Life Or Something Like It (13 page)

‘Saving the world one tweet at a time, are you?’ said a voice next to her. She knew who it was immediately.

‘Working on your time-keeping so that you’re only ten minutes late, are you?’ she retorted, looking up at Finn.

‘Touché.’ He grinned.

‘Hello, Cat,’ said Daisy.

‘Hello, Daisy. Ellie’s over there. Have you brought your costume?’

Daisy slipped out of the dress she was wearing, revealing a very cute polka dot swimsuit. ‘Ta-da!’ Cat couldn’t help but smile.

‘Right, Daisy-doos, let’s put some sun cream on you before you go. It’s hot, hot, hot today,’ said Finn, pulling out a bottle.

Shit
, thought Cat, rummaging in the bag, hoping that Andrew had packed some. She was out of luck. She looked over at Finn.
Double shit
. Now she would have to be nice to him.

‘Er, Finn?’

‘Yup?’

‘Could I borrow some of that sun cream please?’ she asked in as friendly a tone as she could manage.

‘Sure,’ he said, handing it over.

Cat waited for a smart remark but none came. ‘Thanks,’ she said. She found Ellie and applied a thick layer of cream despite the small girl’s protestations. When she came back, Charlie had disappeared. Finn was sitting on the bench, looking at his phone.

‘Where’s Charlie?’

‘Over there. He met some boys from school and they’re hanging out.’

Cat nodded. Finn seemed immersed in what he was doing so Cat took out her phone. After a while her phone signalled a text. It was from a number she didn’t recognise.

‘Would you like an ice-cream?’ it said.

She looked up confused and spotted Finn smirking at her. ‘Is this you?’ she asked, holding up her phone.

Finn nodded. ‘Andrew gave me your number and I thought it might be the best way to communicate. Less misunderstanding perhaps.’

Cat couldn’t help laughing. ‘You’re a fool.’

‘Thank you.’ He grinned. ‘So would you?’

‘I’ll have a 99 Flake, please,’ she replied.

Finn nodded and went to ask the children what they wanted before disappearing to the ice-cream van. Cat looked over to where Charlie was standing with a group of three boys. One of them – a spiky-haired boy smaller in height than the others, was talking. He seemed to be giving instructions to Charlie who was listening wide-eyed and nodding. After he’d finished talking, he shouted, ‘Go!’ and Charlie dropped onto his front and started doing press-ups.

Cat frowned as the smaller boy nudged his companions and laughed. Charlie could only manage half a dozen press-ups before he collapsed onto his knees. The smaller boy knelt down beside Charlie and whispered something into his ear before looking up at the other boys and laughing again. Then he ruffled Charlie’s hair with some force and hauled him up to his feet. Cat didn’t know much about children but she understand human behaviour and didn’t like what she saw. She strode over to the group and tapped Charlie on the shoulder.

‘Everything all right, Charlie?’

‘Mee-mee-mee-mee-mee-mee-mee, Charlie?’ mimicked one of the other boys, grinning at his friends for his clever retort.

The smaller boy punched him on the arm. ‘Shut up, Ben.’ He turned to Cat, his face smiling and innocent. ‘Everything’s fine, isn’t it, Charlie? We were having a game, weren’t we? Football training and I was being the coach. I’m Tom by the way.’

Cat was astounded when he held out his hand. She didn’t take it. ‘Well I’m his aunt and it didn’t look like a game to me.’

‘Leave it, Cat. Please,’ said Charlie.

Cat looked over at him. His face was pleading and she could see something else behind his eyes that troubled her; it was fear. She turned back to the group of boys. ‘I’m watching you,’ she said before walking away.

Finn was back with the ice-creams and looked expectantly at Cat as she returned to the bench. He held out a dripping 99 Flake. ‘I had to lick it a couple of times,’ he said cheerfully. Cat stared at the ice-cream as if it were a poo on a stick. ‘That was a joke,’ he said.

‘Thank you,’ she replied taking it from him. ‘Let me give you some money.’

‘Don’t worry.’

‘I always pay my way.’

‘It’s just an ice-cream, Cat. You can get them next time.’

Next time
, thought Cat.
Sounds ominous
.

‘Was everything okay with Charlie?’ he asked.

Cat shrugged. ‘I’m not sure. I didn’t like the way those boys were behaving towards him.’

‘Did you say anything?’

‘Of course,’ she replied. Finn winced. Cat threw up her hands. ‘What have I done wrong now?’

‘Possibly made life more difficult for Charlie.’

‘Why?’

