Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Grandpa wasn’t up when I came down for breakfast. There was no radio being played. Voices drifted out into the kitchen from behind the construction sheet. I heard Tom say, ‘She’s a bit feisty – isn’t she?’
Ben replied, ‘I think she’s struggling. She clearly has no control over her grandfather or that naughty dog.’
I could feel my defences rising. How dare he say that I am ‘struggling’? Some things hadn’t gone to plan but I was in control.
Tom chuckled. ‘I can’t believe her grandpa was walking about with a pair of Baxter’s fluffy pink handcuffs.’
‘I might rename her Little Miss Chaos. I wonder what we’ll witness today,’ Ben said.
What the hell did he just call me? Little Miss Chaos ? A red filter slipped in front of my eyes.
‘I’m starving,’ Tom moaned. ‘I forgot my lunch today and I didn’t have any breakfast.’
‘Same here,’ said Ben, before striding through the sheet and coming face to face with me. Shock swept across his face.
‘Sorry,’ I said, in a sugary sweet voice, ‘you’ll have to excuse me as I am struggling out here so I can’t make you a cup of tea.’
He cleared his throat. ‘I’m sorry you heard that.’
I scowled at him before marching out of the kitchen. Once I’d sat in the living room and tapped out a lengthy and angry message to Connor and Kate about ‘know-it-all’ builders, I calmed down.
Kate responded with several laughing face emojis, and Connor sent me a message which read:
You’ll be kissing him soon.
After muttering things about Connor’s humour, I ventured back into the kitchen. The radio was on behind the construction sheet and there was no sign of Ben.
I decided to seek my revenge on them both using food. If they were hungry then they could suffer with the delicious smell from the wonderful breakfast I was about to cook for Grandpa and me. With an evil smile I walked out to the fridges and selected ingredients for a full English fry-up.
Soon there was a delicious aroma wafting out from the kitchen and Grandpa appeared with a huge smile on his face. ‘This is going to be the breakfast of dog sitting champions,’ he cried, rubbing his hands together with glee as I checked on the sizzling sausages under the grill.
Seeing both Ben and Tom’s hungry faces as they came into the kitchen to wash out their mugs gave me so much pleasure as I laid the table for breakfast.
Grabbing my plate piled high with sausages, bacon, eggs, tomato and hash browns, I grinned at Ben and Tom. ‘Little Miss Chaos is hungry.’
As Grandpa tucked into his fry-up, he pointed to Ben and Tom hovering by the sheet. ‘Why not give some to the fellas?’
I glanced over my shoulder and let out a silent chuckle. Turning back to Grandpa I said, ‘I don’t think there’s enough, Grandpa.’
He glanced at the pile of spare food still on the grill and gave me an odd look. I ignored him.
When I sat down and started to tuck into my food, Grandpa nudged me. ‘You really should offer the fellas some food.’
I shook my head. ‘No, not after what I heard them saying about us this morning.’
Grandpa leaned closer. ‘What did they say?’
‘They said I was struggling to control you and Humphrey.’
Grandpa put down his knife and fork and scratched his white chin. ‘I quite like that.’
I rolled my eyes.
He continued. ‘I like how the fellas over there think I am difficult to control.’
‘Grandpa, Ben called me Little Miss Chaos .’
To my horror Grandpa chuckled. ‘That’s funny.’
‘You’re supposed to be on my side.’
Grandpa touched my arm. ‘It’s Christmas, Rachel, and the fellas are hungry. Let’s give them some of this delicious food.’
Ben and Tom’s faces lit up when Grandpa announced they could help themselves to what was left.
Layla came into the kitchen with Zac on her hip. Her face looked creased and shadowy as she warmed his milk. ‘Hurry up and heat, I don’t have all day,’ she muttered, clearly exasperated. Once he had his bottle she came over to the table.
‘Are you okay?’ I asked.
She checked her phone. ‘I’m meeting someone later. Just a bit nervous.’
‘Ryan?’
‘God, no – I am not speaking to him.’ She took out her phone. ‘I got to take Zac to my friend’s house and then meet him…’ She stopped and gave me an awkward look.
‘You got a date?’
