Chapter 44
‘Hi,’ said Kitty, when Nick opened the door.
‘Hi.’ He smiled at her, almost shy.
‘Are you sure it’s all right for me to be here?’ she asked. ‘Won’t your parents mind?’
Nick’s smile grew wider. ‘No. We’ve got the place to ourselves. They left to rejoin their cruise this morning.’
‘Is that a relief? Does it make things easier to be just you and Emily again?’ asked Kitty.
‘Yeah,’ said Nick. ‘Although, weirdly, I might actually miss them.’
‘Well, that’s a turn-up for the books.’
‘Yeah.’ He laughed, pushing the door open wider. ‘I never thought I’d hear myself say it, but having Emily around has changed things between us.’
‘I’m so glad.’ Kitty was happy for Nick, and Emily too. Although remembering her one interaction with his parents, she wondered how it had all come about.
‘Sorry,’ said Nick. ‘Come on, come in. I shouldn’t leave you standing on the doorstep.’
Kitty followed him into the house. ‘Is Emily around?’
‘No, she went to bed half an hour ago. She was a bit tearful after saying goodbye to Mum and Dad. Until they promised to bring her a present from their holiday – that cheered her up.’
‘I bet it did,’ said Kitty.
In the kitchen, Nick flicked the kettle on. ‘Tea?’ he said. ‘Or would you rather have a beer?’
‘Best stick to tea,’ she said. ‘I need to be up early in the morning.’
‘School going OK?’ he asked. ‘Emily’s loving it, so you must be doing something right.’
‘Yes,’ said Kitty, perching on a barstool. ‘It’s been brilliant. I’ve been surprised at how quickly I’ve settled in. Feels like I’ve been there forever.’ And if she could stay forever, she’d be happy. If.
‘It seems a lovely school,’ he said. ‘From a parent’s point of view, anyway.’
‘Yes.’ Kitty nodded. ‘The staff are great. Sam’s been a godsend, and more. She’s become a good friend.’ How good, Kitty didn’t want to say.
‘I’m pleased to hear it.’
Nick poured boiling water into two mugs and stirred the teabags around. ‘It’s a lovely evening,’ he said, ‘but do you mind if we sit inside, in case Emily wakes up? I’m worried that with my parents leaving, she’ll go back to the early days of sleeping badly…’
‘Of course,’ said Kitty. ‘Which reminds me, how’s Carla? Have you heard anything from her?’
‘She’s all right,’ said Nick. ‘I spoke to her earlier this evening. Sounds like her dad’s in a bad way. It must be tough going for her over there.’
‘It must put her mind at rest, though, knowing Emily’s getting on so well here.’
‘Yeah.’ Nick offered Kitty the milk. ‘Although even that has its downsides. I think she’d prefer Emily to be missing her more. Don’t get me wrong, she does miss her mum a lot. I guess it’s natural Carla might feel insecure.’
‘Of course,’ said Kitty. ‘Hopefully, when she’s back, you’ll work out some sort of shared custody. Then you can both move on with the next stage of your lives and be more of a family unit.’
Nick lifted his mug and waved it in Kitty’s direction.
‘That’s exactly what I said to Carla. It seemed to help.
And, Kitty… I’m not sure I’ve ever properly thanked you for how much you helped me when Emily first arrived.
’ He grimaced. ‘I honestly can’t think what I’d have done if you hadn’t been there. ’
‘It’s nothing.’ Kitty shrugged off the compliment, although pleased to have her part acknowledged at last.
They carried their tea into the living room, where Kitty set her mug on the coffee table and pulled a folder of papers from her bag.
‘You asked me to run any changes to the play by you,’ she said. ‘I felt we were skimming over the story a bit too much, so I’ve added a little more dialogue between Romeo and Juliet. Nothing major.’
‘Right,’ said Nick, not looking at the papers. ‘If you leave it with me, I’ll have a read through.’
‘Actually,’ said Kitty, ‘I can’t decide if I’ve made things better or worse. It would help if we could have a quick run-through now, see how it actually flows when we’re saying it together.’
Nick had picked up his mug. Now his hand froze halfway to his mouth. ‘No. I don’t think so,’ he said.
