In Focus (2009) (20 page)

Relief surged through her. ‘Thank you. Now, if you’ll tell me what you like to eat in the mornings, Mrs Harding, I’ll get your breakfast each day.’

‘Do call me Beth. And you don’t need to wait on me.’

‘I like to cook and I like to look after people.’

‘Then we’ll put you in charge of the kitchen. I can’t usually be bothered to cook. I work long hours and I never know when I’ll get home. In the mornings, I just grab a cup of tea and a bowl of cereal.’

Ghita looked at her. Too thin by far. Dare she interfere? ‘Jo likes a boiled egg or a scrambled egg on her toast. I could easily make that for you at the same time.’

She watched Mrs— no, Beth, hesitate then smile.

‘Well, all right. That’ll be sheer luxury. I’ll have whatever you’re doing for Jo each day. And tonight we’ll sort out money and anything else we need to decide about running the house.’

The boys had been drinking their milk, but now Mikey interrupted them.

‘You’re my grandma,’ he announced, staring hard, as if she were an alien creature.

Beth smiled at him. ‘Yes, I am. That’s nice, isn’t it?’

‘Yes.’ He smiled at her shyly and waved one hand at the other child. ‘Kaleel’s my best friend.’

Ghita watched her hostess nod to Kaleel, who was much quieter and shyer than Mikey. Beth wasn’t used to small children, she decided, and didn’t seem used to living with other people, either.

She noticed that the sound of running water had stopped, and a couple of minutes later Jo rushed in, hair still wet from her shower. ‘Mum, you’re up. I hope we didn’t disturb you. I’m on early shift today, I’m afraid.’

Ghita poured her friend a cup of coffee.

Jo groaned in pleasure as she sipped it. ‘You always make the best coffee, even with instant.’

Within five minutes breakfast was on the table.

‘You
are
efficient,’ Beth commented.

‘I was trained in the household arts,’ Ghita said. ‘I wasn’t expected to go out and work, only get married and look after my family.’

‘Do you regret that you’re not married?’

She stopped briefly to consider this, then shrugged. ‘I’d like to marry, but a modern man, not the sort my father considers suitable.’

She made porridge for the two boys, gave them half a banana each then sat between them with the same breakfast. Jo didn’t talk much in the early mornings, just ate quickly. Beth also said very little.

It was very different from Ghita’s own family, but nice to be starting the day with adult company for a change.

Beth came into the kitchen again on her way out to work. ‘Ghita, I’ve only got one spare front-door key. This is it and this one is for the outer door of the flats. There are some shops down the road, turn right out of the flats. Could you please have another two of each cut while you’re out today, then you and Jo can get in and out as you wish? Here!’ She thrust some money into her companion’s hand. ‘Get something nice for tea, anything, I’m not fussy. It’s my treat tonight to celebrate you all moving in.’

‘I shall have to look in your cupboards to see what you already have,’ Ghita said anxiously. ‘Also, to put away the food we brought. I hope you don’t mind. And there are some of our boxes in your bedroom that I need to get things out of.’

‘I have no secrets. Look anywhere you wish. Sort out whatever boxes you can and tonight we’ll work together on fitting things in better.’

When Beth had gone, Ghita let a few tears of sheer relief fall, then bowed her head in prayer, saying thank you for all the kindness she had met from Jo and her mother.

She went to the window to stare out. She would see if there was a park nearby. The boys would like somewhere to run and play. And if she used only local supermarkets and shops, she should be safe in this area, because her family lived some distance away. She was still afraid they’d try to snatch her and her son off the street.

Turning back, she set to work to get the boys ready for the day and clear up the kitchen, then encourage them to tidy up all except a few toys. She frowned at her own bedroom. Jo, with whom she was now sharing, had said her mother was fanatical about cleanliness and tidiness. Well, so was Ghita. She began to pick up the various items Jo had scattered. She didn’t mind doing that. She knew her friend well enough by now to understand that Jo tried hard to keep things clean, but simply didn’t have a tidy bone in her body.

I’m the intermediary as well as the housekeeper and nanny, Ghita decided as she pushed the double buggy out of the front door. It’ll be up to me to keep the peace. If I weren’t here, Jo would soon irritate her mother.

