Amelia Grey's Fireside Dream (16 page)

‘It’s going to look good, isn’t it, when it’s all finished?’ Jack said.

‘I hope so,’ I said. ‘I’m just hoping that the kitchen fitters don’t mess anything else up when they arrive tomorrow.’

*

‘Delivery for Mrs Grey?’ the man said, the following Friday.

I nodded. ‘It’s a kitchen dresser, right?’

‘Yes – an antique one. Where would you like it?’

‘Over there in the kitchen. I think we’re finally ready for it.’

He returned to his van and I thought back on the past week. The kitchen fitters had returned on Monday, full of apologies for the inconvenience of the leak, and worked hard until the new cabinets and sink were installed. While Jack was at work, and Callum and his cousin raked and cut back weeds in the garden, I cleaned the new units and painted the kitchen walls a pale eggshell blue.

The fridge, a red Smeg one I’d been lusting after ever since I saw it on
The Great British Bake Off
, had arrived on Wednesday and now nestled against the larder door, and I’d picked up a flower-patterned rug online which, placed under our modest table and chairs, warmed up the room and the stone floor really nicely.

In the evenings, when Jack had his head in a book or was catching up on his emails, I’d been busy at the sewing machine. I’d sewn some seat cushions in complementary pastel shades for each wooden chair, and some small cotton curtains were hand-tied on to the curtain rail above the kitchen window.

The dresser I’d snapped up on eBay for just under a hundred quid was the final piece of furniture we’d been waiting for.

‘Over here,’ I said as the man entered, carrying the dresser. ‘In that alcove next to the Aga.’

He put the dresser down and together we shuffled it back. It looked even better than it had on the site, painted white and slightly distressed in places, with a small two-door cupboard at the base and three wooden shelves above.

I thanked him and gave him a tip, then got out the box I’d been longing to open since we arrived. One by one I unpacked my teapots, took off the bubble wrap and placed them on the dresser shelves. As I did so, I spotted something tucked away in a crack on the floor, where the newly exposed flagstones met the wall.

I reached down and tugged at it. The brown paper began to come loose and soon an envelope was in my hands, the bottom of it burnt. Sitting down at the kitchen table, I pressed the creases flat so I could read what was written on the outside – the address was almost burnt away, but the name was there:
Alfie Monroe
.

I opened it and caught sight of a lock of dark hair, tied with a blue ribbon. Attached to it was a note.

Application for a place at Little Raccoons Nursery, Dalston. For Bella Graham. D/O/B 13/9/2013. Parents: Sunita, Nico.

Saturday, 21 September

The 10.05 to London Bridge on Saturday morning. While most people might be heading in the opposite direction for their weekend’s peace and relaxation, I couldn’t wait to get back to the city.

I caught sight of the Shard, the pointed glass tower – a reminder of the city that had once been home. Over the two weeks I’d been away from London, I’d found myself missing the familiar streets but more than that, my friends.

The train pulled into London Bridge and I got my things
together. I stepped out into the chilly autumn air, and pulled my coat tightly around me. I bought a takeaway coffee from the platform kiosk to warm me up, then travelled overground to Dalston Junction. Sunita’s home was a short walk from there – a garden flat in a row of Victorian terraces, an oasis of calm in busy East London. She opened the door to me, and her eyes lit up instantly. ‘Amelia!’

She went to draw me into her usual warm hug, then remembered the baby in her sling that I was about to squash and kissed me on the cheek instead. ‘Keep forgetting,’ she said with a smile.

‘This must be Bella.’ I peered inside the fabric sling. Even with her slightly squished-up face, she was definitely adorable. ‘She’s gorgeous.’

‘Thanks,’ Sunita said proudly, turning so that I got a clearer view. ‘We’re pretty chuffed, I have to say. And believe me, it takes a lot to make twenty hours’ worth of labour seem worthwhile. Come in, come in, and get warm.’

Carly came out of the living room and hugged me hello. ‘You’re here!’

‘I am, for one day only,’ I said, wishing it was for longer. ‘I wasn’t going to miss meeting Bella. Where’s Nico? He was going to take some time off work, wasn’t he?’

