Chapter 3
Spencer
Spencer was on shift duty at the Happy to Help Hub with his friend Alice. It had been a quiet morning, so he mostly spent time making up food parcels in the back room.
‘You doing deliveries later, Spence?’ asked Alice, popping her head around the door frame.
‘I’ve got two booked in after lunch. Why’s that?’
‘Just got a call from Mrs Bradshaw.’
Spencer nodded. ‘Sure. Add her to my list. It’s by the fruit bowl.’ He stood, stretching his back. ‘We need more tinned veg,’ he added, stepping into the shopfront that made the drop-in centre along Harbour End Road.
Alice waved a notepad in the air. ‘Yeah, I have another list.’
Spencer yawned as he approached the street door. He gazed across the road at the dark sea. ‘Bit choppy out there today.’
‘Mum always says Cornwall is only beautiful in the summer, but Nan disagrees. Reckons Mum isn’t looking properly to say that.’
Spencer smiled at the harbour. ‘I’m with Luna on that one. I can see the beauty here in each season.’
Alice joined him her light-brown eyes almost glazed over. ‘I don’t need to go outside to know what season we’re in. My body tells me.’
‘Your fibromyalgia playing you up today, Al?’
‘It’s not too bad.’
Knowing she rated her pain levels on a scale of one to ten, he asked which level she was at today.
‘Three,’ she announced happily. ‘Pretty good for this time of year.’
‘You could go jogging with Robson tomorrow morning.’
Alice laughed. ‘No thanks. I might be turning thirty-one at the end of the month, but I feel about seventy-one right now. That activity is strictly for summer.’ She nudged him in the ribs. ‘You could do with some exercise.’
‘I do enough running around. Anyway, now I’m part-time at the centre, I’ve not much time to add anything else.’
‘You back at the shop after deliveries?’
‘Yeah. You?’
‘No, Mum and Nan have got the newsagents covered today. I’m helping Mabel at the B & B.’
Spencer gazed down the road, even though he couldn’t see around the bend to where Seaview B & B was. ‘Can’t remember the last time I had a holiday.’
‘Volunteering here is my holiday.’
He could see her point. ‘I’m taking the kids camping in the springtime, if their parents sign the consent forms. Hopefully the weather will be on side.’
Alice hugged his arm. ‘Aw, Spence, you’re really enjoying your new mentor role already. I can see those baby-blues of yours gleaming.’
He had to laugh. ‘I really want to make a difference.’
Alice pointed at the window. ‘You already make a difference when you create beautiful bouquets of flowers.’
‘Wasn’t my life though, was it? Rebecca opened Berry Blooms. Lottie and I just carried on with the shop after she died.’
‘You not keen anymore, Spence?’
‘Oh, don’t get me wrong. I love the shop. It’s part of me. It’s just with the kids, I feel I have purpose.’
Alice nodded slightly. ‘I get that. I feel the same about my Benny. It was one thing when he was just my nephew, but after my sister died and I became guardian, well, it was life-changing in more ways than I imagined it would be.’
They stepped away from the door as Spencer opened it for the middle-aged woman outside. A gust of cold air blew Alice’s long dark hair backwards as the lady came forward.
‘I have a donation for the food bank,’ she chimed.
Alice took the bag from her. ‘Thank you so much.’
‘Would you like to come in for a cuppa?’ asked Spencer. ‘It’s nippy out there today.’
‘I’m good,’ replied the lady. ‘Got lots on today.’
Spencer closed the door as she walked away. ‘I’m so glad our little food bank has taken off.’ He turned to watch Alice empty the shopping bag onto the light-wood table. ‘Not that I want people to need one.’
Alice sighed, raising a carton of long-life milk. ‘I know. It’s not right.’
He’d lost count of the times the volunteers at the Hub had discussed the cost of living. It wasn’t something he had the energy to think about, knowing it was best spent raising funds to keep the Hub open and finding ways to assist those in need in all areas. ‘Ooh, I forgot to tell you. Mick from the hostel called when you were getting us cake. Said Yuri has settled in nicely, and Shaun has got the fella a labouring job at his company.’
Alice clasped her hands. ‘Aw, that’s great. I knew Yuri would be okay once he had a roof over his head and a job. He was so eager the moment he walked through the door.’ She pointed at the street. ‘I’m glad we could help.’
Spencer gazed at the harbour once more. ‘Makes you wonder who out there needs help. You see people pottering around, but you don’t know what troubles they might have.’ His phone rang, interrupting his thoughts.
‘You get that, Spence. I’ll see to Len.’ Alice gestured to the elderly man plodding their way.
Closing the door to the back room, where all the food was kept, Spencer answered the call from Debra. ‘Hiya. Everything okay?’
