Chapter 7
The next day, I had no desire to disturb Rafe, who was immersed in his first draft, so I waited until the rain had cleared and then took myself off to see Grandad George.
Armed with the map Beth had given us and an umbrella just in case, I thoroughly enjoyed the walk from the square, even though the weather had completely changed from the week before.
I had arrived in Norwich on a wave of warm late summer sunshine, but now, exactly one week on, autumn seemed to have landed and there was a coolness in the air that I couldn’t imagine the temperature would recover from until next spring.
‘Hi Skylar,’ Beth greeted me once I’d signed in at the care home and gone to see if Grandad George was in the day room. ‘I take it you walked here,’ she added, with a nod to the umbrella. ‘How did you find the journey?’
‘So lovely. It was easy to find my way, thanks to your instructions, and completely stress free, so I’m really grateful.’
‘Excellent,’ she smiled. ‘I’m pleased to have been able to help.’
‘You don’t happen to know where George is, do you?’
‘He’s off doing something at the moment, but you’re welcome to wait for him in here, if you like. I’m just about to serve tea and biscuits ahead of the quiz. Would you like a cup?’
There wasn’t a spare seat in the packed room and the trolley in the doorway was loaded with cups, saucers and everything else required for an afternoon cuppa.
‘No thank you,’ I said. ‘But I’m happy to help you, if that’s allowed. You look like you’ve got plenty of takers.’
‘Oh yes, please. That would be great,’ she said. ‘If you could hand out the biscuits, that would save me no end of time. Everyone’s allowed two to start with and there are no dietary restrictions with anyone in here, so they can have what they like.’
With both of us on duty it didn’t take long to serve everyone and that freed Beth up to get the things together for the quiz. Grandad George still hadn’t appeared and, having noticed there was a resident set a little apart from everyone else, I went to say hello.
‘Would you mind if I sit here?’ I asked, indicating the fabric footstool next to her chair. ‘Only there’s nowhere else to sit and I’m waiting for my grandad.’
‘I don’t mind,’ she said quietly, and I gingerly sat down hoping the stool would take my weight, which it did.
‘How’s your tea?’ I asked.
‘It’s all right,’ she said, peering into the cup. ‘Not quite as strong as I really like, but it’s drinkable.’
‘Would you like me to make you another?’
‘No, you’re all right. I’ll stick with this.’
‘I like my tea strong, too,’ I told her. ‘I put it down to years of living in Yorkshire.’
Her gaze shifted from looking at the tea in her cup to my face. Her eyes looked a little dull and tinged with sadness and her complexion was pale.
‘You’re not a Yorkshire lass though, are you?’ she frowned. ‘You don’t have the accent. My husband was from Scarborough, and you don’t sound anything like him.’
‘Was he?’ I smiled. ‘I’ve visited the North Bay Beach area and really liked it, but no, I wasn’t born and bred there. I moved to Yorkshire for my work, but that’s come to an end and I’m living with my father in Norwich now.’
‘I thought I recognised you,’ she said, sounding a little more animated. ‘You were here last week with Rafe Harding, weren’t you?’
‘That’s right. He’s my father. I’m his daughter, Skylar.’
‘Well, I never,’ she said. ‘I love his books.’
‘I’ll tell him that,’ I nodded. ‘He’ll be thrilled!’
‘Oh no, don’t,’ she said and her cheeks flushed. ‘I’d be embarrassed and I’ve got enough on my plate without worrying about him knowing that…’
‘What have you got on your plate?’ I asked forthrightly. ‘Is something the matter?’
‘Oh, it’s nothing really.’
‘If it’s troubling you… sorry, I don’t know your name.’
‘Mabel. My name is Mabel.’
‘Well, if it’s troubling you Mabel,’ I said kindly, remembering the conversation I’d so recently had with Freya, ‘then it’s something rather than nothing.’
She looked at me and sighed. ‘I suppose I’m having a bit of a time of it, adjusting to life in here,’ she blurted out.
‘I’d lived on my own since my Arthur died and I was managing fine, but then I had a fall and our daughter, who works abroad a lot of the time, panicked that I wasn’t safe on my own and suggested I should come here. ’
‘But you didn’t want to?’
‘It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the place,’ she said. ‘And the staff are lovely, but no, I didn’t want to. Not really. But I didn’t want to be a burden either, so I agreed to move.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that you’re unhappy, Mabel,’ I swallowed, feeling choked.
‘I’ve got used to my own company since my Arthur died.
He was the love of my life you know,’ I smiled at that.
‘And I’m finding it a bit… full on in here.
There are all these activities every day, but I’d like to be left to my own devices and have a quiet chat with someone every now and again but there’s been no chance of that. ’
I could see how someone who was used to living on their own might find the busyness overwhelming. On the one hand, I could appreciate how important it was to keep the residents active and engaged, but clearly it didn’t suit what everyone needed.
