Chapter Five #3
Brexit had caused him some issues. He’d lost the right to travel indiscriminately and found he had to leave the Schengen area every 90 days, but he couldn’t leave and immediately re-enter, the new rules meant he had to stay away for at least three months.
That’s how he’d ended up in Morocco, where he’d found Stevie.
She’d been lying on the beach beside a dead sibling.
He’d waited in his van and watched for hours to see if her mother would return, but she didn’t, so he had picked her up and taken her with him.
His intention had been to find her a home, but the two had bonded overnight.
“I fed her and settled her on a little dog bed I bought from a supermarket, but I woke up in the middle of the night and she’d climbed in my sleeping bag with me.
She was snuggled right in, her head on the pillow, her little nose right next to mine.
When I opened my eyes she was staring at me, as though I was the best thing she’d ever seen in her life.
I asked her if she was all right and she licked the end of my nose. I knew there and then she was my dog.”
The only thing Maddie felt that level of excitement and passion about was caring for people, so when James asked her what she loved to do, that’s what she chose to talk about.
“This is my calling, I one-hundred-per-cent believe that,” she said, grinning. “I’ve always known it, since my very first job. I love helping people in turmoil feel better. I like making sure they know they’re cared about.”
“You sound like exactly the type of person who should be opening a recovery retreat.”
Maddie nodded. “When I recruit, I’m going to recruit based on values rather than experience.
It’s something the social care sector is trying to do more.
If you hire someone who cares, nothing else matters, really.
They’ll learn because they’ll want to do the best job they can.
But if you hire someone with experience, who doesn’t really care.
.. well, we’ve all seen the news stories. ”
“Have you started recruiting?” James asked. Maddie shook her head. “I’ll help with that too, if you like? I can help write the ads and stuff, if you need me to.”
Maddie smiled, grateful. James smiled back.
The RAC arrived in the early hours of the morning.
James told her to stay in the car in the warm and he’d get out and handle everything.
As it was, there wasn’t much to do. The RAC hoisted the car onto the back of their truck, then drove off into the night.
They gave James a card to give to Marley and Autumn.
James got back into the car and they set off home.
Maddie texted Marley to tell him the car had been safely collected, but the text remained unread.
She also called Ben and Emma, who were wide awake at home and sounded like they might be drunk.
Maddie insisted they go to bed, but it was still snowing, and they said they wouldn’t be able to sleep until Maddie and James were safely back at the house.
They parked up at 4.25 a.m. and were greeted at the door by Emma, Ben and Stevie.
It had been a long night, and Maddie had truly never been happier to be home.
Stevie was glad to see them both. Her parents said she’d been restless for an hour or so after James had left her with them, then she’d settled down, which was great progress.
She wagged her tail so furiously her entire body rocked back and forth with the weight of it.
Emma offered Maddie a glass of wine, but Maddie refused. She couldn’t wait to climb into bed.
“I’m going to get off,” James said, gesturing to the door.
“Stay!” the Whittles chorused together.
“You can’t walk home at this time of night,” Emma said, urging James towards the staircase.
“I’ll get you some pyjamas,” Ben offered.
“And of course you’re not working tomorrow,” Emma said. “So have a nice sleep in, and we’ll see you whenever you feel well rested.”
James looked hesitant. “Are you sure?” He looked right at Maddie as he said it.
“It’s the least we can do after everything you’ve done for us tonight,” Maddie said. “Thank you so much for all your help.”
James smiled shyly, nodding his head in concession. “Shall I leave Stevie down here?” he asked.
“No, take her with you,” Emma said. “I’m sure she makes an excellent little spoon.”
“She does.” James chuckled. “Though she’s a little hairy.”
James, Maddie and Stevie ascended the stairs together. Maddie was so tired she felt like her legs were dragging dead weights. She was even considering forfeiting brushing her teeth.
“Toothbrush,” she said to James. He looked at her, confused. “You’ll need a toothbrush?” she clarified.
“Oh, yes, if you have a spare one.”
Maddie nodded and pushed open her bedroom door, which was right across the hall from Pip’s old room, the one her family had agreed would always belong to resident staff members from now on.
Currently James. She wasn’t sure he’d been in there since the day Emma had shown him where it was and informed him it was his to use as he pleased, even if he wasn’t actually living with them.
That was a shame because it was a lovely room, big enough for a king-size bed, sofa, dressing table and en-suite bathroom.
Her own room was an exact replica of Pip’s but on the other side of the house.
She stared forlornly at her bed as she picked her way through the mess, which was actually just piles of books.
She dug out a new toothbrush from the bottom of her bathroom cabinet and took it back to a yawning James, standing in the doorway.
“It seems you have a book infestation,” he said.
“It’s a real problem.” She sighed. “We’re a family of readers and these are everyone’s books, including Bowie’s. We hauled them in here while we were decorating and I haven’t been able to bring myself to get rid of them. So, here they sit, waiting for a new home.”
“I knew you’d be a reader,” he said.
“How?”
“You’re ‘book girl’,” he said. “It’s so obvious. Like, Bluebell is ‘party girl’ and Autumn is... also ‘book girl’, actually.”
Maddie tried not to get irritated. “Woman. We’re women. And I’m not sure I agree with the reduction of women based on their hobbies.”
“I’m not saying that’s all you are,” he said, looking sheepish. “Just that it’s part of who you are. And I don’t only classify women, I classify men, too.”
“What type of man are you?” Maddie asked.
“Guitar man,” he said. Maddie smiled at that. “But actually, we can all be more than one classification, so I’m also ‘travel man’. Marley is ‘guitar man’ and ‘dad man’. Bowie was ‘guitar man’. Pip, I’m guessing, is ‘activist man’.”
Maddie laughed because it was true.
“Your dad is ‘dad man’ and your mum is ‘mum woman’,” he continued.
“That doesn’t apply to all parents, of course, but it does yours.
My mum is not ‘mum woman’. Anyway, it’s a tried and tested classification system.
If I tried to set you up on a date and I said I was setting you up with ‘gym man’ or ‘podcast man’ you’d know the type of man I meant, wouldn’t you? ”
“Please never set me up with ‘podcast man’.” She chuckled.
“Gym man?”
Maddie shook her head.
“Guitar man?”
Maddie reeled theatrically because she thought James was joking, but he didn’t carry on with the comedy. Instead he stepped back and blushed, fixing his eyes to the floor. He twiddled the toothbrush awkwardly and headed for his bedroom door.
“Anyway, I’m really tired, so I’ll see you in the morning, yeah? Thanks for the toothbrush. Goodnight, ‘book girl’. Woman ! Goodnight, ‘book woman’. Stevie, come.”
And then he was gone.