‘Yes. I’ve just sent him out to get some supplies – most importantly, cake – for us. I think he was happy to get out of the house for a while.’

‘How’s he taking to fatherhood so far?’ I asked.

‘Good, actually,’ Sunita said. ‘Better than I expected. He seems to love it – he’s knackered, like me. It’s a pretty intense time. We knew it would be, but perhaps we didn’t realize
quite
how intense.’

‘And there we were thinking it was just a convenient excuse for you to have some time off work,’ Carly joked.

Sunita rolled her eyes playfully. ‘Hardly. I’ve been busier in the past few days than I’ve ever been before.’

‘And you, Missus?’ I asked Carly. ‘How’s the dating going? Any news on the romantic front? Good? Bad? Ugly?’

Carly gave me a thumbs-up sign, a smile breaking out on her face.

‘You’ve met someone? Who? What’s he like?’

‘Not quite,’ she said coyly.

‘What do you mean?’ I said, poking her in the arm. ‘Spill.’

‘I’m seeing Alex tonight, for the first time as a proper couple.’

‘What?’ I squealed and gave her a hug. Sunita joined in. ‘What on earth happened? I thought that was all over?’

‘I don’t really know,’ Carly said. ‘Jules just changed his mind. According to Alex, he spoke to his mum about it and she somehow brought him round.’

‘That’s fantastic news.’

‘I know.’ Carly glowed. ‘I still can’t quite believe it.’

‘Right. With so much to talk about, who fancies a cuppa?’ I asked.

‘Gasping for one,’ Sunita said. ‘Being woken up on the hour every hour will do that to you. Nico’s been trying to help, but there’s not much he can really do without a pair of these.’ She pointed to her boobs.

‘God, they’re enormous,’ I said, before I could stop myself. I hadn’t noticed them at first but now they were all I could see – full, round, and not at all like the 34A cup Sunita had moaned about all the way through college.

‘Aren’t they? I wish I could hang on to them, but I have this nagging feeling that they are going to be taken off me at some point. I’ll be kicking and screaming while they drag them away though.’

I made tea in Sunita’s bright kitchen and then she led us through to her living room and we all sat down. ‘How’s it all going out there?’ she asked.

‘Good,’ I said. ‘Some of it. A lot of it’s chaos. But we’ve got the kitchen finished and it looks gorgeous – a proper country kitchen. Here, look …’

I took out my iPhone and showed them pictures of the kitchen we’d made over.

‘Did you make those cushions? They’re so sweet,’ Suni said. ‘It’s like something out of a magazine.’

‘I do love the way it’s turned out. We had to compromise a bit on the units, but they look OK now that they’re in. We
didn’t have any running water for a little while, which was interesting.’

‘How about the rest of the house?’ Carly asked.

‘Don’t ask. Rotted window frames, ancient old carpets … All things considered, we’ll probably be finished some time next century. But I’ve got someone in to help out with the garden.’

‘Ooh, is he dishy, the gardener?’ Sunita said. ‘I’ve always fancied one of those.’

I laughed. ‘He’s nice. Easy on the eyes, I suppose. He’s the owner’s grandson, so the plan is to get the garden looking a bit more like it used to before it grew wild.’

‘How are you managing financially? Did you put enough aside?’ Carly asked.

‘It’s going to be tight. I reckon we can do quite a lot ourselves though.’

‘Don’t want to be the harbinger of doom,’ Carly said, ‘but that’s what I thought when Ethan and I tried it.’

Carly and her ex, Ethan, had bought a period property in Dalston about ten years previously and gutted it. But after knocking two walls down they’d realized they didn’t have enough money to finish the job – and after months of arguing, split up.

‘I think we’ll be OK,’ I said, trying to stay positive. ‘We’re not making any structural changes.’ I thought of the cottage – while we might not be knocking any walls down, every
single room in the place needed work. My heart sank a little.

‘Is Jack enjoying it?’ Sunita rearranged her position on the sofa slightly so that she could breastfeed Bella.

