“Jumping jacks, push-ups, crunches, toe touches, lunges, things like that.”
“Oh, I can do jumping jacks,” Olivia said, sliding out of her chair.“Want to watch?”
Cat put a hand on the little girl’s arm.“Not now, not yet.You just ate a huge bowl of porridge.I don’t want to make you sick.”
“I just don’t know why we have to exercise.We’re supposed to be on holiday,” Jillian protested under her breath.
“I know, but your father doesn’t ask for many things, and in the big picture this is a very small ask.”Cat smiled encouragingly at both girls.“I’ll wash up, you get dressed, meet me at the door at nine, and we’ll make this a fast trip.Okay?”
Cat wasn’t entirely sure the girls would be downstairs on time, but to her surprise both girls were at the front door with their winter coats, caps, and mittens when Cat came downstairs, carrying her oversized school backpack she used at UCL.Carrying groceries home would be a lot easier in a backpack than dangling bags in her hands.
As they walked down the estate road toward Bakewell, Cat asked if they’d done their shopping yet.“Have you bought anything for your mother yet?”Cat asked.“Would you like to shop for her while we’re in Bakewell?”
Olivia had skipped ahead but stopped and waited for them to catch up.“Daddy usually buys something for us to give her.But I’m not sure if he did this year since were not having Christmas together.”Olivia glanced at her big sister.“Jilly, do you think he did?”
Jillian shrugged.“If she’s not having Christmas with us, does it matter?”
“Of course it does.Mum is mum.”Olivia looked stricken.“Why are you being so mean?And why be mean to Mum?She’s doing her best.”
Jillian laughed shortly.“Do you really think so?Ever since she met Roger, she’s been awfully busy doing things with him and not us.”
“Just because she has a boyfriend doesn’t mean she’s not doing her best, and no matter how you feel, she is your mother,” Cat said, trying to be diplomatic and smooth things over between the girls.“It’s probably hard on her too, trying to keep everyone happy.”
“She didn’t have to keep Roger happy.She didn’t even have to start dating him.”Jillian’s lips pressed together a firm unyielding line.She looked very much like her father just then, tough, decisive, and a little too inflexible.“She could have just stayed being our mum.”
“Sheisstill your mum, even if she has a boyfriend.”Cat continued mildly, still trying to soothe tempers.“And because she is your mum, and she loves you, I think we should get her a gift.Each of you should choose something, unless you see something you want to give her together.”
“I want to get Mum some earrings,” Olivia said.“She loves earrings.”
“Expensive earrings,” Jillian said.“Nothing you can afford.”
Cat ignored this.Jillian could be as grumpy as she wanted, but Cat wasn’t going to let Jillian dictate their day.“Then let’s go visit the jewelry stores in Bakewell.Something might catch your eye and be the very thing she’d love.”
“What about me?”Jillian demanded.
“If you don’t want to buy anything today, you don’t have to, but if you see something that appeals, then you can buy it for your mum and your dad will pay me back.No pressure.But let’s just try to make it fun for everyone.It is almost Christmas, after all.”
“Ten days,” Olivia cried, jumping.
“Nine days now,” Jillian said, glad to have the last word.“Yesterday it was ten.”
Cat just smiled because what else was she going to do?
In the end, it was a longer day than any of them anticipated.They didn’t just go in one store, they went in many, looking in any shop that might carry even a small selection of women’s jewelry, and Jillian was right, nothing that the girls looked at seemed quite right for their mum who hadexpensive tastes, or so Dad had said more than once.
But they spent so much time in Bakewell that they had lunch at a little café and then stopped at a bakery to pick up a cake to take home with them.By the time they got back to the cottage, it was nearly two and the girls were drooping.Cat sent them up to put on warm dry clothes while she put away the groceries.When they came downstairs, she had cups of warm cider waiting and they curled up on the couch under a blanket to watchThe Snowmanon Cat’s laptop.It wasn’t a very long film, not even thirty minutes, but the lovely wordless animated classic had the girls asleep by the end, both of them under the same blanket, Olivia curled up as close to Jillian as the bigger sister would allow.
Cat quietly closed her laptop and took it to the kitchen with her.She sat there working, researching jobs, applying for some, ignoring others.Nine days to Christmas meant just a couple weeks now until she flew home.The job hunt had to begin in earnest.
She was still working in the kitchen when Rhys returned.It was late in the afternoon, and she’d lost track of time—easy, when the girls were napping on the couch—and she’d been concentrating on getting as many applications out as possible.
He’d walked to Langley Park this morning and so when he returned it was without car lights or fanfare.If it weren’t for the scrape of the old oak door, she might not have even realized he’d arrived home.
“How is it going?”Rhys asked, voice pitched low as he entered the kitchen.
“Good,” she answered, closing her laptop, and pushing it away.“I’m making progress on the job search.I’ve had a couple bites, too.We’ll see.”
“That is promising,” he said, turning the kettle on.“But I’m not surprised.Any school would be lucky to have you.”
