Chapter 22
22
EMMY
‘Is it just me, or has today been the longest day ever?’ Emmy sighed, as she plonked herself down on one of the chairs in the staffroom. She pulled her white New Balance trainers off one by one, glad the old days, when nurses had to wear proper shoes, were long gone. Today had been bad enough without adding sore feet to her troubles. She still hadn’t been able to get Cormac’s weirdness out of her head and his visit this afternoon had only made it worse. She quickly checked her location app again to see if maybe there had been some kind of blip earlier. Hopefully, Cormac was on there again, showing at the station, exactly where he should be. When the app gave her the same answer as earlier, her stomach sank. Still no Cormac. However, there were three missed calls from her dad and a text asking her to call him back. She deleted it.
On the other chair, Keli stretched her hands up. ‘Yep, but it’s over now and we’re off for two whole days, so my dancing pants are ready to get going.’
‘Oooh, I like the sound of that. What are you doing for the bells?’
‘Party at Noah and Tress’s house.’ Noah was Keli’s brother, a paediatric consultant down on the third floor. ‘I think most of Weirbridge is going. My mum’s in charge of the food, I’m in charge of drinks, and two of his neighbours, Nancy and Val, are in charge of entertainment. They’ve got a bit of a thing for Tom Jones, so anything could happen. Their moves to “It’s Not Unusual” are a sight to behold. If you’re at a loose end, come along. The more, the merrier.’
Emmy appreciated the offer, but for once, she wasn’t up for party central. ‘Thanks, but I think I’m just going to have a chill night tonight. In fact, let me try my gran again. I still haven’t been able to get her.’
Emmy retrieved her phone from her locker, while Keli was lacing up her bright red Doc Martens, getting ready to leave. She dialled Minnie’s number and listened to it ring. And ring. And ring.
‘Still no answer?’ Keli asked.
Emmy shook her head, unconsciously chewing on her bottom lip. ‘Nope. I was thinking about going over there to keep her company tonight anyway, but maybe I’ll just go now. Feels like something isn’t right. Or maybe I’m just overthinking my granny as well as my boyfriend.’
Anxiety rising, she was just about to disconnect the call when she heard a faint, ‘Hello?’
‘Gran!’ she blurted, relief coursing through her. ‘I was beginning to worry there. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all day and it’s been ringing out. I was about to summon a search party and come find you.’
‘Emmy, love, I’m sorry – I’ve been a busy lady. I had shopping to do, and then a friend dropped by and I had a wee nap in the afternoon. It’s been all go here.’
Emmy felt her heart rate begin to return to normal. Gran was fine. She could deal with pretty much anything in life, as long as Minnie was okay.
‘Aw, I’m glad you’ve had a lovely day. You deserve it, Gran. Especially today. I know you’ve always loved New Year’s Eve.’
‘I certainly have. Not the same any more though, is it, love?’
Emmy heard the sadness in Minnie’s voice and she could have cried for her. For as long as she could remember, Christmas had always been at Gran and Grandad’s house, and Hogmanay had been at Gino’s with her grandparents and her parents. Her gran and her mum would both spend all day cleaning their houses – it was an old tradition that decreed it bad luck to go into the new year with a home that wasn’t spotless – and then they would down their mops when it was time to get ready for the night out. They’d dress up in new frocks, Gran would have on her favourite pearls, they’d all go to Gino’s, and at midnight, every single year, Grandad would kiss Gran, Dad would kiss Mum and Emmy. Then they would all hug and wish each other a Happy New Year and Minnie would tell Ailish that she was the best daughter-in-law she could ever have wished for. After the affair, their family was fractured, and they couldn’t even continue to socialise together, because Dad had screwed things up so badly. Her poor grandparents had been caught up in the fallout, as it took away their lifelong traditions. It was just another of the reasons she found her dad’s selfishness so hard to forgive.
‘Actually, Gran, that’s why I was phoning. I thought I’d come over tonight and see in the bells at your house.’
There was a pause, and Emmy wondered if Minnie had dozed off mid-conversation. Wouldn’t be the first time, and it had given her such a fright on the couple of occasions it had happened before. Eventually, she heard a quiet exhalation on the other end of the line and wondered if Gran was crying. Please, no. She couldn’t bear it.
‘Gran, are you okay?’ she asked, so softly that Keli glanced over, concerned.
‘Oh yes, dear, I was just taking a bite of my sausage roll,’ Minnie said breezily. ‘I’m trying to make sure I eat, so I don’t get all that light-headed way.’
Emmy sagged as a second wave of relief swept over her. The sausage rolls were out already. Gran was fine.
‘But about tonight,’ Minnie went on. ‘Thank you for thinking of me, but I’m actually just going to have a wee chat with your grandad and then an early night. As I said, it’s been a busy day.’
‘Gran, are you sure? Because, honestly, I’d be so happy to come over…’
‘Och, love, I can barely keep my eyes open. The Steamie is on the TV…’ The Steamie was a much-loved, classic old TV show about working-class Glaswegian women doing their family’s laundry in the communal washhouse on Hogmanay 1950. ‘And you know that’s always been Grandad’s favourite programme. I think it’s the perfect way to finish the year. So you have a lovely night, sweetheart, and don’t you be worrying about me at all. I’ll be just fine. Goodnight, my love, and Happy New Year when it comes.’
The next thing Emmy heard was the click of the call ending. Almost in slow motion, she took the phone away from her ear and stared at it, just as Yvie came into the room.