‘It’s Jax, Spence. Won’t go to school again. Said he’d run away if his dad tries to force him. He can’t keep faking illness either. It’s all getting a bit much now. Thought I’d let you know in case his anxiety levels are raised next time you see him.’
‘Thanks. Hopefully his school will find a solution.’
‘His dad is in talks with them, but he also wanted to update us. Bless Jax, his social anxiety has flared, but he’s taken a shine to our centre, so at least we can help with his confidence when he’s with us. It all helps.’
‘Thanks for letting me know.’
‘Bye, Spence.’
Spencer went back outside to see if Alice needed any help. She was sitting in the big blue comfy chair having a chat with Len, who often liked to come in just for a natter to ease his loneliness since his wife passed away. Leaving them to it, he went back to making up food parcels while worrying about Jax. The boy looked in good spirits over the weekend, but then again they were having fun.
* * *
Spencer scooped up the last morsel on his dinner plate and sat back, satisfied. ‘Thanks, Lottie. That went down well.’
Lottie laughed. ‘Didn’t last a minute. Have you eaten at all today?’
‘Yes, I was just hungry, that’s all. Had a lot of running around to do.’
His little sister’s sea-blue eyes held concern. ‘Have you taken on too much?’
Spencer waggled a hand while the other raised a glass of water to his mouth. ‘I’m okay.’
Lottie manoeuvred her electric wheelchair around the kitchen table so she was closer to his face.
Spencer laughed. ‘What you looking for?’
‘Any worry lines.’
‘Got plenty of those just from being your brother.’
‘Oh, ha ha.’
‘Seriously, Lott, I’m fine. Just a busy day. Plus, I was worried about Jax. Poor kid isn’t doing too well at school.’
‘Aww, does he need extra help?’
‘No. He has social anxiety, and it affects him in class. Chris, his dad, let us know.’
‘Something like home-schooling might suit him or smaller classes. The school will probably make those suggestions.’
‘Leo loves being home-schooled.’
Lottie started to clear the table. ‘I think that would have suited you.’
It was true. Spencer had little in the way of happy memories from his school years. He decided to change the subject. The last thing he wanted was to go back to his own past. So much of it still haunted him, so he preferred to ignore it altogether. Besides, he had more people to occupy his mind now.
He glanced at his sister stacking the dishwasher. She was all he had left in the way of family. When he’d heard she’d been knocked off her bike by a car, he was sure his heart left his body. There was no one in the world more important to him than Lottie.
‘Do you want to stay over tonight, Spence?’ she asked, glancing his way. ‘We can watch a film.’
He looked at the clock over by the window. ‘What time is Sam due back?’
‘He shouldn’t be too long. He’s faffing about at the new headquarters. No doubt his rumbling tummy will bring him home soon.’
Spencer smiled. He loved how much his sister was settled with a loving partner. Samuel Powell was a good man. She was in safe hands with that one, he was sure. Still, it didn’t stop him being there for her like he always had been.
A flashback hit him of a time when she was two and he’d wrapped a blanket around her while he read her a book from his school library. She liked the pictures, and he liked trying to teach her things. A shiver met his spine as he remembered what happened the next day.
It was scary being eight years old and surrounded by police officers. His dad had always told him not to trust them. It wasn’t them he was worried about. Lottie was screaming as a strange woman carried her away, and he couldn’t get to her, as he was being led off to a different car. There were so many flashing lights, but the noise of the chaos around him seemed muffled somehow.
It wasn’t the first time he’d been taken away from his parents, but this time was different. He could tell. He wondered where Jordy was and told the woman next to him that his six-month-old brother was still inside. Jordy was so small and often so quiet, Spencer worried the baby might go unnoticed. Almost a week had passed when he found out where Jordy was.
‘Spence, you okay?’ asked Lottie, her hand on his arm.
He hadn’t even noticed her approach. ‘Hmm? Oh, yeah. In a world of my own for a minute there.’
She seemed to be studying him, and he was certain she could often see his thoughts. ‘Stay over tonight,’ she said softly.
Samuel was due back soon. She didn’t need her big brother much anymore. ‘I’m a bit tired, so I’ll head off. Do you need me to do anything before I go?’ He knew she wouldn’t, being the independent type, even more so since losing the use of her legs. If there was one person who oozed inner-strength and positive vibes, it was Lottie.
He kissed her cheek at the door and ruffled her strawberry-blonde hair, making her laugh, then he glanced at the wide hallway. It was so different to how it looked when he was growing up there. Aunt Rebecca had a quaint lemon-washed harbour house up Berry Hill. Now, three of the houses in a row had been knocked together, with renovation work still being carried out, thanks to Lottie and Samuel.
Walking down the steep road, he wondered what Rebecca would have thought about her home, now so large. At least there was more room for Lottie. Samuel was making sure she had it easy at home, installing everything she needed.
He paused to stare out to sea. All was quiet. Just how he felt.