‘Have you told anyone how you’re feeling?’ I asked.
‘No,’ she said and shook her head. ‘I don’t want to be a bother. Look,’ she added, ‘here’s your grandad. You go and see him, my love. After all, that’s what you’ve come for. And I’m all right really.’
‘It’s okay, I’m happy to chat.’
‘No,’ she insisted. ‘You get along and remember, not a word to your dad that I’m a fan.’
I didn’t want to leave her, but she was adamant and so I left her to it, wondering whether I should say something to Beth about how she was feeling. Would that be overstepping? I’d only handed out a few biscuits and that hardly made me staff.
‘Skylar!’ Grandad George welcomed me before I had decided. ‘How long have you been here?’
‘Just a few minutes.’
‘Thankfully long enough to help me stop the scavengers nabbing more biscuits than they should,’ Beth put in.
‘Oh blast,’ Grandad George grumbled. ‘I didn’t realise how late it was. Have I missed my afternoon cuppa?’
‘There’s plenty of tea left,’ Beth said, ‘but biscuit-wise, it’s Rich Tea or nothing.’
‘No chocolate digestives?’ he tutted.
‘Nope,’ she said and showed him the inside of the tin to prove the point.
‘Well, I call that feeble,’ he sulked but took two Rich Teas anyway.
‘Well, you should have been here at the right time then, shouldn’t you?’ Freddie teased as he ostentatiously popped half a chocolate digestive into his mouth and crunched with relish.
‘I hope it gets stuck in your dentures,’ Grandad George scowled.
‘I’ll have you know,’ Freddie began to bluster, but I cut him off.
‘Yes,’ I asked. ‘Where were you, Grandad?’
‘He was setting—’ Freddie interjected before Grandad George had a chance to tell me.
‘Thank you!’ he snapped. ‘If I want my granddaughter, or anyone else in the day room to know where I was then I’ll be the one to tell them, not you, Freddie show-off Fanshawe.’
Beth and I exchanged a look.
‘Well, I didn’t know it was a secret, did I?’ Freddie huffed back.
I looked over to see what Mabel was making of the noisy exchange which seemed to be amusing everyone else. Her expression was vacant and she was staring out of the window at the rain that had started up again.
‘Come on, Skylar,’ Grandad George said as he linked his arm through mine. ‘Let’s go and talk in my room where we won’t be overheard!’
We made our way along the corridors. The place felt like a maze to me. Perhaps I should ask Beth for another map until I could find my way to Grandad’s room unassisted.
‘Do you really not like Freddie?’ I asked, when we were out of earshot of the day room.
‘On the contrary,’ Grandad grinned. ‘He’s my favourite person in here.’
‘Really?’
‘Absolutely. There’s nothing like a little lively debate and some cross words to keep the brain active and the wits sharp.’
‘I’m not sure Mabel would agree with you,’ I sighed.
‘Mabel?’
‘Never mind,’ I said. ‘This is your room, isn’t it? I remember the number.’
As instructed, I closed the door while Grandad George rooted around in the nightstand for what turned out to be a secret cache of chocolate digestives.
‘All that fuss,’ I pretended to scold, ‘and you’ve got a stash in here anyway!’
‘I didn’t want anyone else to figure that out, so I had to make a show of missing out. It costs a fortune for me to be here, so I might as well have what I’m due.’
‘Right down to a chocolate digestive biscuit apparently,’ I smiled.
‘Quite,’ he grinned. ‘Help yourself.’
I took one then sat in the armchair he’d allocated for visitors while he made himself comfortable in the one that had a mechanism for helping him sit down and stand up again.
‘Now, he said, once he’d finished dunking and drinking, ‘tell me how you’re settling in. It’s a week today since the big move, isn’t it?’
‘It is,’ I nodded. ‘And for the most part, very well. The house is absolutely lovely, the cats are settled and Rafe’s writing again.’
‘So, that’s the bricks and mortar, the feline occupants and my son accounted for,’ he reeled off, ‘but I was asking about you, Skylar. How are you adjusting to city life?’
I got the impression that blagging about how I was really feeling wasn’t going to work with my grandfather. And having taken on board what Freya had said, I thought I shouldn’t attempt it.
‘Well, given how quiet the square is and with the addition of the beautiful garden and community space across the road at Prosperous Place, it doesn’t really feel like city life,’ I began. ‘Though it isn’t anywhere near as remote as Highfell, obviously.’
‘Obviously,’ Grandad George echoed. ‘And how are you enjoying not working? Are you making the most of the time and having a proper rest which, in my opinion as well as Rafe’s, was very much overdue.’
‘Aside from taking on the cleaning in the house, I’m doing absolutely nothing,’ I told him. ‘Nothing at all.’