As the bedroom door swung open, Kate said wearily, ‘You’ve got a what?’
‘A surprise! Darling, come on, just slip some clothes on and come down to the kitchen. You’ll love it, I promise.’ Kate doubted it.
‘Who’s downstairs?’ She had successfully avoided Marcella Harvey so far, by the simple expedient of staying in bed until mid-afternoon.
‘No one.’
‘I heard noise. And voices.’
Looking suspiciously smug, Estelle said, ‘Oh, that was Barbara Kendall. She’s gone now. Come along, sweetheart, I can’t wait to show you!’
Grumpily, Kate crawled out of bed and pulled on a grey T-shirt and baggy jogging pants. At least if the house was empty she needn’t bother with make-up.
Triumphantly, her mother flung open the door to the kitchen. Presented with not one but two unwelcome sights, Kate took a step back and said, ‘Oh, good grief, what’s
The thing straining towards her was dark brown, snuf fly and grossly overweight. Its claws scrabbled against the quarry-tiled floor while its stubby tail — like half an old discarded sausage —
juddered with excitement. Sitting on one of the kitchen chairs, hanging on to its lead, was Maddy Harvey’s mother.
‘Isn’t he wonderful?’ cried Estelle. ‘His name’s Norris!’
Norris the bulldog. ‘He’s gross,’ Kate declared. ‘And I thought you said there was no one here.’
She avoided looking at Marcella as she said it, but was acutely aware of the bright glare of sunlight on her own unmade-up face.
‘Darling, I just meant that Barbara had gone. Marcella isn’t a visitor, she’s part of the family.’
Family, indeed. Kate bit her tongue; now she knew her mother was officially losing it.
‘Hello, Kate, it’s been a long time,’ Marcella said easily. Raising herself from her chair she said,
‘Now why don’t I take a good look at you, then that’ll be the awkwardness put behind us.’
‘Good idea,’ said Estelle. ‘I’ll take Norris, shall I?’
Take Norris and drown him in a bucket preferably, thought Kate, scarcely able to believe that she was standing there like a statue in a bloody art gallery, allowing Marcella Harvey to walk round her studying her face from all angles. How Estelle could possibly think this was a good idea was beyond her.
The woman was hired to clean their house, for crying out loud.
‘Well,’ Marcella said finally, ‘I haven’t run screaming from the room. It’s only a bit of scarring, when all’s said and done.’
Only a bit of scarring. Kate could have slapped her.
‘You were lucky not to lose that eye,’ Marcella observed. Catching the mutinous look on Kate’s face, she smiled and said, ‘OK, I know, there’s nothing more annoying than being told to count your blessings. But all I’m saying is, it doesn’t change who you are.’
Of course it does, you stupid old witch, it changes
You’re still a pretty girl, you know.’ Kate flinched as Marcella reached out and gently stroked her face, first one side then the other. ‘Anyone who can’t see that isn’t worth bothering with.’
Appalled, Kate realised that quite suddenly she was on the verge of tears; Marcella’s gentle fingers and matter-of-fact tone had got to her. She was talking absolute rubbish, of course, but at least it made a change from the endless sympathy.
She wondered if Maddy had told Marcella about the incident in the pub, and guessed that she hadn’t. Marcella’s loyalty to her own family was legendary. Giving herself a mental shake, Kate said,
‘So what’s the dog doing here anyway?’
‘He’s Barbara’s dog,’ Estelle proudly explained. ‘She rang me yesterday in a terrible state. They’re all off to Australia in a few days and they’d arranged for Norris to be looked afterby a neighbour, but the neighbour’s broken her hip and all the boarding kennels are booked up, so I said why didn’t we have him here with us?’
Kate could think of lots of reasons, not least that Norris was diabolically ugly, as fat as a pig and – on the current evidence – a champion drooler. If there was a national saliva shortage, they could donate Norris to the cause.
‘It’s only for six weeks,’ Estelle chattered on, ‘and he’s such a poppet, he has a lovely nature.
You’ll be able to take him for lots of long walks, darling ... it’ll do both of you the world of good. To be honest, Barbara spoils him rotten and he doesn’t get nearly enough exercise. I thought we could put him on a bit of a diet while he’s with us, work out a fitness regime—’
‘I don’t need to lose weight.’ Kate was stung by her mother’s comment that it would do her the world of good.
‘Darling, I know you don’t. But you can’t spend all your time in bed, you should be out in the fresh air, and taking Norris for a walk would be such a nice way of meeting people.’
‘I don’t want to meet people.’
‘But you must! Sweetheart, you’re twenty-six,’ Estelle pleaded, ‘you can’t hide away like a hermit.
