Chapter 14 #2
‘No, Jenny, I said I’d see Marie. She’s not been well lately. And from there I’ll go straight to the school library. And,’ she said, addressing Liam, ‘I’m looking forward to you and your mum coming to visit the school. I’ll have some books to show you I think you’ll like.’
‘Cool,’ said Liam, watching Sam slather butter on his scone before doing the same. Jen and Kate exchanged relieved glances. Sam’s influence seemed to have diverted Liam from his worries.
Suddenly, Jen’s phone pinged, and she jumped. She took a deep breath and checked her phone.
‘Who is it?’ asked Kate, with a frown. She knew what Jen feared.
‘Just Lucy. One of her staff has had to go home sick, and she’s short-staffed. She asked if I could go in.’
‘What about Liam?’ asked Kate.
‘I guess he can come with me,’ said Jen doubtfully. ‘Lucy and I can find something to keep him occupied for an hour. You’ll be fine, won’t you, Liam?’
Liam’s brow lowered, and he shot a covert glance at Sam. ‘I can stay here with Sam, can’t I, Sam?’
‘Liam! We can’t impose on Sam!’ said Jen. ‘Besides, he has work to do.’
‘It’s fine by me,’ said Sam. ‘I’m not keen on losing my assistant.’ He shot a grin at Liam, whose frown immediately lifted.
‘But you were going to visit me at the school,’ said Kate, exchanging glances with Jen. They’d hoped that the visit would break down his resistance to attending school.
Sam cleared his throat. ‘How about Liam stays here with me until two thirty when I could bring him to the school library. If that’s OK with you all?’
‘That,’ said Jen with a sigh, ‘would be perfect. Thank you.’
‘No need to thank me. I’m grateful to have the help.’
As she passed Sam, she reached out, about to touch him in thanks, but stopped herself just in time. What was she doing? Confused, she carried on to the kitchen door, where she paused.
‘I’d best get going.’ She hovered, feeling suddenly unsure about leaving Liam with Sam. ‘I’ll see you later, yeah? And Liam…’ she hesitated, rejecting her first instinct, which was to fuss, ‘… don’t let Sam work you too hard.’
Liam shook his head and proceeded to demolish the scone.
‘Jen!’ called Kate from the hallway. ‘You didn’t open the delivery that came for you.’
Jen picked up her things and followed Kate into the hall and looked down at the parcel, which still sat on the hall table unopened.
‘It can’t be for me. I haven’t ordered anything, and no one knows I’m here. It’s probably for Lucy, or maybe Ellie ordered something and sent it ahead of her arrival.’
‘Then why is your name printed on it?’ said Kate, passing it to her.
‘Oh,’ she said, a sick feeling settling in her stomach.
She opened it to find a framed photograph of herself taken just after she’d met Alistair.
She remembered that Alistair had taken it and, because of how happy she’d looked, she’d sent it to her mother.
‘What the…’ She looked up at Kate, who took it from her.
‘That’s the photo I found a few months ago and shared on Facebook,’ said Kate, obviously bemused.
Jen swallowed. ‘I know. I recognise it. Who did you share it with, Mum?’ She didn’t dare dwell on the fact Alistair had taken the shot.
‘Only you lot. Lucy set up a separate family group for me. So, it must be one of your brothers or Ellie. No one else would have access to it. Puzzle solved. It’ll be one of your siblings teasing you.’
‘Right,’ said Jen. ‘Yes, of course you’re right.’ Her mother had to be, because she couldn’t contemplate an alternative explanation.
‘Exactly.’ Kate took the framed photo and placed it on the hall table. ‘There. Now, I must be off. See you later, love.’ She kissed Jen on the cheek and closed the front door behind her.
Jen hesitated, then took the photo and slid it into the drawer. She didn’t know why, but the sight of it unnerved her.
The café turned out to be hectic and, after a phone call to Sam, who reassured her that everything was fine, she ended up staying longer and didn’t return to MacLeod’s Cottage until after five.
She walked into the back kitchen to find Kate busy at the stove while Sam and Liam sat outside on the verandah looking out to sea in silence. Sam had a bottle of beer in his hand, and Liam had a bottle of lemonade in his.
‘Hello, you two.’
