Chapter 10
CHAPTER
10
The number at the bottom of the page leaped out at Matt—$80. It wasn’t a lot of money, not really. And certainly not for some. But for him, right now, it may as well have another zero on the end. His spreadsheet was looking better, but still not good. The commission from selling The Gums was keeping him and Vicki afloat, but he didn’t know how long that was going to have to last. Kim’s medical costs had eaten up their savings, not that he had begrudged a single cent of that, but trying to put money aside for the future—for Vicki’s future—wasn’t easy these days. While his savings account was still pretty much empty, he’d decided to use some money to smarten up the office, and much as he wanted to, he really couldn’t change his mind on that. If the business looked like it was in trouble, it soon would be.
Eighty dollars. For a half-day school trip.
‘Please, Daddy. Zoe and Matilda are going. Daisy too.’
Matt smiled at Vicki, but his heart was breaking. ‘Honey, I know they are your best friends and you want to go too. I wish I could say yes. But this is a lot of money. I can’t afford it. Not right now.’
‘But, Daddy, I’ve always wanted to ride a pony. Please. I wanna go!’ Her voice rose towards the end of the sentence.
He wanted her to ride a pony too. But he also wanted her to go to university one day. Or fashion design college. Or to travel around the world. He wanted to give her whatever she wanted. The proposed school trip involved money to ride the pony and hire a hard hat and safe boots. It involved the cost of lunch and transport on the bus. And he was pretty sure the excursion would be followed by requests for a pony of her own. Or if not that, then regular lessons that he just couldn’t afford. Not to mention her own helmet and boots and whatever else she needed.
‘I’m sorry, Vicki. But the answer is no. Not this time. There’ll be other school trips. Maybe you can go on one of them.’
‘But I want to go on this one!’ It was definitely a scream.
‘Vicki. Stop that. There’s no point screaming. The answer is no.’ Matt kept his voice calm and firm.
Vicki started to cry. She turned away from the desk and stomped back to her chair and her books. But even the alpaca books didn’t take the scowl from her face.
Trying to ignore her, Matt was rather grateful when the phone rang, until he looked at the caller ID.
‘Hello, Sally.’
‘Hello, Matt. How are you? And how is Vicki?’
‘We’re both fine, thank you.’
‘I know you asked us to let you know when we were planning to visit, so I thought I’d call and say we’re coming up this weekend. We thought we might take Vicki on a picnic. You too, of course, if your work isn’t keeping you too tied up.’
He’d actually meant that they should ask before visiting, but this was better than just turning up. Maybe he was starting to get his message through. However, he really wanted to spend some time with Vicki himself this weekend. The two of them. That might make up for saying no to the school trip.
‘I’m sorry, Sally, but we already have plans this weekend.’
‘Oh.’ The voice on the phone was suddenly icy.
Across the office, Vicki had slid out of her chair. ‘Is that Granny?’
‘Is Vicki there? If I can’t see her this weekend, can I talk to her? Please.’
He wanted to say no. He and Vicki needed to get past their disagreement of a few minutes ago. But it didn’t seem fair to either Vicki or her grandmother to say no. And he supposed that if he didn’t let them speak on the phone often enough, there would be more unexpected visits from Sally and Brian.
‘Yes. Of course you can.’ He held out the phone.
Vicki took it eagerly. ‘Hello, Granny.’
Matt went back to work, trying to keep half his attention on his daughter’s conversation.
A sudden loud squeal brought his attention back fully to his daughter.
‘Thank you, Granny! Thank you!’
After a couple more squeals, Vicki darted back to the desk and held out the phone. She was jumping up and down with glee. ‘Granny says I can go on the trip. She wants to tell you.’
Matt clenched his teeth as he took the phone. ‘Sally, what is Vicki saying?’
‘She told me you said you couldn’t afford for her to go on this school trip. So I told her she could go and we would pay for her.’
‘You shouldn’t have done that, Sally.’
‘Whyever not? She’s our granddaughter. If we can give her the things you can’t, we will.’
‘Can you hold on?’ Matt got up from behind the desk. ‘Vicki, I’m stepping outside for a minute. You wait here. Read your books.’
‘And I can go on the trip, Daddy?’ Her eyes, so like her mother’s, were shining.
He didn’t have the heart to say no.
As the office door shut behind him, cutting off Vicki’s excited cheer, Matt put the phone back to his ear. ‘Sally. We’ve had this discussion before. It’s very generous of you, but you can’t just do things like this without talking to me first. It’s not the right thing for Vicki.’
‘How can going on the school outing not be right for her?’
‘It’s not that. She has to understand that she can’t have everything she wants. If you do things like this, she’ll start asking you for stuff all the time and expecting to get it. As she gets older, she’ll play the two of us off against each other.’
‘Kim would have wanted her to have all these things.’
‘Emotional blackmail, Sally?’ Anger made his words blunt. ‘I thought that was beneath you. I’m her father. I’ll raise her as Kim and I planned to raise her. And I don’t want you interfering with that.’
‘Interfering? Because we want to help.’
‘Sally. I mean it. You and Brian are Vicki’s grandparents, part of our family, and I hope you’ll always be close to her. But you have to start listening to me about things like this. And ask me before you make promises to her. This is the last time.’
‘What do you mean the last time?’
‘The last time I will let you do this. Next time, talk to me and we can do things together. But if you do this again, I’ll say no. And I’ll explain to Vicki why.’
Stunned silence on the phone was replaced by a dull whirr as Sally hung up. Matt took a couple of deep breaths before going back into his office.
‘Thank you for saying I can ride the ponies.’ Vicki greeted him with a hug.
‘Remember, it’s just this one time. As a special present. It doesn’t mean you can have a pony of your own.’
‘Why can’t I have a pony? Granny and Grandpa would pay for him if it’s too much money.’
This was exactly what Matt had feared. ‘Honey, I wish I could give you everything you want, but the world isn’t like that. Sometimes I will have to say no. Do you understand?’
Vicki frowned. ‘I think so.’
‘Good. Now, it’s time for the library to open. Do you want to go and get some more books?’
‘Yes. Miss Lou said she would try to get me more books on alpacas.’
‘Well, then, give me a minute to close the office and we can walk down together.’
The mobile library was parked, as it was every fortnight, beside the hall. It was already doing a roaring trade, with kids and adults streaming up and down the metal steps, clutching books. Jake was attaching a notice to the side of the truck.
‘Hi, Jake.’
‘Matt. Thanks for the recommendation with Bree. I’ve done some work for her.’
‘My pleasure. How’s it all going?’
‘Fine. I’m done now. She said her alpacas were arriving yesterday, and—’
Vicki squealed. ‘Alpacas! When can we go and see them, Daddy? This weekend? Please!’
‘We have to wait, honey. Ms Johnston will want some time to settle in. We can’t just arrive on her doorstep.’
‘But,’ Jake said, ‘there is this.’ He tapped the notice.
The inaugural meeting of the Wagtail Ridge Knitting Club Saturday September 3rd. 2pm in the Wagtail Ridge Hall.
Beginners and experienced knitters welcome
Bring your own work or purchase a knitting kit
Tuition for all by Bree Johnston
‘Can I go, Daddy? Please?’
Matt read the sign again. It did sound like something Vicki would enjoy. It sounded like a community thing, so she’d be with people she knew. He hoped she wasn’t too young for knitting, but Bree would let him know if she was. His lips curved into a smile. Dropping Vicki off would be a chance to see Bree again. That would be nice.
‘Yes, honey. You can go.’
He only hoped knitting kits weren’t too expensive.