Gayle handed Susanna the pile of cards in her hand. ‘I’m sorry, I was just?—’
‘I know what she wants,’ said Susanna in the tone their dad had used if either of them was in trouble.
Aunt Gayle retreated, saying she’d be downstairs when they were ready, and pudding would be served if they were hungry. Addie wondered whether Aunt Gayle would hug her goodnight like her dad and her grandparents always had.
‘I hope she makes proper dinners, not just puddings,’ said Susanna the second they were on their own and she’d put the cards out. She wrapped her sister in a hug. ‘We can’t live on sugar for the rest of our lives.’
The rest of our lives.That’s what was happening now, wasn’t it? She was going to be here on this island, away from her school and her friends, the familiar places such as the corner shop, the library, the city of Oxford not far out of reach. She wouldn’t even get to take their grandparents’ dog, Freddie, for a walk either.
Addie wished Freddie was here now, to make a fuss of and hug. Freddie was old, he had a limp, and he didn’t want to play with the ball so much when she threw it for him. Granny said he couldn’t help slowing down. Addie had cried saying goodbye to Freddie because she knew she probably wouldn’t get to see him again. She’d even asked to bring him to the island, but Granny had explained he was settled in his own home and besides, he needed taking out to the toilet a lot and sometimes he didn’t make it and went for his wees and number twos inside. Addie didn’t suppose Aunt Gayle would have the time to sort him out, Dad always said she was obsessed by her pudding place, and she didn’t have time for anything else.
Addie wondered if she really had time for her and her sister.
Susanna still had Addie in her arms. ‘We’ll be all right, you’ll see. We don’t need anyone apart from each other. And wedon’tneed pudding forced on us either.’
Susanna always knew what to do. Addie didn’t know what she would do without her big sister. But she hoped Susanna wouldn’t stop them from having the pudding even if it was forced on them because the smell was filling her room already and it smelled good.
‘I like my room,’ Addie admitted timidly.
‘It’s your favourite colour,’ Susanna approved. With a white bedspread dotted with tiny pink flowers and a bright pink colour on the walls, it was similar to the colour of her room at home, the room she’d had her whole life until their dad got sick.
Addie, still in her pyjamas the morning after they’d arrived back on Anchor Island after decades of absence, knew she couldn’t gaze out of the window and reminisce for ever.
She crept down the stairs quietly and past the kitchen in case Gayle and Susanna were still in there. She needed a shower, time to wake up – she always worked better once she was ready for the day. Then she would be able to tackle whatever was thrown at her.
She took her time, washed her hair and lathered up creamy shower gel from what looked like a brand-new bottle purchased especially for their visit. Once she was done, she opened up the bathroom window to let some of the steam escape. It wasn’t the best shower in the world, with pretty dire water pressure, but the heat and scented products had made up for it and she was ashamed to say she’d stayed in longer than she should. She’d forgotten how matted your hair could get from the sea air on a ferry crossing, and although she’d tried to brush the salty residue out last night it was still in need of a good wash this morning.
She was about to head back upstairs when she noticed movement beyond the bathroom window, and as she peeked outside, she saw the young woman from last night emerge from Aunt Gayle’s garden room. Whatever was she doing there? They’d thought she was a neighbour and Aunt Gayle hadn’t said otherwise. At least not to her.
Once she was dressed and her hair was dry, she came back downstairs. Susanna was in the hallway putting on her trainers and Aunt Gayle was coming out of the kitchen.
‘Why is the woman from last night in your back garden?’ she asked their aunt.
Susanna looked up only briefly and as Aunt Gayle explained, Addie realised they’d already had this conversation. She supposed that was a positive – they were talking.
‘I need to get to the Sweet Life Café,’ said Aunt Gayle, who was dressed already in a lemon blouse and navy trousers. ‘I’ll leave you girls to your own devices. I’ve told Susanna you can go into the attic space whenever you’re ready. It’s crammed full of my things, but you’ll easily find your father’s belongings – they’re all still boxed up and labelled.’
‘We should’ve taken them earlier.’ Addie, hovering on the bottom stair, felt bad that they hadn’t.
A look passed across Gayle’s face and Addie knew exactly what it meant. If they’d taken them all already, there would be nothing left to hang around and sort through.
When Aunt Gayle picked up her bag and left the cottage, keys in hand, Addie said to Susanna, ‘Do you think renting out her garden room was more about her being lonely than needing the money?’
Trainers on, Susanna stood up. ‘No idea.’ She said it in a tone that suggested thinking about Gayle and whether she’d been lonely or not wasn’t high on her priority list. ‘What I do know is that if we’re going to get through the things in the attic, we need to make a start today. See you upstairs in an hour?’
‘Sure. Enjoy your walk.’
Addie suspected this was less about getting some exercise and more about escaping the walls of the cottage she’d never ever wanted to be restricted by. She felt much the same in some respects, but in others, it almost felt like coming home.
Not that she’d ever admit that to Susanna.
14
GAYLE
Gayle hated lying to the girls. She hated lying full stop, and there had been enough tension between the three of them that yet another fib felt like it could be the straw to break the proverbial camel’s back if she wasn’t careful. So careful she would have to be, because now wasn’t the time to tell them the rest.
In the kitchen at the Sweet Life Café, she poured cake batter onto the fruit lining the tin for a berry upside-down cake. She scraped the remnants with a silicone spatula until the bowl was almost clean. She’d learnt in the early days not to waste ingredients, and the habit had never left her.
