‘She was young,’ I defend my friend. ‘Homeless. She’d never been loved by anyone until she met Pat.’
‘She wasn’t Mum’s responsibility,’ Rochelle says, joining us, every inch of her body clenched and unforgiving.
‘No, she wasn’t,’ Angus agrees.
‘She lived there for weeks!’
‘Well thank God there are some kind people out there,’ I can’t help saying.
Rochelle remains tight-lipped. ‘She’s been preyed upon for years by druggies and layabouts.’
‘Do you have children?’ Angus asks coolly.
She looks taken aback by the question. ‘Yes.’
‘Well imagine your little girl, out on the streets, alone at night.’
I can tell she doesn’t want to.
‘Unimaginable, isn’t it?’ he continues. ‘There is so much kindness in this world,’ he proceeds, impassioned, ‘the kindness your mother showed Laurie, but then there is so much distrust. And sadly, it seems to me, nothing in between.’ Neither Rochelle, nor her husband, can quite meet Angus’s eyes.
‘Is everything OK here?’ asks a member of staff approaching us. Angus and I look at them both beseechingly, before we notice Laurie is missing. You go, Laurie, I think to myself. Rochelle rushes back to her mother’s room, but Angus manages to stop her as she’s about to open the door. ‘Give them five minutes,please, and then we’ll leave.’
She hesitates.
‘I understand this is a bit of shock,’ Angus goes on, loosening his grip around her arm, ‘us turning up out the blue, but we’re not here to cause trouble. Laurie’s here to say thanks, that’s all.’
‘We volunteer together, at this Saturday place, a café,’ I explain, thinking Rochelle must be wondering who the hell we are too. ‘Pat was one of the first people she mentioned to us. She told us about your mum’s famous chocolate sauce and After Eight cheesecake.’
Rochelle’s face finally softens as she says, ‘She did?’
I nod. ‘She’s never forgotten her.’
Her grip on the door handle loosens when she sees Pat and Laurie through the glass pane in the door. Pat cups Laurie’s cheeks in both hands before we watch them embrace. ‘I haven’t seen her this happy in years,’ she admits. She looks at Angus and me, before glancing at her mother again. She presses a hand to her forehead. ‘Mum used to get taken advantage of all the time.’ She bites her lip, close to tears now.
Her husband agrees. ‘She didn’t have it in her to say no to anyone. She’s a golden person.’
‘I understand,’ I say, knowing how protective I’d be of my mother too, ‘but Laurie’s golden too, and look.’ I follow Rochelle’s gaze. ‘They’ve found one another again.’
Somehow her anger is thawing. We’re beginning to earn her trust, not enough for her to say she could be wrong, or that she’s sorry she accused Laurie of stealing. ‘Tell Mum we’ll visit tomorrow,’ she says, slowly walking away.
Laurie, Angus and I enjoy fish and chips on the beach. Laurie sits in the middle of us. It’s close to five o’clock, the beach less crowded than when we arrived, but to be honest I’m not bothered about anyone else right now except my two favourite people next to me. Angus helps himself to another chip.
‘What a day,’ he says. ‘Laurie, we didn’t even notice you’d gone.’
‘While you guys were busy arguing, I made a run for it,’ she says, with a twinkle of pride in her eyes.
‘Clever,’ says Angus. ‘It worked.’
‘It’s been the best day of my life,’ she tells us. ‘I can go to sleep tonight, knowing I said thank you. Pat said the same. She could go to sleep, knowing I was safe.’
‘We did the right thing coming, didn’t we?’ I say, recalling Milla’s warning.
Laurie nods. ‘Oh yeah.’ She turns to Angus and me. ‘The way you spoke to them, no one’severstood up for me like that before.’
‘You’re our friend,’ Angus says, catching my eye.
Laurie blushes. ‘I wasn’t sure about you two when we met. Especially you, Holly.’
