEY’RE HERE!’
‘All right, all right!’ Giving her hair a final brush, Sammie stepped back to see herself in the mirror. ‘I hope you don’t let anyone down.’ She had taken ages trying to control her wild hair, and even now it still looked scruffy to her. ‘Don’t forget, you need to be on your best behaviour!’
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