The Accidental Guest (4 page)

‘It can’t do any harm,’ Tom said. ‘It would take my mind off things too.’

‘Are you sure about that?’ Gina asked. ‘Aren’t you better off resting?’

‘I don’t think I’m able to rest, even if I sit still and quiet for the rest of the day, my mind is still going round and round trying to piece things together. And as I’m not supposed to fall asleep it’s probably better to be doing something.’

‘I suppose it must be quite traumatic, the idea that you don’t know who you are and where you belong,’ Hannah said.

‘It is. I keep imagining all sorts of disasters that I’m not there to avert and the pain my disappearance might be causing. It’s Christmas Day and someone is missing me. I know I’d be beside myself if someone I cared about was missing like that.’

‘Come on then,’ Hannah said gently, ‘if it helps to take your mind off things then we’d love your help in the kitchen.’

She led the way, Gina throwing her a doubtful look as she did so. Hannah tried to return it with one that was encouraging and confident, but that wasn’t how she felt. She didn’t really know what she felt, but her thoughts were in a strange kind of turmoil, the likes of which she’d never experienced before. Whatever her doubts about who this man was, whether they were doing the right things to keep him safe – whether they were doing the right things to keep
themselves
safe – there was an emotional pull towards him that she was now desperately trying to keep under control. Hannah didn’t believe in love at first sight, but the confusion in her head felt like the start of something a lot like it. In the strangest of circumstances this man
had been dropped into their lives, as if some higher power had brought them together, and Hannah felt like it meant something. But that would be stupid, wouldn’t it? Who believed in fate and destiny? Not Hannah, whose life had been struggle after struggle to make it on her own, despite what fate or destiny, or whatever power ruled the universe, wanted for her.

‘Wow… this is very festive,’ Tom said with a smile as he stepped into Hannah’s kitchen. ‘I like your taste in décor too.’

Hannah beamed. It had taken a lot of work to get the room perfect, a project that had been ongoing, along with the rest of the house renovations, for the last five years. Jason had been very little help, disinterested, she supposed, because the house belonged to her alone. But independence was the way she liked it and she was not about to risk it all on anyone. As it turned out, she had made a wise decision where Jason was concerned. But the kitchen had been particularly troublesome, because the house had belonged to an old lady who hadn’t modernised since the early seventies. Now it had a rustic country charm about it – handmade wooden units painted in a delicate sage green with butcher block worktops, shelves and a reclaimed dresser filled with an eclectic collection of pots and crockery collected from antique shops and flea markets and sometimes from her travels abroad – but it also featured the best of modern technology, including a sleek fridge and spot lighting. To Hannah, it was the showpiece of the house, and suited the feel of the place perfectly. It was a bright little suntrap too, so she often found herself forsaking her office upstairs to work at the kitchen table, especially on chilly days. Nothing made her happier than feeling the winter sun on her back, sitting in blissful silence with her laptop and a mug of sweet hot chocolate at hand. On those days, she couldn’t imagine how she ever kept up with her hectic former life as a sales manager.

However, since Jess had been at work in the kitchen turning various things off and snaffling her own private turkey starter, the pride and joy that were Hannah’s kitchen worktops now also displayed the strange, disorganised logic of your average teenager.

‘Hmmm,’ Gina said, looking at her daughter. ‘I see you helped yourself to a bit more turkey than you were letting on.’ She angled her head at the glistening roast, which now had a cavernous chunk missing from the left breast.

‘I was hungry,’ Jess pouted.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Hannah cut in, ‘there’s plenty. Enough for you, Tom, if you feel up to it. I could do you a turkey sandwich. You might not be able to eat for ages once you get to the accident and emergency department.’

‘Turkey sandwich?’ Gina said, ‘He’ll probably have his fill of them tomorrow.’ As soon as she said it she looked as if she wished she could take it back.

‘It’s alright,’ Tom said, clearly understanding Gina’s discomfort. ‘I don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow but I’m hopeful that this memory loss is only short term and I
will
be eating turkey sandwiches with my family like everyone else come Boxing Day. If I hold onto that thought and stay positive, that can only be a good thing for my emotional well-being, can’t it?’

‘Of course,’ Hannah said. ‘Would you like me to fix you something?’

‘I’m sorry; it’s kind of you but I really don’t think I could eat right now. ‘Why don’t we concentrate on getting your lunch ready and, maybe, if I’m still here, I might feel like something then.’

‘Where do you think the ambulance is?’ Jess asked. ‘They’ve been a long time. It’s a good job he’s not dying.’

