Chapter 28
28
LISA
The following morning Lisa didn’t know what to do with herself. Sorrel had insisted she was fine and able to be back at school so, after dropping her off at the school gates, she decided she’d head to Hudson House. She knew there were jobs to do in both her own and Jess’s garden, but she wanted the company that Radio 4 wasn’t able to give her. She hoped getting stuck into little tasks at the care home might be an antidote to the myriad flashbacks Robyn and Jess’s visit to Sheffield had reignited.
The home was a carer down. Jess, unsure whether, in the light of the Sattars’ move on the place, she should be employing a permanent member of staff, had turned to an agency, who weren’t overly helpful. There’d be plenty of little jobs Lisa could assist with and, while she also packed the new gym kit she’d treated herself to, she was happy to be with people who needed her company and her help.
It was lovely when the staff – Bex, Stephie and Azir – greeted her, obviously pleased to see her and have her there. Lovelier still, when the residents made their way over to pat at her arm, hold her hand, call her over to their chair or even salute her, as Geoffrey always did.
‘Where’s Eloise?’ Lisa asked when Jess asked if she’d assist in the kitchen with morning coffee.
‘I don’t know.’ Jess turned to Stephie, who was emptying biscuits from a packet onto plates. ‘Stephie? Have you seen her?’
‘Couldn’t get her out of bed this morning,’ she replied. ‘She said she was tired and wanted a lie-in.’
‘We could do with getting her up and dressed,’ Jess said. ‘Her daughter’s just phoned to say she and Eloise’s husband are coming over shortly. Any chance they get to be critical of her care and they’ll be in there.’
‘Do you want me to go up to Eloise?’ Lisa asked. ‘See if I can persuade her to get herself dressed and her make-up on?’
‘Would you, Mum?’ Jess was harassed. ‘I’ve so much to do. That all right with you, Stephie?’
‘Sure.’ She grinned, stuffing another Garibaldi into her mouth. ‘I’m better down here.’
‘Yes,’ Jess sniffed. ‘But just leave something for the paying guests, if you don’t mind.’
* * *
Lisa made her way up to Daffodil floor where those with some dementia had their rooms, walking along the carpeted corridor until she came to Eloise’s room and knocked.
‘Can I come in, Eloise? It’s Lisa.’
‘Lisa? Oh, Lisa, yes, yes…’
‘You know who I am?’
‘Yes, of course, you’re Granny Maude’s gardener.’
‘That’s right.’ Lisa smiled, remembering Jess’s instructions to go along with what people with dementia believed to be the case. ‘Are you feeling tired this morning, Eloise?’ Lisa looked at her watch. ‘It’s nearly eleven. Did you have a bad night?’
‘I don’t want to go to Canada, Lisa,’ Eloise said, struggling to sit up.
‘Have to say, Eloise, it’s never really been on my wish list either.’ Lisa smiled, lying through her teeth – it was the one country she’d always aspired to visit. ‘I’m not keen on the cold and snow, although I believe it’s a very beautiful country.’
‘It’s a despicable place.’
‘Oh?’ Lisa moved to help Eloise as she swung her legs from the bed and headed to the shower.
‘Despicable. And, I really don’t need the gardener helping me to dress. I’m not going, you know.’
‘You don’t have to, if you don’t want to,’ Lisa called from the other side of the room’s en suite door. ‘Can I help you in there?’
‘Absolutely not.’ There was a minute’s silence and then: ‘Are you saying I can stay with you?’ Eloise’s hand and then her blonde head appeared back round the bathroom door.
‘Of course you can, if you want.’ Lisa hoped she was saying the right thing.
‘Well, don’t tell Granny. She’s booked the tickets.’
‘Oh? To see what? A film? The opera?’
‘You know perfectly well what. She’ll have told you; she tells you everything.’ Eloise stared, obviously confused. ‘You’re not Granny.’ She continued to stare. ‘Your skin is the same colour as Junayd’s.’
‘Junayd?’ Lisa encouraged.
‘Shhhh. Don’t let Mummy know…’
‘It’s all right, Eloise. I won’t tell her.’
‘Well, somebody did.’ Eloise, still in her nightdress, suddenly crumpled and made her way back to the bed, sitting down beside Lisa, who took her hand. ‘She knew about the baby.’
‘The baby?’
‘My little boy. Mummy told Granny to take me to Canada. They came up with the idea between them. And nobody knew, not even Daddy.’
‘You had a baby boy?’ Lisa asked, staring at the other woman. ‘In Canada?’
‘Yes.’ Eloise glared in Lisa’s direction.
‘And where is he now, Eloise?’
Eloise shook her head. ‘In Canada, I suppose. He must be quite a big boy now. I’ve never stopped thinking of him, you know.’
