by Jules Wake
‘Only when I remember to buy biscuits.’ My shopping habits were erratic to say the least.
‘We do have custard creams,’ said Nate, ‘although they’re a bit broken and some of them look a bit nibbled around the edges.’
Grace tucked her head in a little like a turtle trying to take cover and over her blonde curls Nate shot me a quick conspiratorial smile.
‘But if you can bear to wait, I can knock up bacon and eggs. I’ll just get them going.’
‘That would be lovely, thank you.’
He crossed to the big American-style fridge, shooting me another wide and warm smile. It was the first time since we’d first met that I felt a touch of that original spark. I got the impression that the guards around his emotions had been reinforced and that he’d deliberately put up the barriers.
I turned back to Grace. ‘I’m sorry there won’t be any gingerbread today. I wondered if you might be free tomorrow.’
Grace’s head bobbed up and she looked at her dad with pleading eyes.
His face was sombre. ‘I’m not sure; maybe we should leave it for this weekend.’
I’d been afraid he was going to say that.
‘Please, Daddy,’ said Grace as Nate tossed rashers of bacon in a frying pan, having just cut a large sourdough loaf into slices.
Concern lined his face and I could see his dilemma. Was he prepared to give me a second chance? I could understand his reservations.
‘I have no plans for tomorrow.’ But I was scared of over-promising and letting him down again. ‘And Dad should be back tomorrow morning.’ Behind my back I crossed my fingers. ‘Although I might have to pick him up from the airport, but that won’t take all day. What if we said tomorrow afternoon?’
He still had that not-sure look on his face. I watched as Grace carefully schooled hers, the brief flare of hope replaced with a bland impassive expression that was far too grown-up for a seven-year old. She picked up a pencil and went back to her determined colouring. I watched as guilt, sadness, regret and worry warred with each other across Nate’s face.
He looked down at his daughter, his mouth crimping at one corner, and then he looked my way, studying me as if trying to measure my trustworthiness. I looked back at him. There was no point saying any more; the decision had to come from him.
‘OK,’ he said eventually, making it sound like a business meeting, before turning back to the frying pan. ‘Tomorrow afternoon. Two?’
Grace didn’t look up but her busy pencil paused for a minute, held above one of the lines. I looked down at her bent head, filled with the urge to wrap my arms around her and give her a big hug. When I looked up at Nate he was watching me, wariness in his eyes.
‘Two’s perfect. That’ll give me time to do some shopping.’ I copied his businesslike attitude. This was a transaction; I was going to have to start over to earn his trust. ‘Can I assume you have the basics, like flour, sugar, butter or should I just bring everything?’
‘I think we’d better have a quick look now.’ Nate’s mouth twisted in a quick lopsided smile and I relaxed a bit. ‘I don’t think you can assume anything. Baking is not exactly my thing.’
‘You do very good cheese on toast, Daddy.’
Nate moved to her side and ruffled her hair. ‘I do.’
‘That’s because you’ve had lots of practice. And what does practice make?’
‘Perfect,’ said Nate with a rueful laugh, catching my eye. ‘I’m not much of a cook, apart from breakfast.’
‘And you were going to attempt a gingerbread house?’
He lifted his shoulders in a brief shrug.
While he cooked breakfast I borrowed a charger and called Mum but her phone was switched off after all that, so I phoned the hospital to find out how she was. I was put through to the ward and apparently she’d had a good night and was due to go down to the fracture clinic some time soon. I looked at my watch. I’d better make breakfast a quick one. I sent Mum a text to let her know I’d see her in the clinic as soon as possible.
‘Here you go, William’s finest breakfast,’ said Nate, pushing a plate towards me.
We’d moved to sit at the dining table in the long end of the L-shaped extension off the kitchen.
‘Mmm,’ I said, realising I was hungry, which was probably just as well.
‘You don’t need to be polite,’ said Grace. ‘Daddy’s a terrible cook.’ She poked at the white of the fried egg on her plate; it had a bubbly, plasticky consistency and the pale yellow yolk looked extremely dry.
Nate sighed. ‘She’s right … I can never seem to get the timing right.’
