12
Noah had almost given happy hour at the pub a miss, he was so shattered, but after a whole day with Eva, he clung to the promise of some respite. And he already had Geraldine lined up to come over, he didn’t want to mess her around.
Noah made his way from the signal box cottage to the Whistlestop River Inn. Steeped in history, with wonky walls, ancient beams and floorboards that creaked, the pub had a remarkably large beer garden out back overlooking the river itself. He’d come here once before since his arrival in town, but on his own, on an evening when he was much in need of a pint while Geraldine had her first shift with Eva, a short shift to test the waters for all of them.
The incredible sameness of days when looking after a baby was something that took a lot of getting used to and even though Noah and Eva had had a good day together without many meltdowns from either of them, his calmness had dissipated when he got a letter through the post and instead he felt tension, a sense of foreboding as to whether he was making the right choices in this situation.
Noah had started his search for Cassie’s former partner Paul to no avail. Social media had drawn a blank and so had online forums for offshore workers with jobs on oil rigs. Nobody seemed to have heard of the guy. After Cassie died and Noah cleared out her flat, Cassie’s former landlord had agreed to have the new tenant pass him any correspondence and he’d send it Noah’s way should anything turn up. There would possibly be the odd person or business he hadn’t yet informed of his sister’s passing. Today, a brown envelope with Noah’s handwriting – he’d left a few large, stamped, addressed envelopes with the former landlord to make it easier – arrived. He’d opened it to find a white envelope inside and that envelope had revealed a letter from none other than Eva’s father. The letter, to Cassie, was brief and to the point. The man wanted contact. ‘I’d like to see my child’were his exact words before requesting Cassie let him know when that could be arranged.
Noah had expected to feel elated when he found the man, positive that things would turn out fine. But he didn’t. He was unsure, fearful, angry that the guy had run out on his sister and newborn baby. But you never knew what story people had until you asked it. There had to be a reason, didn’t there? A reason other than Paul not wanting to be a father. Had he panicked at fatherhood? If he had, Noah understood it more now he’d had parenthood thrust upon him. And perhaps now, by Paul stepping up to the plate, it showed he wanted to be the best father possible for Eva.
As he pushed open the door to the ancient pub, Bess spotted him first.
‘Noah, you’re here!’ Bess came over to him, bottle of beer held up high as she squeezed through the throng at the bar. ‘Half an hour of happy hour left, get in there!’ She gestured over to the bar.
Hudson, the patient and family liaison nurse, was getting a round in and kindly offered a drink to Noah, then, with a bottle of beer for himself and carrying a glass of wine for Nadia, he went to join the crowd. They were a great team, he’d settled in fast and tonight with beer, music and company, Noah should’ve felt on top of the world, especially given he’d found Eva’s father. So why did he feel like he had a hole in the pit of his stomach?
The games of pool started, followed by darts, then more pool. They had small bets going, they had a laugh.
‘How’s that baby of yours?’ Hudson, father of two, was on a rare night out but had already announced he was leaving by 11p.m. or the missus would be sending out a search party.
‘She’s sleeping through the night a lot more,’ Noah replied. ‘Probably four nights out of seven.’
Noah had told people that Eva was his niece rather than his daughter, but it felt like some sort of betrayal when he did, like he was saying she wasn’t his, implying she wasn’t wanted. And it wasn’t as simple as that. He never wanted anyone to think he was capable of cutting ties just like that.
Hudson rejoiced at his bullseye but was none too happy when Noah hit the triple twenty, the highest score on the board, to win the game.
‘I’ll stick to pool,’ Hudson grumbled but his attention was grabbed by the latest arrival at the pub and he bellowed over to Maya to come join them.
Noah looked to where the pilot in his crew was making her way through the pub in jeans and a simple white shirt, and although she beamed a smile, there was a sadness, a weariness behind her eyes, the same look he’d seen in the supermarket the day after her sister’s wedding. And after seeing that ex-husband of hers – he’d confirmed that was who it was with her in the car after talking about it with Bess when he got here – he could understand why her life might be hard right now. The way theguy had watched them, wound down his window so he could hear every word, it was creepy, possessive.
Bess gave Maya a hug and thrust a drink in her direction.
Noah put his pint glass on the windowsill in front of the stained-glass window so he could pick up the pool cue to start the game with Hudson. ‘This can’t be the original, can it?’ he asked, pointing up at the coloured glass. The tiny windows in the master bedroom at his cottage were original and had much more wear and tear than this one.
‘It’s not,’ Bess informed him. ‘The original one was a beautiful colourful period piece but vandals broke it.’
‘Charming,’ he said.
‘Yeah, that’s one word for it,’ Hudson remarked. ‘I could think of a few others.’
While Hudson took his shot at the pool table, Noah watched Maya some more. He wished she didn’t look so uncomfortable, like she wanted to walk away from the gathering at any moment. Perhaps whatever hold this ex-husband of hers had over her was taking its toll and she was tired of keeping up the pretence. She might even be embarrassed about the way her ex had behaved outside the pharmacy, looking at them like a disapproving parent when Maya was single and free to talk to whomever she pleased.
‘An anonymous donation was received a few months after the window was smashed to cover the costs of a new one. Nobody ever found out who did that either,’ Bess shrugged.
‘Someone with a heart,’ Hudson approved as Noah lined up his next shot. ‘Hey, Maya, our man here would like to know how long it was before Isaac slept through the night.’
Noah stuffed up the shot and cursed. ‘If you’re referring to me, I didn’t ask that.’
‘No,’ said Hudson, ‘but always helpful to know.’ He took his turn.
Maya smiled at Noah and told them both, ‘He’s eighteen. And I can’t remember what I had for dinner last night, let alone remember those early days with a baby.’
Hudson nodded Noah and Bess’s way. ‘And she’s responsible for getting you in the air and down to earth safely. Rather the both of you than me.’
While Noah circled the pool table, deciding on the best position for his shot, Bess and Maya sat on the stools behind them, out of the way enough for the cue not to be in their faces but not so far he couldn’t hear what they were saying.
‘What took you so long to get here?’ Bess asked and Noah assumed Maya said nothing – he didn’t hear anything – because Bess added, ‘Don’t tell me, Conrad again.’