‘Mum!’ said Liam, leaping up and giving her a hug. She was glad that the ‘big boy’ thing had disappeared for now, no doubt driven away by his obvious tiredness.
She poured herself a glass of water before joining them on the verandah. ‘How was your visit to school?’
‘Good. But I want to show you what I did when I came back.’ He tugged her hand, and Sam followed as they inspected their progress on the house.
‘Wow!’ she said. ‘You two have been busy.’
The old, rusting metal pipes had been stripped away, and the building supplies were tidily placed to one side, hidden beneath a tarpaulin.
‘And Sam’s put in some lights on the outside of the house which come on when they see you!’
Jen glanced at Sam, who shrugged. ‘Your mother asked me to. Also added a bolt to the front door, and a new lock to the French doors at the back. You’re all secure now. You expecting a foreign country to swoop in and grab you?’ he asked with a grin.
Jen smiled grimly and shook her head. ‘She’s going overboard, but that’s mothers for you.’
Sam grunted. ‘It’s a good idea. One your neighbour should follow.’ He pointed to the gate in the fence which led to their neighbour’s drive. ‘He keeps his keys on the wheel, would you believe? Now that’s old school for you.’
Jen shrugged. ‘People know and trust each other, I guess.’
‘Yeah, not saying it’s not nice, it is. Just unrealistic. Anyway, not my concern.’ He followed her gaze back to the house. ‘I need to do a few repairs on the guttering and then we’ll be able to replace the downpipe before next week’s wet weather hits.’
‘That’s brilliant. Thanks so much. Both of you,’ she added, including Liam. ‘It’s like the house is sort of waking up.’
Liam giggled. ‘Like Sleeping Beauty.’
‘Promise, I haven’t kissed the house at all,’ said Sam with a smile. He turned to Jen, and their gazes locked, and their smiles fell a little, before she looked away. She really didn’t want to dwell on Sam and kisses.
But even as Jen went inside to help her mother prepare dinner, she heard Liam continue to giggle, obviously delighted at the image of Sam kissing a house as if it were a princess.
‘So,’ said Jen over dinner, ‘what was Grandma’s library at the school like, Liam?’
He looked up as if suddenly remembering. ‘It was cool,’ he said, taking another bite of his food.
Jen tried not to be impatient, but there was so much riding on what he thought of the place. There was no way she was going to push him into doing anything he didn’t want to do, no matter how sensible everyone else thought it to be.
She continued eating.
He reached out and picked up a book. ‘Grandma said that even though I’m not a pupil at the school yet, she’d let me borrow this book.’
Jen picked it up and read the cover before putting it back down again. ‘That looks exactly like the kind of thing you love to read.’
‘It is. And there’s loads more books like that, too. Miss Thompson showed me.’
‘That’s nice of her. What else did she say?’
‘She showed me the worm farm and other stuff. Me and Grandma are going to have one here, aren’t we Grandma?’
‘We are indeed. We’re going to wait until Sam has finished and then set one up.’ She stood and looked out onto the garden, then pointed. ‘I think over there by the fence is the perfect place for it. What do you think, Liam?’
Liam jumped up and echoed his grandmother’s stance and looked out. ‘Yes. Perfect!’ They both laughed at his echoing of her words.
‘That,’ said Jen, standing up to go and get the dessert she’d brought home from the café courtesy of Lucy, ‘all sounds very… perfect,’ she also repeated, making Liam say the word again.
When she stepped out again holding a luscious-looking gateau, Liam had just finished saying something about Monday. Kate was looking at her with a big smile and a raised eyebrow.
‘What have I missed?’
‘Liam, tell your mum what you just said,’ said Kate.
‘Miss Thompson said I could start school on Monday.’
‘And do you want to?’ asked Jen.
‘Yeah. And I’ve got a friend now, too. George.’
‘There was another little boy with his father there, checking out the school. George is starting at the same time.’
Jen half-laughed in amazement. But Liam had immediately turned to Sam, as if he hadn’t just tossed the biggest piece of information at Jen. ‘Sam, can I help you again tomorrow?’
‘That would be great.’ He glanced at Jen over Liam’s head before looking back at Liam again. ‘I need to get you working for me as much as possible before I lose you to school.’