The Good Neighbour (17 page)

‘I swear to god, you’re the voice of an angel. Please, just tell me where they live.’

‘Don’t you know?’

‘You must know that I don’t.’

‘I don’t know anything, honestly.’

There was silence. ‘Hello?’ Minette said.

‘I’m still here.’ He sounded as if he was crying. ‘Listen, are they all right? How’s Adam?’

‘Who’s Adam?’

‘My son, my boy. Oh Christ, don’t tell me she’s changed their first names, too.’

Minette started to panic. ‘I’m sorry, I think I’ve made a mistake. I thought you were their father.’

‘I am their father! Adam’s eight years old. He has beautiful dark grey eyes with thick lashes and he’s smart as a tack. He’s in a wheelchair. Esmie’s four. She’s got light brown hair and she usually wears it in two plaits. Her favourite teddy is Panda. I miss them so much my heart’s broken.’

Minette’s mind was reeling. ‘I don’t want to get in between something here.’

‘I only want to see them. I’m terrified for them.’

‘There’s no need, they’re happy and well.’

‘They’re not. You don’t know the half of it. Ruby’s not what you think.’

‘I don’t know a Ruby, I’m sorry. I’m going to have to hang up now.’

‘I don’t know what she’s calling herself now. She used to be Ruby. Please don’t hang up! Just tell me what names the children have now. Or the part of the country you’re in. Or are you abroad? Please tell me something. Anything! Is Adam there? Could I speak to him? Just for thirty seconds?’

Trembling, Minette ended the call, and threw the phone down as though it was on fire. It immediately rang with Andy’s number. She pressed ‘decline’, but it rang again straight away. She turned the phone off; she’d have to change her number if this carried on. She put her head round the living room door, thought about saying ‘Esmie!’ to see if Lola turned round, but knew she shouldn’t get involved. There had clearly been all manner of domestic shit going down, and it would be wiser to stay out of it. Cath was a great parent. Minette had often marvelled over her patience, wished she could be as calm with Tilly as Cath was with her two.

Abe arrived, and was very reassuring. ‘You did the right thing, Dougie. It was right to phone him, then when you realised it was a bit weird, you were right not to give too much away.’

‘What the hell’s going on there, though?’ she whispered. ‘Why has she changed their names?’

‘Probably domestic violence. That’s what it would be if it was a client at work.’

‘Oh god, seriously? I hope I haven’t put them at risk by ringing him.’

‘Hang on, though, she had his number on her phone. Well, there’s no point in speculating.’ Abe had seen this sort of thing before. ‘People’s relationships are incredibly complicated. No one outside them can ever really know what’s going on.’

He looked so concerned and caring. Minette wanted to warn him against herself. Oh, my love, sometimes people inside the relationship don’t know what’s going on, either.

It was enjoyably different, having a meal with older kids. Tilly ate everything without a fuss, following Davey and Lola’s examples. Lola ate unconcernedly, barely paying attention to Minette’s careful recital of the strictly non-allergenic ingredients she’d used. They were uncurious about their mother, beyond Davey wanting to check where they’d be sleeping that night. She wished she could tell Davey she’d spoken to his father. Hell, she wished she could ask Davey what was going on. She’d probably get more sense out of him than some of the grown-ups involved.

After they’d eaten, Davey asked very politely if he could use the computer. Abe said, ‘Sure,’ but Minette shook her head at him. ‘Your mum told me you weren’t allowed to, Davey; it’s bad for your muscles.’

‘Seriously?’ Abe said. ‘You’d think it would be good exercise.’

‘I only meant a little go,’ Davey said.

‘Ah, let the kid, Dougie,’ Abe said, which needled Minette. Why should Abe make her the bad guy, when it wasn’t her rule? She wasn’t going to run the risk of being in the wrong again with Cath, like she was over the Aztec mask thing.

‘I’m sorry, Davey,’ she said. ‘Your mum was pretty clear about it. Is there something we can look up for you?’

There was a long pause before Davey said, ‘No, it’s all right, thank you.’

Abe suggested a game of cards, and both children were enthusiastic. He taught them to play rummy, and while they played Minette packed a small overnight bag. Then, heart thudding, she turned on her phone. There was a text from Liam – ‘Brilliant. I’ll be over later’ – and four answerphone messages. Could have been worse – she’d been expecting dozens. Three were from Andy. The first said he was sorry he’d freaked her out, he just wanted to explain that he hadn’t seen the kids since Ruby, or whatever she was called now, had left him in February, and just wanted to know they were OK. In the second message he said Ruby was an evil bitch who lied and cheated and he had the proof. Minette deleted that one before it had finished, and dreaded listening to the last one, but he was calmer again. He said he wouldn’t keep phoning her, he understood she was Ruby’s friend, he only wanted to be in his children’s lives and he’d be really grateful if she could just ask Ruby to let him see them. ‘I won’t ask for anything more, I promise.’

