‘I got my hopes up earlier when the agent called to say he had a brand new flat available. I wanted to yell at him when he told me it was one bedroom. It’s down near the river, lovely views, would’ve been perfect.’
‘You know you could always let Audrey stay here.’ She would never have thought when the sullen teen turned up on her doorstep in the summer that she’d end up enjoying her company, let alone want more of it. It seemed every time she got a little injection of companionship into her life whether it be Charlie, Layla or Audrey and now Sam, she wanted it to flood her body, stay with her always, an antidote for the loneliness she hadn’t realised she’d been feeling for so many years because she’d simply got used to it. The four walls of her home had become enough, they’d embraced her in a comforting safety blanket. The television, the odd caller, a handful of telephone conversations and her bookshelves and house plants had kept her going, but lately Veronica had begun to feel as though perhaps she needed more. Quite how she was going to get more when she wouldn’t leave her home and garden, she wasn’t sure.
‘I’d rather have her with me,’ Sam admitted.
She was probably worried Veronica would ruin Audrey’s life like she’d ruined Sam’s. ‘Well, the offer’s there.’
Veronica busied herself clearing the plates, swishing away Sam’s offer to do it for her. She didn’t like to say that perhaps both Sam and Audrey needed their space; it had worked doing that in the summer and now they were in closer proximity, the tension was back. But she couldn’t give her opinion. She’d be the last person Sam would take parenting advice from given the monumental mess she’d made of bringing up both her children.
‘I appreciate the offer, Mum,’ Sam said softly at her shoulder as she stood at the sink rinsing the plates. Sam took them from her one at a time and slotted them into the bottom rack of the dishwasher, and for a moment it felt as if they were working together, putting everything to rights.
They heard Audrey’s laughter coming from upstairs, and Sam glanced at the ceiling. ‘She seems happier here.’
‘I’m glad I could help. I know you must want to get out as soon as you can, but don’t feel you have to.’
‘I’m thirty-nine, I need to have a place of my own.’
‘I know you do. But…well, we’re getting into our groove, aren’t we?’
Sam’s laughter broke the tension. ‘Yes, I suppose we are.’
Sam had gone out for a long walk before meeting Clare to go to the pub and Veronica had almost forgotten Tanya was even in the house until Audrey came downstairs to show off her new haircut.
‘Beautiful,’ Veronica complimented. The short pixie cut with a fringe trimmed but styled to sit right above her eyebrows suited her and drew attention to defined cheekbones that Veronica would’ve loved to have had at her age.
‘I’m going to add a bit of colour next time,’ Audrey declared, admiring herself in the hallway mirror.
‘Dear God, not pink or blue or anything like that, please.’
‘No chance, something tasteful that enhances my natural colour. You should add a bit of colour to yours.’
Veronica didn’t disguise her amusement. ‘What a waste of time. Nobody’s going to see it apart from me, well, and you, your mum, Layla, Charlie.’
‘Gran, never mind anybody else, do it for you.’ Audrey perched on the arm of the chair and Veronica noticed some magazine clippings in her hand. ‘Here, Tanya is touting for business and gave me these taken from a magazine I flipped through while she was doing my hair. These women, all a similar age to you, they look really good.’
‘They’re all beautiful, I agree.’
‘And so are you. Come on, Tanya’s desperate to build up her client base, and think about it: if you get a haircut tonight and let me do your make-up too, you’ll be able to cross off the item on Layla’s kindness calendar.’
Veronica’s interest piqued. She so wanted to be involved with as much of the kindness calendar as she could. She swore something seemingly insignificant had brought a sense of joy to this house she could never have predicted. It sounded silly, she’d never say so out loud, but every time they dealt with another item on the calendar, it gave her an uplifting feeling she thought she’d lost for good. And calling it The Kindness Club on Mapleberry Lane made it feel real, like she was part of something important. They’d even taken to having their own colour to cross off tasks – a red pen for Layla, blue for Veronica and green for Audrey.
‘It’s years since I’ve had it cut,’ said Veronica. ‘Tanya won’t want to work on an old maid like me.’
‘Rubbish, she does or she wouldn’t have suggested it. And if you do this, we’ll get Layla over to see the results, she’ll be amazed.’
‘I don’t know.’ She touched a hand to her hair. Grey, wiry, lacking anything resembling oomph, it had simply become easier to pin it all back into a bun and ignore it.
Tanya chose that moment to appear. ‘Hey, Mrs Bentley.’
‘It’s Veronica,’ she told her. ‘Come in, I don’t bite. Audrey has told me this idea of yours but I’m a bit old for primping and all that business.’
‘You’re not at all,’ Tanya smiled, the gap between her front teeth endearing. ‘I hope Audrey isn’t pressuring you; she’s trying to support me and get others on board because the more clients I have, the better reputation I’ll build. I’ve got an eighteen-month-old at home, I’m doing this for him really, so I can be with him more often rather than tied to shop-opening hours.’
Veronica asked a bit about her little boy. She didn’t look much older than Audrey, blonde hair wound up into a chignon with a few arty strands at either side, mascara
