Chapter 17
‘Earth to Mum,’ said Phoebe, waving a hand across Peg’s face. ‘Is everything all right? You’re staring into space.’
Peg wasn’t. She was looking at the bookcase in her living room, feet rooted to the spot, arrested by a book which had just caught her eye.
‘Sorry,’ she said, smiling. ‘Early morning, and I’ve not yet had a cup of tea. I was just thinking about something.’
‘So I see. Come on, I’ll put the kettle on. It will be just like old times.’
Peg had forgotten when both girls still lived at home how often she and Phoebe used to sit in the kitchen, nursing an early morning cuppa. Phoebe always rose so much earlier than her sister.
‘So what’s the story here, Mum?’ she said a few moments later, once they were settled. She leaned into Peg’s side with a teasing grin on her face. ‘With you and Henry, I mean.’
Peg slid her a sideways glance. ‘There is no story with Henry and me, as well you know. You were present, I believe, when I had the exact same conversation with Izzy.’
Phoebe stuck her tongue in her cheek. ‘Yeah, and she didn’t believe you either.’ She took another sip of her tea. ‘You have to admit the way you met was very meet-cute.’
‘It may well have been, if this were a Hollywood movie – but here in the real world, I bumped into Henry at a petrol station.’
‘And then spent two hours with him, sitting in his car, sharing your mince pies.’
‘Yes, but that’s all it was.’
Phoebe leaned into her again. ‘I know. I’m only teasing.’
Peg smiled, squeezing her daughter’s hand.
‘I know you are. Getting your own back for all the times I’ve teased you, no doubt.
And I’m not sure how cute it was, but weird it most definitely is.
I feel as if I’m on a fast-moving conveyor I can’t seem to jump off.
Before his accident, I had literally had a total of two conversations with Henry, three if you count the ten or so words we exchanged after the carol service, so why I’ve ended up in this situation, I don’t know. ’
‘I do,’ replied Phoebe. ‘It’s because you’re so kind, perhaps too kind at times. Although, given the position you were in, it’s hard to see how you could have done otherwise.’
‘Blanche is adamant that Henry was on his way to see me when his car went off the road, and perhaps that’s true.
It probably is true. I can’t see where else he might have been going, and I did…
’ Peg rested her elbow on the table and used her hand to prop up her head.
‘I did kind of invite him.’ She peeked sideways at Phoebe.
‘I felt sorry for him. The way he described his Christmas sounded like some vision of hell, and he clearly wasn’t looking forward to it.
When the traffic jam suddenly cleared I had to make a quick run for it, back to my car, and I shouted across to him that he should come over.
I’m not sure I meant it, or if I did, only in the way that you make an offer to someone because you’re certain the person isn’t going to take you up on it. ’
‘And so now you feel guilty and duty-bound to be there for Henry.’
Peg sighed. ‘Something like that.’ She thought back to the look on his face in the hospital.
He was tired and in obvious pain, but he was also very confused.
Unable to understand, beyond what people had told him, why he was there in the first place.
He seemed to have no memory of the accident at all, although perhaps that was no bad thing.
Maybe it was just his body’s way of protecting itself, and those memories would return in time.
‘Well, one good thing to come out of this is that now Mim has someone new to talk to. She and Blanche don’t ever stop, do they?’
‘I think Blanche is enjoying feeling useful,’ said Peg. ‘From what I can make out, Sofia treats her as if she’s a ninety-year-old invalid. I’m grateful to her though; she’s been a big help.’
Phoebe nodded. ‘So what’s the plan then? Me and Iz will help out – we’re on holiday, remember. Neither of us has to go back to work until after the weekend.’
‘I know you will, dear. And actually, there is something I need to discuss with both of you. I hadn’t wanted to do it over Christmas, but events have rather forced my hand.
’ She paused, wondering whether her daughter would think her absolutely mad.
Whichever way Peg thought about it, her decision seemed the most obvious solution to the problem, but that still didn’t take away the feeling that she’d been boxed into a corner.
‘Perhaps I’d better wait until Izzy’s up – I really ought to talk to you both together. ’
Phoebe tipped her head. ‘This sounds serious, Mum.’
Peg was torn. Now seemed like the perfect opportunity, but Izzy had always liked her sleep and… ‘Do you think she’ll mind if we wake her?’
