‘Three Freddo frog chocolate bars and two packs of chocolate digestives – for one small 6-year-old boy who’s visiting for one day. Mum, I think you may have gone a little overboard,’ Sally said, laughing.
‘You can take the rest home with you,’ Harriet said, passing Jerome one of the chocolate bars.
‘Thank you, Nanna,’ he said, giving her legs a hug. She stroked his little head – smooth as silk after his cancer treatment had meant he’d lost his hair.
‘Now then, I’ve put the wooden train set in the sitting room. Would you like to play with it?’
Jerome nodded and Harriet took his hand and led him through. ‘Can you make it up for me?’ the child asked.
‘In just a minute, pet. First I need to make your mummy and daddy a cup of tea, and Daddy is going to help carry some boxes down from the loft. Then we’ll all come and play.’
‘All right.’ Jerome seemed satisfied with that plan, and sat down beside the box of train set pieces and began rummaging through, pulling out the engines and carriages, and a few track pieces to clip together.
Harriet watched him for a few seconds. He was coping so well with his illness. He never complained when he had bad days, and made the most of the good ones. She prayed that his treatment would work, and soon he’d be fully well again.
‘So, tea? Or shall we get the boxes down first?’ she said to Charlie and Sally.
‘I’ll put the kettle on, you two sort the boxes,’ Sally suggested, and Harriet nodded, leading Charlie upstairs to where she’d already got the loft ladder down.
‘Sally and I managed most of the boxes, but there’s a wooden trunk. If I go up and pass it down to you …’
‘It’s all right,’ Charlie said, ‘I’ll go up and get it.’
‘If you’re sure – it’s to the left of the hatch,’ Harriet said, as Charlie climbed the ladder. Her daughter had married well, she thought. Charlie was one of those people for whom nothing was too much trouble. He’d do anything if asked, and he’d do it with a smile. He was the perfect son-in-law. Much better than that Lucas whom Sally had gone out with during her student years. Thank goodness Sally hadn’t married him. Harriet was convinced it was largely his fault that Davina had never returned at the end of the band’s first tour.
‘Gorgeous trunk,’ Charlie said, as he began backing down the ladder, pulling the trunk after him, resting a corner of it on each step of the ladder. ‘Really old. Sally said it was something to do with the White Star Line?’
‘Yes, it was what my grandmother used when she worked on the Olympic. Careful now,’ Harriet said, putting out a hand to steady the trunk as Charlie reached the bottom of the ladder and lifted it off.
‘Oof. It is quite heavy, I’m glad you ladies left it to me. Shall I take it downstairs?’
‘Yes, Sally said it might do as a toy chest for Jerome.’
‘That’d be fantastic,’ Charlie said, carrying it downstairs as Harriet pushed the loft ladder back up again. She followed him down to the sitting room where Jerome had begun a railway layout covering half the floor space.
Charlie was looking something up on his phone. ‘So your grandmother worked on the Olympic, which was taken out of service in … let’s see … 1935. Did she work on any others after that?’
‘No, I remember her saying she and Granddad retired from life at sea the same year the Olympic did.’ Harriet opened the chest and lifted out the old uniform. ‘Which means it’s been eighty-four years since these were packed away. No wonder it all smells a little musty.’
Sally came through with a tray of tea. ‘Oh, well done. Wow, that will make an excellent toy box. Jerome, what do you think?’
‘Huh? Yeah,’ he said, clearly not wanted to be distracted from the train set for more than a second.
Sally rolled her eyes. ‘I’ll clean it up and polish it. He’ll no doubt want to put stickers all over it. What are you going to do with the uniforms, Mum?’
‘They’re in terrible condition. I’ll have to throw them out.’
‘You sure you don’t want to keep the trunk? I mean, even just to use it on your cruise?’ Charlie asked. ‘Might be fun to pack your stuff in this.’
Harriet laughed. ‘It’s far too heavy for me to manage. I’ll stick to my nice modern suitcase with wheels, thanks.’
‘When is the cruise?’ Sally asked, her eyes narrowing.
‘Only a week away, now.’ Harriet smiled. ‘We are so looking forward to it, Sheila and I.’ Sheila was Harriet’s best friend, who had surprised her by booking them both on a short cruise on board the Queen Mary II.
‘It was a good idea of hers,’ Charlie said. ‘You’re due a break. It’s your first holiday since John died, isn’t it?’
‘I do kind of wish you weren’t going,’ Sally said, quietly. She nodded at Jerome. ‘In case I need any help with him. It’ll be hard, knowing you’re not around.’
‘Sal, it’s only – what, six days?’ Charlie said, looking at Harriet for confirmation.
‘Five nights. Yes, just a short cruise. Do you really want me to stay home? I could cancel …’
‘Well, I …’ Sally began, but her husband held up his hand to stop her.
‘Not at all, we wouldn’t hear of it. You deserve a break. You’ve had a tough time, and you’ve done so much for us. Jerome’s doing fine at the moment. You go and enjoy the cruise, and make sure you bring back lots of photos. Don’t worry about us.’ He glared at Sally who’d looked as though she was about to say something else about it.
Harriet sighed. She wanted to enjoy the cruise, but she knew she would worry that something might happen with Jerome and