She shook her head. ‘No.’
‘There’s loads of food left over from breakfast.’
She shrugged. ‘I’m not hungry.’
There was something she wasn’t telling me. Anxiety nibbled away at me. I hoped she wasn’t in any kind of trouble. Even though I’d only known Layla for a few days, I liked her a lot and I would worry about this conversation for the rest of the day.
Once Zac had finished his bottle and been fed some yoghurt with chopped up banana, she took him away upstairs and they left soon after.
I cleared away breakfast and took Humphrey out in the snow in the grounds at the back of the manor house. As I trudged, I thought about Layla and how young she was to be living such a turbulent life. The urge to help her in some way when my sister returned was strong.
Humphrey and I were at the top end of the back garden. He was busy burrowing into a snow drift when his ears shot up like two antennae. I remembered Grandpa talking about his ears going up like two satellite receivers. He was going to run away. I tried to grab him, but he shot past me. ‘HUMPHREY,’ I roared and gave chase. He sped across the garden and raced across the driveway.
Running in snow is hard and it’s even tougher when you notice a familiar tall builder staring at you from the side of the house.
I ignored him and carried on half running and half stumbling through the snow. I wanted to give up and let Humphrey go but Ben’s gaze was on me. In my head, all I could hear were his words, ‘She’s struggling to control both an out-of-control relative and dog.’ I was not going to give him the satisfaction of admitting I couldn’t control Humphrey.
‘Are you okay, Rachel?’ Ben shouted as I raced past him with a heaving chest and a pink face. Humphrey was a brown speck in the distance, travelling at a high speed.
‘I’m fine!’ I shouted as Humphrey disappeared. I wished I’d not eaten a large breakfast to punish a certain builder. In my side a painful stitch made its presence known. Staggering down the driveway, I clasped my abdomen and gasped for air. Humphrey would get such a telling off when I got hold of him. All dog treats were going to be banned.
I was seconds away from giving up on chasing Humphrey when I heard shouts and barks coming from the road. Panic took hold of me. Oh God – had Humphrey been run over.
‘Humphrey!’ I screamed and picked up the pace. The gates were open. On the road outside was a car which had smashed into the tree on the opposite side.
Humphrey was barking and jumping up at the driver window. A terrifying thought flared across my mind. Did Humphrey charge into the road and cause the car to swerve and crash? Ignoring my stitch, I ran as fast as I could towards the car.
An older woman was stood on the verge holding on to a bored looking Labrador and staring in horror at the car. ‘I don’t have a phone,’ she cried. ‘We were passing when I saw the car across the road and heard that dog barking. Someone is trapped inside.’
I felt my back pocket. Damn! My phone was still in the living room. Running back to the house would take me ages. I could try the row of cottages up the road. Ben wouldn’t be in – he was back at the manor house – but his neighbours might be.
As if by magic I turned around and there was Ben. Relief flooded through me and washed away my earlier irritation. He must have followed as I chased Humphrey. His phone was pressed to his ear. ‘There’s been a road accident.’
The driver was slumped over his steering wheel. I tried to open his car door, but couldn’t. Hearing me tugging on the door made him lift his head and turn towards me. His ashen white face and trembling hands against the wheel made tears rush to my eyes. ‘Help,’ he mouthed.
Ben was still on the phone to the emergency services. He also tried to yank open the car door, but it wouldn’t budge.
I pulled at the passenger side door. To my relief it opened, and I climbed inside.
The driver cast me a weak smile. His forehead had a nasty bloodied gash to it and a column of red was trickling down his face. ‘I can’t feel my leg,’ he croaked.
We couldn’t move him, so we had to make him as comfortable as possible where he was.
‘It’s okay,’ I said. ‘Help is on its way. Are you cold?’
His hands were shaking, and lips had a bluish tinge. He nodded. He had dark hair, flecked with grey, eyes like two cups of black coffee and grey bushy eyebrows.
I took off my coat and placed it over him. I looked inside his glove compartment and found a pack of tissues. Carefully I balled some up and placed it over his wound to stem the flow of blood.