‘When someone else has cooked for me, I’m not complaining. And the bacon looks delicious.’
‘That’s cos Daddy threw the first lot away.’
There were little burnt bits all over the second batch of bacon.
‘Can I make a suggestion?’
Nate looked suspicious but nodded.
‘You might find it easier if there was less multitasking.’
He wrinkled his nose. ‘You got me. I was checking work emails. Bad habit. I really ought to switch my phone off at the weekends.’
‘You should, Daddy. It’s boring.’ She sounded very grown-up.
He grinned and ruffled her hair. ‘Point taken, pumpkin.’
Despite the food not being Cordon Bleu standard, it wasn’t that bad and there were three clean plates.
When I rose to help clear up, Nate shook his head. ‘No, you stay there. You’re the guest.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘It’s all going in the dish—’ He was interrupted by his phone and he glanced down at the screen.
‘Daddy …’ Grace’s warning tone made me smile.
He tilted an eyebrow. ‘What if it’s one of your friend’s mummies?’
‘You can answer it.’ Her regal nod made me duck my head to hide my amusement.
‘Hi. Yes, we’re fine. I’m not sure. Let me check with her.’ He broke off the conversation and spoke to Grace. ‘It’s Sophie’s mummy. Do you want to go round there for lunch and to play?’
Grace jumped off her chair. ‘Yes, please. Can I take my LOL dolls? Sophie has the house.’ Grace turned to me with shining eyes. ‘The real house. It’s awesome.’ Her eyes widened. ‘Awesome sauce.’
‘Really?’ I widened my eyes to match. Thanks to my cousins’ daughters, I knew what LOL dolls were and had bought a fair few over the last couple of years for birthdays and Christmases, which reminded me, I needed to make a start on my shopping. Christmas was creeping up and I’d done nothing yet.
Nate finished making the arrangements while Grace darted off to round up her dolls.
I sat back in my seat, tiredness catching up with me, and couldn’t hold back a yawn.
‘More coffee?’ asked Nate, bringing the cafetière to the table.
‘I think I’m going to need it.’
‘Would you like me to take you to the hospital? You look knackered.’
I laughed at him. ‘Luckily, you prefaced that well; otherwise I might be insulted.’
‘Sorry, what I meant was, You look a little tired – would it help if I gave you a lift to the hospital?’
‘That’s really kind of you.’ I hesitated for a moment out of some misplaced politeness. ‘I’d be really grateful.’
‘If you like, I could wait and take your mum home, save you getting a taxi.’
‘Now that really is above and beyond. I don’t think I could ask you to do that. You know what hospitals are like; there’s probably going to be a lot of hanging around.’
He shrugged his shoulders. ‘No problem. Grace will be at Sophie’s. I can take my laptop, catch up on those pesky emails and look up how to fry eggs and google the optimum length of time it takes bacon to cook. And if it’s taking too long I can always leave.’
‘Still feels like a terrible imposition.’
‘Viola, would you like a nice, peaceful lift in a car to the hospital or do battle on the undergr
ound?’
‘When you put it like that, I’d love a nice, peaceful car journey.’
Chapter 9
I made my way through a warren of corridors to the fracture clinic, my journey accompanied by querulous texts from Mum, asking where I was and directing me to where she was. Nate had dropped me at the door and then gone to find a space in the very busy car park.
‘Ah, there you are, Viola,’ said Bella as I walked into a crowded waiting room full of very upright grey-green chairs. Mum was sitting in a wheelchair with a bright purple cast on her leg, surrounded by my Aunt Gabbi and my cousins, Bella and Tina.
‘Hello,’ I said, pausing very briefly before adding, ‘everyone.’ What were they all doing here?
‘Well, you’ve taken your time,’ said Mum. ‘I’ve got the cast on now. They brought me down early. So I had to phone poor Gabbi. You weren’t answering your phone.’
‘It was out of charge but I said I’d be here at twelve-thirty,’ I replied sharply, wondering how she thought I could have assisted even if I’d arrived earlier. Orthopaedics had never been a specialist hobby of mine.