‘Given the amount of Baileys she drank last night, she’s going to have a sore head. She might as well deal with it sooner rather than later.’
‘Oi… I had two glasses,’ replied Izzy indignantly as she came into the room. ‘My head is perfectly fine, thank you.’ She scratched her nose. ‘But I could do with a coffee. Sit down, Mum, I’ll do it,’ she added, seeing Peg about to get to her feet.
She plonked herself down opposite Phoebe while she waited for the kettle to boil. ‘You’ve got that look on your face,’ she remarked to her sister. ‘Like you’re up to something. What have I missed?’
‘Well, I’ve been trying to get the lowdown on Henry,’ replied Phoebe. ‘But nothing doing, I’m afraid.’ She grinned at her sister, shrugging. ‘I tried…’
Peg shook her head in amusement. ‘Honestly, you two… But listen, being serious for a minute, I need to speak to you. Get your coffee first though, Iz. Shall I get us something to go with it? Christmas cake? Mince pie?’
Phoebe groaned. ‘Are there any of those chocolate biscuits left?’ she asked. ‘I don’t think I can face another mince pie.’
‘I should probably make a proper breakfast,’ said Peg, fetching the biscuits from the pantry.
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Mother, it’s Christmas.’
Peg exchanged a complicit smile with her daughter and laid the packet on the table.
When both her daughters were settled, Peg drew in a steadying breath, marshalling her thoughts.
‘Was Mim still asleep when you came down, Izzy?’
‘Well, she was snoring, so I guess so.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘Is it her you want to talk to us about? I can shut the kitchen door, just in case.’
Peg nodded. Given that Izzy had just walked in at the exact moment her name was mentioned, it was probably wise. She didn’t want to cause any upset.
Phoebe leaned forward. ‘Why the skulduggery? I don’t get it.’
‘I just wondered if you thought Mim was okay, that’s all.’
‘Aside from the broken wrist, you mean?’ Phoebe looked from one to the other, her face blank. ‘It’s made her more crotchety than usual,’ she added. ‘But in that lovely Mim way which makes us all smile. But otherwise I think she’s okay.’
‘I don’t,’ said Izzy. ‘She’s scared. She might make out she’s cross about the plaster cast and the way it limits what she can do, but only because it lends weight to her argument that she’s fit and able. Why do you think she was up a ladder in the first place?’
Phoebe stared at her sister. ‘To get the cobwebs down?’
Izzy tutted softly, shaking her head in amusement at her sister’s lack of insight. ‘That was the outward action, yes, but what she was really doing was proving to herself that she’s still capable of such things, that her age isn’t catching up with her. It’s classic denial.’
Peg winced inwardly at her daughter’s astute observation. It made her wonder what Izzy had deduced about her…
‘Oh…’ said Phoebe. ‘A bit like what you do, Mum. Pretending you like the peace and quiet when we’re not here, yet secretly loving all the chaos we bring with us.’
Peg smiled, found out. ‘Something like that, yes. But I am concerned about Mim. She made light of her pneumonia last year, but it knocked her for six. Being made to face your own mortality is horrible. I know how I feel, imagine what it must be like if you’re in your eighties.
And now, with this latest tumble, she’s becoming spooked, I know she is. ’
‘So what are you saying?’ asked Phoebe. ‘That you think she needs someone to look after her?’
Peg pulled a face. ‘Maybe not look after her – I don’t think that’s necessary just yet – but I do think I need to keep more of an eye on her than I have in the past. And that’s not so easy to do from here.’
‘She’s here now though,’ added Izzy, scrutinising Peg’s face.
‘Yes, and I had a heck of a job getting her to come back with me from the hospital. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was almost Christmas, I don’t think she would have come. That, and my laying on my work commitments with a trowel.’
‘But if she’s agreed to stay…’ Phoebe reached for a biscuit.
‘She’s agreed to stay, for the time being.
And knowing how impatient Mim can be, that gives me a couple of weeks at best. She won’t get the cast off her wrist for another four or five weeks yet, and I’ll try to persuade her to stay for that length of time, but you know how she is about her house, she’ll hate being away from it. ’
‘But she’ll never manage on her own at home,’ said Izzy. ‘It’s her right wrist that’s broken.’
