Gaby smiled. “We’ll get you on the mend before you know it.”
“I certainly hope so, my dear.”
“Okay then, tea for two coming right up.”
She walked to the kitchen at the back of the house and soon found her way around it, filling the kettle and locating the tea bags and mugs. In the fifteen years since she’d been here, Jill had redecorated the kitchen with new wall tiles and flooring and a smart new countertop, but the layout remained the same. It was strangely comforting to know exactly where to find everything she needed, even after so much time away.
While the tea brewed in the pot, Gaby checked out the fridge and cupboards, noting the food supplies on hand and thinking about what she could prepare for their evening meal. Cooking plenty of comforting and nurturing meals for her aunt could only help her recovery.
Carrying the tea tray through to the living room, Gaby noticed the various changes around the house that had passed her by when she’d first arrived and her only interest was greeting her aunt. Like the kitchen with its new tiles and countertops, the hallway too had undergone some updating. The walls were now a pale yellow when they’d been blue last time around, and Gaby was sure the hardwood flooring was new, too.
“Did you change the hallway flooring since I was last here?” she asked as she set the tea tray on the coffee table and handed a mug to her aunt.
“I did,” Jill said, accepting the mug with a grateful smile. “The old laminate flooring was scuffed and well past its best, so I invested in solid oak flooring and a professional fitter who knew what he was doing. It was money very well spent.”
“I agree. It looks fantastic, especially with the soft yellow walls and your framed prints adding colour and warmth.”
“Exactly what I think, too. I replaced the staircase carpet too, which warms things up even more.”
“I hadn’t even noticed that.”
“You’ll see it when you take your luggage upstairs. I prepared the guest room for you before I went into hospital.”
“Thank you, but I hope you didn’t go to too much trouble.”
“I went to as much trouble as I wanted. You’re my niece and it was important to me to make sure the guest room was nice and comfortable for your arrival. Fresh sheets, fresh towels, fresh flowers on the chest of drawers. And you’ll have the upstairs bathroom to yourself while you’re staying here, because I’m sleeping on the sofa bed in the dining room and using the downstairs shower room until I feel confident about tackling the stairs.”
Gaby was pleased to know Jill had made the temporary shift to living on the ground floor while she endured the initial period of healing post-surgery. Considering Jill’s laboured movements since Gaby arrived, she doubted her aunt would manage to climb up and down the stairs right now.
“Were you okay here on your own last night?” Gaby asked. “I really wish I could’ve been here for your first night back home from the hospital.”
“I was fine. I organised the sofa bed in the dining room before I went into the hospital and made sure everything I’d need was down here. My neighbour, Diana, brought me home when I was discharged and made sure I was all set for the night. She’s a godsend and was good enough to bring fresh milk and bread to keep me going, too. She looked in this morning before she went to work and insisted I let her know if I needed any help this evening. Which reminds me, she asked me to confirm that you’d arrived, to put her mind at ease that I’m not here by myself, and said if she didn’t hear from me by the time she got home from her shift, she’d come round to check up on me. I’ll just send her a message to save her the trouble.”
While Jill texted her neighbour, Gaby sipped her tea and looked around the living room. This space was also different from what she remembered from that long ago summer when she’d stayed here. The carpet had been changed, the paintedwalls had given way to an elegant wallpaper, and the sofa and armchairs were new, each piece plush and comfortable and upholstered in a complementary mix of rich jewel tones. The room was cosy and welcoming, the heavy velvet curtains closed against the dark evening and the sleek electric fire adding warmth and dancing light from the simulated flames.
Gaby liked that her aunt invested in her home, creating a place of sanctuary and comfort. It was the perfect environment for Jill’s post-surgery rehabilitation.
Jill finished typing her text message and almost immediately received a ping in response.
“Diana says we’ve to let her know if we need any help,” Jill said, squinting at the screen.
“She sounds like a lovely neighbour.”
“She’s brilliant. I’m blessed with many lovely neighbours here. Foxglove Street is that sort of place.” Jill set her phone aside and picked up her mug of tea from the table beside her armchair. “Now, while I’m thrilled to have you rushing to my aid Gaby, I want to ask again about how it is exactly that you can afford to give up almost two weeks of work to stay here. It doesn’t sit right with me that you’re losing wages or salary on my account.”
They’d had this discussion over the phone before Jill went into the hospital, but Gaby wasn’t surprised she’d raised it again. Gaby was always either working or rushing off to start a new job somewhere, and a two-week break was unusual. Even when she did carve out time between jobs for what might loosely be considered a ‘holiday’, she usually spent it attending hospitality conferences or learning new skills or decamping to new destinations on her bucket list and checking out the best hotels and resorts and restaurants there, always hungry to absorb as much as she could about the industry she loved.
“Originally I only had a four-day gap between my Madrid contract ending and a new one beginning in Seville,” Gaby explained. “When you phoned to tell me you’d received confirmation of your surgery slot, I hoped that might be enough time to help you through the worst of the recovery, but if you were still struggling after a few days, I’d planned to trigger a clause in my contract to get out of the Seville job for family reasons. However, a week ago the Seville job fell through because the hotel I was supposed to be working at suffered a fire and roof collapse in their conference centre and they had to cancel all their bookings. I would’ve been there for two months to manage their conference contracts, but as they’re now dealing with a serious structural emergency, they obviously don’t need me anymore.”
“That sounds dreadful. I hope no one was hurt.”
“There were no injuries, thank goodness, because it happened overnight when the conference centre was closed.”
“That’s something, at least. But I’m sure you could’ve easily picked up work elsewhere if you’d wanted to.”
“Ididn’twant to. I want to beherewithyou. Like I said, I would’ve triggered a clause to get out of the contract in order to be here with you if I thought you needed more help.”
“Well, while I’m certainly grateful to have your company and help, I would never have allowed you to break a work commitment in order to be here with me. And I have no doubt you could’ve easily picked up another contract elsewhere after this Seville work fell through. I feel sure I won’t need you running around after me for almost two weeks.”
