‘I let the school know,’ said Maurie.
‘Is he okay?’
‘Totally fine. One of his adult teeth is starting to push through and it’s hurting a bit, that’s all. It was a little inflamed, so I thought better to get it checked in case it was infected, and now he’s had a couple of painkillers he seems settled. Oh, and I bought some Bonjela?—’
‘It’s yummy!’ Isaac piped up. ‘It tastes nice. Can we get some?’
‘It’s not for eating,’ Susanna told him, ‘although from memory it does taste pretty good.’
‘Not helping,’ Addie whispered to her sister. Then to Maurie she said, ‘The dentist saw you quickly.’ Maurie and Jarrett had all of Isaac’s particulars because they looked after him so often, but they’d never had to take him to a dentist or a doctor until now.
‘I took him to our dentist instead.’
Oh no – that meant it was a private appointment. ‘You didn’t have to do that.’
‘To be honest, it was easier.’
‘How much do I owe you?’ She dreaded to think of how much it cost.
‘He’s our grandson, so we’re happy to cover it. I could’ve called your regular one, but it was my choice not to because it made things easier. You forget about the money, love.’
Jarrett’s voice from the background called out, ‘Listen to her, she’s always right.’
‘Well, thank you.’
Isaac was soon hogging the whole screen again and Susanna joined the conversation.
‘Are you at the beach?’ Isaac wanted to know.
‘Not right now,’ said Susanna. ‘But we’ve just had pudding.’
His eyes widened. ‘At the Sweet Life Café?’
‘Yes, at the Sweet Life Café,’ said Addie.
Susanna told him all about the butterscotch brownie, how the menu had so many choices they could probably have something different every day for a fortnight at least.
‘Mummy, Ihaveto come to the island.Pleeeeease…’
Addie wished she could agree just like that. ‘We’ll see.’
‘Jaimie at school sayswe’ll seeis what parents say when they have no intention of doing something.’
She almost laughed. Since when did Isaac – or his little friend, Jaimie, for that matter – use the wordintention?
‘Well, you can tell Jaimie that this mummydoesmean it. You can visit one day.’ She exchanged a look with Susanna, who actually didn’t seem as against the idea as she might once have been.
‘And I can try a pudding?’ he rambled on. ‘And go to the beach, and run all the way around the island?’
‘Hold on, squirt, one thing at a time.’
Isaac started talking about the Lego boat he’d built with his grandad and how he’d been allowed to use it in the bath and it hadn’t fallen apart, and when she hung up Addie felt a yearning so vast for her son that she thought she might cry.
‘He’s fine,’ Susanna assured her. ‘He’s having a great time. Talking of a great time…’
‘What, you’re going to tell me that’s what you’re having?’
‘Not exactly. But look, we’re almost done with the sorting, and we still have six days to go until the event itself. I have some work but not much. I’m walking a lot and so are you, but why don’t we do something else?’
