Jules stood up and scrunched her bare feet into the grass.
‘Hello, Christabel. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Jules.’
Jules held out a hand while Christabel kept hers deliberately down by her side.
‘How is Rita?’
Christabel blinked and twirled her sunglasses between her finger and thumb.
‘Not good, I’m afraid.’
‘Oh no! I thought the operation went well?’
Christabel shrugged.
‘At her age it’s difficult to say how she’ll recover. One thing’s for sure, she won’t be as mobile as she used to be.’
‘She’ll have some physio in due course,’ Jules said, ‘and be given exercises to do at home so there’s no reason to be too pessimistic.’
‘The accident has completely sapped her confidence, and she’s been a bit confused, bless her. Talked about George catching her as she fell off the ladder.’
‘It could be the anaesthetic and the shock. It does that to some people.’
‘Or it could be the start of cognitive decline,’ Christabel said with a sigh. ‘Poor Rita. She’s very low. She seems to have aged overnight.’
‘If she’s up to visitors tomorrow I can stop by the hospital and try to cheer her up.’
Christabel shook her head, her glossy dark brown hair rippling across her shoulders.
‘How kind,’ she said, drawing out the words, ‘but we wouldn’t want to disturb your stay any more than it has been already.’
She fixed Jules with a stare. Goodness, this woman could have done a PhD in putting you on edge.
‘This is a family matter and the family have it covered.’
That’s told me, Jules thought. She placed the lid back on the fish food container and headed back towards the shed.
‘Should you really have done that?’ Christabel asked. ‘Aren’t you putting the fish at risk from that cat?’
‘Apparently not.’
This had felt like a really happy place until Christabel arrived. She seemed to carry discontent with her.
‘WhereisLance? Does he know you’re here?’
Christabel had followed her and was invading her space. Jules banged her arm on the shed door, rubbed her elbow and smiled ruefully. Her mother would say the elbow was linked to adaptability and flexibility and that knocking it was a reminder of how she was letting go of resistance. Goodness, Jules thought, I may not believe in all this stuff, but I’ve absorbed it over the years.
‘Yes, he does, and he’s nipped out to make a delivery.’ Lucky for him, she thought.
‘Will he be long?’
‘I’m not sure.’
He’d said less than an hour, but she wasn’t going to tell Christabel that.
‘And he’s left you in charge?’
‘It seems I’m deemed capable of supervising fish.’
