‘Just wait there while I check the upstairs windows,’ she told them, then headed back into the house and straight upstairs to the bedroom she’d shared with Joel.
Their summer clothes were stored away in vacuum-packed bags under the bed. She pulled the bag belonging to Joel out and decided if he wanted his shorts and other summer clothes he could look for them himself. She threw it down the stairs where it landed with a thud in the hallway.
Then she hauled the two black bin bags from the wardrobe and threw them downstairs, too.
There, that was Joel sorted. She closed her bedroom door and went downstairs herself, a grim smile on her face as she wondered what he’d say when he saw what was waiting for him in the hall.
‘You’re lucky I haven’t cut them all up into pieces,’ she said to him, as if he were standing right in front of her. ‘Be grateful I haven’t changed the locks.’
The house was neat and tidy. She’d made sure of that. He couldn’t find fault or complain. For a moment she considered leaving him a note explaining why she wasn’t at home but changed her mind. No, why should she? He was the one who’d walked out. He didn’t even have the decency to tell her he was going, or to say goodbye to his daughters. And he was planning to avoid the girls tonight, too. Coward. All because he didn’t want a ‘scene’.
Well, he’d get what he wanted. There’d be no scene, because there’d be no one there to have it with. His clothes were waiting for him. He could put them in his car and go.
She kicked the bags so they lined up against the wall, then left the house, locking it carefully behind her.
Mac answered the door when Jenna knocked, the two girls hopping up and down beside her in excitement.
‘Well,’ he said with a broad smile, ‘look who’s here! Come in. Your mum’s just faffing around in the twins’ room. You know what she’s like. She wanted to make it really welcoming for you all.’
‘I’m sorry, I know we’re a bit early,’ Jenna said awkwardly, but he waved her apology away.
‘Don’t be daft. Do you know what time we have to get up to let out the hens and the ducks? Not to mention see to all the rest of the menagerie? It’s the middle of the afternoon as far as we’re concerned.’
‘Are you sure you don’t mind us being here?’ Jenna whispered as the twins pushed past her and ran towards the kitchen.
He patted her shoulder. ‘Honestly, we’re glad to have you. Stop worrying. Just treat this place as your own.’
‘Thank you, Mac. I really appreciate it.’
‘Not at all. Now, do you want me to get your luggage? I presume you have some,’ he said with a twinkle in his blue eyes.
‘No, honestly. I can?—’
‘It’s no problem. Go in and make yourself at home. Your mum’ll be down in a minute, so if you want to stick the kettle on while I grab your cases that’d be great.’
Jenna nodded gratefully and followed her daughters into the kitchen. Hallie already had a blissfully happy Carne on her lap, and Ada was peering out of the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the Humber through the hedgerow.
‘You’re here already!’ Alison came rushing into the room, all smiles on her slightly flushed face. ‘I was just putting some fresh flowers in your rooms. I’ve put new bedding on the beds – we really do need to get some single beds. Are you girls all right to share a double?’
Ada and Hallie assured her that they were, and it would be an adventure, before rushing over to give her hugs.
The kitchen descended into noisy chaos, as Carne yapped in excitement and the twins told their grandma all about the caravan they’d made from the Wendy house, and Mac brought the suitcases in and Alison tried to tell Jenna which rooms she’d given them.
‘Whoa!’ Mac said at last, when everyone finally calmed down. ‘That was a bit full on! Right, cup of tea for your mum, I think, and how do you two girls fancy some raspberry lemonade?’
The girls fancied it very much indeed. Jenna apologised about five times for forgetting to put the kettle on, although both her mum and Mac laughed it off and told her to stop saying she was sorry.
After a soothing drink, Alison and Jenna headed upstairs with the suitcases, leaving Mac to entertain the children while Jenna unpacked and put away their belongings.
‘Oh, Mum, this looks lovely,’ she said, gazing round the spare room in delight. ‘You’ve decorated!’
‘Yes. I couldn’t wait to get started,’ Alison admitted. ‘The bedrooms were the only rooms in the house that needed any attention. You know how awful Mac’s room was when I moved in!’
Jenna laughed, recalling how her mum had wrinkled her nose as she’d shown Jenna around Watersmeet for the first time. It had been Mac’s family home and his room hadn’t really been touched since he was a teenager and went away to university. He’d not returned to live in Kelsea Sands until early this year, and in the meantime his late mother had kept his room practically as a shrine to him.
Apart from a new bed there’d been nothing done there for over forty-four years, so it was no wonder Alison had immediately taken charge, ordering new furniture, curtains and carpet, and painting and wallpapering the room to make it fresh and homely.
It seemed she’d also gone to town on the spare rooms. Jenna’s, which overlooked the side garden and the Humber, was painted in a soft lemon, with a thick, pale blue carpet and pastel blue and lemon curtains. Her mum had put a blue and white striped jug on the dressing table and filled it with yellow and white roses.
