Chapter 38
SPENCE
Around us, a kid drops a cookie into his milk and starts crying, but Al barely notices.
Her eyes on the girl behind the counter talking into her phone.
Alice taps the spoon against her cup. I reach over and still her hand.
She looks up at me. Both of us turn our attention to the girl who is frowning, her voice lowering.
‘Gran? You there?’ Her voice sharper. The girl looks over at us, then turns her back, her voice now too quiet to hear. She ends the call and heads back over.
‘Here’s her address. Gran asked if you could pop over? It’s not far. Just a few streets away.’
Al’s face is beaming, but something inside is telling me this is a bad idea.
‘Thank you,’ Alice replies, her face flushed.
‘Oh, and tell Gran we’re almost out of the cheesecake.’
‘Will do,’ Alice replies, already draining her cup.
‘Hey,’ I say. ‘Take a minute. Give the woman a chance to prepare?’
‘We’re so close, Spence.’ The light is back in her eyes. My stomach tightens. So much is riding on this meeting. If I can help her get what she needs, get her life back on track, then maybe I can say what I’ve been holding back. I squash the thought down. Now isn’t the time.
We find the street easily: semi-detached houses, cars parallel-parked outside.
Alice is talking quickly about the drawing, about the granddaughter, saying how much she looks like Kate in the drawing, how she’s exactly how she’d imagined her to be.
My stomach feels like Tyson Fury has landed one.
I can’t help but smile back at the way she’s talking with her hands, the way she bumps her shoulder with mine.
My phone vibrates in the back of my pocket, and I pull it out, angling it away and slowing my pace.
It’s a reply to the job application I’d sent in the early hours after Heather had left, when I was riding high on the idea of starting over.
That or I’d had a dodgy slice of cold pizza.
It was only a preliminary enquiry. I hadn’t expected anything back.
Term’s over. I scan the words quickly: Last applicant unable to take position. Interview.
‘Spence?’ Alice asks, concern around her eyes. I realise I’ve stopped walking. ‘What’s wrong? Is it Georgia?’ I take a breath, paste on a smile. ‘No, it’s just spam.’ Asking me to go for an interview. In Scotland. But I don’t say that. Instead, I pocket my phone. ‘It’s not important.’
Alice frowns, stepping closer. ‘You sure? You look—’
‘This is it,’ I say pointing towards the outside of the house. She hesitates, her frown still in place.
‘Spence, is there something you’re not telling me?’
‘It’s nothing.’ I nod towards the house. ‘Best not keep her waiting, eh?’
Something flickers across her face, then she pulls back, flattening her hair.
‘On three?’ I ask.
‘One, two…’
Alice knocks on the door.