13. Chapter 13
13
T om’s phone line flashed. He gladly glanced away from the end-of-year accounts he was reviewing and picked up the receiver.
‘Tom,’ Hayley’s timorous voice came down the line, ‘someone called Jess is calling for you. She said it’s about Katie. Does that mean anything to you?’
Tom dropped the papers on his desk. Why on earth would Jess be ringing him? They’d met once, at Katie’s house. In a calm voice, he said, ‘Yes, put her through, please, Hayley.’
There was a tiny pause, then Hayley murmured, ‘Okay.’
It had been over a week since he’d last seen Katie when he dropped her at her house after the spa weekend. They laughed most of the way home in the car, and he walked her to her door, carrying her bag. He had felt oddly shy saying goodbye on her doorstep, and the car was as silent as a hearse as he drove away. Since then, he had found himself thinking about her every day. They’d exchanged a few messages—including several recipes for roasted cauliflower—but he hadn’t heard from her since yesterday.
The line clicked. ‘Hello?’ Tom said, hearing the urgency in that one word.
‘Tom?’ came Jess’s voice.
‘Is she okay?’ he blurted out.
‘What?’
‘I just wondered… you’re calling me at work about Katie. Is she alright?’
Jess sounded relaxed. ‘Oh yes, she’s fine. Or she will be.’
Tom shifted in his chair.
‘She’s been to the dentist for a wisdom tooth extraction and I was supposed to pick her up. She’s had anaesthetic and some pretty powerful pain relief, so she can’t drive home.’
She sighed, and in the pause, Tom heard teenagers yelling in the background, followed by a man bellowing, No running in the corridor!
‘I’m doing a summer school week, and I’ve been called into an emergency safeguarding meeting, so now I can’t get away. I can’t reach her mum, and I don’t have anyone else’s number. I remembered you work at Franklin-Smith’s, which isn’t far from the dentist and thought…’ There was another pause. ‘I thought I would see if there’s any chance… They won’t let her go without someone with her, not even in a cab. Do you think you could—’
Tom was reaching for his jacket as he said, ‘What’s the address?’
Fifteen minutes later, Tom walked into the reception area of the dental practice. He didn’t even need to ask where she was. Katie was sitting in a corner, face puffed out on one side, trying to look at a magazine. She kept moving it in and out of her face, as if she was trying to focus. As he watched, she tried to toss it down on a table, missed, and it fell to the floor. She shook her head woozily— no . Lurching forward to try to pick it up, she nearly toppled out of the chair. A bright red dress with huge white polka dots pooled around her in the chair, and gold-sequinned Converse glinted on her feet.
‘Can I help you?’ came a voice from the other side of the room.
Beyond the pale green plastic chairs, fake plants, and out-of-date magazines was a neat reception desk behind a Perspex screen. Tom strode up to the desk and said to the kindly faced woman, ‘I’m here to take Katie home,’ inclining his head to where Katie was still trying to retrieve her magazine.
The receptionist, sporting a badge that said World’s Best Grandma, blinked and smiled. ‘Oh well, hello dear.’ She patted at her hair. ‘We had a call to say someone would be coming.’
She stood and walked around the desk and approached Katie. ‘Katie, dear, someone is here to take you home.’
Katie was bent double trying to pick up the magazine. She kept swiping at the wrong spot, as if her eyes and hands weren’t coordinated.
‘Katie,’ Tom said, bending down towards her. ‘Are you okay?’
‘It’s okay,’ Katie muttered, fingers stroking the floor, nowhere near the magazine. ‘Five second rule…’
Tom bit his lip to keep from laughing.
‘It was a difficult extraction. She’s on quite strong painkillers,’ the receptionist murmured. ‘Katie, love.’ She put her hand on Katie’s shoulder and raised her voice, as if Katie had lost her hearing, not a tooth. ‘Your boyfriend is here to take you home.’
‘Oh no, I’m not her—’ Tom started.
Katie suddenly lurched sideways in her bent-over position, and her head rolled onto her shoulder as she tried to look up, blinking hard.
‘What?’ she slurred. ‘Ryan ish here? No,’ she batted her hands, doggy paddle style. ‘Tell him to go away. I don’t need him. Cheater. Cheating bashtard.’
