Chapter Twenty-Two
The following day, Flora went downstairs to look for Iris.
She was carrying an old tin caddy and went out into the conservatory, but seeing her gran asleep there, she tiptoed away and placed it on the kitchen table.
It was no wonder Iris got tired. The woman never stopped.
She was always dashing around to fundraising meetings, playing golf or having coffee with friends.
Then she heard her Gran call her name. She must have woken up. Flora stood in the doorway of the conservatory.
‘Everything okay, dear? I was just resting my eyes while I had a wee think.’
‘It’s okay, Gran, you are allowed to sit down and have a nap.’
‘I must be getting old. I don’t usually succumb. Maybe it’s the warm weather that’s making me sleepy.’
Flora smiled at her gran, naturally beautiful with radiant, fresh skin.
Iris may have a few more lines on her face now but her eyes were always bright and she was normally so energetic.
She had never really looked elderly or like a pensioner to Flora.
Iris liked to remind her that she became a gran when she was very young, just forty-five.
She had been a young mother, too, and had her own son, Flora’s dad James, when she was twenty.
Her hair was now grey, but she wore it in a pixie-style cut and her clothes were always bright and bohemian.
She also behaved more like she was the grandchild rather than the grandmother in their relationship.
Last year, she had insisted that Flora take her to see 50 Cent at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow when she was going through her rap phase.
Her age certainly hadn’t dulled her moves and she had put Flora to shame.
Hearing the parrots in the weeks after rap In da Club wasn’t a sound she would ever forget in a hurry.
Fortunately, they only knew the first couple of lines as they were the two lines that Iris could remember.
But the word “birthday” was a definite trigger for them.
‘Me, too, Gran. I might cool off in the loch again later.’
The heat and focusing on the sewing tasks she had taken on were catching up with Flora.
She had spent the rest of yesterday setting up the study as her workspace with her sewing machine now sitting on the old desk.
She’d been sorting through some of the old fabrics that Iris had found for her.
There was a beautiful pale grey material with fine, tiny thistles stitched into the fabric which she thought may work for the tree house.
She’d taken a photo of it and sent it to Lily to get her thoughts.
Lily had immediately replied. That looks fantastic.
Better than the old tea towels I would have ended up shoving over the windows. Anything will do!
Today, Flora was going to start running them up on the machine. ‘Gran,’ she said, ‘remember that old tin in the study? I just wondered what you wanted me to do with it.’
‘Where is it, dear?’
‘In the kitchen. Shall I bring it through?’
‘Mm, please,’ said Iris with a nod.
Flora went to get the old rectangular caddy, which had a dented surface and faded pictures on it. She’d already wiped off the thick layer of dust. Sitting on the sofa next to Iris, she passed it to her.
Iris looked at it blankly for a moment and frowned.
She traced over the lid with her carefully manicured fingernails, which were cerise pink today, as she carefully examined it.
Then she used her thumbnail to try and prise off the lid.
It wouldn’t budge and she chewed her bottom lip as she used both hands to work at it.
After a few moments, the lid eventually came off with a pop.
Then she gasped as though finally realising what it was.
It looked like an old relic and Flora wondered if it had belonged to Grandpa Frank and maybe contained some of his personal papers.
But as she watched her gran start to take out its contents, some documents and old photographs, she wasn’t sure.
She watched her look at them and then noticed how her expression tensed. Whatever it was had unsettled her gran.
‘What is it, Gran?’ she said gently, not wanting to be nosy but also needing to make sure she was okay.
Iris looked up at her, sadness in her eyes.
‘Och, do you know I’d completely forgotten about this.
This box belonged to my mother. It was amongst her belongings when she died.
I must have put it on the bookshelf and forgotten all about it.
Then it got hidden behind all the piles of books.
It’s just some old stuff from a long time ago. ’ She shrugged.
Flora looked at her gran in concern, realising that the box and whatever was in it had actually upset her. ‘It’s okay, you don’t have to look at it now. Leave it for later, Gran. Come and have a cup of tea.’
Iris nodded as she gently closed the lid and pushed the box away. ‘Yes, you’re right, Flora. I’ll leave it until later and look at it properly when I’m a bit more up to it.’
‘Good idea. How about an ice-cream, Gran? I bought your favourite white chocolate Magnums at the shop the other day when I saw they were on offer.’
Iris nodded. ‘That sounds nice. Lovely jubbly. Thanks, dear.’
But Iris’s voice, usually full of enthusiasm and cheer, was flat and Flora couldn’t help but wonder what was inside the box and what memories it might have stirred up.