‘They’ll probably concentrate on the actual life and death cases before they come to us,’ Gina said. ‘After all, they’ll be on skeleton staff and it’s turning into a blizzard out there.’

‘They don’t know he’s not dying,’ Jess said stubbornly.

Gina glanced at Tom with an apologetic shrug. ‘I gave them all the details and they didn’t seem overly worried.’

‘Not even about the fact that he doesn’t know who he is?’ Jess returned.

‘Apparently there can be lots of reasons people lose their memory and if he’s not dizzy or throwing up or anything, then there shouldn’t be an immediate danger. They said we could call them again if anything deteriorated.’

‘Do you think I actually need an ambulance?’ Tom asked. ‘I would hate to be using a stretched service if I didn’t have a medical need.’ All three looked at him. ‘I mean, I feel fine… apart from the obvious.’

‘I’d say that’s pretty big, though,’ Gina said.

‘It is, but not life threatening. I know how up against it the emergency services are. Maybe I can get myself to A&E later on.’

Hannah glanced at the window. ‘Not in my little car, not in this.’

‘No… I didn’t mean you had to take me,’ Tom said quickly, a slight blush rising to his cheeks. The sight of it made Hannah want to throw her arms around him.

‘I know you didn’t,’ she said, ‘but it’s either us or the ambulance, I’m afraid, as you have no keys, no phone and no memory of who else to contact to take you. Can you even remember how to drive? Could you drive before?’

‘Yes. At least I think I could. I’m pretty sure I could drive now if you asked me.’

‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ Gina said.

‘Neither do I,’ Hannah said. ‘We wouldn’t dream of sending you out alone into the snow in your condition.’

‘Sounds like I’m pregnant,’ Tom smiled. But then a shadow suddenly crossed his features and the smile disappeared. He stared into the distance, as if his mind was reaching for something. Hannah watched, and it was almost as if the thing he wanted to remember was more painful than forgetting it. The episode was fleeting, and then the darkness cleared from his expression and he was back again.

‘Well…’ Hannah began, feeling unsettled and uncertain after what she had just witnessed. ‘If you want to, we can phone again for advice. They might be able to suggest some alternative.’

‘They might just tell us to sort it ourselves.’

‘But we’d have to get help somewhere,’ Hannah replied.

Gina shrugged. ‘I suppose they’d send the police.’

Hannah mused on that. She didn’t like the idea, and she couldn’t say why. Perhaps it was because it made it feel as if Tom, or whoever he was, had committed some kind of crime by being confused. He seemed like the sort of man who had never been in trouble, and sending him off to the police station on Christmas Day to sit with all the drunks and scum felt like a humiliation he didn’t deserve, whatever the circumstances. The hospital was a much kinder option. And as Hannah had already made up her mind to go with him, even though she knew Gina would be angry about it, it was a kinder option for her too.

‘We should wait for the ambulance,’ Hannah said in a voice that suggested there would be no further discussion. ‘So, let’s get this dinner on while we have time.’

‘I don’t suppose you need me,’ Jess said. ‘There’re so many of you in the kitchen now.’

‘Yes, we do,’ Gina said sternly. ‘You still have sprouts to peel, remember?’ She pulled Jess by the arm to the pile she had been working on earlier.

‘I have no idea why we’re forced to eat sprouts,’ Jess said, wrinkling her nose. ‘I mean, does anyone actually like them? Why celebrate the most important day of the year by making us eat the shittest vegetable there is? Nobody eats sprouts at any other time; that tells you a lot about how much people like them.’

‘Sprouts can be good,’ Tom said. ‘You just have to know how to cook them.’

‘And you do?’ Jess asked.

‘I lightly boil them, then fry them with butter, bacon lardons and pine nuts. They’re delicious that way. But you can roast them with balsamic vinegar and honey too and they’re just as good.’

‘You remembered!’ Hannah squeaked.

Tom was silent for a moment. And then a small smile appeared on his face. ‘I did, didn’t I?’

‘Can you remember any more?’

‘Recipes?’

‘No, silly! About your life.’

‘I don’t know. I don’t even know where the sprout thing came from. It just popped into my head. I don’t know if I can cook or not.’

‘It sounds like you can. And pretty well too.’

‘But that might not be my memory. I might have read it somewhere and think it was part of my past.’

‘Is it upsetting you?’ Jess asked.

Gina gave her a warning look, and Hannah was about to speak when Tom beat her to it.