The receptionist looked concerned and straightened up, looking at Tom. A woman across the waiting area who had been pretending to study a year-old copy of Talk! Magazine gave up all pretence of not listening and closed the magazine on her lap. The receptionist crossed her arms over her matronly bosom and pursed her lips. Katie continued to loll forward.
Tom shook his head. ‘I’m not the cheating bastard,’ he held up a hand. ‘Her boyfriend cheated on her with my girlfriend.’
The receptionist’s hand flew to her mouth, and the waiting woman gasped.
Tom nodded.
‘Yes, I know. And so Katie and I are…’ his brain reached for the right word. Were they allies now? Partners in petty payback? ‘We’re…friends,’ he said.
He looked down at Katie, who was trying to push herself up from the chair.
‘My god,’ the receptionist said. ‘You poor things. Well, you’d better get her home. She’s best off getting some sleep until those pain meds wear off.’
Katie was peering up at him, shielding her eyes as if it was sunny. ‘Tom? Tom, ish that you? Why are you here? You’re not Jessh.’
Tom reached down, took her hands, and pulled her to her feet. She was like a sack of wet flour, all floppy and uncoordinated.
‘I’m here to take you home,’ he said as she tried to blink him into focus.
‘What are you doing to me? I can walk,’ she protested, batting his hands away then proceeded to bash her shin on the coffee table.
‘Ow,’ she muttered through a mouthful of wadding.
Tom grabbed the bag that she had left on her seat.
‘Come here,’ he said, slipping an arm around Katie’s shoulders.
This time, she let herself be guided, leaning into him as he walked her towards the door.
As he navigated them out of the door and into the street, he heard the woman in reception say, ‘Any chance you think he’ll come back and take me home?’ The receptionist tittered, and then the door closed behind them.
Katie was like an overtired toddler—irritable, bossy, and uncoordinated. She wanted to do everything for herself but didn’t have the motor skills to manage it. Tom waited patiently for her to get her seatbelt on, but when she missed the clip for the sixth time, he reached across her and snapped it into place.
‘I wash doing it,’ she slurred. ‘I’m norra baby.’
Tom thought that if he kept biting his lip to keep from laughing, he’d soon be bleeding.
She had some dribble coming out of the side of her mouth. He knew she couldn’t feel anything with the anaesthetic so he reached into the glove box for some tissues.
‘Here, take this,’ he said, pressing one into her hand. ‘Wipe your mouth, you’ve got some…’ he tried to indicate.
Katie wiped sleepily in the direction of her chin and swabbed her neck. Stifling a snort, Tom started the car.
Easing out into the rush hour traffic, he could feel Katie looking at him. Glancing over, he saw she was lolled in the front seat, angled towards him, grinning.
‘What is it?’ he asked, narrowly avoiding mowing down a doddery old man on the pedestrian crossing.
Katie chuckled, sounding drunk. ‘You’re so hansum…’ she said, eyes half closed.
The man completed his painstaking navigation of the road, and Tom carried on.
‘What are you saying?’ he asked, not sure he’d heard her correctly.
‘You,’ Katie said, smiling and waving a finger at him. ‘You’re goo’ lookin’.’ She wagged her finger at him and squinted sleepily. ‘You know it, shexy.’
Tom burst out laughing. ‘Are you saying I’m sexy?’ Glee sparked in him at the thought she found him attractive.
‘Pffft,’ Katie wriggled back in her seat. ‘I’m jus’ saying what all the ladies are thinkin’… Her eyes started to close, but going over a pothole jolted her awake.
Tom knew he shouldn’t take advantage, but he couldn’t resist.
‘So, you think I’m sexy. What else do you think?’
‘You’re smart!’ Katie shouted, then laughed at herself. ‘Shhh, Katie, shh. Very crever. Crelver. Creverer.’
‘Okay, well, that’s good.’ Tom grinned and leant forward to see past her so he could get them out of a busy junction.
Katie giggled and then coughed. ‘An’ you smell nice,’ she murmured. ‘You smell like…home.’
Tom’s hand tightened on the wheel as his heart lurched. ‘Right.’ He suddenly didn’t feel like asking any more questions.
