And over another slice of Bakewell tart, Audrey and Layla shared a mischievous look. Everything was falling into place.
Chapter Five
Veronica
It was midday on Sunday and Veronica had made roast beef with all the trimmings. It had been years since Veronica embraced a weekly Sunday lunch, it was hardly worth it on her own, but with three of them under the same roof, she’d been glad to bring the tradition back. Cooking for others as well as herself brought a certain kind of comfort, one she missed and that had faded away along with so many other things in her life. She set down the bowl of golden crispy potatoes next to another filled with an embarrassing amount of Aunt Bessie’s Yorkshires and one almost spilling over with glazed carrots. She watched her daughter and granddaughter: Sam tiptoeing around afraid to say much at all, Audrey on the defensive with her mother and only relaxed when her mother wasn’t in the house.
Audrey brought the gravy boat over, walking gingerly she’d filled it up so high. ‘I like my gravy,’ she justified when Sam gave her a look.
Veronica knew she was changing since these two had come back into her life and although she was a wimp outside of her house, each day she felt mounting confidence that she wasn’t that way within its walls. Layla had brought some of that confidence with her kindness calendar; Veronica had sailed through the days excited to do something to help, whether it was a simple task of thanking someone for a job well done – Sam had been on the receiving end of that when she cleaned the cooktop to a brilliant shine – or making dinner for someone you love, which Veronica had done with this Sunday lunch.
‘How’s the schoolwork going?’ Veronica asked Audrey in an effort to lead the atmosphere inside the house in the right direction.
‘It’s fine.’ Audrey added a third Yorkshire to her plate.
‘And how was work this morning?’ she asked Sam, who didn’t usually work Sundays but was covering for another member of staff.
‘Busy,’ was all her daughter said before she, like Audrey, drizzled enough gravy over her roast to sink the Titanic. Veronica smiled at how alike mother and daughter could be, though they’d never admit it.
Veronica savoured the sweet taste of the carrots, some from Charlie and Layla’s garden after Charlie had dropped a bag over this morning, the others from the supermarket to make up the numbers. ‘Did you see the teddy bear I knitted for Layla?’ she asked.
They both looked obediently over to the sofa where three bears were sitting all in a row.
Audrey smiled. ‘They’re cool, Gran. Are they all going to the Teddy Bear Drive for Layla’s kindness calendar?’
‘They most certainly are, and I’ve got another halfway finished.’ At least Layla and her kindness calendar gave them all some common ground, something to talk about that didn’t involve discussing or even hinting at their own faulty dynamics. Even Sam seemed to take a bit of an interest. ‘I could teach you to knit if you’d like, Audrey,’ offered Veronica.
‘I’m not sure if it’s my thing.’
‘Nonsense.’
‘It was never mine.’ Sam’s eyes were on her dinner but when she looked up she must’ve realised how off she had sounded. ‘Sorry, but it wasn’t. Remember you tried to teach me on pencils?’
‘That’s right,’ Veronica chuckled. ‘I think that was my downfall. You saw it as a joke and never wanted to carry on after that.’
When there was a knock at the door, Audrey leapt up. She’d got through her lunch quickly enough in anticipation of her appointment. ‘That’ll be Tanya… the hairdresser,’ she said by way of explanation to Sam. ‘I’ll get her settled then come back and help clear up.’
‘I thought Audrey used the salon in the high street,’ Sam wondered when Audrey left them to it to show Tanya upstairs. The girl was doing door-to-door service for a haircut so the bathroom was the best place.
Veronica relayed what Audrey had told her about Tanya setting up on her own. ‘It’ll save Audrey money for a start – some of these places charge a fortune.’
‘Now there’s something I can get on board with,’ Sam smiled.
Veronica offered more glazed carrots to Sam, who hadn’t eaten anywhere near as much dinner as she should, but she declined. ‘You seem tired.’ Was she allowed to make a comment like that? It had come out before she could think too much about it.
To Veronica’s relief, Sam smiled tentatively. ‘It’s the extra shifts I’m doing, but I need the money right now and I’ll be off for a couple of days next week.’
‘That’s good.’ She knew better than to offer financial help again. She didn’t want to give Sam any further cause to avoid conversation, and denting her pride would definitely do that.
‘I’m enjoying being there far more than I ever thought I would.’
‘Really?’ This was progress, Sam offering titbits of information voluntarily, and Veronica knew it was a promising sign. She suspected Charlie’s presence had a lot to do with it. Not just because there was an obvious attraction between the pair but that it showed Sam her mother wasn’t all bad – some people actually liked her.
‘It’s different,’ Sam went on, ‘and I think “different” is what I needed. Perhaps it’s what everyone needs now and then; it seems to have worked for Audrey with her schooling, and I think once I find a place to live I’ll feel even more settled.’
‘How’s the house-hunting going?’
‘It’s proving quite difficult.’
‘I blame the schools in this area – they draw families here.’ Veronica finished her last piece of cabbage she’d added to the meal, thinking Audrey wouldn’t touch it. But she’d eaten the entire lot. She had the appetite of a teen, the figure of a model, just like Sam had been at that age
