Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
I chased Humphrey but gave up after he disappeared into a flurry of snowflakes. ‘Grandpa, Humphrey has escaped,’ I groaned, walking into the kitchen.
‘Sorry, Rachel,’ Grandpa said, ‘Humphrey stopped playing ball with me and his ears went up like two satellite receivers.’ Grandpa held up his two index fingers and wiggled them about. ‘That dog scooted out of the kitchen, and I knew he was about to run away.’
Layla giggled at Grandpa’s description. Resting my elbows on the marble work surface I placed my face into my hands. ‘They’ve been gone six minutes, and Maddie’s dog has run off.’
‘Ah, well,’ chuckled Grandpa, ‘leave him. He’ll come back when he’s hungry.’
‘He’s a dog, Grandpa, not a cat,’ I said, blowing the air out of my cheeks. ‘You can’t let dogs wander about anymore. I am blaming my mother, Fay, and that stupid door for this.’
‘What have your mother and Fay got to do with the dog?’ Grandpa asked, rising from a chair he’d been sitting on.
‘Mum rang me whilst I was watching Maddie and Frank leave. You’ll never guess what’s happened?’
Grandpa stared at me.
‘Aunty Karen and Uncle Robert have gone to Tenerife to spend Christmas with Mum and Gary. Fay suggested the idea. She’s so annoying. Why can’t she mind her own business in Australia?’
Grandpa walked over to the work surface where the kettle was. ‘You know where I would rather be?’ He turned and smiled. ‘Having tea with you two. Let’s have a cuppa and if the dog’s not back, the search party can begin. Layla – do you want a cup of tea?’
Her smile began to disappear. ‘I should be cleaning. Mr Baxter said…’
Grandpa waved his hand at her. ‘Mr Baxter has gone on holiday for three weeks. Rachel and I are in charge now. You look like you need a cuppa.’
I cast Grandpa a worried look. ‘Do you think we should be going after Humphrey?’
Grandpa was taking out three cups. ‘He might have nipped to the loo outside.’
The image of Humphrey bolting down the gravel drive, his large ears rotating as he ran, giving him more speed, appeared in my mind. ‘Humphrey was not going to the toilet.’
Grandpa gestured for me to take a seat. ‘Calm down, Rachel. Let’s have a cuppa.’
After taking a few sips of Grandpa’s tea my hunched shoulders sunk. ‘You have always made good tea.’
Layla took a sip and gave Grandpa the thumbs up. He nodded before taking a mouthful. ‘Tea making is one of my many talents. Being a Christmas dog sitter is going to be tough, so I’ll make sure we all have plenty of tea inside us.’
‘Tough?’ I exclaimed. ‘Grandpa, Humphrey has already bolted, and this is day one.’
Layla smiled and fiddled with the gold chain around her neck. I noticed a tiny L hanging from it. She had striking dark eyes that reminded me of black coffee. Her nails were long and a bold pink colour. On top of her head her black hair was coiled into a tight bun. The sides were perfect and smooth with not a strand out of place. She was wearing a pink sweatshirt, blue jeans, and white trainers.
‘Do you live locally, Layla?’ I asked, keen to know more about her.
She shook her head. Her young face had become creased and shadowy. ‘If you’d asked me a month ago, I would have said yes and that I live with my boyfriend, Ryan, in the flat above the Harp Brook Inn.’ Pausing, her fingers returned to playing with her chain. I sensed she was nervous. ‘We’ve split up and…’ She took a breath. ‘He threw me and my baby son out two weeks ago.’ After wiping her sweaty forehead, she took a mouthful of tea. ‘Zac’s biological dad never wanted to be involved so it’s always been just Zac and me.’
‘What?’ I gasped, glancing at Layla and her baby son in his travel cot. ‘Your boyfriend did that to you right before Christmas?’
‘That’s terrible,’ said Grandpa. ‘I’m so sorry, Layla.’
She stared down into her cup of tea. ‘Ryan kicked us out because I found texts from other women on his phone. They were sending him photos of themselves.’
‘Did you confront him about the texts?’
‘Yes, and he got angry.’ A solitary tear trickled down her face. She wiped it with the back of her hand. ‘He said Zac and I are annoying, and we were getting in the way of him enjoying himself.’
‘Where have you been living,’ I asked, glancing at Zac playing in his travel cot.
She let out a heavy sigh. ‘Zac and I have been sofa surfing. Well, he’s all right as he’s in his travel cot, but I have been living on the sofas of friends.’
I instantly thought of Maddie. She’d be horrified if she knew. ‘Have you told my sister about this?’
Layla shook her head. ‘Mr Baxter knows but I don’t think he’s told her. He told me it wasn’t his problem. This is why I have had Zac with me on cleaning jobs. Ryan would normally look after him, but he doesn’t want anything more to do with us. Christmas is coming and my baby and I are going to be homeless. Plus, there is a lot of snow coming and do you know what the icing on my “crap life cake” is? I don’t even…’ She let out a large sob. ‘I don’t have a sodding hood on my coat.’ She dissolved into tears.
Instinctively I jumped out of my seat and put my arm over her shoulder. ‘Hey, Layla, don’t cry. Come on, dry your eyes.’
Grandpa and I exchanged worried glances. ‘Do you not have any family you can stay with?’ I asked.
‘I don’t have any family,’ Layla said. ‘My mother stopped speaking to me when I was seventeen because she listened to my stepfather. He hated me.’ Layla flashed us both a brave smile and wiped her face. ‘I’ve only just started speaking to my biological dad, but I have never met him. I can’t really turn up on his doorstep.’ She sniffed. ‘I’ll be okay.’
‘How old are you, Layla?’ I asked.
‘Twenty-one. It’s going to be okay. Sometimes baby Zac looks at me when we’re crashing on a friend’s sofa, and I wonder what he’s thinking. I tell him, “Don’t worry, Mummy is going to sort this mess out.”’ More tears streamed down her face.
I studied her and thought about all the things I’d moaned about lately; having to look after my grandpa over Christmas, the state of my hair, being forced to stay in a luxurious manor house for three weeks and seeing my family on WhatsApp enjoying themselves in Tenerife. I wasn’t homeless and I had somewhere to sleep tonight. Layla’s issues put things into sharp perspective. Without hesitation and any thought about what my brother-in-law might think or say, I placed my hand over Layla’s. ‘Stay here, Layla, until you find somewhere permanent or until my sister and her husband return after Christmas.’
She wiped her damp cheeks and glanced at both of us. ‘What? Really?’
Grandpa nodded. ‘Rachel’s right. How can we live in this huge manor house with the empty rooms and enough food to last for weeks knowing you and your baby son are homeless over Christmas.’
‘You can have the room Maddie was going to put me in,’ I explained. ‘It’s the bedroom with the peacock bedding. I will find another room.’
‘Are you sure?’ Layla gasped. ‘You don’t know how much this means to me.’
I smiled at her. ‘Don’t worry. There’s room for all of us.’ She stood up and gave both Grandpa and me a hug. ‘You’ve made my year, both of you.’
Warm tingles shot up my spine at seeing Layla’s happy smile.
Grandpa went over to say hello to her baby son who was playing with a soft toy.
‘How old is he, Layla?’
She smiled. ‘Nine months.’
‘Ah. Nice to meet you, young man. You’re staying here for the next few weeks, and I have my eye on you so no trouble.’
Layla chuckled as Zac handed Grandpa his toy and babbled something in baby language. A worry about Frank finding out flared up inside my mind but I suppressed it. I couldn’t let Layla spend Christmas homeless or sleeping on sofas.