Chapter 22
‘Robyn – you alright down there? You’re awfully quiet.’
Robyn looked up. She could hear Gayle coming down the stairs.
‘Everything’s just fine – really it is.’
‘You know I feel rather mean, leaving you down here to get on with it.’ Gayle continued her descent down the stairs. ‘So I thought I might as well come and give you a hand.’
Robyn’s glance shot from the stairs, where Gayle’s legs had come into view, to the vase standing right in front of her. There was nothing she could do about it now. ‘You don’t have to give me a hand.’
‘Well, I have your cup of tea here, and I’m bringing myself a mug down too.’
Robyn rolled her eyes. She’d forgotten about the tea.
‘Otherwise, you’ll be down here looking for those wretched photos all … day.’ She stopped abruptly in mid-sentence on the last stair. ‘What in heaven …?’
Robyn looked from the vase to Gayle, who was still standing on the last stair, holding two mugs of tea.
‘I can explain,’ Robyn began, looking back at the vase, ‘really I can. I didn’t mean to pry. I just thought it was some embarrassing, you know, childhood art project or something, from your sister’s school days. I did not expect that such a beautiful vase would be in this box. I was going to put it straight back, but then I was afraid I might drop it if I lifted it again.’
Gayle stepped down into the basement, looking all around her, just as Robyn had done.
‘There’s no rats or mice down here, if that’s what you’re afraid of.’ She caught Gayle’s wide-eyed expression, much like her own when she’d seen how big the basement was, and how empty. Robyn commented, ‘Anyone would think you hadn’t been down in your parents’ basement before.’ Robyn knew this wasn’t the case because Gayle had warned her about venturing down there.
‘I haven’t.’
‘Huh?’
‘Not like this.’ Gayle moved cautiously around the boxes. She couldn’t hide her surprise.
‘When I first stepped down here, I thought you were winding me up, saying it would be full of stuff, when in actual fact it wasn’t.’
Gayle turned to Robyn. ‘It was full of stuff – loads of discarded furniture, and bric-a-brac my parents hadn’t bothered to get rid of over the years. You could say they were hoarders. I think they wouldn’t throw anything out in case they needed it. They would never replace anything if they didn’t have to.’
Robyn had seen the house. She could vouch for that. She had a question. ‘So, who do you think cleared it all up?’ she asked, although, given that the packing boxes were labelled with Gayle’s siblings’ names, she had a good idea.
Gayle shrugged. ‘Beats me.’ She pointed at the vase instead. ‘What’s this?’
‘Well, that’s what I was saying a moment ago.’ Robyn continued where she had left off by way of explanation. ‘Your sister’s box was open, you see, and I know I shouldn’t pry, but I couldn’t help myself. Well, I did help myself . . .’ Robyn faltered.
‘My sister?’
Robyn looked quizzically at Gayle; hadn’t they just had this same exchange not two minutes earlier?
Robyn was getting a little frustrated. ‘The box.’ She stabbed her finger at the thick black lettering.
Gayle’s gaze followed Robyn’s outstretched hand until her eyes settled on the box. She tentatively opened a flap to look inside. Then something piqued her interest. She reached inside and lifted another item out of the box. Robyn felt a little relieved that she wasn’t the only one prying into Dinah’s box.
Gayle brought out an ornate jug and set it down next to the vase. They matched. Gayle looked at Robyn. Robyn shrugged. Gayle dived in the box for another item. As she got it out, Robyn took her cue and picked out another item. Together, they took out the entire contents, and put them carefully on the floor surrounding the vase.
Robyn knelt. ‘Stunning,’ was all she could say, taking in the intricately painted fine bone china tea set. ‘They should be in a museum.’ She turned to look at Gayle. ‘I’m so glad I didn’t try and put the vase back in the box. Imagine if I had dropped it or put it on one of these pieces of china. I would have ruined this beautiful set.’ Robyn glanced at Gayle, waiting for her to agree, but Gayle seemed preoccupied as she turned one of the smaller items over in her hands, tracing the delicate patterns.
‘Why does your sister store her stuff here? Is she away travelling?’
Gayle shook her head. ‘These don’t belong to her. They are my parents’ things.’
‘They are?’ Robyn glanced at the other labelled boxes with Gayle’s brothers’ names on the boxes.
‘I’d wondered what had happened to my mother’s bone china tea set and crockery,’ commented Gayle.
‘Must be worth a bit,’ said Robyn.
‘Yes, I’m sure.’ Gayle placed the china plate in her hand carefully on the floor. ‘Let’s look in another box, shall we?’
