‘Call the doctor and at least mention it.’
‘All right, but for now, could you grab me a couple of painkillers?’
After he took the painkillers with the glass of water she brought him, Maya left for her father’s home, the house she’d grown up in. It wasn’t all that far from Whistlestop River, a pleasant drive through the countryside along winding roads with fields on either side.
Today was the first time she’d seen her dad since the wedding reception and while she couldn’t wait to see Julie, she’d prefer there to be a bigger lag until she had to see her father again.
She pulled up into the driveway, grand and sweeping like the rest of the grounds and the house. Growing up here had been a blast in so many ways and she’d been a happy kid right up untilher mother Anya died. She was eleven when it happened; Julie was three, so too little to remember her the way Maya did.
After Anya died, the girls’ grandparents had been there for the family and not long after the funeral service, they’d taken Maya and her sister back to their home in Cornwall, said it was for the best, that Nigel needed some time and space as well as help from the doctors. Maya, at eleven, didn’t really know what that meant but later on she found out he’d suffered a depressive episode that had almost eaten him up whole. His strength and resilience had come into play and he got medical help and seven weeks after the girls had gone down to Cornwall, he turned up on their grandparents’ doorstep.
Maya had answered the door that day and flung herself at his legs. He’d picked her up but the look on his face was one she’d never seen before. He was angry; he told Maya to take her sister and go outside in the garden to play. Her sister had been in their grandmother’s arms and she reluctantly handed her over to Maya. Even from the end of the garden, Maya heard the yelling through the closed back door, it went on for ages, and her father, Maya and Julie left the house shortly afterwards, leaving behind two devasted grandparents who had lost their granddaughters as well as their daughter. Maya would never forget the look on their faces, her gramps with his arms around Granny’s shoulders as though holding her in case she collapsed with the weight of it all. Maya, tears streaming down her cheeks, waved frantically from the back window of the car until they disappeared out of sight.
Maya parked and switched off her engine before looking upwards to the very top windows of the home. Her parents’ bedroom. It didn’t matter how many years went by, she could still recall the moment she was told her mum was dead, the way her dad had fallen to his knees in grief that Anya had gone.
Maya climbed out of the car and her shoes crunched on the gravel as she made her way from the driveway, around the back and across to the sweeping, concrete steps that led up to the house.
She’d love nothing more than to stay outside in the sunshine but she reluctantly trudged inside. Her dad was sitting in an armchair reading the newspaper and folded it shut when she arrived.
‘Julie’s not here yet.’
She checked her watch. Great, she’d have to make small talk, not an easy thing with her father. She couldn’t even talk about work because he had never embraced her career choice. He’d implied for years that she should’ve found an office job, something reliable with normal hours.
The final time her dad had challenged her on her career, shortly after she started at the Whistlestop River Air Ambulance in a permanent role three years ago, he’d told her, ‘In all these years, I thought you’d see sense.’
She’d bitten back, ‘You mean you thought I’d see it your way. I don’t want an office job. I never have done.’
‘Ever since I let you go up in that blessed helicopter for your birthday when you were little, you wanted to fly the damn things for yourself.’
‘And I’m good at it!’ she’d roared.
‘You could’ve had any job you wanted; you’re a clever girl. I’m disappointed you never wanted to try anything else.’
And there it was. The way he felt. Disappointed.
With both of them clearly uncomfortable waiting for Julie to show up, Nigel asked after Isaac. It was a subject that always calmed things between them because as unsupportive as he’d been over her career along the way, he seemed to at least respect his grandson’s choices. And Maya had made a point to not exclude her father from her son’s life because she wanted Isaacto have as much family around him as possible. She knew what it was like to lose any one of them and it hurt, sometimes more than she could bear.
‘He’s doing well. He’s worked hard, exams are over and he’s taking some time out with his mates.’
‘I expect he’s looking forward to coming home.’
‘He deserves the break. But he’s got some work in a friend’s parents’ café before he heads back this way.’
‘Well good for him.’
The stilted exchange was better than none at all and certainly better than conflict.
‘I will look forward to catching up with him, give him a game of tennis when he’s around,’ said Nigel.
‘He’d like that.’
Hands in his pockets as he grappled for more conversation, her father’s relief matched hers when they both heard Julie come trotting up the back steps outside.
‘I’m back!’ She held out her arms first for Maya, who met her at the door in her excitement.
Maya hugged Julie tight. ‘I missed you.’ She could still remember hugs like this when her little sister came home from school, especially when Maya was in sixth form and Julie not even at high school. She pulled back. ‘You look great! Happy and relaxed.’
‘It was amazing,’ she gushed. Unlike Maya, Julie’s skin was fair and it looked like she’d done the right thing in the sun and stayed safe. Maya had seen the collection of sunhats her sister had packed in her suitcase too, heard her husband ask why she couldn’t just bring her favourite, only to be told that certain outfits needed a different look. It had made her smile. The start of married life and all that it entailed.
