Chapter 45
45
Cate scrambled out of the taxi, leaving the driver a far too large tip. Her feet crunched on the gravel path leading to the doors of The Evergreens. An elderly lady in a wheelchair, a plaid shawl wrapped around her shoulders, was examining one of the rose bushes. The glorious blooms, old-fashioned and blousy, were as heavily scented as the Duty-Free shop where Cate had hastily purchased some of her dad’s favourite shortbread.
She pushed the button that swung open the double doors, pulling her hair from her ponytail clip with the other hand. Dad had always loved her with long hair. To think, as a teenager, she’d once chopped it off to spite him.
Sally looked up from behind the reception desk.
‘Oh, Cate! How are you, love? You didn’t rush here straight from the airport, did you? Your dad’s going to be just fine now, so I hope you haven’t been fretting.’
‘I know how well you look after him.’ The home was the best of the best: clean, well-appointed rooms, a comfortable lounge like something out of a gentlemen’s club and a tasty, ever-changing menu. But she knew her dad would trade it all in a heartbeat for a daughter who loved him like she should. Tears welled in her eyes.
‘I should have flown home yesterday; Phil would have been fine without me for a day.’
Sally reached under the counter for a box of tissues, concern written all over her round face. ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself; there’s those that bring their mums and dads in here and we never see them from one month to the next. You’re in here at least twice a week by my reckoning. You’re a good daughter.’
‘I’m not… The things I’ve done… the things I’ve said…’
‘Now, now.’ Sally patted Cate’s arm. ‘I reckon you’ve done nothing really bad. We all have our regrets, things we wish we’d done, things we wish we hadn’t said. Some never get the chance to put things right but your dear dad’s here and he’ll be happy to see you, I’m sure of that. Whatever you think you’ve done, we can’t go back. Your dad, bless him, can’t remember yesterday but sometimes, his mind wanders back to the past as if it was just last week. Only the other day, he was telling me about your holiday to Wales as if he’d just come back. Reckons he had a turn at milking a cow.’ She chuckled.
‘Perhaps he did. We stayed on a farm. I was looking at a photograph recently.’
‘Well then, that’s a nice memory now, isn’t it? Fancy you both thinking about the same thing. Call it coincidence, call it telepathy, whatever you like. Now, do you want to go to the visitors waiting room for a little while before you see him? I can make you a nice cup of tea.’
‘I’ll be all right.’ Cate sniffed. ‘Thank you, Sally. And I almost forgot, I’ve brought this shortbread. I thought it would be best to leave it with you to make sure Dad doesn’t eat it all in one go.’
‘He does have a sweet tooth, dear man, bless his heart.’ Sally took the box, putting it up on a shelf behind her. ‘The lift’s arrived. I heard it go “ping”.’
Cate crossed the foyer and pressed the button. The lift doors slid back, providing her with an unwelcome view of her red-eyed reflection. Gracie Fields singing ‘Wish Me Good Luck’ came from the speaker. Slowly, the lift took her up two floors, stopping directly opposite her father’s room.
She knocked and walked in. Dad was sitting up in bed.
‘Hello, love.’
His voice was cheerful. He was having a good day; her heart lifted.
She sat on the visitor’s chair right next to the bed. ‘I’m so relieved to see you’re okay.’
He gave her a quizzical look. ‘Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘You had a fall.’
‘A fall? I’ve not been up any ladders.’ He gave a wheezy chuckle.
‘You were walking across the lounge. Didn’t you fall over Dot’s walking stick?’
‘Dot? Who’s Dot? Who’s telling you all this nonsense? Look at me! I’m fit as a flea. I walked ten miles yesterday.’
‘Did you? That’s a long way.’ She knew it would only agitate him if she corrected him. The doctors said it was kinder this way.
He scratched his head, peering at her. ‘You’ve changed your hair, Lina. It’s always been dark.’
‘It’s blonde now. Do you like it?’ Cate said.
‘I do. But you look tired today, love. All this getting up for the baby.’
‘Baby Cathy?’
His face lit up, like a child holding a buttercup under his chin. ‘She’s a lovely little thing, isn’t she, our Cathy? I was singing to her today.’
‘What were you singing?’ She remembered ‘Nellie the Elephant’, her dad waving his arm like a trunk, making her laugh.
‘I sang that boop-a-doo tune from The Jungle Book . She gripped my thumb with her tiny fingers and gave me the biggest smile.’
Cate took her dad’s hand in hers, turning her head so that he couldn’t see her tears. ‘That’s because baby Cathy is happy when she’s with her daddy. And because your little girl loves you. She loves you very, very much.’