She felt better to think she could make a positive contribution to her new life.

It was much more pleasant to walk along tree-lined streets, where older people nodded a greeting and smiled at the two little boys.

Linda had been doing her research carefully, using her computer at work and trying to find out how to contact Pete Newbury. She didn’t say anything to Nat about what she was doing. In the end, however, she had to admit defeat. Her son didn’t seem to have an office or any way of contacting him except via the television studio. She didn’t want to accost him in the street for her first meeting. Why, he might call security to keep her away and walk on past!

In the end she decided to ask Beth how she’d found him, but her daughter’s mobile was switched off. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Nat spoke from right next to her desk. She hadn’t even heard him come into the office.

‘What’s bringing that frustrated expression to your face?’

She tried to think of something to say.

‘I think I’ve already mentioned that you’re the world’s worst liar,’ he said with a grin.

‘I’m trying to find out how to contact my son,’ she blurted out.

He took her hand. ‘Oh, Linda, leave it be. You’ll only get hurt. He doesn’t want to see you.’

‘But I want to see him. I
need
to. Only not in public.’ She saw him open his mouth to protest and added firmly, ‘I’m not going to give up, Nat. I’ve mourned Greg for years, imagined what he’d look like . . .’ She was annoyed when her voice shook and she couldn’t continue for a moment or two. ‘I’m his birth mother. I have a right to see him privately, at least once. If he doesn’t want to see me after that, he’ll have to tell me so face to face.’

‘Promise me you’ll not go to see him on your own, then, even if you leave me outside in the car.’

‘I’m promising nothing, Nat, except to wait till after the show tonight. I think he’ll be more open to a meeting once that’s over.’

He looked at her thoughtfully. ‘You know, there’s more steel under your gentleness than people give you credit for. I’ve watched you sometimes dealing with our tougher customers and you don’t let them get away with anything.’

‘I used to be very weak but I’ve come a long way in the past few years, partly thanks to your help and support.’

‘My pleasure, love.’

They were silent for a few minutes, then as they walked into the street, he changed the subject. ‘It’s wonderful not to be going home alone. Would you like to come and see my house tonight?’

‘Yes, I’d love to.’ She’d never seen his new house, though she knew the postal address, of course.

Nat’s house was at the end of a cul-de-sac. It was pretty, with a gable at one end and a sprawl of garages at the other.

‘Do you really need three garages?’ Linda teased.

‘That’s how it was when I bought it. I added another room at the rear as well, a workshop.’ He pressed the remote and the right-hand garage door, which was closest to the house, opened noiselessly. There was plenty of room inside, even for his big four-wheel drive.

He came to help her down, stealing a quick kiss before leading the way towards a door at the side. ‘If you don’t like this house, we’ll find another.’

‘Just like that?’

‘You of all people know how comfortably off I am, Linda. What’s money for if not to buy what you need to make you happy? Now, this is the mud room and through here is the kitchen.’

‘Wow! It’s a cook’s dream.’ She went to stroke the pink-tinged granite surfaces and run her fingers along the gleaming stainless steel of the six-burner cooker. ‘It’s a lot of house for one person.’

‘Yes. It’s a lot for two people as well, but my children sometimes come to stay when they’re visiting London and we can invite your daughter round as well. I never thought my kids would both settle in the provinces.’ He gestured to a photograph on the wall. ‘I’ll move that before you come to live here.’

‘Why?’

‘Well, you won’t want number one wife staring down at you, surely?’

‘I don’t mind. I liked her the few times we met and I don’t mind that you loved her very much.’

He framed Linda’s face in his hands and gave her a gentle kiss on each cheek. ‘You’re a wonderful woman and I’m a very lucky man. She’d approve of me getting together with you. We always said if one of us went first, the other should look for someone else.’

He kissed her again, more urgently, and as he pulled away, they stared at one another breathlessly. Romantic love didn’t just belong to the young, she thought in wonderment. She was lucky too, lucky to have met a man like Nat. ‘Show me the rest of the house.’

When the tour had finished, he looked at her. ‘Well?’

‘It’s lovely. I’d be very happy to live here.’

Nat beamed. ‘When can you move in?’