‘Because you’re his auntie and you stuck up for him.’

Cat turned to face him. ‘So, childcare guru, what should I have done?’

Finn held up his hands. ‘Listen, I’m not judging. I probably would have done the same.’

‘Really?’

‘Of course. You want to protect the ones you love. It’s natural.’

Cat was caught off guard for a moment. Was this what she was doing? Protecting her nephew out of love? She wouldn’t exactly call Charlie loveable but she certainly felt more of a connection with him than she had a week ago. It probably just came with the territory; she was in loco parentis after all. Her thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of a tall thin woman with bony elbows, and an angular face.

‘Did you threaten my son?’ she barked.

The woman was towering over her, so Cat stood up and looked her in the eye. ‘Is your son called Tom?’ she asked.

‘Yes. Did you threaten him?’ she repeated.

‘No I did not,’ said Cat feeling her hackles rise. ‘But if your son continues to bully my nephew, I will speak to my brother and get him to take it up with their school.’

‘How dare you? My son is not a bully!’ said the woman, taking a step forwards and jabbing Cat in the chest.

Cat looked at the spot where the woman had poked her and then back into her eyes. ‘If you do that again, I will call the police,’ she said, holding her gaze.

The woman hesitated. She could tell that Cat meant business but she wasn’t prepared to leave without having her say. ‘Threaten my son again and I’ll be the one calling the police,’ she said before storming off.

Cat’s body shook as she returned to her seat. Finn was watching her in amazement. ‘Wow,’ he said. ‘Remind me never to get on the wrong side of you. You were awesome.’

Cat remained furious. ‘Did you hear her? She’s deluded, absolutely deluded, and her son is a little shit.’

Finn grinned. ‘Like I say, it’s just people protecting the ones they love as best they know how.’

Charlie appeared before them. It was clear that he thought Cat was anything but awesome. ‘Thanks a bunch,’ he shouted. ‘Why did you have to do that?’

‘I don’t like bullies,’ said Cat defiantly.

‘They’re not bullies. They’re my friends.’

‘Really? Were you really enjoying what was happening there? Honestly?’

Angry tears of frustration sprung into Charlie’s eyes. ‘You don’t understand!’ he cried before storming off across the playground.

Cat looked at Finn helplessly. He rose to his feet. ‘Don’t worry. He’s angry and doesn’t want to talk to you at the moment. I’ll go and check he’s all right. You watch the girls, okay?’

‘Okay,’ said Cat miserably. She felt irritated with Finn for taking over but grateful too. Most of all she felt annoyed with herself for not being able to sort out this problem for Charlie. After all, she was supposed to be good at this: problem solving, crisis management, smoothing all those troubles away with an expert wave of her PR wand. She obviously wasn’t as good at reading situations as she thought. She glanced over to where Ellie and Daisy were playing. They were splashing around happily, squealing and giggling with delight. Cat’s phone buzzed signalling a call and she fished it out of her pocket, pleased to see that it was Jesse calling. She hoped for some good news as she answered.

‘Oh hey Jesse, what’s up?’

‘Kit Kat! Have you recovered from Friday night?’

Cat laughed. ‘I have. Is everything all right?’ she asked hopefully.

‘Fine, apart from the fact that we can’t manage without you.’

‘Oh yes?’
This was it. He was phoning with good news.

‘Yes. The thing is, we can’t find the Saffy Bridges – Sam Taylor engagement pics plan file anywhere. Did you put it on the public drive?’ Cat’s heart sank. ‘Kit Kat? Did you hear me?’

‘Yes. It was in the notes I left for you. It’s on the secure drive. You need a password. ‘It’s “GracehyphenKelly”,’ said Cat quietly.

‘Oh yeah, of course! I should have checked the notes. Thank you. You’re a diamond. How are you anyway?’

Cat’s thoughts were interrupted by a scream – not like the constant excited screams that had pervaded the air since they arrived. This was an urgent scream of pain followed by silence. Cat looked up and saw a woman carrying Daisy towards her with Ellie in tears running alongside.

‘Kit Kat?’ said Jesse.

‘I have to go,’ said Cat, throwing her phone to one side and dashing towards the woman. ‘Oh my goodness! What happened?’ she cried.

‘We were jumping off the side,’ sobbed Ellie. ‘And Daisy slipped.’

‘They shouldn’t have been doing it,’ said the woman rather obviously. ‘Someone should have told them to stop.’ The accusation was made with such force that it was almost as if the woman had slapped Cat.