‘An’ woods. You smell like woods.’
‘Home and woods, got it,’ he murmured as they left the bustle of the old town centre behind and headed out to the villages.
Katie was dozing now, lulled by the movement of the car, the jerky stop-start of busy town streets giving way to the steadier drive of the suburbs, then the village roads.
Back at her house, he gently shook her awake and lifted her out of the car, half carrying her up the garden path, his arm tight about her slender waist. He sat her down on the front step while she rifled through her bag for keys. At one point she muttered, ‘Less jus stay here…’ leaned against the door and closed her eyes.
‘Katie!’ he shook her awake. ‘Give me your bag.’
She let him take it, and he rooted through, finding a bunch of keys underneath several lipsticks, a handful of letters addressed to Ryan on which she had scrawled Return to Sender - Not at this Address in capital letters, and a freshly dispensed packet of pain medication. He swung open the front door and bent to lift Katie up and into the house, sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her to a standing position facing him. She was like a big, uncoordinated doll. He manoeuvred them inside into the hallway.
‘Can you get up the stairs?’ he asked, one arm round her shoulders as she hung onto the bannister post. ‘Yup,’ she said sleepily, then knelt down on the bottom step. Tom sighed and shook his head.
‘Right, enough of this.’ He slung one arm around her shoulders and one under her knees and swept her up into his arms. She was much easier to move like this, rather than trying to guide her about by her elbow while she crashed into things. Tom nudged open the living room door with his foot and carried her over to the sofa. As he leant down to gently place her on the sofa, her arms crept about his neck, and she whispered, ‘Tom?’
He froze, bent over her, one arm still under her shoulders. ‘Yes?’ he whispered.
‘You’re sho kind to me…’ she murmured.
Her fingers curled into the hairs at the bottom of his neck for a split second, then relaxed. Her arms dropped back, her face softened, and her eyes fell completely shut.
Tom felt something pull at him deep inside, and he swallowed. He pulled his arm out from under her more quickly than he meant to, and Katie groaned before shifting back to sleep. Auburn hair fell across her face as she slept and he fought the urge to stroke it back.
Frozen to the spot, he watched her sleep, one side of her face puffed out from the surgery and the wadding.
There was a knock at the front door.
Katie didn’t stir.
Tom strode across the room and into the hall, gently closing the living room door behind him. Swinging open the front door, he found Jess, carrying a large Tupperware box.
‘Oh! Tom, hi,’ she said in a surprised voice. ‘I didn’t think you’d still be here.’
Tom stepped back, and Jess followed him into the house. ‘Yes, we’ve not been back long. She’s pretty out of it on pain medication.’ He opened the door into the living room and gestured towards the sofa. ‘This is as far as we got.’
Jess laughed under her breath. ‘Oh dear… Was she okay when you got to the dentist?’
‘Well, apart from briefly confusing me with Ryan, she’s been alright, just a bit….’ He paused, remembering some of the things she had said. ‘Delirious,’ he finished.
Jess grinned. ‘I can imagine it’s been entertaining.’
‘That’s one word for it.’
Jess lifted her Tupperware box. ‘I brought soup. I didn’t think she’d feel much like cooking—not that she ever does—when she wakes up, and she’ll need something soft and easy to eat.’
She walked towards the kitchen, and Tom followed. Jess put the box in the fridge and turned back to face him.
‘I can stay if you like. Hang on for a bit until she wakes up.’
Tom thought of Katie curled up on the sofa, of her fingers in his hair as he had lain her down.
‘Uh, I don’t mind staying if you’ve got things to do,’ he said, running a hand through his hair. ‘If I could pop back to mine and grab a few files, I could sit here and do some work. Until she wakes up.’
Jess looked uncertain and kept one hand on her coat lapel as she considered.
‘Well, if you’re really sure… I could do with decompressing after my day… I’ve got a report to write up after the incident today.’ Jess rubbed at her temple.
Tom nodded. ‘It’s no problem. If you can hang on until I get back from my place, then I’ll stay until she comes ’round.’
