‘Oh God, I didn’t realise you were here, Rob!’
‘Hey, Hannah, good to see you. Are you okay?’ Rob said, resting his arm along the back of the sofa nonchalantly, totally unfazed by her sudden appearance.
‘Yeah, I think so. Well not really, but you know, one of those days.’
‘I heard. Your mum was telling me. I’m really sorry about your dad. Hopefully, now that he’s in hospital, they can get him fixed up quickly.’
‘I hope so too.’
‘Look, I was just going. I’ll leave you to chat to your mum, but?—’
‘No, don’t go,’ said Tess impulsively. After their earlier misunderstanding, she’d been relieved to clear the air with Rob and she was keen to explore that heightened connection further. Also, after the upheaval of the last couple of days, she was grateful for his physical presence and his calming emotional support.
‘No, please, don’t go on my account. I was going to grab a snack then head back upstairs, but I just wanted to ask you a favour, Mum. I was speaking to Billy earlier, telling him what had happened with Dad, and he said he would come down at the weekend. Would it be okay if he stayed? Obviously not in the annexe,’ she said with a worried, sideways quirk of her mouth.
‘Yes, that’s fine. If that’s what you want.’
Tess wasn’t sure where Hannah and Billy were in terms of their relationship. She didn’t like to probe too closely, respecting her daughter’s right to a private life, but knowing that if Hannah wanted to talk to her mum about anything, then that door was always open. Either way, there was a lovely guest bedroom available if it was needed. Hannah leaned on her mum naturally, for emotional support, but Tess was happy that she had someone else she could turn to for a different perspective. If Billy could provide that for Hannah, then that had to be a positive thing. After all, Tess had her own special person in her life that she could rely on, which was still a source of surprise and delight to her. She turned to glance at Rob, who gave her a smile and an encouraging squeeze of her hand.
21
‘How is he?’ Tess didn’t really need to ask. She could tell by the way Hannah came skipping into the kitchen that she’d had a successful visit to the hospital.
‘Good! Dad’s going home later today, can you believe? It seems like he’s been in there forever.’ The relief on Hannah’s face was evident. ‘He still looks poorly, and he’s obviously exhausted and weak, but I think it will do him good to get out of that place.’
‘Well, that’s great news.’ It had been ten days since Charles had been admitted to hospital and his recovery hadn’t been straightforward. On the third day, his condition had deteriorated rapidly, and there was genuine concern that he wouldn’t pull through. A change in his antibiotics, some steroids and continuing oxygen therapy had avoided the need for him to be intubated, but it had been a worrying time for everyone concerned.
‘I feel a bit sorry for him, though. Going back to Melody’s place, which can’t be the same as being here. He would be so much more comfortable at Hollyhocks. This is his home.’
‘Not any more, it isn’t. His home is with Melody.’ Tess kept her tone calm, not rising to the bait. ‘She’ll look after him, don’t worry, and I’m sure you’ll be able to visit whenever you like.’
Hannah stuck out her bottom lip and rolled her eyes.
‘It’s not the same, though, is it? Dad was asking after you, wondering if you might be going to visit him again soon.’
Tess had visited a couple of times earlier in the week, when Charles’s condition had worsened, and she had been filled with fear, not knowing what a future without Charles in it would mean for her, but more importantly for Hannah. Alone with her thoughts, Tess would pray for Charles’s recovery, even though she wasn’t particularly religious, unable to let on her worst fears to Hannah. She was hugely relieved when he came off the danger list, and the doctors started talking in more positive terms, even though she knew that he still had a long road to recovery ahead of him. Now that he was taking small steps forward, she was happy to hear about Charles’s progress, at arm’s length, from Hannah.
‘I’m sure I’ll see him soon, but I think it’s important to respect Melody’s position. She doesn’t want me turning up every day, giving the benefit of my advice. She’ll have her own way of doing things, but the one thing we do know is that she’s got your dad’s best interests at heart. And of course, she’s said you’ll be welcome round there at any time.’
‘Yeah, I thought I might make him a cake to take round to Melody’s. Coffee and walnut is his favourite, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’ Tess used to make it for him regularly. ‘That’s a good idea, if he’s up to eating cake, that is. It’s going to take him a little while to get back to normal so don’t expect too much of him too soon.’
‘No, I won’t. Perhaps I’ll leave it a day or two then. I just feel as though I want to do something to make it up to him.’
Tess tilted her head to one side, her expression full of concern.
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, I was pretty horrible to him when I found out he’d left you, and actually, I’m still really cross with him for doing that, but I suppose all of this has made me realise that I might have to forgive him sometime. Also, there’s a part of me that thinks if we hadn’t had all of those arguments, then he might never have got ill in the first place. They say that stress can have a really bad impact on your immunity.’
‘Now, stop that.’ Tess held open her arms and pulled Hannah into her embrace, hugging her tight. She ran a hand over her hair. ‘You’ve got to stop thinking like this. It’s nothing that you’ve done that has made your dad poorly.’ Tess took Hannah’s face into her hands, and looked at her intently. ‘It’s just one of those things. You don’t have to make anything up to him. He would be the first one to tell you that. I know how much you mean to him; he loves you so much and knowing that you’re there for him will be the best tonic for his recovery.’
‘I hope so. I suppose I’ll have to try harder to be nicer to him and Melody,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘It seemed so unfair to me that he could leave you behind and start over again with a much younger woman.’
‘Okay, darling, thanks for that.’ Tess’s expression gave away her dismay at that particular remark, which made Hannah laugh. Tess turned to flick on the kettle. ‘But it’s done and it was upsetting, but we’ve all moved on now and that’s the most important thing.’
‘Yeah, that’s true, and seeing you so happy and thriving has gone a long way to making me feel better about the situation. Obviously, it’s not what I would have chosen for our family. I’m sure any kid would say they would want their parents to stay together, but you’ve really come into your own since Dad left.’
