Chapter Forty-Two
Jacob could not believe how much work was involved in looking after a puppy.
He’d fondly imagined a couple of leisurely walks, perhaps a spot of ball-throwing on the beach if the sun came out.
Then, at the end of the day his faithful hound would sleep at the foot of his bed until morning.
He didn’t know about the constant demands to play, the razor-sharp teeth, the accidental wees and the way that everything from his favourite trainers to his phone charger was fair game for gnawing.
Then there was the lack of sleep. Max woke several times in the night, whimpering to be taken outside.
When Jacob started his morning shift Max cried again, so loudly that Jacob brought him down and tried to settle him on a blanket behind the newsagents’ counter.
But every time the door opened, Max woke up, desperate to say hello and play.
By the end of his shift, Jacob was exhausted.
And he still had to take Max for his proper walk.
He headed down to the beach (Max had discovered digging in a big way) but there was no time to stop off at the boat sheds to say hello to Della and Evelyn, because Jacob was on a schedule.
Soon, he was due to pick up Alison so that the three of them could go and visit Michael in hospital.
By the time Jacob’s Mini pulled up outside Alison’s dad’s house, he’d changed his clothes, fluffed up his hair, brushed his teeth twice and given his armpits an extra spray of deodorant.
Keith was happy to look after his grandson Will for the afternoon, so Jacob was savouring the idea of it being just him and Alison.
But he hadn’t bargained for Max. As soon as they set off, the pup jumped into the front and settled on Alison’s lap with a satisfied yawn.
‘Funny little thing, isn’t he?’ Alison remarked, giving his scruffy ears a scratch. ‘What breed do you reckon he is?’
‘Part Patterdale, part Tasmanian Devil is my guess,’ Jacob replied.
‘Bit of a handful then?’
Jacob blanched. ‘You could say that.’
‘It’s all about establishing a routine.’ She smiled. ‘A bit like toddlers.’
‘Thanks, I’ll bear that in mind.’
As he drove, Jacob tried to sneak glances at Alison. She seemed different today, quieter yet more self-assured.
‘I need to find a new job,’ she announced. ‘The sports centre let me go, but I hated it there anyway.’
‘What about trying the PR company where you used to work?’ he replied.
‘Ah, I’m not sure they need anyone.’
‘Well, you were clearly good at it and you had some great ideas for the Save Our Museum campaign.’
‘Yeah. Until I stopped coming to the meetings.’ Alison gave a small shiver, then stroked the tufts of hair on Max’s head. ‘I’m sorry for what happened – what Roy did to you at the museum.’
‘Oh, all forgotten,’ Jacob lied. ‘I find it’s best to ignore bullies.’
‘But that just allows them to carry on bullying,’ Alison said calmly. ‘From now on, I’m going to call them out.’
Jacob felt chastened. ‘You’re right, but I know it’s easier said than done. Especially when you’re facing it every day. When it’s incremental.’
Alison had turned her face away, but he heard that her breathing had changed, becoming broken, and he realised he’d said the wrong thing. ‘Oh no, sorry, please don’t cry.’
‘I’m OK.’ She found a tissue in her bag. ‘Or I will be.’
‘How’s your dad?’ Jacob thought he was changing the subject, but there was no way to avoid how Roy’s actions had seeped into everyone’s lives.
‘He feels bad too, says he should have seen what was happening.’ She rolled her shoulders and let out a breath.
‘But we’ve had some honest chats recently, which has been good.
For as long as I can remember, my dad has never been big on talking.
Even after my mum died, he never spoke about his feelings.
He thought he was protecting me, I suppose, by keeping it all in. ’
‘I’m so sorry. How old were you?’ Jacob asked.
‘I was eleven. Just started secondary school.’ She gave a shrug. ‘It was every bit as awful as you’d imagine, but we both pretended we were coping – didn’t want to let the other down. But now, he’s finally starting to open up.’
‘My dad isn’t great at talking, either,’ Jacob confessed. ‘Not that we went through anything as bad as that.’
‘The Second Chances exhibition also threw up some family stuff,’ Alison continued. ‘There was a keepsake in the museum that revealed my grandpa had a secret love. So we talked about that, too.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. It was the embroidered picture. The one that said Wish we could sail away together. It was a gift, made by my Grandpa Fred. Except it wasn’t for my grandma. It was for his true love, who happened to be called Steven.’
‘Gosh, that’s quite a thing to find out – especially for your dad.’
‘I know. The thing is, I wonder if my dad already knew, deep down. He said it always felt like his parents had come to “an accommodation” in their marriage. They were the best of friends and they were loving parents, but they weren’t in love.’
‘Well, that’s more than many couples achieve,’ Jacob said.
‘True.’
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean you and Roy,’ Jacob added, afraid he’d said the wrong thing again.
‘No, I know you didn’t. But you’re not far wrong. A child needs to grow up seeing people being honest, don’t they? Not learning fake smiles and fear.’ Alison fell silent.
‘And where is Roy these days?’ Jacob felt he had to ask.
‘He’s moved in with his brother. Turns out he hadn’t paid the rent on our house for months and we were about to be evicted anyway. Everything was on the verge of falling apart, but I couldn’t see it. Or I didn’t want to.’
At the hospital, Alison went up to the ward to find Michael, and Jacob waited outside the main entrance with Max, who was a big hit with everyone who passed by.
‘Soon you’ll see your real Daddy, won’t you?’ he told Max, realising too late that he’d become a person who talked to dogs. ‘Pretend I didn’t say that,’ he added and Max gave an obliging wag of his tail.
Then the doors opened and Alison and Michael came out, him making steady progress with a pair of crutches.
‘There’s my boy,’ he called out and, at the sound of Michael’s voice, Max made straight for him.
‘There, little lad. There, there,’ Michael said and Jacob lifted the dog up so he could cover Michael’s face with his licks.
As Alison remarked on the way home, ‘Quite the reunion. Not a dry eye in the house.’
Jacob was driving home a different way, because Alison had asked to make a stop in St Mawes. As they got closer, her previous confidence seemed to evaporate and she grew quieter. She explained that she had brought the embroidered picture made by her grandfather.
‘I thought it was best to return it to its rightful owner. It’s what my Grandpa Fred would have wanted and my dad agrees.’
‘That’s a good thing you’re doing,’ Jacob told her. ‘Not everyone would be so generous.’
‘It just feels right,’ she said as he pulled up outside the address she’d given him. ‘I rang him last night and he told me how it got lost. His daughter did a big clear-out when he moved into this house and sent lots of his old clothes to charity. She managed to scoop up this picture too.’
‘By accident?’
‘Hmm, he didn’t say. But he sounded pretty overwhelmed when I said he could have it back.’ She unfurled the stiff sailcloth and gave it one last look. ‘Good job Evelyn loves a charity shop rummage and has an eye for treasure.’
Then Alison closed the car door softly and walked up the path to a cottage with a neat front lawn and well-tended borders.
Jacob watched as a snowy-haired man answered the door and Alison held out the roll of sailcloth.
The old man seemed to sway a little, then he raised his hand to his forehead.
He said something, with a questioning look in his eyes.
Alison glanced back at Jacob; he gave her an encouraging nod and watched her step inside the house.
Both their grandfathers, it turned out, had led secret lives, but had left behind clues that had ended up in Evelyn’s museum. Jacob hoped Evelyn knew the good she’d done in bringing those truths out – and in bringing people together.