‘All the other boxes are sealed,’ Robyn observed.
‘Are they, now?’ Gayle got up off her knees, and selected another box. ‘And what have we here? Ah, my brother, Jerome. Of course.’
Robyn watched in anticipation as Gayle picked at the end of the tape and then peeled the long strip off the top. It was like watching someone unwrapping their Christmas presents, excited to see what they had got. Robyn moved closer as Gayle undid one flap, then the other.
Gayle took out a very nice piece of silverware that most definitely was not some embarrassing schoolwork that their parents had kept and boxed up.
‘I bet this …’ Gayle waved the silverware at Robyn before she placed it back in the box, ‘was my sister’s idea.’
Robyn was quiet.
‘It certainly explains why they didn’t want me to meddle in Mother’s affairs.’
‘What does that mean?’ Robyn looked at her askance.
‘They didn’t want me to come and look after Mum and Dad. The last time I heard from one of my nieces, I found out that my siblings had discussed it between themselves and had decided that if she needed to be cared for, the house would have to be sold so she could go into a home. As usual, I’m not included in any conversations when it comes to our parents. It’s like there’s only the three of them. It’s always been like that.’
‘Well, that’s just not right.’
‘I know, but I suppose I’ve just got used to it, over the years. I expect that’s why they came here, unbeknown to me, before I turned up, and cleared out all the stuff that was down here for when the house has to go on the market.’
‘Yeah – and helped themselves to stuff they wanted too.’ Robyn shut her mouth. She whispered, ‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.’
‘No need to apologise. That’s exactly what I was thinking.’ Gayle cast her gaze around the packing boxes.
‘They shouldn’t have done that, though,’ Robyn added. ‘It’s a bit mean, picking and choosing what they fancy when your parents, well, your mum, hasn’t even … gone.’
‘Yeah, I agree.’
‘And what about you?’ Robyn asked.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, there has to be something you would have liked, a keepsake to remember your parents by.’
‘This house,’ Gayle blurted. She quickly backtracked. ‘But that’s not possible. My siblings are right: the house will probably have to be sold to pay for care home fees.’
‘Can’t you stay here, looking after your mum? Then you wouldn’t have to sell the house to pay for a care home.’
‘It’s not up to me.’
‘Why?’
Gayle stared at her.
‘You’re the one here, aren’t you? Taking care of your mum. Surely, you’re the one who gets to say whether she goes into a home or not. Besides, I bet she’d rather stay put, and it is sad, having to sell the family home.’
‘It will have to be sold one day.’
‘How come?’
‘Well, there’s four of us, so the house will have to be sold to divide the proceeds equally between us.’
‘Do you want the house to be sold?’
‘Of course not, but there’s no way around it, I’m afraid. I haven’t got the money to buy them out.’
‘Buy them out?’ Robyn looked at her quizzically.
‘Oh, you know, buy their shares of the house from them.’ Gayle frowned as she waved her hand at the boxes. She changed the subject. ‘I obviously interrupted their, their …’
‘Sort-out?’ Robyn offered.
‘Dinah always was the organised one.’ Gayle’s voice was full of disdain. ‘Talk about count your chickens before they’re hatched. Mum’s still alive, for goodness’ sake.’
‘Perhaps …’ Robyn hesitated, feeling uncomfortable even mentioning it. ‘Perhaps they thought that as you were looking after your mother, that you might, um … well … inherit the house.’
‘Inherit this house? Just me?’
‘Yes.’
Gayle shook her head. ‘Robyn, you have met my mother. No lawyer in their right mind would let her amend her will.’
‘Well maybe it was in there already, before she … got sick …’ Robyn trailed off.
Gayle put an arm around Robyn’s shoulders and squeezed her affectionately. ‘If you’re trying to make me feel better, you’ll have to think up something else. My brothers and sister all know what’s in the will, and the house and contents are to be shared equally between us.’
‘Oh. So if everything is meant to be shared equally, how come there aren’t some boxes with your name on? I think they should have included you in their sort-out.’
‘Perhaps it was the only time they could make it.’
‘But they didn’t tell you they were coming …’
Gayle shook her head. ‘No, they did not. But I expect they were quite busy. Did I tell you that my brother, Xavier, followed Dad into the medical profession? He’s a surgeon. And my other brother, Jerome, is a lawyer. And Dinah’s done very well for herself with her own estate agency, selling expensive property.’
