‘Maybe if you’re a concert pianist.’ Audrey winced at the same time as Veronica when strains of something very non-professional came from the study. ‘She’s not quite there yet, and it’s a shame she’s not shorter.’
‘Shorter?’
‘So her legs can’t reach the pedals.’
Veronica burst out laughing. ‘I try to encourage her not to use the loud pedal – she must think she’s entertaining us. I’m sure she’ll get better,’ she added, enjoying the togetherness. ‘Do you play an instrument?’ There was still so much she didn’t know about her granddaughter, so much she wanted to learn.
‘I tried the cello once. Hated it, too big and bulky, and I was always jealous of the other girls at school who had flutes or clarinets, or a guy who got to learn saxophone. That would be cool.’
‘It’s never too late to learn.’
‘It’s never too late to make any change, Gran.’
Having others try to help and show they understood was nice, but Veronica’s avoidance of going out of the house had gone on for so long it had become normal to her. Audrey was young, it was never too late for her to do anything, but Veronica wasn’t so sure it was the same for a person of her age.
Veronica left Audrey popping ice cubes into her glass of lemonade and with a teen magazine at the table. In the study she took Layla through a few of the exercises, her young face tight with concentration, her little fingers splayed on the keys as they stretched between the notes. Half an hour later, Layla packed up her things and met Bea out front ready for their trip to town to buy another pair of shoes for the new school term.
Veronica wondered whether Audrey had organised her uniform for her new school yet but she wasn’t going to mention it in case it ignited any kind of fury that she’d bear the brunt of. Shortly after her arrival, Sam had made her announcement that they would be living in Mapleberry for the foreseeable future once she found a home and a job, which Veronica suspected had to be largely due to the trouble Audrey had been in at her previous school. Sam had managed to get Audrey a place at the local high school and Veronica only hoped the transition would go well and they wouldn’t have World War Three on their hands.
After Layla left, Audrey was still browsing through the same magazine and Veronica explained to her the importance of keeping quiet about the piano lessons.
‘Fair enough, I won’t breathe a word.’ Audrey turned back to the magazine, but as soon as Sam waltzed in through the front door she flipped it shut and made a sharp exit, stomping up to her room claiming she’d promised to call her friend Sid.
Sam dumped her bag on the sofa and in the kitchen filled a glass of cold water from the tap. ‘She’s pleased I’m here, then.’
‘How did you get on?’ Best to ignore the dramas between mother and daughter for now. Nobody would thank her for interfering.
‘I got myself a job,’ she beamed.
‘You did? That’s wonderful. And quick. Where?’ Sam had been living under a shadow since she showed up in Mapleberry, and for the first time Veronica saw how being happy could transform a person. Sam’s face lit up, which added a shine to her blue eyes, the same as her own; it dazzled her already beautiful features with colour flooding to her cheeks.
‘It’s at the Mapleberry Mug. It’s not a career position,’ she added before Veronica could even congratulate her, ‘it’s a stopgap.’
She could see that Sam was still conditioned to think the way her father had; that she had to be in a career that would impress, a formal career in an office with a desk rather than a local café. Veronica had always thought Sam would pursue her interest in psychology and wondered how much of her career path had been mapped out with her father in mind and how much of it had been down to Sam herself.
‘I think they recognised desperation when they saw it,’ Sam went on. ‘It’ll be money coming in at least. It should tide me over and I can give you some housekeeping while I look out for a flat to rent.’
‘I’m happy to have you here.’ She didn’t add that it had been so long since she’d been able to spoil her daughter and her granddaughter that she feared this may be her one and only chance to do so. ‘I can loan you money if you need, Sam, I have—’
‘We’ve talked about this.’
‘The offer is there if you change your mind.’
Sam was nothing if not independent. Veronica supposed Herman may have had his faults but he’d instilled strengths in their daughter. Veronica only wished she got to see the other side of Sam more often, the side she knew was in there, the softer side that was warm and caring.
Neither of them looked at the other. Conversation was difficult at the best of times, let alone when they were acknowledging Sam’s predicament.
‘I’m looking forward to something totally different,’ said Sam, surprising Veronica with her willingness to carry on a conversation when she’d expected her daughter to sneak off to her room again to call best friend Jilly and likely moan about what it was like living with her mother after all these years. ‘It’ll keep me on my toes. Learning to make coffee is one thing but I’m really nervous about carrying plates to customers and not being able to balance them like the professionals do.’
‘It’s the Mapleberry Mug, not a Michelin-star restaurant.’
Sam managed a laugh but turned serious quickly enough. ‘And this means I can look for our own place, Mum. I know it can’t be easy having me and Audrey here.’
‘It can’t be easy for you to live here either.’ Veronica, nervous, fiddled with the watch on her wrist. They both knew how caged in