‘I bet you haven’t. When was he born?’ Lisa moved nearer to hear Eloise’s response, but Eloise was struggling with her gold bracelet and didn’t reply.
‘Do you want that off before you shower?’
‘There,’ Eloise said in some triumph, turning the flat face of the identity bracelet over and pushing it towards Lisa for inspection.
‘What? What am I looking at?’ Lisa bent closer trying to work out what was very faintly engraved there. ‘Adam? Is that what it says? And a date – 5 May 1969?’
‘Yes.’ Eloise turned, picking up her pillow and cradling it as one might a child.
‘But that’s my birthdate,’ Lisa said, staring. ‘Exactly! To the very day! How strange. What a coincidence…’ She broke off as a knock came at the door and Jess popped her head round.
‘Mum, Eloise’s husband is here. He’s pretty unsteady on his feet so I’ve kept him downstairs. Let me help you get dressed, Eloise.’ Jess turned to Lisa. ‘Wouldn’t she listen to you, Mum?’
‘Sorry, Jess, we just got chatting.’
Jess, all efficiency now, fetched a facecloth, encouraging Eloise to wash her hands and face. ‘Right, Eloise, how about your lovely red shift dress? With the red cashmere cardigan? You always look like a model in that. I’m not sure what we can do with your hair except give it a good brush. It looks lovely to your shoulders. Makes you look so much younger.’
Five minutes later and Lisa and Jess were accompanying Eloise down the stairs.
‘Really, you know,’ Eloise tutted, ‘I may be forgetting things and, for some ungodly reason, known only to yourselves, I’ve ended up back here at Hudson House, but I’m more than capable of descending a flight of stairs without help.’ And with that she was off, heading for the lounge, where Christopher Howard and his daughter were waiting impatiently in the doorway.
Lisa turned at the bottom of the stairs, debating whether to tackle some of Hudson House’s garden, go to the gym or simply go home and rest. She hadn’t slept wonderfully well the previous evening after Robyn and Jess had returned from their visit to the Foleys and she was beginning to feel tired. She mustn’t overdo it – too much too soon now that she was feeling so well could put her back in bed. She looked at her watch and made the decision to go home and prepare Sorrel’s favourite spaghetti carbonara before driving to St Mede’s to pick her up. She’d insist Sorrel eat a good tea and have another early night.
‘Lisa?’
Lisa turned back towards the front door where Kamran Sattar was standing looking towards her. ‘Hi, how are you?’ What was it about this man that made her mouth go dry whenever she bumped into him?
‘I’m good. Listen, Lisa, er, do you fancy coming to the opening of a new restaurant I’ve been invited to?’
‘A new restaurant?’
‘Yes.’
‘With you?’
‘Yes, that’s the general idea.’
‘Oh, er, well, yes, thank you. That would be lovely. When were you thinking?’
‘It’s tomorrow evening.’
Lisa wished her phone weren’t in her bag in the staffroom. Wished that she could be seen to be perusing a diary before accepting. She didn’t want to appear too keen. Wasn’t that part of dating rules these days? Oh, you ridiculous woman, Lisa Allen, she scolded herself. Who said this was a date? He was probably just trying to find out what she knew about Fabian’s interest in the house.
‘So, is that a yes, then?’ Kamran was smiling at her, his arms folded as she continued to dither.
‘I don’t think I’ve anything on tomorrow,’ she lied, knowing all that would be on was the new drama on the box that Jess had recommended.
‘Well, shall I give you my number and then you can confirm when you’ve had a good look at your diary?’
‘Lovely.’ Lisa swallowed back her nerves. ‘Why don’t we do that?’
‘And, if that fits with you, I’ll pick you up about three. It’s quite a drive.’
‘Three? You mean 3p.m.? Goodness, it must be if we need to set off at three. Where is this restaurant?’
‘Montmartre.’
‘No, I mean where is it? Not what it’s called.’ She smiled across at him.
‘Montmartre.’ He laughed at her confusion, obviously enjoying the game.
‘The one in Paris?’
‘The very one.’
‘Right, OK. Er, so how do we get there?’
‘To be honest, Lisa, if the weather isn’t wonderful, we won’t get permission to take off. It is January, after all. But the forecast is for a cold and clear day. Hopefully we should be OK.’
‘You have your own plane?’
‘I share it with my brothers. We’re all qualified to fly.’
‘Well, I’d hope so,’ Lisa said faintly. ‘I can’t imagine going up in a tin can over the English Channel if you weren’t.’
‘Not had to bail out yet,’ Kamran said cheerfully. ‘It’s been great for the three of us getting about when we’ve business in Europe. I want to look round this place a bit more now, so if you’ll excuse me? I’ll leave my number with Jess… Oh, and don’t forget your passport.’
And with that he headed towards the front door and the gardens leaving Lisa feeling utterly winded.