Robyn frowned at her friend. She was making excuses for them. Her gaze shifted to the boxes. Gayle was very generous and kind-hearted – unlike her brothers and sister, by the looks of things. They had done this behind her back. Robyn felt like warning Gayle that she’d better stand her ground when the time came. It looked likely that her siblings were going to walk all over her otherwise.
‘What is it?’ Gayle said. ‘You suddenly look all serious. Did you remember something?’
‘No, no.’ Robyn said, staring at the boxes. ‘Hey, there is a box here without a name on. Perhaps it’s for you?’
‘Or perhaps the contents are just not worth having,’ Gayle said glumly, eyeing the box Robyn had come across. She sighed. ‘Oh, go on then. Open it.’
Robyn set the large box on top of the others and started to open it.
Gayle turned for the stairs.
‘Aren’t you going to wait and see what it is?’
‘Well, if they didn’t want the contents, then it’s probably not worth keeping.’ Gayle shrugged.
Robyn turned back to the box. The fact that they hadn’t just chucked the contents had to count for something. She tore off the wide strip of tape securing the flaps and opened the box.
Gayle paused on the stairs. ‘What’s inside?’
‘Some more family photos.’ These ones weren’t in photo albums; there were just lots of photos, some in their original paper envelopes from the shop that had developed the film, others just lying in piles on top.
Gayle walked up behind her and peered into the box.
‘I’m sorry there’s nothing of value in this box.’
‘Oh, on the contrary. You know, I’d much rather have my memories, and the family photos, than expensive bone china or silverware any day.’
Robyn grinned. ‘Me too.’ Her smile faltered. She felt a hand on her shoulder.
‘Perhaps you should write to your mum, explain what happened. She could come stay here too, while you recuperate. There’s plenty of room. And then she can tell you all about … well, you.’
Robyn smiled. It was an idea, and very generous of Gayle to offer. ‘That’s so kind of you, Gayle, but I just need a bit of time, that’s all. I don’t think I really want my mum fussing around me.’
‘I understand.’
Robyn wasn’t sure she did. She wasn’t sure she understood herself. Why would she rather stay with a stranger than be with family – with her mum? It didn’t really make any sense, but Robyn just had a feeling, a gut instinct, that contacting her mum wasn’t the right thing to do. Not now, at any rate. She just had to trust her instincts – they were all she had to go on. Just then, she was happy staying with Gayle and her mum. She was also hoping David would visit.
She had thought he might ask her the previous day before she left the hospital or might call her later in the day and ask if she was doing anything special for New Year’s Eve. Well, New Year’s Eve had arrived, and she was still waiting to see if he would get in touch. She knew it was still early, so she wasn’t expecting a call until later. She just hoped he hadn’t forgotten about her.
‘You’re thinking about him,’ said Gayle as she reached inside the box.
Robyn had been crouching in front of the box, lost in thought. She looked at Gayle. ‘Him – who?’
Gayle cocked her head to one side. ‘David, of course.’
Robyn nodded. She didn’t really want to talk about it.
‘You miss him.’
‘Yeah, but it’s not like he’s been gone for long. I only saw him yesterday.’
‘One day is an eternity if it’s true love,’ said Gayle, picking a photo at random out of the box.
‘True love?’ Robyn scoffed. ‘What makes you say that? I’ve only known him for a week!’
Gayle shrugged. ‘Trust me – I’ve seen the way he looks at you. And you at him.’
Robyn looked away, embarrassed. ‘But what if …’ She quickly shook her head. ‘Oh, never mind.’
Gayle shifted her gaze from the photo. ‘I know what you’re thinking – what if there’s someone else, and you just can’t remember?’
Robyn nodded and sighed. ‘Exactly. I could be in love with someone else.’
‘Maybe.’
Robyn shot her a look. ‘What does that mean?’
‘Well, if you’ve got feelings for David, and I suspect quite strong feelings that have taken you by surprise after just one week, then perhaps if there was someone else, you weren’t really in love.’
Robyn stared at Gayle. It was a big leap to offer up that conclusion when she didn’t even know if there was someone else, let alone whether she was really in love with them.
Robyn really didn’t want to talk about it. What if they turned up at the hospital, looking for her, and found her at Gayle’s, and she didn’t even know them? That would be just awful, for her and the person she was meant to be in a relationship with. Robyn hoped she was single, even if that meant one less person looking for her.
Robyn looked at the photo in Gayle’s hand. ‘Hey, is that you with your siblings?’
‘Yeah.’ She frowned at the photo, and put it back. ‘You can seal that box back up when you’ve finished having a look through.’