It was actually only twelve-fifteen. The journey in Nate’s lovely comfortable Land Rover Discovery had taken less time than I’d thought it would. Shame because it had been restful and I’d even dozed off for twenty minutes.
‘Hmph,’ said Mum. ‘Good job your cousins weren’t too busy to come when I needed them.’
Aunt Gabbi preened slightly. Mum had always played my cousins and me off against each other. Over the years being compared to them had eventually worn thin. They were both Wonder Women, married with children, perfect husbands and nice houses. Thank goodness they were lovely, otherwise I might well have emigrated and gone to live the other side of the world.
‘I didn’t get to bed until five o’clock this morning,’ I pointed out.
‘Well, you’re used to working unsociable hours,’ said Mum, as if that answered everything.
‘Have you heard from Dad?’ I asked.
‘Yes,’ said Mum. ‘He called this morning, although it’s the middle of the night there.’
‘And when’s he getting back? Do I need to pick him up from the airport?’
‘No, I told him not to bother. There’s nothing he can do. So he might as well stay for the rest of the trip. It’s only five more nights.’
‘But … how are you going to manage –’ I looked at the purple cast on her leg, sticking out from the wheelchair, and the pair of crutches propped up against it ‘– in the apartment on your own?’
Everyone looked at me.
‘It’s all been sorted out,’ said Mum with a wave towards my cousins and aunt.
Ah, hence the family gathering.
‘You’re going to stay with Aunt Gabbi?’ I asked, relieved that she’d have someone with her. Personally, I thought Dad would have been better coming home and then she could stay in her own home but, from a practical point of view, Gabbi’s ground floor apartment in Bayswater would be perfect; there were no stairs and she had plenty of space, with two spare bedrooms.
Mum shook her head. ‘Don’t be silly. Gabbi’s far too busy; I couldn’t possibly stay with her.’
Both Bella and Tina looked mildly surprised by Mum’s outrageous declaration. Gabbi was famously always busy, but no one had any idea what it was she did. She hadn’t worked since she’d got married, managed to complete The Times cryptic crossword every day and her husband cooked dinner every night after a day in the City but, since the year dot, especially since the births of her five grandchildren, she’d always been too busy to babysit for any of them, too busy to help her daughters with birthday parties, to go to sports days, summer fetes or school plays. Our Gabbi was apparently a very busy woman.
I looked around at my cousins, noticing that Nate had appeared behind them. Suddenly both of them seemed to be fiddling with handbags or phones.
‘You can come and stay with me,’ announced my mother, lifting her head imperiously.
‘Me?’ I actually did that pointing to my own chest thing because I was so flabbergasted.
Over everyone’s heads Nate’s eyes narrowed and I felt the unspoken support in the look of surprised disapproval he directed towards my mother.
‘Yes,’ she replied as if I was being obtuse. ‘It’s obvious I can’t stay at home on my own. And I can’t come to you, not in that basement flat. So we decided that the best option was for you to move in with me for a few days until your father comes home.’
No wonder everyone was looking sheepish; it had been decided before I’d arrived.
‘What a good job it’s so close to the end of term,’ my mother added before I could say a word. ‘All the lectures are over. So I don’t have to go in. You can pop to my office and collect the rest of the essays I’ve got to mark. Oh, and you could go to the library to collect the research papers I’ve requested. And I’ll need you to take some things over to Professor Appleby before he heads back to the States for Christmas. I think he goes on Wednesday. So that’ll have to be Tuesday.’ She rubbed at her forehead. ‘Gosh, there’s so much to think about.’
‘But I’m working this week,’ I protested. ‘It’s one of our busiest times of the year.’
‘Yes, but it’s only a couple of hours in the evening, isn’t it?’ replied Mum with the blithe air of someone who knew best. ‘And you’ll need to be around so that I can brief you on Christmas. You’re going to have to take over as I’m going to be out of action for the next few weeks. I can’t possibly manage Christmas without you.’
Neither of my cousins would look me in the eye.
Gabbi beamed at me. ‘It’s the best solution, Viola. And surely you can take a few days off work.’