The last message was from Gina, asking Minette to call her back. Minette did so, then instantly wished she hadn’t. She’d barely started to explain the situation when Gina started yelling.

‘Oh my fucking god please tell me you haven’t called her ex.’

‘Um, yes, well, I did ring him …’

‘And you hid your caller ID, didn’t you?’

‘Er, no, I don’t know how to do that.’

‘You stupid twat!’

‘Hey! Now, hang on a minute …’

‘He’s violent, did you know that?’ Gina’s voice rose into almost a screech. ‘He whacked Cath, he whacked those kids.’

‘I didn’t know that Gina, how could I? Cath’s not talked about it to me.’

‘Could you not have used your brain for five minutes and thought, maybe I should check what the sitch is with her husband before ringing him up and blabbing?’

Minette’s famously good temper was being tested to the limit today. She tried not to lose it again, like she’d lost it with Abe earlier, but she had never been called a stupid twat before. ‘Don’t you
dare
talk to me like that. I’m looking after Cath’s children on my own, here. There was no one to ask. You weren’t answering your phone …’

‘I’m in fucking Sheffield!’ Gina screeched, as she might have said ‘Outer Mongolia’.

‘… and Cath is unconscious in hospital. I didn’t tell Andy anything.’

‘Please tell me you at least rang him from a mobile, not your fucking landline.’

‘I’m not going to speak to you at all, unless you stop swearing at me.’ Minette pressed ‘end’ – what a horrible day – and waited for Gina to ring back. When she did, seconds later, Minette said, ‘I mean it, Gina. I’ll turn off my phone if you don’t calm down.’

‘Sorry. It’s the last day of my holidays and we’ve been drinking all day. I’m just worried about Cath’s safety, that’s all. Sorry I came across a bit strong.’

‘Hmm.’

‘Please will you tell me what happened?’

‘I rang him on my mobile.’

‘That’s great. OK. That makes it harder for him to find out where you are.’

‘Well, surely he can’t find out at all?’

‘There are ways he can look up the phone number and find out who it’s registered to,’ Gina said.

‘Oh god, really? Will it tell him my address?’

‘Might do. It’ll be on your contract.’

‘But, hang on, if he can do that with my phone why can’t he do it with Cath’s? I know she speaks to him regularly, and Skypes with him.’

‘She doesn’t. I do all the liaison between them.’

Minette wondered how much of what Cath had told her was true. ‘Actually, I don’t have a phone contract, I’m on pay-as-you-go.’

‘Seriously?’ Gina laughed. ‘Well, aren’t you the sweet little student. We could be OK. Unless you just told him where you lived anyway?’

‘No, of course I didn’t. As soon as he called Cath and the kids by different names I knew something was up so don’t worry, I didn’t give anything away.’

‘Don’t suppose Cath’s told you much about what happened in Harrogate.’

‘I didn’t even know she’d lived in Harrogate.’

‘She takes a long time to trust people. Not surprising, after what she’s been through.’

‘Well, sure. But as I’m meant to be looking after the children, it would be useful to know some of this stuff.’

‘Look, I’m back tomorrow morning. I’ll come straight down and take over with the kids. I need to be there in case Andy does manage to work out where she is.’

Would Andy really turn up on Minette’s doorstep? ‘Should I be worried? Would he be, you know, violent?’

‘I don’t know. He might be. But he’s working in Dubrovnik right now, if I remember his schedule rightly. He can’t just drop everything and rush round to break down your door.’

Minette didn’t feel greatly reassured. What a ridiculous thing she had inadvertently got caught up in. You make one phone call, suddenly it’s all violent men and crime scenes and Dubrovnik, a place name that always made her think of war even if it was peaceful now.

‘Don’t tell the kids anything, will you?’

‘No, Gina, I’m not completely stupid. Despite what you called me.’

‘Sorry. Hope you can forgive me. I’m famous for being rude when I’m plastered. I’ll see you tomorrow and apologise in person.’

Minette hung up. It was gone six. She ought to get the children home and settled. She briefly outlined the conversation with Gina to Abe, who was amused rather than anxious, which made her feel better. ‘We’ll be OK, Dougie, I’ll put a kitchen knife under my pillow.’