‘I lost control. One second, I was driving, and the next I hit a patch of ice, and the car was careering towards that tree.’ He cast me a frightened look. ‘I woke up and this country lane was silent. No cars or people about. I got scared. I thought I’d die here, alone and cold. Then that little brown dog turned up out of nowhere. He knew I was in trouble. As soon as he started barking you arrived.’
I smiled as Humphrey was barking outside the car. ‘That’s Humphrey.’
‘He’s a clever dog.’
I smiled. ‘Naughty and clever.’
Ben opened the passenger door and stuck his head inside. ‘Help is on its way.’ He looked at me. I was shivering as it was icy cold, and my coat was keeping the man warm. Ben took off his coat and placed it around my shoulders.
‘My name is Derek,’ said the man, ‘I was on my way to meet my daughter for the first time.’
‘The first time?’
He nodded. ‘I didn’t realise I had a daughter until she tracked me down on Facebook a year ago. An old girlfriend of mine never told me she was pregnant with my child. She moved away and raised our daughter by herself for twenty-one years.’
‘Oh wow – that’s amazing you two have finally got in touch.’
He shook his head. ‘I should be there now but look at me. She will be waiting and thinking I’ve let her down.’ Resting his head against the wheel he let out a sob. ‘I didn’t want to let her down. I can’t believe I’ve crashed the car and now I can’t get to her.’
His emotion made my chest ache. I gave his arm a rub. ‘Hey, come on.’
The wail of the fire brigade’s siren could be heard in the distance.
‘Derek, please don’t get upset. We can fix this,’ I said. ‘Do you want me to get a message to her? I can go meet her for you.’
He looked at me. ‘Would you do that?’
‘What’s her name and where are you supposed to be meeting her?’
Ben and I stood as the firefighters rescued Derek from his mangled car. An ambulance also arrived, and they took the Derek to hospital. He waved at me as he was stretchered into the ambulance. Once they had driven off, I turned to Ben. ‘Will you take Humphrey back for me?’
‘You okay?’ He looked concerned.
I nodded. ‘There’s something I need to do for Derek.’
‘I’m sorry about calling you Little Miss Chaos. You were great back there. The way you spoke to that guy when he was trapped and frightened…’
‘You were not so bad yourself,’ I said, remembering his heroic arrival.
He took the dog lead and nodded as I hurried off towards the high street.
Outside the bakery café was a familiar figure in a bright pink puffa coat, jeans and trainers. It had started to snow. I sensed she was wishing she had a hood on her coat as she pulled up her collar. When I got closer, I could see she was dabbing at her eyes.
‘Layla,’ I called out, ‘I need to talk to you.’
Layla shook her head and began walking off in the opposite direction. ‘Not now, Rachel, I am a bit upset.’
I chased after her and grabbed her by the elbow. When she turned around, I could see she had been crying. Her dark eyes were swollen and pink. ‘People always let me down,’ she sobbed. ‘The guy who I was going to meet. He didn’t show up. Like the rest of them…’
Placing my hands on her shoulders I shook my head. ‘Derek was in an accident. He’s okay. They’ve taken him to hospital.’
She stared at me. ‘Derek… you know about…’
I nodded. ‘He was on his way to meet you. His car skidded on some ice outside the gates. Humphrey was the one who alerted me. I sat with Derek until the ambulance arrived. Look, Derek wanted you to know he didn’t let you down.’
Layla burst into tears, and I pulled her into a hug. ‘Oh, Layla, don’t cry, it’s going to be okay.’
‘Everyone lets me down at some point,’ she sobbed. ‘It’s a shock to hear that Derek actually cares.’
‘Derek cares, so do I. Come on and dry your eyes. You are freezing cold.’
Together we walked back to her friend’s house to collect Zac and then back to the manor house.
Once inside the house, Layla and Zac went upstairs and I made everyone a hot tea. After I made a huge fuss of Humphrey and told Tom, Ben and Grandpa about what had happened with Layla and Derek. They listened intently. When I told them about how I’d gone to find Layla to give her Derek’s message, Grandpa reached out and squeezed my hand.
Later as Tom and Ben were making their way back through the construction sheet, I caught Ben’s eye. With a cheeky grin I said, ‘You see – it’s not all chaos here.’