Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
‘Oh God, you’ve cut your hair off,’ cried Mum, from her sunbed. She was wearing a bright red bikini, and her mahogany skin was darker than the day before. ‘Karen put down that cocktail and come here quick,’ Mum called out. ‘Rachel’s chopped off her beautiful long hair.’
‘Mum, it was never beautiful,’ I said, as Aunty Karen clip-clopped in heels towards Mum to peer down the phone screen at me.
‘Oh, Janice, I like it,’ cooed Aunty Karen, grinning at me and giving Mum a prod. ‘It suits her.’ Aunty Karen was wearing a pink frilly number which clashed with the angry red sunburn strap marks on her shoulders.
‘I’ll have to tell Fay,’ Mum muttered, fumbling with her phone. ‘Hang on a minute.’
I rolled my eyes with frustration as Mum tapped something out on WhatsApp. In the background, Aunty Karen was telling Uncle Robert to stop ogling the woman in the bikini from the villa next door to Mum’s.
Mum screwed up her eyes and read what she’d typed. ‘Two days with Grandpa Eric and Rachel has cut all her hair off. He’s hard work at eighty.’
She smiled sweetly at me. ‘Where’s Dad, Rachel?’
I fiddled with my phone and pointed it at a happy Grandpa, who was sitting with Humphrey on his lap, on the sofa in the east wing’s living room.
‘Get that dog off your sister’s expensive sofa,’ my mother screeched so loudly that she woke up Humphrey. ‘For goodness’ sake, Rachel, get that dirty dog off the sofa. It probably cost Frank thousands.’
I ignored her. ‘Grandpa, do you want to say hello?’
He waved and gave Mum a thumbs up.
Mum peered at her phone screen. ‘He looks pale. Are you feeding him properly?’
‘Yes, he had a cooked breakfast this morning and last night he had a casserole.’
The sound of Zac grizzling as Layla brought him into the living room made Mum sit up on her sun lounger and cast me a puzzled look. ‘Did I just hear a baby crying?’
‘It’s Layla’s baby.’
Aunty Karen clip-clopped at speed back towards Mum. ‘Is there something I should know, Janice? Why has Rachel got a crying baby?’
‘Layla is Maddie and Frank’s cleaner, Mum. She has a little boy called Zac.’
‘Cleaner?’ Mum gasped. ‘Why is the cleaner there with her baby son? Have you opened a creche at your sister’s palatial home?’
With a heavy sigh, I glared at my mother. ‘It’s fine, don’t worry.’
‘How did you sleep? Did you feel like royalty in Maddie’s satin bedding?’
‘It was very relaxing,’ I said, although I left out the bit about Zac crying for most of the night and keeping me awake. Even though he and Layla were in the east wing, I still heard him. Layla had apologised over breakfast saying that with the constant change in Zac’s life he was out of his routine. I told her I’d not heard him.
Mum had got distracted and was clicking her fingers at Gary. ‘I’ll have another gin and tonic please. Make it large. I’m stressed, so bring me my ciggies as well. I tell you, parenting is hard work.’
‘I have to go now.’ I was getting irritated with my mother, so I told her I needed to walk Humphrey.
Mum nodded. ‘Do not lose that dog, Rachel. Maddie doesn’t want to come back from her gorgeous and relaxing holiday in Malibu to find her dog is missing.’
‘Enjoy your Sunday, Mum.’ I cast her a fake sugary smile.
In the background, Aunty Karen shouted, ‘Tell Rachel to make sure Dad is near a toilet. His bowels play up a lot.’
I ended the call and looked at Grandpa. ‘Aunty Karen says your bowels play up a lot.’
He chuckled. ‘What does Karen know about my bowels? She pops her head around the front door and shouts, “Everything all right, Dad?” I shout “Yes”; she says, ‘Great” and she gets back in her car and goes home.’
Rolling my eyes I walked to the door. ‘Humphrey, walkies.’
After I returned from walking Humphrey, Grandpa suggested we all play cards. Layla and I joined him in the living room. Zac crawled about as Layla, and I tried our best to beat Grandpa at rummy.
He won every time.
It made me smile and remember those Christmases Maddie and I spent with him and Nana. He would do the same then – beat us at every opportunity.
‘I’ve missed playing cards,’ said Layla. ‘My nana used to play cards with me when I went to stay at her house.’
‘Was she any good?’ Grandpa asked before laying down a perfect hand of rummy and winning the round.
Layla grinned. ‘She had little mirrors placed around the room so she could always see my cards.’
I gasped at Layla. ‘Your nana cheated?’
Grandpa cast me a knowing smile and I found myself looking around for strategically placed mirrors. Had Grandpa used mirrors with us? To my horror I spotted one hidden behind Layla and one in the branches of the tree behind me. I reached for it, crying, ‘Grandpa, you’ve been cheating all this time.’
He began to belly laugh. ‘I have been fooling you for years. If I ever tell you where to sit before a game of cards, check for mirrors. Your nana Edith used to tell me off. “Eric,” she’d say, “how can you trick those little girls?” and I would say, “With ease.”’
I turned to Layla. ‘Thanks for telling me about your nana and her little mirrors. I have seen my grandpa in a different light now.’
She broke into a fit of giggles. ‘Sorry, Rachel, I can’t believe you never worked out what Eric was doing when you were little.’
‘Nor can I.’
Layla leaned back against the sofa. ‘Living with my mum and stepfather was hard so it was nice to escape to Nana’s house. I twigged early on what she was up to with the mirrors.’
‘Maddie and Rachel didn’t,’ interjected Grandpa, making us all laugh.
It was nice seeing Layla smile and joke with Grandpa. I looked up at the gigantic Christmas tree and its twinkling lights and the pressure of the family, Aunty Karen’s list of rules for looking after Grandpa and my worries about Maddie slipped away.
After cards we had some lunch and Zac went down for a nap. Then Grandpa beat us both convincingly at Scrabble.
‘Thank you,’ Layla said to us once the Scrabble board and tiles had been cleared away. ‘Today, I’ve felt festive and happy.’ She smiled. ‘It’s been tough for me these past few weeks. I never thought I’d be playing games in this beautiful house with two lovely people, eating delicious food and not worrying about where Zac and I are going to live.’
I gave her hand a squeeze. ‘This is just the start of our Christmas together, Layla,’ I beamed.
Grandpa nodded. ‘Layla, I like you already and we’re not going to stop smiling all Christmas.’
‘Is that a promise, Eric?’ Layla asked.
Grandpa grinned. ‘Sure is. The Christmas Dog Sitters never break their promises.’
While Grandpa told Layla all about how he used to spend a lot of time setting up his mirrors, when Maddie and I were little, and how he’d call us into the room, wondering whether this would be the game that we realised what was going on, I found myself thinking about Maddie. Was she okay in America? Would she have a nice Christmas?
With a twang of sadness, I recalled Maddie phoning me from California in floods of tears and sobbing about how much she hated her new life. The memory left me uncomfortable, so I leapt to my feet and decided to bake a pie for tea. I was overthinking the Maddie and Frank situation again. She had said there was nothing to worry about. I was reading too much into that glassy-eyed look she’d given me before she left.