Chapter Thirty-two #2
‘My friend said you were nice,’ she said.
‘Your friend?’
‘Rachel. She’s a cleaner here. She needs the cash while she’s studying. We were at college together until I had to take a break to have Esme.’
‘Will you be going back?’
‘Yeah. I have to. I want to. I need to get a good job to support Esme. She’ll have a nursery place three days a week and Nan will help out.’
‘What about your mother? I heard she works abroad.’ Lara could not help herself. She was so curious about the woman who’d given birth to Flynn’s daughter.
‘She does help when she can, but her job means she’s usually away. She needs to work and this is how she helps us. She saves loads.’
Lara nodded, imagining the sacrifices Imogen had made to bring up Molly. Even so, it must be heartbreaking for Flynn to have been denied the chance to help. ‘Does your mum stay with your nan when she’s back in the UK?’
‘Yes. She does have a flat in Bootle, but she rents that out long-term. She can’t usually use it, so she may as well have the revenue.’ Lara noted there was no mention of a partner but didn’t dare push it.
‘Have you told your mum and nan about Flynn yet? People might start talking, seeing you spend so much time at the castle. And I’m not sure if you realise that you let it slip about Flynn being Esme’s grandad in front of my friend Jazz.’
‘Oh, shit!’ Molly clapped her hand over her mouth. ‘Did I?’
‘I’m afraid so, but don’t worry, Jazz won’t tell anyone, and I certainly won’t. I told her the situation is delicate, if that’s OK? But you can see how hard it’s going to be to keep such exciting news a secret,’ Lara went on, hoping she hadn’t caused trouble.
‘It’s hard. I do want to tell people, and I will have to. It isn’t fair on Flynn to expect him to keep it all to himself, but that means coming clean to Nan.’
‘Won’t your nan ask what happened in the house and who fixed it?’
Molly pulled a face. ‘I’ve thought of that. I don’t think I can lie. I don’t want to.’ She heaved a deep sigh. ‘I do think I’m going to have to tell her the truth.’
‘But you’ll talk to Flynn first?’ Lara asked, slightly horrified that Molly might not.
‘Of course I will. There’s no way I’d go behind his back with something that big. He seems like a nice guy. I don’t want to cause him any more trouble than I already have.’
She put her mug down and frowned at Lara. ‘Are you and him …? Do you two have a thing together?’
‘No. No … we’re friends, but we work together and that complicates things.’
‘Oh. OK. I get that. Cos I wouldn’t want to ruin anything between you both by turning up.’
‘Don’t worry, you haven’t,’ Lara insisted, wanting to scream out loud but realising she was meant to be the adult here.
‘OK. That makes me feel better. I’ve probably caused enough trouble as it is. I bet Flynn wishes he’d never moved up here.’
‘I’m sure he doesn’t feel like that,’ Lara said. It wasn’t her place to speak for Flynn, but Molly was seeking reassurance – validation – for her decision.
Molly nodded. ‘Goodnight. See you in the morning. And thank you, Lara.’
Even though Molly wasn’t her long-lost daughter and this wasn’t her newfound family, somehow Lara felt she’d taken on a tiny share of the burden of responsibility.
The following morning, Molly was in the kitchen when Lara walked in, mashing up a banana and adding it to a Weetabix in one of Lara’s nibbles bowls.
She grinned over her shoulder. ‘Hope you don’t mind me getting on with things. Esme’s starving.’
Esme was sitting on a blanket on the floor, bashing a pan with a wooden spoon. There were toys and kitchen implements strewn on the carpet and a bumper pack of nappies by the bin. Baby bottles and formula powder littered the worktops.
‘Not at all. Can I help?’ Lara asked, still not fully awake and definitely not at ease with the weird situation.
‘You could put some water in a cup. I found a plastic one in your cupboard. Was that OK?’
‘It’s fine.’ Lara had completely forgotten where she’d acquired the pink picnic tumbler and half filled it with tap water.
‘Would you mind setting up the highchair by the worktop?’
‘Um. I’ll do my best,’ Lara said, feeling ham-fisted at taking more than a few seconds to manhandle it into place.
‘Thanks.’ Molly slotted Esme in the chair and sat on a breakfast stool next to her, feeding her with a plastic spoon.
‘Would you like a coffee?’ Lara asked.
‘Yeah. Thanks.’
Esme reminded Lara of a baby gannet with the way she opened her mouth to guzzle whatever was on the spoon. It was as if another greedy gannet chick might swoop in and get to it first. Weetabix was plastered around her mouth and she was banging the high-chair tray with her own spoon.
She was so gorgeous, though, with her fluffy dark hair. Even so, Lara wasn’t going to offer to feed her. She was sure that the baby would scream the place down or she’d shovel too much food in her mouth.
She made the coffee, trying to work out how she felt about having Flynn’s daughter and granddaughter in her home. She’d told Flynn she’d help in any way she could, but having the family to stay had never featured on her list of possibilities.