Bella sucked in a sharp breath. Of all the family, she did actually understand that my job required me physically being in situ at the necessary times.
‘Mum,’ I said firmly, mortified that Nate was witness to this, ‘I’m going to be at the theatre most nights and I’m rehearsing quite often in the afternoons and I’ve got this nativity to sort out, so I’ll be at the school for a couple of hours every morning.’ Not to mention the practise I needed to get in for a forthcoming production in January, in my own time. That wouldn’t go down well with Mum’s neighbours. Not the ones upstairs anyway, who complained at everything; the immediate neighbour, Ursula, was in the minority, she loved music.
‘It’s not a lot to ask, Viola. She’s your own mother.’ Gabbi tutted and looked fondly at her daughters as if they would both leap into action if she became infirm in any way.
‘I’m not saying I won’t do it,’ I explained, giving her a level look when I wanted to shake her. What was she doing that was so much more important? ‘It’s just that I’m not going to be around that much.’
‘Well, if it’s too much trouble,’ said Mum, ‘I’ll have to stay in hospital.’
Nate gave the ghost of a smile and amusement shone in his eyes as they caught mine. He was still a few paces behind my cousins.
‘I’m sure someone could come and look after you while I’m at work,’ I said, giving everyone a matter-of-fact smile. Once again, everyone’s heads ducked down. Seriously?
‘Well, of course we’ll visit. But Viola, someone needs to stay with your mother. What if there’s an emergency in the night?’ Gabbi shot me another of her small, tight, smiles.
Nate stepped forward and all eyes swung his way.
‘Everyone, this is Nate Williams … We’re …’
‘Hello,’ said Nate smoothly, not bothering to qualify things further as he turned to my mother, earning my undying admiration. ‘Viola mentioned your accident, so I offered to give her a lift because she didn’t get home until five this morning and I was worried about her travelling on her own on the tube.’
I could have kissed him. What a hero! Sincerity rang in his words and all the women in my family turned to look at him.
‘That was very good of you,’ said my mother. ‘It was rather late.’ She gave
me a sharp, assessing look.
‘Mrs Smith,’ called a nurse.
‘Dr Smith,’ said my mother with her usual iron maiden frosty tones.
‘Oh, I’m sorry, madam. It says Mrs on your notes; I’ll have them amended. Would you like to come through?’
‘Want me to come with you?’ I asked.
My mother gave me a withering look. ‘No, I’m incapacitated, not senile. I’m perfectly capable of seeing a doctor on my own.’
‘I meant to push the chair.’
‘Oh.’ My mother sniffed and allowed me to wheel her as far as the threshold of the doctor’s office.
As soon as the door closed, the rest of the family turned to study Nate with forthright interest.
‘Nate, this is my Aunt Gabbi and my cousins, Bella and Tina.’
Bella shot me an enquiring look, not bothering to hide it as she stepped forward to take Nate’s hand. ‘Nice to meet you. How did you say you met?’
‘We’re just friends, Bella,’ I said in a fierce undertone as Tina and Gabbi looked on with obvious interest. ‘You know I’m doing the nativity at the school – Nate is helping and we’ve been … working on the script together.’
Bella raised her eyebrows.
‘Well, I think you should consider your mother’s needs over some school nativity.’ Gabbi sniffed, shaking her head sorrowfully. ‘Poor Phyllis. This has knocked her for six. I think it’s going to take her a long time to recover. Not good at her age. Broken bones. Falls. It’s just the start.’
‘It’s being so cheerful keeps you going,’ said Bella, who had the least patience with her mother.
‘I’m just observing,’ retorted Gabbi, ‘and I think you’ll find I’m factually correct. People who’ve had one fall are more likely to have another.’
‘Phyllis is very fit and active for her age,’ said Tina. ‘She’ll be fine. And I’m sure Viola won’t need to nursemaid her all the time.’
Nate frowned and turned to me, already urging me towards one of the upright chairs. ‘Do you want to sit down? You look tired.’
Before I could nod, I found myself sitting down. ‘Would you like me to get you a coffee or anything? You must be shattered. You’ve hardly had any sleep.’