Chapter 23
Jenni flopped down on the sofa, kicking off her trainers. She was shattered, but happy. Her phone beeped and she looked down to see a message from her mum: a big thumbs up and a love heart in reply to the pictures of the stall Jenni had sent her earlier that day, followed by another message:
So proud of you. And your dad would have been too. Well done, sweetie. Xxx
Tears pricked Jenni’s eyes. She wished she could have called her dad now; told him about the day, that she’d almost sold out and the organisers had asked if she’d do another event with them.
He’d been her biggest cheerleader, the one who’d told her she could do it, that she’d be okay no matter what.
He’d been there whenever she’d needed help after Alex had left, happily showing her how to put up a shelf or moving something too heavy for her to manage on her own.
Blinking, she stood up. This was the trouble with grief. You thought you’d got it sorted, paid off the debt, but it could creep up on you again at any time, demanding another instalment.
The unwelcome visitor that comes and goes is how she’d heard it described.
She caught sight of the photo of her with her parents that she displayed on the bookshelf. Her family.
But now her mum was with someone new, on the trip of a lifetime the other side of the world, while Jenni was home alone on a Saturday night.
She shook herself. Enough with the pity, it wasn’t helping, it was just making her sad.
She went into the kitchen and made herself some tea and toast, realising Oscar wasn’t home, again.
He was out more and more lately. Feeling abandoned – even her own cat didn’t want to spend time with her – she went back to the living room with her tea and sat on the sofa, flicking through the TV channels for something to distract her.
Just then, she heard the cat flap slam, and seconds later Oscar stalked into the room. He must have sensed her thinking about him, she thought, as he jumped up on the end of the sofa and began kneading at the blanket, purring, before turning around three times and settling down.
‘What time do you call this, young man?’ Jenni addressed the cat.
Oscar stared back, before blinking slowly.
‘It’s not like you to not want dinner, either. Where have you been?’
Oscar gave another slow blink. Then, as if bored with the interrogation, tucked his head down, curled his tail around him and went to sleep.
Something is going on, Jenni thought. He’s definitely going somewhere.
And, as she looked at him more closely, she saw that he was plumper than he used to be.
But for now, she was just happy to have him home, curled up next to her, as she settled in for another evening alone, but she was going to have to work out where he was going and what he was up to.