Lara made some toast for all three of them and they ate it, Esme happily chewing her toast ‘soldiers’ with the few teeth she had. There were pieces of toast and Weetabix all over the kitchen floor and Weetabix in Esme’s hair and on Molly’s top. Lara tried not to look.
‘Was that nice?’ she asked Esme.
Esme couldn’t reply because her mouth was full.
‘I’ll go and try to clean her up and get her dressed. She goes to nursery today so I can go to work,’ Molly said, seemingly oblivious to the chaos wrought on Lara’s neat cottage by one tiny person in the space of a few hours. ‘Thanks for the breakfast.’
While Molly was changing and dressing Esme in Lara’s bedroom and en suite, Flynn knocked the door.
‘Morning,’ he said, taking in the chaos in the sitting room and kitchen. ‘Jesus …’ He winced and lowered his voice. ‘I was going to say I hoped they haven’t been too much trouble.’
‘No trouble at all,’ Lara said, managing a half-smile at his horrified expression. His own rumpled hair and unshaven chin added to the general air of chaos surrounding them.
‘I’ll help you clear this up,’ he said.
‘Thanks, but I can manage, and Molly will need a lift to nursery and work.’
Flynn looked around him again and grimaced. ‘If you’re sure.’
‘It’ll be easier when they’re gone. I mean that in the nicest way. Once the decks are clear, it won’t take me long.’
‘I can’t thank you enough for this.’
‘It’s OK. It’s been an experience, and Esme is gorgeous. You’re very lucky.’
‘Am I? I know I am, but I don’t feel like I am. Not yet.’ He sighed. ‘But we’ve been a burden to you long enough.’
At that moment, the burdens walked into the sitting room, Molly in a clean top and jeans, and Esme wearing a pink jumper with an otter on it. She smiled and babbled ‘Ga-ga-ga’ in Flynn’s direction.
Lara saw his face. The sheer incredulity and astonishment – and love. Her own heart felt as if it was squeezing and she wanted to cry, but she didn’t know whether it was for herself or him.
‘You’re chatty this morning, baby,’ Molly said, smiling and obviously unheeding of the cauldron of emotions seething around her.
‘When you’re ready, I’ll give you a lift to the nursery and the café,’ Flynn said. ‘I’ve – er – borrowed one of the maintenance vans. I need to collect some kit from the electrical wholesaler and it’s on the way to the nursery, so I don’t feel so guilty.’
‘I don’t think anyone would mind anyway. It is an emergency,’ Lara reassured him. ‘Although I suppose no one knows about Molly yet, do they?’
‘Not yet,’ Flynn murmured.
Lara was reminded how difficult this situation must be for him and suddenly wondered how she was going to explain Molly’s presence in the cottage, which probably hadn’t gone unnoticed.
‘I’ll be back in five minutes, OK?’ he said, recovering his composure.
‘Yeah. Thanks.’
Lara held Esme as Molly repacked their bags and was surprised by how heavy she was. She wouldn’t have liked to hold her for long. Esme wriggled a bit but then decided to pull Lara’s hair and make a grab for her earrings.
‘I’ve been thinking about what you said – about me telling Nan and Mum that I’ve found Flynn. You’re right. If I want him to be part of my life, and Esme’s, I’ll have to.’
‘There’s no other way, is there?’ Lara said.
‘No, and the thing is, I really would like Mum to meet Flynn again, because she’s on her own and he is too, and, you know, they must have connected with each other once. The chemistry must have been there even if it was twenty years ago. It could happen again, couldn’t it? It’s not impossible.’
Lara didn’t know what to say. She’d denied any connection with Flynn beyond friendship, so she simply said, ‘It’s not impossible, no.’
Molly sighed. ‘Thanks for driving Flynn to mine and letting us stay here. I had no idea what I was going to do. I feel so much better now.’
‘You’re welcome,’ said Lara, as cheerily as she could manage.
Flynn bustled back in, sounding harassed. ‘Right. I’ve parked the van as close as I could. Shall I carry the bags and buggy while you bring Esme?’
‘Yeah.’ Molly brought Esme closer to Lara and helped her wave her chubby arm. ‘Bye then, Lara. Thanks so much for everything.’
‘No problem.’
Lara let them out and closed the door, unwilling to draw attention. It was just starting to get light and staff were already up and about, starting work in the kitchens and café and castle.
Molly couldn’t help her hopes for her parents to reunite. They were understandable and reasonable, in the circumstances. Yet, Lara thought, understanding a situation was one thing, while accepting and liking it was far far harder.
Her role was passive: to leave Flynn to work things out and, in this case, temporarily support Molly through a minor crisis.
Fixing the burst pipe and tidying up the cottage was the easy part. Standing by cheerfully while Molly tried to rebuild a relationship between her mother and father would be almost impossible.