‘It’s ok,’ he said. ‘I’m not upset. I mean, I’m worried, of course, because I don’t know what I’ve left behind. But there’s something curiously liberating about the whole thing.’

‘Really?’ Hannah asked.

‘Well, it’s odd, but I feel more like myself right now than ever, even though I don’t know what that is.’

Gina frowned as she bit into a carrot stick. ‘That does sound odd.’

‘I wish I could explain it better. Say I was a policeman, and in my everyday dealings with people I always remembered that I was a policeman and had to act in a way that was fitting to my station in life. Perhaps I wouldn’t do and say some of the things that I’d want to, because I’d think that police officers weren’t supposed to do and say those things.’

‘Are you a policeman?’ Jess asked.

‘I don’t think so.’

Jess seemed to breathe a small sigh of relief. Hannah made a note to herself to ask her about it later. She turned her attention back to Tom. ‘So what you’re saying is that if you don’t remember what you are, you don’t know how to act?’

‘Yes. But that’s good, because however I’m acting now is exactly who I
really
am. Do you see?’

‘Sort of,’ Hannah said thoughtfully. She wondered whether a bump on the head might be something to see about getting herself later. It might wipe away some emotional baggage of her own.

‘Do you like Abba?’ Gina asked, moving towards the CD player.

‘Please say no,’ Jess said, rolling her eyes.’

‘Abba?’ Tom blinked at her. ‘I have no idea.’

‘Yeah,’ Jess said, ‘right answer. If I had to lose my memory, I’d wipe Abba from it too.’

‘You have no taste,’ Gina said, sticking her tongue out at Jess, who returned it with her own.

‘I’m with Gina on this one,’ Hannah said. ‘One day you’ll have your own Abba epiphany, and you’ll wonder why you ever thought they were crap.’ She glanced at Tom. ‘However, I do think we ought to keep the place quiet for now.’

‘Please don’t on my account,’ Tom said.

‘It’s best,’ Hannah insisted. ‘You’ve got a nasty head injury there and I don’t know what a lot of loud music will do. At the very least I’m sure you’ll end up with a banging headache.’

‘You’d end up with that anyway,’ Jess said.

‘He would if you put your music on,’ Gina fired back.

‘Oi!’ Jess huffed. ‘It’s a lot better than the crap you listen to!’

‘At least my music has an actual melody.’

‘People have to be woken from comas after listening to that middle of the road rubbish.’

‘Ok, ok…’ Hannah grinned. ‘Maybe we should save the big music debate for another time. Right now we have cooking to do.’

Hannah took it upon herself to appoint tasks, which everyone – even Jess – cheerfully undertook. While the veg was being prepared she wrapped the turkey in foil and set about making fresh drinks for everyone. Bearing in mind some old advice she thought she knew about alcohol and head injuries, she made fruit juice cocktails for everyone, tactfully handing them around without saying anything to Tom lest she alarmed him.

‘So… let me get this right…’ Tom began as he took a break to sip his drink. ‘You two are sisters?’ he nodded at Gina and Hannah, ‘And you’re Gina’s daughter?’ he asked Jess.

‘Got it,’ Hannah said.

‘Do you all live nearby?’

‘I actually live just outside Birmingham,’ Gina said. ‘Though we’re hoping to move back soon.’

‘Oh. Don’t you like it there?’ Tom asked.

‘We like it well enough. It just feels like the right time to come home.’

Tom nodded. ‘Are you going to move close to your sister?’

‘I ruddy hope not!’ Hannah laughed.

‘Thank you for that,’ Gina grinned.

‘We’re only coming back because Mum found out that Dad was shagging his secretary,’ Jess said.

‘Jess!’ Gina yelped. ‘TMI!’

‘Oh Mum, PLEASE do not say TMI again.’

‘Shagging his secretary. Classy…’ Tom said.

Gina smiled. ‘I know. He could have been a bit more creative.’

Tom turned to Hannah. ‘And is there a Mr Hannah?’

She felt the blush rise to her cheeks. Damn it, why did she have to do that? He was making polite conversation, not asking her to go to bed. Stupid brain. The problem was that she was beginning to think she’d rather like it if he asked her to bed. What the hell was wrong with her? Hadn’t she already learned her lessons about men a thousand times over? ‘No Mr Hannah,’ she replied, trying desperately to think about sprouts and carrots and not forgetting to put the bins out after Boxing Day instead of Tom’s dark eyes now regarding her quizzically, and his full lips, and the dimple in his chin that was really only noticeable when he smiled. ‘Not now.’