* * *
‘You’re doing what ?’ Jess was immediately round on her return from Hudson House, handing Lisa the piece of paper with Kamran Sattar’s number written on it.
‘Am flying off t’Montmartre for me tea,’ Lisa repeated in her best Yorkshire accent. Which was never very convincing.
‘In his plane? In January? Over the sea?’ Jess stared and Lola, knowing something was afoot, and following in her mother’s wake, shook her head.
‘You can’t do that, Granny.’
Lisa, who had been thinking exactly the same all afternoon, replied, ‘Absolutely I can.’
‘Won’t you need one of those Biggles’ helmets and goggles, Granny?’ Lola stared.
‘Mum, he’s the enemy.’ Jess tutted, ignoring Lola’s concern re Lisa’s sartorial headgear. ‘You can’t fraternise with the enemy. He’s about to turn out all the residents into the cold just so he can extend his fish-finger empire.’
‘I like fish fingers…’ Lola started.
‘Well, maybe I can find out more about what he’s up to,’ Lisa said. ‘And then report back.’
‘What? Thirty-five thousand feet up above the North Sea?’
‘Isn’t it the English Channel?’ Lisa said, feeling cross. She’d made new year resolutions to take every opportunity going and now she was being thwarted at every step. ‘And isn’t it only jumbo jets that fly so high?’
‘I wouldn’t know, I’ve never actually been up in a jumbo,’ Jess snapped, concern for Lisa making her irritable. ‘The furthest we ever got with Dean was Malaga and Benidorm with Ryanair.’
‘Well, then, time to expand your horizons and live a little now that you’re single,’ Lisa said, eyebrows raised.
‘Single? Mum, you’re not divorcing Dad, are you? I thought he was coming back.’ Lola pulled a face.
‘We’ll talk about Dad later,’ Jess said, shaking her head in Lola’s direction. ‘I’m more concerned about your granny taking herself off with Kamran Sattar. You do know you’ll need a passport?’
Lisa glared across at her eldest daughter. Surely, she wasn’t taking that waste of space Dean back? Again? ‘I have a passport, thank you very much. If you remember, Jayden and I travelled extensively in Europe before you girls were born. You may also remember, he took me to Amsterdam for my fiftieth.’
‘I’d forgotten that.’ Jess frowned. ‘The one time he came up trumps.’
‘I think it’s brilliant,’ Sorrel said, coming into the kitchen and joining the conversation. She helped herself to a spear of the raw broccoli Lisa had just prepared. ‘So, what are you going to wear, Mum?’
‘I shall go shopping in the morning,’ Lisa said, glancing at Jess, daring her to contradict her. ‘There’s that fabulous dress shop in the village. I’ve already got my eye on a dress I was going to treat myself to.’
‘It’s not your birthday, Granny, is it?’ Lola frowned.
‘Not yet, darling.’ Lisa laughed. ‘The dress and the whole restaurant experience will be early birthday treats to myself.’
‘But we always treat you, Mum,’ Jess said, visibly upset.
‘And you still can, Jess,’ Lisa soothed. ‘In May, when it’s actually my birthday.’ And then, remembering, went on, ‘It was so strange today, talking to Eloise…’
‘Who’s Eloise?’ Sorrel and Lola spoke as one.
‘A very lovely lady who is up at Hudson House. Her family actually lived there when she was a girl.’
‘They were all residents at the care home? Weird!’ Sorrel broke off from the broccoli to pull a face.
‘No! Her family owned Hudson’s mills and actually built Hudson House and lived there before it became a care home. Eloise was Eloise Hudson . Anyway, what is weird is that she showed me the bracelet she always wears, and engraved on it was my birth date.’
‘So she’d remember your birthday and buy you a card?’ Lola laughed. ‘That’s really kind.’
‘Now, that is weird.’ Sorrel grinned, finishing the last of the broccoli and pulling a daft face at Lola.
‘No, of course not.’ Lisa shook her head. ‘She had a baby, born on exactly the same day as me.’
‘Hey,’ Sorrel laughed, her eyes wide, ‘now you know your mum was English and not Indian as you’ve always thought, maybe this Eloise woman is your mum?’
‘Good try, sweetheart.’ Lisa smiled. ‘But the baby was a boy. Called Adam. And, he was born in Canada.’
‘Right, Mum,’ Sorrel said, obviously bored with the conversation about old ladies and babies she didn’t know, ‘pick me up from school at lunchtime tomorrow and I’ll do your make-up and your hair.’
‘Absolutely not,’ Lisa said. ‘You’ve missed enough school. And, besides, I’ve an appointment at Luigi’s in the village in the morning. You may think I’m past it, but I’m more than capable of doing my own make-up. Right, anything else or can I get on with this carbonara?’