‘Nothing,’ replied Andy.
‘If it’s about that permission slip …’ Her voice held a warning note.
Bridie rolled her eyes. Like Layla had said, nothing got past her mum.
‘It is,’ Andy said, surprising Bridie that he wasn’t stalling. ‘I’ve signed it.’
‘What did you say?’
Bridie stopped at the top of the stairs. What did he say?
‘Yeah, Layla had it on her. It’s signed, and Layla is handing it in on Monday. I don’t see what the problem is.’
‘But—’
Andy continued, ‘If anything, you should be pleased Layla has a direction in life, even if it isn’t what you want. But what’s important is what she wants. And to be honest, I know you don’t agree with Bridie’s choice of career on the stage, but she’s done very well for herself. She’s quite the successful stage actress. I mean, how many people get to star in theatre productions in the West End?’
Bridie felt her face colour. She’d never heard any family member sing her praises, other than Layla. Bridie grinned.
‘I just hope that Layla reaches Bridie’s dizzy heights as a stage actress, if that’s what she decides to do. I can’t think of a better person for Layla to look up to and aspire to follow.’
Bridie felt quite overcome with emotion.
Andy didn’t stop there. ‘I understand your concerns, Kate, about Layla getting consistent work, and supporting herself, but Bridie has done it. Why can’t she?’
Bridie’s next thought was,I don’t want to let Layla or her father down, so I’d better stay in work, and continue to be a role model for Layla.When the panto season ended in February, she already had another show lined up. She smiled. What could possibly go wrong?
Chapter 3
Bridie waited for her grandad to come to the door. ‘Ah, Bridie. I knew it was you.’
Bridie stepped inside his small flat. Of course he knew it was her. She was the only one who made the effort to visit. She had thought her sister might come with her that morning before returning to Suffolk, but they’d left late last night after the meal once the plans had been laid for their father’s retirement party. Kate had changed her mind about staying Friday night at Jeremy’s and wanted to spend the weekend at home before Monday arrived together with her long daily commute into work.
Bridie had a sneaking suspicion that Kate didn’t want there to be any chance of Layla and Andy twisting her arm to attend the Saturday matinee of Bridie’s show, which she’d invited them all to. Bridie knew there were still tickets available.
Jeremy only lived across London, but she knew he worked long hours too, and at the weekend they went jogging, played squash at their local gym club, and spent quality time with their pooches, who went to doggy day care during the week. It wasn’t any of her business, but she really didn’t see where having children fitted into their lifestyle. Nor did making any effort tovisit their paternal grandad. He was the only grandparent still alive, but clearly that didn’t mean anything.
Bridie did wonder whether the real reason Jeremy and Kate failed to visit was not because of their busy lives, but out of loyalty to their dad. Their grandad and dad were estranged.
Whatever had gone on between them, Bridie thought it was none of her concern. Neither one of them would speak about it, and Bridie didn’t want to take sides. However, she had always been her grandad’s favourite – and her siblings knew it.
While they were growing up in Suffolk, whenever they’d visited their paternal grandparents in London, her grandad and grandma had always taken her to a West End show. Perhaps if they’d taken Kate and Jeremy, they’d have fallen in love with the theatre too. Not that she imagined either of them would have fallen in love with it so much they’d want to go on the stage.
It had always been Bridie’s only chance to go to the theatre. Their parents never took them, not even to a local panto. Unfortunately, going to the theatre just wasn’t their thing. But it was a love that Bridie had always shared with her grandad.
She followed him into his cramped lounge. The old-fashioned, decades-old carpet with its vibrant green and red pattern that she remembered had long since faded. The bulky G-Plan furniture was too large, and too dark, for the room, but it had been her grandma’s choice, and her grandad wouldn’t part with any of it.
The dresser held lots of framed photos from years gone by of his and her grandma’s wedding day, and of her dad, their only child, as a baby, along with various photos of him growing up. There were photos of his three grandchildren when they were younger, and photos of Jeremy and Kate’s graduation days. In pride of place was a large photo of Bridie taken outside the theatre after her very first stage production in the West End.
Bridie took a seat opposite the sofa and waited for her grandad to make them a cup of tea. She watched him anxiously as he carried the tea tray to the coffee table beside the sofa, forcing herself to sit there and watch, when all she wanted to do was run up to him and take the heavy tea tray out of his hands. She wouldn’t dare. He was independent and would get very cross if she treated him like he was an invalid. That’s what he’d said to her once: ‘I’m old, not an invalid.’
Bridie sat there listening to the cups rattling in the saucers as he placed the tea tray on the coffee table. She smiled at the old teapot that had belonged to her late grandmother, along with the hand-knitted tea cosy. As she’d always said, if you’re going to do something, do it properly. And that extended to a cup of tea. There were no teabags in their flat – just loose-leaf tea. It was a faff, but worth it.
She watched her grandad pick up the tea strainer and pour tea into her cup, adding a dash of milk from the delicate jug. Lastly, he spooned a sugar cube into her cup. Bridie wondered where he had found the sugar cubes. She hadn’t seen sugar cubes on the shop shelves for a long time. Her grandad’s neighbour shopped for him. She thought she might ask one day.
She picked up her teacup and took a sip. Her grandmother had always said that nothing tasted better than loose-leaf tea. She was right.
When her grandad was settled on the sofa, drinking his cuppa, Bridie put her teacup down. She had something to ask him.