She kissed Tilly goodbye and took Cath’s kids next door. Davey let them in with his key, and Minette went round turning on lights. It was chilly in the house, despite the warm weather, but Davey, in a rare lapse of knowledge, wasn’t sure how to work the heating. ‘We haven’t turned it on yet,’ he said. Minette was surprised to hear that, because when they first moved in, 11 April – the date engraved on her heart as the day the Miltons left – it had been cold.

‘Mummy doesn’t want to spend money on silly bills,’ Lola said. ‘We’re saving up.’

‘Do you have set bedtimes?’ Minette wasn’t sure what older children did.

‘Lola goes to bed at seven, and I go at seven thirty and I read till eight.’

‘And sometimes,’ said Lola shyly, ‘we have hot chocolate.’

‘OK. Have you got the kind you’re allowed, the type you mix with water?’

They went into the kitchen and Davey showed Minette where the hot chocolate was.

‘Oh! But this is the kind you need milk for.’

Davey and Lola glanced at each other. Then Davey said, ‘Lola isn’t allergic to all milk.’

‘Really?’ said Minette, puzzled. She looked in the fridge. ‘But this is just ordinary semi-skimmed.’

There was a piece of paper in Cath’s handwriting, stuck to the fridge with a heart-shaped magnet, detailing Lola’s allergies: symptoms, relative seriousness, other untried foods that might cause problems. It was quite terrifying.

‘I know where the epi-pen is,’ Lola said.

‘God, Lola, I don’t want to have to start using epi-pens and calling ambulances and god knows what.’

‘I’ll have hot chocolate,’ Davey said, ‘and Lola can have juice.’

‘That’s a great idea,’ Minette said. ‘I’ll sort that, while you both get into your pyjamas. Then I can read you a story.’

They seemed excited by the idea of the story, and Lola scampered upstairs to change. Maybe Cath didn’t get time to read to them much. Abe had read to Tilly every night of her life, from when she was a few days old, prompting a raised eyebrow from Julie. But Tilly clearly loved being read to now. Minette wanted to ask Davey if he could get changed on his own, though god knows what she’d do if he said no. But he wheeled himself into his room and reappeared a couple of minutes later, wearing
Doctor Who
pyjamas. While they were choosing books she texted Liam, telling him not to come after all. Now she was here, it didn’t seem right. She felt the urge to protect the children. God knows what horrible stuff they had experienced in their young lives.

She settled onto the sofa, Lola next to her, Davey in his chair on her other side. It was lovely reading to older children, who laughed in all the right places, and even read some of the words along with her. It would be amazing when Tilly was a bit older. In just three years she would be the same age as Lola, whose warm hand rested on Minette’s shoulder as she craned to see the pictures. After a couple of stories, Lola asked for some more juice, and Minette took her cup into the kitchen for a refill. When she returned, Lola was full of suppressed giggles, and though Minette asked what was funny, Lola just shook her head. Minette supposed she wasn’t usually allowed two glasses of juice.

At seven, Minette took Lola up and supervised her teeth-brushing. When Lola got into bed, she raised her face for a kiss. Feeling a bit awkward, Minette gave her a quick peck, but Lola’s arms went round her neck and she was pulled in for a proper hug. She was warm, and smelled almost milky, like a baby. Minette said, ‘If Mummy doesn’t come home tomorrow, I’ll take you both to see her, shall I?’

‘I don’t mind,’ Lola said, letting Minette go and putting her arms round her toy panda.

Davey was waiting for Minette in the living room, a new book on his lap. He looked up at her with his familiar thoughtful expression. Minette felt sure there were some things he would like to tell her, and there was certainly a lot she’d like to ask him. But she reminded herself that, though he was old beyond his years, he was in fact only eight. She mustn’t treat him like a little adult.

‘I got this from school,’ he said, as he handed her the book. It was called
Visiting My Daddy
. Minette looked at Davey questioningly and he looked blankly back. OK, then. She started to read. The story was illustrated with photos of a little girl called Moira, whose parents had divorced. It was one of those ‘how to explain difficult issues to children’ books that Minette remembered from her own childhood. She recalled a book, perhaps even in the same series, about having to go to the opticians, which her parents had read to her after her initial visit to get glasses. In Davey’s book, Moira was sad because her daddy had moved away, and she and her brothers now lived only with their mother and a large number of pets. But by the end Moira had gone to stay with her dad – no new wife in the picture, Minette noted – and was all smiles.