She walked through another door, and I opened it and followed her into a living room. There was a decent-sized window which gave views over the street below. The room was furnished quite basically, with a carpet, a three-piece suite, a coffee table and a television set.
‘You watch TV?’
‘Not much,’ she said wistfully. ‘We have to rely on the girls downstairs, you see. They’re pretty good in their way. They come up every morning and open the curtains and turn the light and the television off. And then, before they leave at night, they close the curtains and put the light and the telly on. They take it in turns to pop in on Sundays and do the same thing, and they come up on Saturdays to dust and vacuum the place. We can’t complain.’
‘It’s warm enough, though. You have the central heating on? Can you feel it?’
‘No, but the flat needs to be maintained, doesn’t it? Hence the heating on cold days and the windows open on warm ones. They shut them at night and if the weather’s bad.’ She sighed. ‘It’s nice to have a telly, of course, but frustrating as well, because of course we can’t tell them which channel we want to watch, and we can’t switch it over. And there’s no Netflix either. What can you do?’
‘I expect you have to rely on each other for entertainment,’ I said. ‘I’m glad you have a flatmate. Do you get on?’
Brooke folded her arms. ‘Yeah. Most of the time.’
‘What’s her name?’ I asked.
‘Er, Kylie.’
‘Kylie?’ I laughed. ‘That’s a coincidence, considering we’ve just been talking aboutNeighbours.’
‘Mm,’ she said, shuffling her feet. ‘Isn’t it?’
‘And how long has she been dead?’
‘Blimey, I don’t know! Forty, fifty years maybe.’
‘And she’s called Kylie? I didn’t know that name was around in this country then.’
‘What is this? Did you just come here to interrogate me?’ she demanded.
I sank onto the sofa. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, feeling suddenly rather weak. ‘This has all been a heck of a shock. I’m struggling to process it, and I suppose I’m just trying to make things as normal as I possibly can for myself. It’s kind of a defence mechanism.’
Brooke sat down next to me. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean to have a go. It’s been a bit of a shock for me, too. What are you doing here, Kirsty? Are you here on your own? Is Auntie Sheryl with you?’
I shook my head. ‘No. Mum and Dad are alive and well, though,’ I added hastily. ‘As areyourparents.’
‘How are they?’ she asked softly, showing the first hint of vulnerability since we’d met. ‘And how’s Cal?’
‘They’re doing okay now,’ I said. ‘It was tough for them all at first. You can imagine. They love and miss you so much, Brooke. But Cal’s helped them,’ I added, referring to her younger brother. ‘Having him to look after got them through. He’s a good man, he really is.’
‘Man?’ Brooke’s eyes filled with tears. ‘He was just a lad when I last saw him.’
‘Eighteen,’ I said. ‘He grew up very quickly after – after the accident. But he’s thirty-six now. He got married four years ago. He’s got a baby girl, too. They gave her the middle name of Brooke, after you.’
Brooke sank back in the sofa. ‘Our Cal, a dad. I can’t believe it.’
‘I’m sorry you missed out on so much,’ I told her. ‘It must have been so hard for you.’
Without thinking, I went to take her hand, but there was nothing to hold. It was as if I was grasping at air.
‘I wish I could hug you,’ I said sadly.
‘Well, the thought was there,’ she replied. ‘I appreciate it.’
‘So what have you been doing here all this time?’ I asked her uncertainly. I wasn’t sure how much to question her, given how touchy she’d been a moment ago, but I had to know for sure. ‘Danny’s really not here? You’re positive about that?’
‘Are you calling me a liar?’ she demanded.
I sighed. ‘No, of course not. I just don’t know how it all works. I mean, he might be somewhere around and you just haven’t seen him.’
