‘I’ll think about it.’ Alison shivered. ‘It’s bloody freezing out here, Rosie. Let’s go back to the caravan and warm up before my toes turn black and drop off.’
‘I had no idea you were such a drama queen,’ Rosie said, tucking her arm through Alison’s once again. ‘I’m learning a whole other side to you, Alison Parker. Who knew?’
19
Alison and her parents had been browsing the shelves of the local discount supermarket in Millensea for over forty minutes, and Alison was beginning to wonder if they’d ever get out of there. She wasn’t keen on this shop. It felt cold and impersonal to her, and she missed the warmth and familiarity of Maister’s.
There was a branch of her favourite store further up the coast, but Mam and Dad had turned white when she’d suggested going there instead, declaring that they wouldn’t pay those sorts of prices if their lives depended on it, and did Alison think they were made of money?
Instead, they trawled the shelves of ShopSmart, her parents arguing between themselves about whether they really needed more tins of baked beans when they already had eight of them in the cupboards at home, before loading their trolley with another four because you never really knew when you might need them.
Mam spent ages rummaging through the reduced-to-clear sections, swooping on anything with a yellow sticker despite the wilting salads and sorry-looking vegetables that looked far from tempting, because she said that every penny counted, and had Alison forgotten they were pensioners?
Yeah, with Dad’s private pension from the civil service, she thought wryly.
As they pushed the trolley towards the chiller section Mam told Alison that she must have more money than sense.
‘You’d better watch and learn because you’ll be a pensioner yourself soon,’ she said darkly. ‘Then you’ll realise how careful you have to be.’
She nodded knowingly at her before adding a packet of deluxe sausage rolls and a luxury-brand cheesecake, the price of which made even Alison’s eyes water, because ‘Ooh, they do look tasty!’
Dad had a strop because Mam put granary bread in the trolley and he hated ‘All them bits that stick between me teeth’, so she took it out and put it back on the shelf, only to sneak it back in again when he wandered off to inspect the ice cream.
Somehow, instead of ice cream, he came back with a jar of crunchy peanut butter which, for some reason Alison couldn’t fathom, he was adamant didn’t get stuck in his teeth at all.
As they stood by the freezer arguing because Mam wanted to buy some chicken pies and Dad said he’d rather get a takeaway pie from the pub, because Seb’s lad Sam had told him he could, Alison leaned on the trolley and wondered how many times she’d listened to conversations like this. Their shopping trips had been the stuff of nightmares, and she’d done everything she could to get out of going with them when she was a kid.
Saturdays. That had been ‘big shop’ day for them and just about everyone they knew. Dad had got paid weekly in those days, and in cash, too. He’d handed over the housekeeping to Mam and kept hardly anything for himself because, as he pointed out, what did he need money for? Mam took care of everything.
She smiled to herself, remembering those fabulous Thursday evenings when Dad came home with his wages, and fish and chips from Millensea for tea, and a bag of sweets each as a payday treat.
No late-night shopping in those days. No big supermarket close by either, come to that. And as for Sundays…
‘You look happy.’
She blinked and looked up, shocked to see Mac standing in front of the trolley, a basket hooked over one arm. He was the last person she’d expected to find in a supermarket – especially ShopSmart.
‘I zoned out,’ she admitted without thinking, then nodded towards her parents, realising too late that they’d stopped arguing and were now watching her and Mac with undisguised interest. ‘I was just remembering going shopping with these two when I was a kid. They were a bloody nuisance then, too.’
‘Of all the cheek,’ Mam said indignantly. She gave Mac one of her best smiles. ‘It’s lovely to see you again after all this time, Ian. How are you?’
‘Mac,’ he said immediately. ‘My name’s Mac now, Mrs Wainwright.’
‘Oh, of course. Alison did mention. I was sorry to hear about your mum, love. Such a shame.’
Mac smiled. ‘Thank you.’
‘Alison was telling us all about the animals at Watersmeet,’ she continued, blithely ignoring her daughter’s glare. ‘They sound wonderful. I’ve always wanted to see them myself but when I visited your mother she was too ill to worry about all that really, and before then I never went round. Sheila didn’t really invite people in, did she? She kept herself to herself.’
‘She was a right funny onion,’ Dad said with a grunt.
Alison felt her face burning with embarrassment, but Mac just laughed.
‘She wasn’t one for people,’ he agreed. ‘She much preferred animals.’
‘Oh yes, and she had a heart of gold where they were concerned,’ Mam agreed hastily, after shooting her husband a look that should have floored him but seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever.
‘Sheusedto mix with people,’ he said, ‘until your dad left.’
