“You know,” she said as they walked towards the car, “you don’t know anything about my life.”
“I’d say I know a little at this point,” Andrew answered. “But essentially you’re right.”
“So you really have no right to make a judgment like that,” she continued, keeping her voice even.
Andrew opened her door, ever the gentleman. And didn’t agree with her.
“Do you?” Rachel pressed as he got in the driver’s side.
“Perhaps not. I was simply responding to what I’ve experienced of you so far.”
“You’re very blunt, you know.”
His mouth twitched in a tiny, wry smile. “I have been told that before.”
They didn’t speak as he drove through the empty streets of Whitehaven and parked in front of the pharmacy on Lowther Street, its plate window fogged with rain, halogen lights glowing inside.
“I’ll be right back,” Rachel said, and slipped out of the car. It took only a few minutes to get her mother’s prescription, a four-week supply of OxyContin that cost nearly two hundred pounds. And half of that had gone down the toilet, thanks to Meghan. Rachel had handed her debit card over with a grimace, breathing a tiny sigh of relief when the amount went through.
Back in Andrew’s car she clutched the bag to her while he pulled out onto the empty street. Neither of them spoke on the way back to Hartley-by-the-Sea.
“So you’ll check on Claire?” he asked when he’d parked in front of her house. Rachel didn’t know whether to laugh or groan.
“I’ll try,” she said on a sigh.
He paused and then said carefully, “If you’d prefer to think of this as part of your housekeeping... I could pay you the hourly rate.”
Rachel stared at him for a moment, offended by the suggestion even though practically it made sense. She would be going out of her way, spending time she didn’t have running around after Claire. And she could certainly use the money. “That’s not necessary,” she managed, and got out of the car.
Inside the house still smelled of burned sausages and Rachel could hear Nathan’s pitiful sobs from upstairs. He sounded utterly exhausted.
“Finally.” Lily appeared at the top of the stairs, looking harassed. “Nathan has been crying for hours.”
“Did you give him Calpol?”
“No. You didn’t tell me—”
“Sorry,” Rachel said wearily. “I’ll go to him. Can you give Mum her prescription?” She nodded towards the white bag she’d left on the hall table, and Lily gave a little grimace.
Lily didn’t spend much time with their mother. Since Janice had injured her back when Lily was only a few months old, they’d never had a lot of time together, and they hadn’t really bonded. Rachel and Meghan handled their mother’s care, wanting to shield Lily from it, and now Lily was seventeen and usually avoided her mother as much as she could.
“Okay,” she said reluctantly, and went downstairs. Rachel kicked off her shoes and headed into Meghan’s bedroom. Nathan was kneeling on the bed, tears running down his snot-smeared face.
“Hey there, Nath,” Rachel said softly. She put her hands on his thin shoulders and pulled him to her; he came with a loud sniff, tucking his head into her shoulder. “How about some yummy medicine?”
He nodded against her chest, hiccupping, and she eased away and went to retrieve the bottle of bubble-gum-pink Calpol from the bathroom as well as a sticky spoon that looked like it hadn’t been washed between doses.
She gave him two spoonfuls and then tucked him into the double bed he shared with Meghan.
“Ray-Ray stay?” he asked hopefully, and with a sigh she stretched out next to him.
“Okay, Nath.”
Nathan snuggled into her again, smearing snot across her sweater, and Rachel put her arm around him, resting her chin on the top of his head. He smelled like baby shampoo and Calpol with a hint of sausage. She kissed his head and closed her eyes and tried to ignore the tug of longing for something in her life to be different.
Chapter ten
Claire