‘What’s up? Why have you got that face on?’ Yvie questioned, warily.
Emmy sat back down. ‘Because I just called my gran to say I’d come spend the night with her and she blew me off. Says she’d rather go to her bed.’
Yvie pulled out a chair and slumped down just as Emmy had done, hands going immediately to her trainers to get them off her feet. It was like the end-of-shift standard ritual. ‘Maybe she’s just sad and can’t face it?’
‘That’s what I thought too, but to be honest, she seemed perfectly chipper. Says she’s had a busy day, so she’d rather just watch The Steamie on TV and then call it a night.’ It was difficult to tone down the incredulity in her voice. She ran over the conversation in her head one more time, questioning herself and coming up with the same answer – no, Gran definitely didn’t sound sad. Not a bit, actually.
‘Well,’ Yvie said, pulling on a pair of bright pink moon boots that were a natty contrast to her blue scrubs. ‘Maybe she’s just changing things up. She’s almost eighty, Ems. I guess the things she felt like doing at seventy or sixty or fifty can change, especially when the dynamics in a family shift. Maybe this is just a new phase for her.’
‘Yeah, you’re probably right,’ Emmy concurred, unconvincingly, as she pulled her jeans out of the bag that lay next to her. ‘Guard the door a sec please, Keli.’
Keli immediately did as she was asked, leaning against the white wood. They were supposed to change in the staff locker room next door, but no one was likely to walk in during the next five minutes.
As soon as Emmy had buttoned up her jeans, Keli released the door and came over to kiss them both goodbye. ‘See you on the third, lads. Love you both and Happy New Year.’
Yvie and Emmy returned the wishes and they fell into a group hug that ended with Yvie saying, ‘Right, break it up before I start getting emotional and telling you that I’m going to name any future children after you. It’s the whole New Year thing. Gets me right in the sentiments.’
Laughing, Keli headed out the door, leaving the other two behind.
‘Yvie, I’ve just realised you haven’t told us what you’re doing tonight. Usual place, usual time?’ Emmy asked.
‘Yup. Usual place, usual time, usual fiancé. Carlo closed the café at 4p.m. today, and he’s heading over to Gino’s now to help out tonight. I’ll be propping up the bar there as usual, waiting to get snogged at midnight.’
‘Don’t complain about that,’ Emmy laughed. ‘We’d never have met if I hadn’t got talking to you at Gino’s. And if we hadn’t met, then we wouldn’t have become friends, and then I might still be working over in Paisley ED, blissfully unaware of the joy that was waiting for me up here.’ She wasn’t kidding. The Emergency Department had been tough and relentless, but although she’d loved it, she was so much happier in this role.
‘Ah, you know how to sweet-talk a girl,’ Yvie said, nudging her playfully on the shoulder. ‘Why don’t you come with me to Gino’s? I’m going to stop by my apartment to get changed on the way, so we could have a wee Prosecco there first.’
Yvie and Carlo lived in a flat about two hundred yards from Gino’s restaurant, so it was always handy for pre or post-dinner drinks.
‘Thanks, but I’m…’ Emmy thought back to earlier, to the plan she’d abandoned when her dad had shown up at the hospital, then her mind flashed with the image from the app.
Cormac Sweeney’s location is unavailable.
It was so distracting, she almost forgot that Yvie was waiting for an answer. ‘I’m just going to go home and do exactly the same as Minnie. Watch a bit of TV and go to bed.’
She’d leaned down to pull on one of her biker boots, so it was only when she sat back up that she saw Yvie was staring at her, one eyebrow raised much higher than the other.
‘Emmy Ryan, I think you’re lying to me.’
‘I’m not!’ Emmy lied. Again.
‘Swear on the Holy Ryan Reynolds that you’re going home and you are not, in fact, going to spy on your boyfriend at his place of work.’
Emmy tried desperately to deflect the conversation. ‘What’s Ryan Reynolds got to do with this?’
Yvie shrugged. ‘Nothing, but if you’re lying I won’t watch The Proposal with you ever again and it’s your favourite.’
Despite everything, that made Emmy giggle. ‘You’re ridiculous, you know that?’
‘I do. And I also know when you’re fibbing.’
‘Okaaaay!’ Emmy conceded, hands up in surrender. ‘I may drive past the station on the way home. Just to see if his car is there. He came to my work today, so I might just drop in on him. Purely as a loving girlfriend. Not to check up on him. Nope. Definitely not for that. Absolutely not.’
‘Why would you do that?’ Yvie challenged her. ‘Don’t you trust him at all?’
‘I do!’ Emmy insisted. ‘But then… I trusted my dad too.’ There it fricking was. It all came back down to that every time, and she could see how unfair that was. Cormac was a good guy and she shouldn’t be doubting him. Cormac loved her and she loved him. The end. ‘You know what, Cormac isn’t my dad and I just need to remember that and trust him. This is so stupid and fricking ridiculous that I’m twenty-nine years old and letting my parents’ split affect me like this. I need to get a grip. You’re right, it’s not fair and I’ve got no business doubting him. So no, I’m not going to the station. I’m going to go home, get into bed, and watch the holy Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal .’
‘Are you sure? That’s definitely what you’re going to do?’ Yvie asked, doubtfully.
‘It definitely is,’ Emmy replied, with utter conviction.
However, it was utter conviction that she definitely didn’t feel.
She would go home. She would go to bed. She would watch a movie.
But only after she’d made a slight detour on the way.