‘Really?’ asked Kitty, surprised at his abruptness. ‘It seems logical, the best way to see whether I’ve made it better or worse. Certainly better than me reading it on my own.’
‘Yeah, except you’ve thrown me in at the deep end, haven’t you?’ said Nick.
Kitty bristled, not understanding the sudden change in mood. Every time she thought she was getting the measure of Nick Andrews, he did or said something to make her question her judgement.
‘Here,’ she said, pulling the papers out of the folder and handing one to him. She used her finger to circle a section of text. ‘It’s literally this tiny section. Nothing at all.’
Nick placed the paper down beside him. ‘I’ll look at it later.’
‘Oh, come on, Nick. It will only take a minute.’
Nick picked up the paper and turned it over, and then again. His knee bounced as though there were an electrical current pulsing through his muscles. ‘I can’t do it.’
‘Why are you being like this? Please? It’s this bit.’ Kitty began reading her lines.
Nick jumped to his feet, as if she’d physically assaulted him. ‘I said I can’t do it now.’ His voice was panicked.
‘Whoa.’ Kitty stood up and took a step away from him. The space between them was filled with tension. ‘Nick, what’s going on? I don’t get it.’
Nick stared at the ground. Beads of sweat dampened his forehead. ‘I need some time, that’s all.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Kitty. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pressure you.’
‘It’s… it’s…’ Nick paced around the living room.
Kitty reached out and grabbed his hand to stop him. He turned to face her, his eyes darting over her face, his mouth opening and closing with indecision.
‘Sit down.’ Kitty gently pulled him to sit on the sofa beside her. ‘This can’t be about changes to the play. It’s got to be about something more.’
Nick let out a joyless laugh. ‘You’d think so, wouldn’t you? No, it’s precisely about this.’ He picked up the paper and waved it in front of Kitty. Then he threw it down, bent over, and ran his hands through his hair. ‘It’s so embarrassing.’
Kitty decided the best thing was to stay quiet. Give him space to form the thought he needed to speak, whatever was on his mind.
‘I’ll tell you,’ he said, head in his hands. ‘And when I do, you’re gonna think I’m an idiot.’
‘Let me be the judge of what I think,’ said Kitty. ‘Don’t put words in my mouth.’
‘I can’t read,’ he said.
Kitty waited for him to look at her. He kept his eyes on the floor. ‘You can’t read?’ she said. ‘Not at all?’
‘No,’ Nick said. ‘Of course, I can read a bit.’
‘And you struggle with writing too?’ she asked.
Nick glanced at her, and she knew she was getting somewhere. A memory floated to the front of her mind of those early days in Saffron Bay when she’d helped Nick fill out the forms to enrol Emily in school.
‘Nick, when you try to read something, describe what it’s like for you.’
‘What do you mean?’ he said.
‘Well, is it you see the words but don’t know what the letters mean when they’re put together?’
‘No,’ said Nick. ‘It’s more like they jump around. Oh God, you’re gonna think I’m a complete nutcase. They jump around on the page, like they’re dancing. When I was a kid, I used to think they were doing it to taunt me.’
‘And you can’t visually get them into an order that makes sense,’ said Kitty.
Nick’s eyes opened wide. ‘How did you know?’
Kitty shrugged. ‘I may be wrong, but it sounds very much to me like you have dyslexia. Have you never been tested?’
‘Dyslexic…’ muttered Nick to himself. He turned to face Kitty. ‘No, I’ve never been tested. I always assumed I was thick, and so did all the adults around me.’
‘Oh,’ said Kitty, bunching her hand into a fist and hitting it against her leg.
Her chest swelled with sympathy. Having to live with this, to hide his supposed “thickness” from the world – a nightmare.
‘Sometimes our education system has a lot to answer for. My brother had the same experience when he first started school. Thankfully, when he was ten, he had a teacher who recognised the signs and got him the help he needed.’ She put a hand on his arm.
‘You’re not stupid, Nick. If anything, I suspect you’re quite the opposite.
All you need is a bit of extra support.’
Nick stared at her as if she’d told him he was an alien from Mars. ‘You think I might have dyslexia? I’m not stupid?’
She smiled gently. ‘Not stupid at all. I’d be surprised if a professional assessment didn’t come to the same conclusion I have. Now, how about we go through these lines together?’