Maya almost spat out her tea. ‘Dad…ourdad… got his hands dirty?’ She took another hobnob from the packet standing upright between them. ‘He hates gardening, that’s why he employs someone else to do his own.’
‘Let’s face it, Maya, his place is huge; no way could he take care of it all even if he wanted to.’
‘Good point. But still, I never expected gardening. What did he do? Mow the lawn?’
‘Oh, I had him on more heavy-duty stuff than that. He cut back all the hedges and overgrown shrubbery, he pulled out weeds, cleared debris behind the shed. We can see a rockery now at the foot of the garden, which I thought we’d get rid of but Dad had some good ideas of what to plant.’ She sipped her tea. ‘He was talking about your garden while he was here.’
‘Mine?’
‘He was saying you could do a lot with small gardens now. He had images on his iPad; he’s been looking into it. And I can’t help wondering whether that’s because he wants a way to connect to you.’
‘But he’s never asked me about my garden.’
‘Maybe he doesn’t know how.’
Maya didn’t know what to make of it; it felt surreal to have him interested in anything she did.
Julie went on. ‘Dad overheard us talking out on the patio one day – remember when we sat out back at Dad’s with hot chocolates on that really cold afternoon the week before my wedding?’
Maya remembered. Julie had been looking after her elderly neighbour Barbara’s dog Rufus so he could get some exercise. The dog was a bit too lively for Barbara but when Julie headed to the family home, he was also too lively to be inside their father’s house and so they took him out back and let him run around the garden. The sisters had nursed hot chocolates and snuggled under a blanket each for warmth as they chatted.
That day, they had talked about the house Julie and Seth had bought and about Maya’s cottage of modest size with a small back garden that was low maintenance, largely because she didn’t bother with it rather than it having been designed that way. Maya had admitted she’d love to be able to sit outside properly rather than dragging out a plastic chair every time. They discussed what it would be like if she added a small seating area, or if she added a gazebo at the back, they talked about the types of flowers they could put in tubs to add colour depending on seasons.
‘I still haven’t done anything with it,’ Maya admitted. ‘The old vegetable patch is still there, still growing weeds. I haven’t yet found the time or energy to do anything.’
‘Well, Dad heard us that day and when he came to see the stairs, he asked if you’d planned anything for your garden yet. I told him you never seemed to have the time with your job.’ She locked eyes with her sister. ‘He said the air ambulance was lucky to have you.’
Maya set down her mug with the dregs of tea inside. ‘He never said that. You must have misheard.’
‘This is why I didn’t say anything before now. I didn’t mishear, Maya; why do you automatically assume the worst with him?’
‘I do not.’
‘Do too,’ she retorted.
‘He’s always hated what I do.’
‘I don’t think he hates it. He might have wanted different for you and who knows why, as neither of you talk to each other. But after I fell and hit my head at the wedding and the air ambulance crew came out, I think he started to see it all a bit differently. It was like it wasn’t real before, but seeing the helicopter land in the back garden, everyone rush inside to help, maybe he began to see the reality.’
When Maya said nothing, Julie started to get annoyed. Maya could tell it was happening because her posture changed; she was no longer leaning back in her chair but sitting ramrod straight.
‘You have a different dad to the one I know,’ said Maya.
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘Julie, it’s not ridiculous. And we’ve been through this, many a time.’
‘I think he actually wants to start making amends with whatever it is that makes you two clash. Can’t you meet him halfway?’ Julie always saw the best in people; she was good at it.
‘Let’s see how it goes,’ Maya answered noncommittally.
Julie snatched the packet of hobnobs up plus the mugs and went over to dump them in the old aluminium sink that had a single piece of worn benchtop next to it. ‘It willalwaysbe different if you don’t let him try to be the dad he really is.’
Maya saw the hurt in her sister’s eyes. ‘I’ve been waiting for him to approve of me and my life choices for years, Julie. I got tired waiting.’
‘Do you know that when Dad was talking about your garden, he thought he might send some of his gardening team round to you, give you some ideas and quotes? I told him not to, that you’d appreciate him more than a bunch of strangers. But now I wonder whether you would or whether you’d close the door in his face.’
‘You make me sound so callous.’
