‘Thank you. This afternoon was just what I needed. I swear the sea here has magical properties.’
‘And here I was thinking it was our company. I’m sure you’ll be as knackered as me, but do you want to come back for fish and chips?’
‘Would love to, but I should head back, I’ve got a busy week next week.’
‘You’ve got an exciting week next week. So we should celebrate and save you from having to cook for you and the boy tonight.’
‘Nicely argued. OK, you’re on, let’s enjoy the rest of today and then tomorrow I can get ready for school.’
As soon as the kids had finished their fish and chips the four of them curled up in front of the television in Alex’s living room, with Ellie dragging two beanbags right to the front of the TV, and Alex dragging them right back again, pointing out that he didn’t mind relaxing his rules occasionally but there was no need to push it.
With a movie on, full tummies and a day full of milking, shopping and swimming, it was only minutes before both children were snoring outright.
Sylvie sat in the corner of the sofa and Alex got up to grab some blankets, two to drape over the kids and a great big fluffy one to give to his grown-up guest.
‘Thank you.’ She smiled up at him, her wispy red hair perfectly contrasting with the grey fuzz of the blanket as she pulled it up and tucked it under her chin. He couldn’t help but melt a little; she looked so cute and he felt himself fill with a protective kind of love. He really hoped the morning had gone well for her.
‘Listen, we couldn’t talk openly earlier with the children there but…’ she flicked a look at the two little ones as a snore came from Ellie, ‘…I think we’re safe now. Ellie seems soundo. And we know nothing wakes Sam.’
‘Go on.’ Alex worked hard to mask the nerves in his voice as he spoke. Had she not been quite straight this morning? Had he made a dreadful mistake letting Ellie sleep over?
‘I just wanted you to know that when I signalled that all was OK with Ellie last night, I meant it – it really was.’ Alex’s shoulders loosened at her words. ‘She tuckled in and topped and tailed with Sam and the both of them giggled a lot, and I mean a lot, and then once she was asleep, she was asleep. I promisethat she didn’t wake screaming in the night. And I was ready, I stayed awake myself for ages.’
‘You didn’t need to do that.’ He could see the earnestness all across her face, still peeping out over the blanket, as she spoke to him.
‘I wanted to be there in a flash, I didn’t want her waking scared and then being in a strange place and that making things worse, so I was awake for a fair while, and I had dug out Sam’s old baby monitor and hidden it under the bed where they wouldn’t see it but it would pick up any noise and I placed the other one right by my bed. I’m sure, a hundred per cent sure, that had she woken I would have known about it. I really think I would.’
‘Oh, you would have done. When she has a difficult night she screams so loud, Sylvie, it cuts to your core. She screams in her sleep and then that’s what wakes her. They’re getting less frequent, I guess – and I hope that as she becomes more secure and has more and more memories made that they are pushing the old ones out, but I don’t have much experience with kids. I look at her in the day and she functions like a child who hasn’t had any trauma, but at night, when she sleeps, it becomes a whole different thing. Her counsellor says that the body can remember trauma even if the mind doesn’t so I guess this is that working itself out. It’s hard, though – the effects of this sort of thing are impossible to predict but as the terrors lessen I can only hope that she will be OK in the long term.’
‘I don’t begin to know how you cope with that, I really don’t. And you know she couldn’t have a better chance for recovery than you are giving her. But believe me when I tell you that last night she was fine, really fine.’
‘Thank you, that means a lot.’
‘It doesn’t have an awful lot to do with me, Alex. It’s you who’s provided this secure beautiful world for her, the world that’s allowing her to heal.’
‘Hmm, thank you. I know I haven’t told you the story yet, but I will.’
‘You don’t need to tell me anything. Really you don’t.’
Alex looked at her with a little half-smile of appreciation. ‘Tell me about yesterday. Did Tom respond well to you planning on moving out?’
‘Do you know what? He did. But it was all a bit of a shocker. I discovered why he’s been running from me.’
‘Wow! Really? Do tell. Is it because he half expects you to be a cattle rustler? Um, could it be he thinks you’re going to overrun the farm with even more small children? Oh, come on, tell me, what did he think you were going to do?’
‘Funny you should mention it, but your daughter has already warned him about cattle rustlers. And I’ve enough on my hands with the one I’ve already got – children that is. So no, neither of these things.’
‘I can’t think of what else it would be. You’re going to have to just tell me or we’ll be here all night.’ Which he would quite like.
‘He thought – and I can’t quite believe it – he thought I was trying to talk to him about probate and my mother’s will.’
‘Has that not been resolved yet?’
‘It has. And as far as I was concerned that was exactly what it was, but Tom didn’t think so.’
‘I want to be supportive, but you’re not making much sense.’
‘Mum left me her half of the farm when she died. Tom owns the other half – their father split it between them when he died. And he assumed, just assumed, and yet he has known me my entire life, that I was going to throw him out, kick him to the kerb and sell the farm. Or at the very least insist he gave me half the farm’s value in cash and that that was how I was going to setup a new home for me and Sam. I would never do that, Alex. I never would. I can’t believe anyone who knew me would think I would do that and I guess I’m a little hurt. I know it’s a silly thing, and all cleared up now, but did he really think that was who I am?’
