Chapter 36 Stephanie #2
I shrugged. ‘I’m not really feeling it anymore,’ I said vaguely.
‘I’ve not managed to find Elsie, and the residents at Tall Trees are totally not into it.
No one’s written in the new book so that’s a non-starter.
I’ve not even started painting. The whole thing is dead in the water, Tara. Just like me and Finn.’
‘Really?’ Tara sounded unconvinced.
‘Really.’
‘Except you just sorted out your family troubles because of Elsie. You all said the things you wanted to say. Do you think you’d have done that before you’d seen Elsie’s book?’
‘No, maybe not,’ I said truthfully. ‘But …’
‘But nothing.’ Tara prodded my arm. ‘You’ve seen first-hand how the idea behind the project helps people and now you’re going to stop other people benefiting?’ She tutted loudly. ‘I didn’t think you could be so selfish, Stevie.’
‘But they don’t want to take part.’
‘Then you have to convince them why it’s a good idea.’ She grinned at me. ‘Plus, if you pull out now, you’ll have to pay back the grant money.’
I’d not thought of that. ‘I’ve spent some of it already,’ I said.
Tara slid off her bar stool and stood up. ‘Well, there you have it. I guess your project’s still on.’
*
I still wasn’t convinced, though. I went home and slept all morning and woke up feeling even less certain about the project.
I lay in bed, and called up the contract I’d signed on my phone, reading through the terms and conditions and discovered that, unsurprisingly, Tara was right.
If I pulled out now, I’d have to repay the ￡10,000.
I couldn’t bear the idea of going back to having money troubles.
‘Bugger,’ I breathed. Perhaps then I could change the project?
Abandon the idea of using Elsie’s book as inspiration and not face the slog of changing the residents’ minds about the new book?
Give up trying to find her. I could just do a mural based on the Industrial Revolution or the Battle of Hastings or some other random moment in history, and forget about Elsie and the Blitz.
But I scanned the Ts and Cs again. “The project must be broadly as outlined below,” I read. “Any large-scale or conceptual changes may result in the withdrawal of funding.”
It seemed my hands were tied.
Feeling sluggish and gloomy, I put on my Tall Trees uniform and went into the kitchen to see if Micah had left me any food before I went to work.
*
When I arrived at Tall Trees later on, I found myself scanning the car park for any sign of Finn’s Mini. But of course, it wasn’t there. It was probably still in the garage or at the scrapyard after his accident. I realised I was disappointed.
‘Make your mind up, Stevie,’ I told myself. But the truth was, I was missing Finn already and beginning to think Tara was right. Maybe the good stuff was always a bit scary?
I locked my bike up, averting my eyes from the large expanse of wall that I was going to have to paint, and made my way to the entrance.
As I was going in, two women were coming out carrying boxes. I held the door open for them.
‘Oh,’ said the older of the two, glancing at my name badge. ‘You’re Stephanie.’
‘I am.’
‘I’m Jill’s daughter, and this is my daughter.’
I smiled at her. ‘I’m sorry about your mum.’
Her eyes filled with tears. ‘We’re going to miss her,’ she said. ‘But Blessing told us you sat with her when she’d fallen. And she said it was you who wrote the messages for us.’
I waved my hand, telling her it was nothing. But she put the box she was holding on to the ground and gathered me into a hug, which was unexpected but actually quite nice. ‘Thank you,’ she said as she let go. ‘It was so kind.’
Her daughter nodded. ‘We’ll treasure those messages. It was a really lovely thing to do. So thoughtful.’
I looked over their heads at the bare wall, waiting for my mural, and thought about the empty pages of the book inside Tall Trees.
‘I’m glad it helped,’ I told them.
‘It really did.’ The older woman bent down and picked up her box again, which I now saw was full of Jill’s bits and pieces from her room. I would have to do the same with Nan’s stuff one day, I thought.
‘You should do that for all the residents here,’ Jill’s granddaughter said to me. ‘It would be so special.’
‘That’s a very good idea. I’ll think about it.’
I said goodbye and went into the building, thinking about Nan and Jill and Elsie. The book was special, I thought. It was.
‘Penny for them,’ said Joyce as I wandered into the lounge, clearly still looking thoughtful.
I looked at her. She was sitting beside the window with Mr Yin and – to my surprise – Val. They were all having a cup of tea and drawing the flowers in the garden.
‘You’re drawing?’ I said in astonishment.
‘We thought we’d get a head start on your art classes,’ said Val with a grin. ‘Mr Yin found a video on YouTube.’
I blinked at them. ‘How’s your arthritis?’ I asked Joyce, whose knuckles were often swollen.
‘Not great,’ she admitted. ‘But Blessing got me some chunky pencils like the kids use at nursery and I’m getting on okay with those.’
I smiled at them all. ‘That’s good,’ I said. ‘Because I’m definitely going to need your help with the mural.’
‘You’re doing it then?’ Val gazed out of the window and then down at the drawing pad in her lap.
‘Yes,’ I said firmly.
‘I thought as Finn’s done a disappearing act, you might have gone off the idea.’
‘I did.’
‘But you’ve changed your mind?’ She looked up at me with a smile.
‘I have.’
‘Good.’
‘I might need your help though.’ I sat down in a spare chair next to them and leaned forward. ‘I’ve been a colossal idiot.’
‘Broke up with him, did you?’ Joyce rolled her eyes.
‘How did you know?’
‘I saw him taking all his stuff out of his cupboard.’
‘Nothing gets past you, does it?’
She looked proud. ‘Nope.’
Mr Yin gave Joyce an admiring glance. ‘What do you need us to do?’ he said.
‘Nothing big,’ I told them. ‘Just give me a hand with the mural, convince all the other residents to write in the book, and help me find out what happened to Elsie.’
The three of them all glanced at each other and then nodded at me.
‘You forgot something,’ said Val with a cheeky look in her eye.
‘Did I?’
‘You need to win Finn back, too.’
I shook my head. ‘I think that ship has sailed, Val.’
‘Absolutely not,’ she said. ‘He likes you a lot. Any fool can see that.’
‘He does,’ Joyce agreed.
I laughed. ‘I’m not sure.’
‘I’m right,’ Val said. ‘You’ll see.’