‘Oh, okay.’ Robyn watched Gayle pick up the two cold mugs of tea and head for the stairs. She guessed Gayle wasn’t in the mood to go through any more family photos after all.
‘All right. We could bring the box upstairs,’ Robyn suggested, wondering if Gayle would like to take a look later.
Gayle shook her head. ‘It’s heavy, and the last thing I want is for you to have another accident. These stairs are steep.’
Robyn looked at the large box. Gayle had a point.
‘Don’t be too long, Robyn. It’s cold down here.’
‘I won’t, I promise.’
‘Good. I’ll put the kettle on and make us another cuppa. Our tea got cold.’
Robyn nodded before turning her attention to the box. She took out the photo that Gayle had her hand. There were four children in the photo. She turned the picture over to see the names of Gayle and her brothers and sister carefully printed on the back along with their ages in brackets. She flipped the photo back to take another look, armed with more information.
Gayle’s brothers were twins, non-identical, ten years old and looking very smart and handsome in their suits and dickie bow ties. Dinah was eight, wearing a pretty floral dress. She wasn’t looking at the camera but at a very bonny, bouncy toddler sitting next to her with arms outstretched, chubby cheeks, and an endearing grin. Gayle was looking straight at the camera. Her sister was leaning away from Gayle, giving her a sideways glance. Gayle was nine months old, and she was the new baby of the family – obviously not to the delight of her elder sister.
Robyn smiled at Gayle as a toddler. She was very cute. Then her smile faded as she looked at Dinah once more.
What a shame that sibling rivalries had to carry on into adulthood. Why couldn’t people just grow up?
Last night, when Gayle had drunk too much wine, she’d opened up about her upbringing and had mentioned that it had been very different to that of her brothers and sisters. The age gap between her and her siblings meant that she had still been a child living with her parents, with this big house all to herself, when her siblings had been off at university and making their way out in the world.
By the sound of things, Gayle’s parents had changed by the time they’d had her; they had no longer been so hot on education as they had been with their older children. They had been more relaxed and content in themselves, less pushy, with a different perspective on life. Gayle believed it was because they had finally been content with their life in England.
So, when Gayle had left high school, instead of going straight to university as her siblings had done, she had intended to go travelling. She’d left home for London and had worked in odd jobs to support herself, eventually falling into hairdressing because that was what a friend was doing. The friend had persuaded her to take up a vacancy as an apprentice hairdresser.
Later, when she was in her late twenties, she had met a guy who she’d thought was the love of her life, and had imagined they were going to settle down. She didn’t talk much about that relationship. Robyn guessed she’d been let down. But the upside was that after it had ended, she had chosen to go into the medical profession and had trained as a midwife.
Gayle told Robyn all this, along with the fact that she couldn’t have children of her own, but that each and every baby she’d delivered had become, in a way, part of her family – and some she had continued to keep in touch with over the years.
Robyn sighed and put the picture back in the box. These were not the kind of photos she was after. She just wanted ones of the house. Which was just as well, because she was finding the photos of Gayle and her siblings rather unsettling. She closed the flaps of the box, wondering why she felt that way – was it something to do with her own family? Were there hidden rivalries in her own past? She frowned. If only she could remember.
Robyn left the box where it was, sealing it up with the tape as best she could. She walked up the basement stairs and switched off the light, closing the door behind her.
She turned towards the kitchen and walked straight into Gayle. ‘Ah! I was just coming to get you. I’ve made the tea, and some toast.’
Robyn said, ‘Let me just check I’ve shut the basement door properly.’
‘I’m sure it’s fine. I’ll lock it later. Come on. The tea will get cold. Hurry up!’ Gayle’s fingers closed around Robyn’s arm.
Robyn flinched. ‘Don’t touch me!’
Gayle let go of her arm immediately, and looked at her in surprise. ‘What’s the matter, Robyn? Are you okay? All the colour has drained out of your cheeks all of a sudden.’
Robyn winced, feeling embarrassed. ‘Sorry – I … I don’t know what came over me.’ She looked at her arm, expecting to see red finger marks, where fingers, much stronger than Gayle’s, had closed around her upper arm, tight. Far too tight. She felt a shiver run through her even though there were no finger marks; Gayle had only taken hold of her arm gently, and besides, Robyn had a thick jumper on.
But this was how it always started – the hand tightening around her arm. She raised an eyebrow, realising she’d just had a memory. But what had happened in her past that made her feel so afraid?