She screwed the lid back onto the bottle and tossed it onto her bed before descending the ladder.
‘It might be best to leave the painting for today and have some relaxation time,’ I said.
She looked up at her Tipp-Ex splodges and released a sob. ‘I thought it’d be easy but I’ve got paint everywhere and it looks…’She gazed round the rest of the room, her eyes wide. ‘I should have let you do it. I’ve screwed it up.’
‘It can all be sorted out.’
‘I can’t do anything right!’ she cried. ‘I’m useless!’
‘Don’t say that! It was your first attempt and, as you’ve discovered, it isn’t as easy as you’d thought.’
‘I’ve got paint in my hair.’ She lifted up a paint-encrusted lock.
‘That’ll wash out.’
‘And the paint on my duvet?’
‘Probably not.’
‘Argh! Told you I’m useless. I screw everything up.’ Her voice cracked on the final word and tears streamed down her cheeks.
I rushed over to hug her but she dodged past me, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hands. ‘You’ll get paint on you.’
‘I don’t care about that.’
‘I do. I’m going for a shower.’
She grabbed her bath robe and dashed out of her bedroom, leaving me bewildered as to what had just happened. I could understand her being upset at making a mess of the painting but she wasn’t in trouble with me. Granted, I was far from pleased that she’d refused my help, ignored my advice and created a bigger job, but I’d remained calm and it was Maddie who’d negatively assessed her work.
I sank down onto her bed, tears pricking my eyes. She’d been so harsh on herself.I’m useless. I can’t do anything right. I screw everything up.Where had that come from? I’d never heard her speak that way before. Those words suggested serious self-esteem issues and it was awful to witness when I was used to seeing her so confident.
Maddie wouldn’t appreciate me still being in her room after she’d showered, so I removed her paint-spattered pillowcases and duvet cover. The pillowcases should recover in the wash butI wasn’t convinced I’d be able to salvage the cover. The paint had seeped through to the duvet itself but there was nothing I could do about that now as we didn’t have a spare. I put a fresh set of bedding on and sighed heavily as I went back downstairs.
‘That doesn’t look good,’ Mam said as I headed through the kitchen to the utility room with the bundle of bedding.
‘Her room doesn’t look good,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘It’s like an explosion in a paint factory in there.’
‘Oh dear.’
‘It’s gonna take some sorting but the thing I’m most concerned about is Maddie’s reaction.’
I filled Mam in on what she’d said about herself and Mam frowned. ‘That’s not like her.’
‘That’s what I thought. I’ll let her have some downtime then try to speak to her about it.’
But when I went upstairs an hour later, Maddie refused to talk.
‘I’m watching a film. You said I should relax so that’s what I’m doing and I can’t do it with you banging on my door.’
That sounded more like the Maddie of late but it didn’t stop me being worried. Something was going on with my daughter and I was determined to get to the bottom of it.
23
The following day, Hope joined us straight from taking Lola and Max to school and, by mid-afternoon, we’d finished all the painting in the café.
‘I feel guilty,’ I said to Hope as we walked back to her car. ‘I keep stealing you from Nick to help out here but I haven’t even seen him yet.’
‘He doesn’t mind me being stolen for a good cause. The kids don’t have any after-school clubs on Thursdays. Why don’t the three of you come over for tea then?’
