Veronica deliberately slowed her breathing and tried to take this one battle at a time. ‘She hasn’t played for days because you were settling in here.’ Veronica led her away to the kitchen and shut that door too. Perhaps it would be enough to calm the storm that was brewing. ‘She’ll be off to school soon.’
‘Good, then I might be able to study in peace.’ Audrey yanked a bowl out from the crockery cupboard and thumped it down onto the counter but after a review of the cereals decided there was nothing to her taste and exchanged the bowl for a plate, treating the plate to as much brutality as its predecessor. She shoved two pieces of bread into the toaster and pressed the lever.
Veronica daren’t even mention she hadn’t heard Audrey have her shower yet and that she was pretty sure she hadn’t done anything closely resembling study. ‘Layla is lovely, Audrey, and she needs to learn properly. At least if she does, we’ll all have less of a headache.’ She exchanged a look with her granddaughter but her joking wasn’t working and so she went back to the study and left Audrey to have her breakfast.
Now Layla had had a bash – the only way her playing could be described – it was time to have a quick look at the book that had arrived yesterday afternoon. It was full of exercises but Veronica only intended to teach formally for fifteen minutes a day, or else Layla wouldn’t take it in. They could likely get more done over the summer when the holidays arrived, but then again, if Audrey maintained this ghastly mood, Veronica didn’t hold out much hope for harmony between them all.
When Sam first asked her to have Audrey for an extended summer break, Veronica had panicked. Then as she waited for her granddaughter to arrive, she began to have a change of heart. She’d talked with Ian the postman about Audrey – he had a daughter the same age and agreed it was a testing time – and he’d told her it would be a lovely summer surprise to have family staying with her. He knew her life was limited, he knew there weren’t many comings and goings at number nine, and after Veronica shut the door to him that day, she’d tried to think about it differently. It was a surprise, he was right, and she’d tried to look forward to it rather than dread it. She’d even had Trevor make up extra vases of fresh peonies to put around the house, not that Audrey had noticed.
Since Audrey’s arrival, Veronica swung between being more than happy with her summer surprise and wishing she could give it back like a gift that came with a receipt and you were able to return. She’d never tell Audrey that, or Sam either; she’d never admit she dreaded failing all over again.
Back to focusing on Layla, Veronica took her through the hand and finger positioning at the piano again, and with a very simple exercise using only the right hand and three notes, Layla did her best to follow it. It helped that she’d learned to read music with the recorder; it was treble clef so they’d deal with that first and when they finally moved on to more complicated tunes, Veronica could play the bass clef with her left hand.
Veronica didn’t miss the slam of Audrey’s bedroom door above and the footsteps before she must have thrown herself down on the bed and likely shoved those earphones of hers in. The girl would have ear problems before long if she kept insisting on doing that.
‘I think it’s time we got you organised for school,’ Veronica prompted Layla, checking her watch. ‘I don’t want to make you late.’
Layla picked up her things, finished the glass of water on the side table and went through to the lounge where she knelt on the armchair closest to the window and flipped the shutters to horizontal so she’d be able to see Bea. And when Bea walked along the pavement and waved, Layla hugged Veronica and called a goodbye to Audrey up the stairs.
‘She’s probably got her earphones in,’ Veronica told her, when there was no reply. Layla’s hugs were starting to become a feature of her life, but each one still made Veronica take pause. She’d spent so many years alone in this house, convincing herself that she didn’t need those moments of affection – and now they’d become a highlight of her days, and one she looked forward to more and more.
Layla happily ran out of the front door, down the path and turned back with a wave before she went off with Bea.
Audrey didn’t grace Veronica with her presence until halfway through the morning when she came to get a snack, which timed with Charlie’s arrival. He’d just come off nights and looked exhausted.
Veronica introduced him to Audrey before she disappeared into the kitchen.
‘I’m not interrupting, am I?’ Unsure after meeting the infamous granddaughter, he wiped his feet on the mat before stepping into the hallway.
‘Not at all.’
He handed her a punnet of raspberries. ‘It’s not many, I’m afraid, but they’re good.’
Veronica inhaled their summer aroma. ‘Nothing like home-grown, you’re too good to me. Come through, I’ll make some tea.’
‘I’ll pass today, I need to get home to bed. But I wanted to give you these – Layla was supposed to bring them over with the cauliflowers. And, I confess, I have another motive.’
‘Oh?’
‘I wanted to make sure you’re happy with Layla coming over so early in the mornings. She says you like to hear about the calendar.’
‘I’m very happy with the arrangement – I enjoy her company.’ No more information needed; the piano would hopefully be a lovely surprise come the end of the year if she could get Layla to practise so she was good enough to play
