Chapter 21
21
JOE
Joe spent a few minutes searching for contact details for Lettie’s parents and then realising he would need to wait until the following morning, had a difficult night’s sleep worrying what it meant for him and Skye if Lindy and Gareth returned early as he presumed they would try to do.
Finally speaking to them the next morning, he assured them Lettie and baby Isla were fine and asked if there was anything they needed from him.
‘What did they say?’ Skye asked when he joined her outside with the alpacas.
‘They’re going to do their best to change their flights but don’t know yet whether there will be availability, or when they might be back.’
Skye smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. ‘That’s good. I’m sure Lettie will be happy having her parents back home again.’
‘Yes, she will.’ He watched the woman he had hoped to spend more time with and although he was happy for his friends that their baby had been born, he couldn’t help feeling sad that he and Skye would no doubt be parting ways even earlier than either had expected.
Hearing a car, Joe glanced out of the window. ‘Who’s that?’
They went to look outside.
He recognised the car immediately. It was his grandfather’s old Mazda that he had left for his mother and Roger to use. Joe’s mood plummeted further.
‘Isn’t that…?’
‘Yes, it’s my mother, and by the looks of things she’s left Roger behind.’ What could she want?
‘I’d better go and greet her.’
‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Skye said. ‘I need to go and sort out some washing. If you have any, I could put that in the washing machine too.’
‘I have a few things on a pile on my bedroom floor that I was going to see to later,’ he said, unsurprised that Skye was looking for a reason to be out of the way. They had both had enough excitement for now.
Joe walked outside and forced a smile. ‘Mum, I didn’t expect to see you today. Is everything OK?’ He opened the car door and his mother took his hand and got out. ‘Your leg still playing up?’
‘No,’ she said. ‘It’s almost back to normal now.’ She scanned the area. ‘I don’t recall coming here before. It’s rather lovely, isn’t it?’
‘It is.’
‘Took me a while to find the right farm.’ Joe wasn’t sure why because there was a sign at the end of the drive. ‘I went to the next farm along and met a very nice man, Leonard. He’s a farmer too,’ she continued. ‘And gave me directions here.’
‘He’s Lettie’s uncle. Lettie runs this place.’
Faye gave him a pointed look and Joe knew criticism was coming his way. ‘Maybe if you’d thought to bring me here before, I wouldn’t have got lost.’
Joe had no intention of giving in to his mother’s sniping. ‘You’re here now.’ He forced a smile and closed the car door. ‘Would you like to have a look around now?’ he asked, presuming that might be why she was there. ‘Or was there something else.’
‘Is Skye here?’
Joe wasn’t sure his mother was asking because she was interested in seeing Skye again or if she was hoping to find Joe alone to discuss something private. ‘She is but she’s doing a few chores somewhere,’ he said vaguely.
‘That’s probably just as well.’ She didn’t move and he realised they were going to have their conversation outside. ‘Because I needed to speak to you about money.’
‘I see.’
‘Well, don’t look at me like that,’ she snapped.
‘Like what?’ Joe wondered how long his mother thought this arrangement could continue for. Did she and Roger think that when he was no longer at the farm he could return to the bungalow and the three of them could go back to trying to make things work there?
‘Like I make you weary.’
He didn’t like to admit that she did when it came to her and money. ‘Sorry, I don’t meant to.’
‘You’re irritated with me though,’ she said. ‘I can tell.’
‘I’m not, Mum.’
‘But you think I should sort myself out.’
‘Did I say that?’ Did she blame him? he wondered. He had worked during school holidays at the village pub washing dishes and helping wipe tables from when he was fifteen so that he never needed to ask her for money, aware Faye struggled to make her earnings last very long.
She shook her head and folded her arms. ‘I told you about Roger and me being financially embarrassed at the moment. We can’t live off fresh air and you know he’ll pay you back whatever you loan to him.’
Poor man, Joe thought, aware that this conversation would continue in some format until he gave in. ‘Of course I’ll help out,’ Joe said, trying his best not to show his disappointment. So much for his savings increasing until he could replace the bungalow roof and fix the wall near the entrance as he had been planning to do. ‘I’ll transfer some to your account as soon as I go inside.’
She reached up and kissed him on the cheek, her whole demeanour changing as if she had only just called in to say hello. Joe doubted he would ever see the money again and didn’t mind all that much. All he really wanted was for his mother to be happy, but he knew that she would need to change her ways if that was to realistically happen.
‘I should leave you to get on with everything.’ She opened the car door. ‘Do pop in sometime, won’t you? Bring Skye with you. I’d like to get to know her a little better.’
He gave a nod and watched as Faye started the car and drove off. He wondered if the day could get any worse.
The house phone was ringing again. Who could that be now? Joe sighed heavily. Today was turning out to be a bit of a lousy one.