Daisy was clutching her arm and screaming in pain. ‘Well thank you for your help,’ said Cat, wishing that the woman would leave. ‘Daisy, can you hear me?’ Daisy continued to wail at a considerable volume.

‘I think she might have broken her arm,’ said the woman, placing Daisy gently on the bench.

‘Is she going to die?’ cried Ellie, fresh tears springing to her eyes. She clutched her friend’s foot dramatically.

‘No, no, she’s not going to die, Ellie,’ said Cat.

‘What happened?’ cried Finn, rushing over to join them.

‘We were jumping and Cat should have told us to stop,’ reported Ellie.

‘She was on her phone,’ said the woman, nodding her head towards Cat.

Cat suppressed murderous thoughts. ‘I’m so sorry, Finn. It happened so quickly.’

Finn wasn’t listening. He knelt next to Daisy, stroked her hair and talked to her very gently. ‘Now listen, Daisy Doo, I know it hurts but you have to be brave, okay? We’re going to go to hospital and the doctors are going to make you better, all right?’

Daisy’s frightened screaming had lessened, becoming more of a squeaking sob. Finn kissed her gently and she gave a little shiver. ‘Your beard is tickly, Uncle Finn.’ He kissed her again and she gave a little giggle. Cat had to concede that she was watching a master in action.

‘Come on, Daisy Doo,’ he said, lifting her carefully from the bench.

‘Shall we come?’ asked Cat. ‘I could drive you so that you can sit in the back with Daisy?’

She could tell that Finn wanted to decline her offer. Cat could see that he was furious with her and she couldn’t blame him. But he could see the sense of what she was suggesting too. ‘Okay,’ he said. They didn’t speak on the way to the hospital, except in relation to Daisy’s comfort. The poor girl was being very brave and had to endure Ellie singing in order to ‘soothe’ her. Cat would have preferred a strong dose of morphine to Ellie’s
Frozen
songbook but was grateful for the distraction. Charlie sat in the front, scowling and staring straight ahead.

They didn’t have to wait long to see a doctor in A&E. Daisy was given some painkillers and a splint and her X-ray confirmed that it was a fracture to her wrist. Luckily it was a simple fracture and two hours later she was happily showing off her plaster cast, seeming much happier with the world. Finn still hadn’t really spoken to Cat, who sat miserably in the waiting room with a surly Charlie and a tearful Ellie.

When Daisy reappeared with Finn, they made a huge fuss over her and Ellie promised to decorate her arm with stickers and flower designs.

‘Shall I take you home?’ asked Cat.

‘I need to pick up my car from the park so you can drop us back there, thanks,’ said Finn. It was said in such a cursory, unfriendly way. Cat knew he was still angry but couldn’t say anything in front of the children. They drove back to the park. She got out to help Finn and Daisy from the car. Once they were on the pavement, she knelt in front of Daisy.

‘I’m so sorry, Daisy.’

Daisy looked at her with wide eyes. ‘Okay,’ she said.

Finn took her hand. ‘Come on, you,’ he said, turning to go.

‘Finn?’ called Cat. He turned to face her, his expression blank and serious. ‘I’m very sorry,’ she said, looking into his eyes.

Finn’s face was deadly serious. His blue eyes were devoid of any of the humour and warmth from earlier. ‘If you say so,’ he said. ‘Come on, Dais,’ he added, placing a protective arm around his niece’s shoulder.

The little girl glanced back towards her. ‘Bye, Cat!’ she cried with a toothy smile.

‘Bye,’ said Cat, watching them go. They were all quiet on the journey home, Charlie frowning out of the window, his anger simmering just below the surface, Ellie forlorn and worried about her friend. Cat felt completely out of her depth; she was used to solving problems, not creating them. She was starting to realise how much of her life was out of her control now and wondering if she would ever get it back.

Chapter Nine

The next day, Cat returned to her brother’s house with a fresh sense of purpose. If there was one thing that she was good at, it was putting a positive spin on the world. She had refused Andrew’s offer of a bed for the night. He was sympathetic and understanding about the incident with Daisy, but she still felt the blame and guilt like a stone in the pit of her stomach.

She had returned home, taken the shower that she had missed that morning and put on a clean pair of White Company pyjamas. One of the things that disturbed Cat most about the change to her circumstances was the ease with which she had transformed from social butterfly to a stay-at-home, pyjama-wearing caterpillar, covering her body in a sleepwear cocoon. She had found that there was something about looking after children during the day that made you want to spoil yourself with comforts in the evening. It was a worry but she told herself that as long as they were Egyptian cotton with a thread count of at least four hundred, she was not letting her standards slip.