‘Which might be my only saving grace… So I wondered whether you two girls might encourage her to stay here as well. If we’re all saying the same thing, she’s much more likely to listen.’
‘Of course we will,’ said Izzy. ‘But that isn’t what you want to talk to us about, is it? Or not all of it, I’m guessing.’
Peg took a deep breath. Izzy had always had the ability to read her, even when she was a small child.
‘What I want to do is enable Mim’s independence, not limit it. But I can’t do that when I’m two hours away. So longer-term… I think I need to move closer.’
‘Move?’ The alarm was stark in Phoebe’s voice. ‘But you can’t do that, Mum, we…’ She stared at her sister as if begging her to intercede.
Peg held up her hand.
‘Believe me, it’s the last thing I want to do,’ she said.
‘But I’ve always promised Mim that I would do my damnedest to ensure she could stay in her own house, right to the end.
She’s not going in a home, and although she’s far from needing that level of care at the moment, it’s something I need to consider going forward.
The last few days in particular have made me realise how life can turn on a sixpence, and the relative good health that Mim enjoys now might all change tomorrow.
And I have to be ready when it does. I owe her that much.
She’s all the family I have aside from you two, and you know how much of a difference she made when your dad died.
I don’t think we would have coped without her. ’
Both girls were quiet for a moment, Phoebe’s head bent, the uneaten biscuit still in her hand.
‘This is how you feel about us, isn’t it?’ she said after a moment. ‘Why you’re always saying that you don’t want to be a burden to us when you’re older.’ There were tears in Phoebe’s eyes. ‘But you’d never be that, Mum. You don’t feel that way about Mim, so why should we feel it about you?’
Peg nodded at the wisdom of her words, and she reached out to take Phoebe’s hand.
‘I’m beginning to realise that. But sadly, none of it takes away from the situation I’m in now.
I’m well aware how much this house means to you.
The thought of leaving it is unbearable…
’ She swallowed. ‘But there are times in your life when you have to make some very difficult decisions, and this is one of them.’
‘So what do we do now?’ asked Izzy, always the more pragmatic of the two.
‘Nothing for the time being,’ said Peg. ‘I just wanted you to be aware what might be ahead of us, that’s all.
I’m not going to do anything rash, and I promise you that, just as I will do my utmost to do the right thing for Mim, I will also do everything in my power to keep this place.
It’s always been your home, and whatever happens in the future I’d like it to be yours.
Some day. A long way off in the future. A long, long way off in the future.
’ She smiled and claimed a chocolate biscuit from the packet.
‘So I suggest we work on Mim a little and try to ensure she stays under my roof for a few more weeks yet. And, in the meantime, we enjoy what time we still have left together before I lose you again.’
Izzy nodded. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I can do that. Pheebes?’
Her sister nodded, slowly, and with sadness still evident in her eyes, but Peg knew she could count on them both. She always had.
Izzy swallowed a mouthful of coffee, eyeing up the biscuits as if she couldn’t make up her mind whether to have one or not.
‘Just a thought,’ she said, ‘but I wondered whether perhaps Blanche might be able to help. She and Mim have really hit it off.’
Peg nodded. ‘Mmm, kindred spirits, I think. And I had thought of that myself, but with Henry out of danger now I guess she’ll want to go home.
I haven’t heard from Adam or Sofia yet, but I’m assuming they’ll be visiting Henry at some point today.
He’s due to be discharged tomorrow, all being well, although he won’t be going home, of course, not for a while yet.
Which is something else to think about. There are a lot of arrangements which will need to be made. ’
Izzy leaned forward, deciding to take a biscuit after all. She gave Peg a very direct look, her eyebrows arched in perfect symmetry.
‘Is this the part where you also tell us you’re going to offer for Henry to stay here?’
Peg closed her eyes. A moment to pause, to think about what she was going to say.
‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ‘Part of me thinks I should, because it’s the obvious solution, especially given that Mim will already be here.
Adam and Sofia will be back at work next week, and I can’t see either of them wanting, or being able, to change that.
Henry might be convalescing for weeks. They haven’t actually floated the suggestion yet, but I can see it coming. ’
Izzy nodded, sliding her sister an amused glance. ‘And the other part?’
Peg sighed. ‘The other part thinks I must be stark raving mad.’