‘Give me a week or two. I’ll need to sort out my things, decide what I want to bring, and that might mean you getting rid of some things here, too. I have a few pieces of furniture I’ll definitely want to keep.’

‘I want it to happen more quickly than that. I want everything about us to happen quickly. I’m thinking permanence here, Linda.’

She jumped in hurriedly before he could talk about marriage, because she wasn’t rushing into that, wasn’t even sure she believed in it any more. ‘I think two weeks
is
quickly, for me at least. Don’t push too hard, Nat. I still haven’t told my daughter about us living together. And you might not like living with me, after all.’

‘I’ve been spending my days with you for years. I think I know you pretty well by now, and you know me just as well. I don’t grow horns and a tail after I come home at night.’

‘I’ll phone her soon, then.’

Beth was so busy at work she didn’t have time to think about herself for the first few hours. Only then did she realize she’d asked Ghita to buy stuff for a celebratory meal, completely forgetting that she had a date with Edward.

She rang home and no one picked up. She wondered if this was yet another example of Ghita treading carefully. When the answering system kicked in, she called, ‘Ghita, please pick up the phone. It’s me.’

To her relief the phone was answered. ‘Is that you, Ghita?’

‘Yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t think I should answer your phone.’

‘Oh, please do. And use it, too. It’s much cheaper than mobiles.’

‘You’re very kind.’

‘And very forgetful. When I told you to buy food for a celebration meal, I forgot that I had a date tonight. I’ve had to put Edward off once, so I don’t want to do that again. Can we do our celebrating tomorrow instead? Would you mind?’

‘It doesn’t matter. You mustn’t let your friend down.’

‘How are things going?’

‘Very well. The boys and I are going out to the park this afternoon, and I’ve unpacked some of our things.’

‘That’s great. I’ll be home before seven, then.’

She only just managed that, because anything that could go wrong that day did, including one of their older vacuum cleaners breaking down and someone calling in sick.

As she rushed into the flat, she asked the others to let Edward in when he arrived and went to take a shower.

She hummed as she got ready, hearing the intercom ring and the front door go.

When she emerged, she found Edward playing ‘little horses’ with Mikey, while Kaleel waited shyly for his turn for a ride on Edward’s knee. She stood in the doorway, amazed at how good he was with the children.

He looked up, winked, then put Mikey down. ‘I think there’s time for Kaleel to have a quick ride, don’t you?’

‘Of course.’

Mikey instantly threw a tantrum. ‘Do it again! Do it again!’

‘Ignore him,’ Jo said. ‘He thinks he’s the only person in the universe.’

Kaleel began to look distressed as Mikey’s crying continued.

‘Stop that, you silly boy.’ Jo picked her son up and talked softly to him as Edward gave the other little boy his ride.

‘Have a good time, Mum!’ she called as they left, winking at Beth.

‘How are you coping?’ Edward asked as they waited for the lift.

‘Fine,’ she began, then grimaced. ‘Well, actually, I’m missing my peace and quiet already. The girls try hard to keep the kids quiet, but they’re only three, for heaven’s sake. Mikey’s cries are particularly piercing, though.’

Again there was a taxi waiting for them. They got into the back and Edward continued the conversation, seeming genuinely interested in her situation. ‘Ghita seems very good with the boys.’

‘She’s brilliant at looking after people, period. She ought to train as a childcare worker or a housekeeper, something on the caring side.’

‘No reason why she can’t.’

‘She’d need childcare herself to do it. At the moment Jo couldn’t manage without her.’

‘It’s hard for young women on their own, isn’t it?’

Beth nodded. ‘I employ a few who’re single parents. I lean over backwards to help them.’

‘You
employ
?’

She flushed. ‘I own the cleaning business.’

He smiled. ‘I’d wondered if it was something like that. Pete still thinks you’re a cleaner.’

‘I started off as one after my marriage broke up, just temporarily. I was desperate for some ready cash, you see, and Shane was being as awkward as he could about maintenance. I didn’t want to ask my mother for help because she had enough on her plate, so I took the first job that paid quickly. I soon saw the opportunities in commercial cleaning, the way the people employing me were making the real money not the cleaners, so I continued cleaning to extend my experience while I took courses on setting up a small business. Then I took the plunge and started Sherbright Cleaning.’