‘I’m not… The things I’ve done… the things I’ve said…’
‘Now, now.’ Sally patted Cate’s arm. ‘I reckon you’ve done nothing really bad. We all have our regrets, things we wish we’d done, things we wish we hadn’t said. Some never get the chance to put things right but your dear dad’s here and he’ll be happy to see you, I’m sure of that. Whatever you think you’ve done, we can’t go back. Your dad, bless him, can’t remember yesterday but sometimes, his mind wanders back to the past as if it was just last week. Only the other day, he was telling me about your holiday to Wales as if he’d just come back. Reckons he had a turn at milking a cow.’ She chuckled.
‘Perhaps he did. We stayed on a farm. I was looking at a photograph recently.’
‘Well then, that’s a nice memory now, isn’t it? Fancy you both thinking about the same thing. Call it coincidence, call it telepathy, whatever you like. Now, do you want to go to the visitors waiting room for a little while before you see him? I can make you a nice cup of tea.’
‘I’ll be all right.’ Cate sniffed. ‘Thank you, Sally. And I almost forgot, I’ve brought this shortbread. I thought it would be best to leave it with you to make sure Dad doesn’t eat it all in one go.’
‘He does have a sweet tooth, dear man, bless his heart.’ Sally took the box, putting it up on a shelf behind her. ‘The lift’s arrived. I heard it go “ping”.’
Cate crossed the foyer and pressed the button. The lift doors slid back, providing her with an unwelcome view of her red-eyed reflection. Gracie Fields singing ‘Wish Me Good Luck’ came from the speaker. Slowly, the lift took her up two floors, stopping directly opposite her father’s room.
She knocked and walked in. Dad was sitting up in bed.
‘Hello, love.’
His voice was cheerful. He was having a good day; her heart lifted.
She sat on the visitor’s chair right next to the bed. ‘I’m so relieved to see you’re okay.’
He gave her a quizzical look. ‘Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘You had a fall.’
‘A fall? I’ve not been up any ladders.’ He gave a wheezy chuckle.
‘You were walking across the lounge. Didn’t you fall over Dot’s walking stick?’
‘Dot? Who’s Dot? Who’s telling you all this nonsense? Look at me! I’m fit as a flea. I walked ten miles yesterday.’
‘Did you? That’s a long way.’ She knew it would only agitate him if she corrected him. The doctors said it was kinder this way.
He scratched his head, peering at her. ‘You’ve changed your hair, Lina. It’s always been dark.’
‘It’s blonde now. Do you like it?’ Cate said.
‘I do. But you look tired today, love. All this getting up for the baby.’
‘Baby Cathy?’
His face lit up, like a child holding a buttercup under his chin. ‘She’s a lovely little thing, isn’t she, our Cathy? I was singing to her today.’
‘What were you singing?’ She remembered ‘Nellie the Elephant’, her dad waving his arm like a trunk, making her laugh.
‘I sang that boop-a-doo tune fromThe Jungle Book. She gripped my thumb with her tiny fingers and gave me the biggest smile.’
Cate took her dad’s hand in hers, turning her head so that he couldn’t see her tears. ‘That’s because baby Cathy is happy when she’s with her daddy. And because your little girl loves you. She loves you very, very much.’
46
Floella was obviously enjoying herself, quizzing Natalie about the palazzo, the filming session on the Rialto Bridge, the climb to the top of the tower on San Giorgio Maggiore, the galleries they’d visited and the places where they’d eaten. Natalie was on the verge of flinging her coffee across the room in frustration. When was Floella finally going to explain what had possessed her to show up in Venice?
Floella set down her cup and folded her hands in her lap. ‘So, you like Venice. I so hoped you would – and that the two of you would get together. That truly gladdens my heart.’
‘But now Natalie is leaving.’ Eraldo’s voice was flat. He too seemed to find Floella’s upbeat tone rather out of place.
‘She will be back soon, I hope.’ Floella smiled.
