‘I think you might have read that situation a little wrong, Heidi. Eleanor and I are just friends.’ He laughed awkwardly, unable to push the memory of her kiss from his mind.
‘That much is obvious.’
‘Oh.’ A flicker of disappointment sparked in the pit of his stomach. ‘Well, what did you mean then?’
‘Imeant…’ Heidi let out a sigh of indignation, looking once again out of the window. ‘As someone who has spent the majority of her life by herself, friends like that are hard to come by. When you find them, personally I would think it criminal to walk away from them.’
‘Right.’ He smiled weakly. ‘I’ll bear that in mind.’
‘Goodbye, Mr Taylor.’
‘Goodbye, Heidi.’ Fin retreated quickly, closing the door quietly behind him.
He stood for a moment in the hallway, bemused by Heidi and her parting words. There was obviously more to her than met the eye; underneath those thick layers of steel seemed to live a human being, but he was dammed if he knew how to get her out for more than a few seconds at a time.
‘Hi, Fin.’ A young nurse emerged from the room next door, pulling him out of his thoughts. ‘Survived your meeting with Heidi, I see?’ She grinned brightly, her eyes betraying her tiredness with their dark circles.
‘Only just,’ he joked. ‘How’s my mum doing?’ he asked, knowing his mother would always hide the truth from him when he asked her directly.
The nurse gave him an encouraging smile. ‘The doctorcame by earlier and gave her some more pain relief. When she’s awake she seems very upbeat, but she is sleeping a lot.’ Notes of sorrow pierced through her enthusiasm. ‘Are you going to pop in and see her?’
‘Yeah. I was on my way now,’ he replied.
‘She’ll love that,’ the nurse chirped. ‘Anyway, I’d better carry on with my rounds. See you later.’ She waved and scurried away in the opposite direction.
‘See you,’ he replied to the blank space left in front of him.
Eleanor
By Tuesday evening, Eleanor’s fingers were itching for the brush. It was funny how quickly the urge to paint had returned after only one session. A sleeping beast awoken from its slumber, the cravings crying out to be sated.
‘Hello, Eleanor dear,’ Agatha half sang, half shrieked as she walked into the hall. ‘We feared you’d never return, but here you stand and your seat awaits.’ She pointed across the room to the empty chair next to Reggie, who was already in place and not looking happy about it.
‘Thanks, Agatha.’ Eleanor moved quickly across the room, reeling from the spotlight that had been unceremoniously shone on to her.
‘Thank the Lord you came back,’ Reggie grunted. ‘She was on at me non-stop. Blamed me for your no-show.’ He nodded towards Agatha, who was busying herself at the refreshment table. ‘Said I must have offended you. Can you imagine? Me? Offensive?’ He waved his wrinkled hand dismissively. ‘Never!’
Eleanor placed her jacket on the back of her chair andsmiled. ‘No, in fact you are the epitome of warm and welcoming, aren’t you, Reggie?’
He clucked indignantly. ‘I wouldn’t go that far, but I may be a little warmer and alittlebit more welcoming with a cup of tea and a biscuit in my hand.’
‘Would you now?’ She eyed him shrewdly. ‘Good job I was heading over there myself. I’ll bring back the supplies.’
‘Get the jam-filled ones,’ he shouted at her, as she walked over to join Agatha. ‘Before everyone else gets their greedy paws on them!’
‘His daughters thought that coming here might soften him up. Bring him a little joy.’ Agatha giggled as she unashamedly stirred five sugar lumps into her tea. ‘I think we’re working our magic, don’t you?’ She winked and handed Eleanor the selection box of biscuits.
‘Definitely.’ She grinned.
‘We’re very pleased you’re back.’ Agatha leant in close, dropping her voice to a whisper. ‘And I think this next little project will be much more up your street than a mouldy old pear.’
‘Oh, really?’ Eleanor was intrigued.
‘Indeed. Come now, as soon as everyone is gathered, I can reveal all.’ She tapped a finger slyly against the side of her nose and returned to the centre of the circle, leaving Eleanor with the task of carrying two teas and a plate of biscuits back across the room.
‘Hurry up, will you?’ Reggie grumbled. ‘Enid’s going to be up there soon for seconds by the time we’ve even tasted a crumb.’
‘You won’t even get that if you carry on shouting at me,’ she snapped back.