A few hours later, Tom was cleaning up papers from his temporary workstation when the oven timer pinged. He shuffled the papers together and slid them into a file. Grabbing an oven mitt, he pulled down the door and peered inside. The smell of hot, fresh bread wafted over him and into the kitchen. Reaching in, he pulled out a tray of soft bread rolls and, one by one, set them on a rack to cool.
Tom had learned to bake bread on a weekend away with an ex-girlfriend years ago. He had immediately fallen in love with the rhythm of the process, the science and the art of it. Kneading dough was relaxing, and there was nothing more comforting than the smell of fresh bread. Jess had searched the cupboards for something to go with the soup before he went back to pick up his things and found nothing, so he grabbed the handful of ingredients he needed at the same time. He had made fresh bread for Melissa once when she had first stayed at his place, but she had said she wasn’t eating carbs so would give it a miss.
There was a slow groan from the direction of the living room. Katie hadn’t stirred since he’d set her down on the sofa. He opened the door to find her sitting up, rubbing her face as she looked around the room, the wadding in her lap.
‘Hello,’ he said softly.
Katie, the medicine not fully worn off, had the slowest scared reaction he’d ever seen, looking at him, sitting back into the sofa, then saying, ‘Arrghhh!’
He smiled but didn’t let himself laugh.
‘Why are you here?’ she slurred, rubbing at her eyes.
‘Because you’re poorly. I’m here looking after you.’
‘Did you break in?’
‘No, I brought you home from the dentist.’
She curled her lip like he was talking nonsense. ‘What?’
Tom thought she looked adorable, her face crinkled from sleep as her foggy mind tried to piece together what was happening.
‘But why?’ she said, her head tipping to one side. ‘You don’t really know me.’
‘Jess called me,’ Tom replied. ‘I was happy to help,’ he added.
Katie raised her eyebrows as if to say, oh .
‘Are you hungry?’
Katie thought for a moment, looking around the room. ‘Um, yes, I think I am. Very hungry.’
‘I’ll be back in a minute.’ Tom warmed the soup Jess had brought, found a tray in a cupboard, and carried the soup and a bread roll back to the living room.
Katie was sitting up properly now and had pulled her hair back away from her face. She was finishing the glass of water he had set on the table beside her. Bending to set the tray in her lap, Katie’s brow crinkled at him as if she didn’t understand what was happening.
‘It’s soup and bread,’ he said, by way of explanation.
Katie nodded and sniffed. ‘Thank you,’ she said softly.
He could feel her eyes on him as he straightened the items on the tray for her.
‘How are you feeling?’ he asked as Katie examined the tray, fingers brushing over the spoon.
‘Did you make this soup?’ Katie sniffed at it.
‘No, Jess made that.’ Tom sat down in an armchair opposite. ‘I made the bread.’
Katie’s eyes widened. ‘You made me bread?’ She looked at the soft roll on her tray. ‘This bread?’
She put her hands to her chest and looked at it like someone seeing bread for the first time.
She picked it up and started to cry. ‘I can’t believe you made me bread…no one ever made me bread before…’
She was crying snotty tears, and the shaking threatened to upend the tray. Tom grabbed it and put it on the side table out of danger. Katie was still holding the bread and crying.
‘Katie,’ he knelt before her, taking her hand in his. ‘I wouldn’t have made it if I’d known it would upset you.’
‘Nooo,’ she wailed, holding his fingers in one hand and the bread roll in the other. ‘I’m not upset. It’s just so nice of you…’ She let go of his hand and pulled off a small piece of bread, popping it into her mouth.
Her face crumpled again. ‘Oh, it’s really nice.’ She chewed carefully on the unoperated side of her mouth, hazel eyes wide, smudges of mascara underneath them, a grin slowly spreading on her face.
‘Glad you like it.’ Tom started to push himself to his feet.
‘Tom,’ she said suddenly. ‘Did you say you picked me up from the dentist?’
He nodded.
‘I don’t remember that.’ She shook her head slowly, raising one hand to cup the still tender side of the face. ‘Did I…’ She hesitated, a worried expression on her face. ‘Did I do anything to embarrass myself?’
Tom looked into her tired, shadowed eyes, the bread roll in her hand, and thought of the things she had said to him. He shook his head.
‘No,’ he squeezed her hand. ‘You didn’t do or say anything embarrassing. You just slept all the way home.’