‘I think so. His commute hasn’t been that easy.’ I paused. ‘It’s not been entirely what either of us hoped for.’

‘In what way?’ Carly asked. ‘You got out of our hellhole of a school, didn’t you?’

‘Yes, I did,’ I said, taking a sip of tea. ‘Although, believe it or not, I do miss it in some ways.’

‘You were so brave to take the leap,’ Carly said.

‘Brave or stupid,’ I said. ‘Buying this cottage without having seen it properly was, I realize now, a kind of madness.’

‘Jack went to see it that day you were ill, didn’t he?’ Carly said. ‘When I put you to bed you were saying something about Simon Cowell and elephants. Completely out of it.’

‘Yep, then. And when I went back I couldn’t get inside to see all the rooms. But after talking to Jack and my mum, it sounded like a bargain, a no-brainer.’

‘And it’s not?’ Suni asked.

‘It’s a wreck.’

‘Jack probably didn’t realize himself how much needed doing,’ Carly said.

‘I know,’ I said. ‘It’s a challenge, but we’ll do it. It just feels like a lot at the moment.’

Sunita was listening, but also focusing on feeding Bella at the same time.

‘Why don’t me and Alex come down and help you out for a weekend?’

‘You and Alex?’ I smiled at her. It all seemed so familiar and easy.

‘I know, I’m totally jumping the gun, and I sound like a crazy person,’ she said, ‘but if things work out between us, I mean. We could do a bit of painting, DIY – whatever you need.’

‘That would be great,’ I said. ‘If you’re sure you don’t mind giving up your weekend time? I know what it’s like when term starts again.’

‘Of course not. I’d love to come down and see where you’re living. After all, I’m not going to be able to grab you for a quick chat in the staffroom any more. Speaking of school,’ Carly went on, ‘are you sure you don’t want to come back? Garrett is going out of his mind thinking about how to replace you.’

‘I don’t think so. Although I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do now. Supply work for a while, I reckon, once the house is finished, and then one of the local schools, Woodlands, said they might be looking for a new teacher in the spring term. It seemed nice there, pretty different from St Catherine’s.’

‘Different how? Quiet? Organized? Not like a zoo?’

‘Yes, that, more or less,’ I said, laughing.

‘That reminds me – I have something for you,’ Carly said. ‘We had a training day on Monday and I popped up to check my pigeonhole afterwards. Saw there was something in there with your name on it.’

She took a white A4 envelope out of her bag and passed it to me. My name was written in capital letters in blue biro, and the envelope was heavy.

‘A secret admirer?’ Sunita said, doing up her nursing bra and settling a rosy-cheeked Bella back into her arms.

‘Doubt it,’ I said.

‘Open it, then,’ Carly said.

I opened the envelope and took out the sheets of lined paper inside. I didn’t need to read a word to know who it was from – my phone and wallet fell on to my lap.

I opened the other sheets of paper.

If I Were Prime Minister
by Trey Donoghue

If I were PM, I’d still keep my staffy, Rocco. He’d be top dog at No. 10, with one of those harnesses with the studs on it. School would be shorter, maybe just a couple of hours a day and then we’d learn some stuff that would be more useful. I’d like it if I could learn some more stuff, like about fixing cars. I like cars, engines, anything to do with them, and I’m quite good at fixing things too. That’s what people tell me, anyway.

If I was in charge of Britain then I would talk to the police, tell them to focus on the real criminals and not stop and
search people who are just hanging with their friends, or walking down the street, or just because you’re wearing a cap or something. That bugs me. If I was in charge then I’d have to start doing some real study and stop messing around. There you go. That’s it really.

The End

When I’d read over Trey’s essay I passed it on to Carly and Sunita. ‘He finished something.’ I smiled, feeling a wave of pride.

‘Wow. You got this out of Trey? Blimey,’ Carly said. ‘I haven’t even got a word out of him the whole time I’ve been teaching him.’

‘I’ll tell Lewis about him returning my stuff,’ I said, putting my phone and wallet back in my handbag. ‘He should know that Trey’s done the right thing.’

‘Are you OK?’ Sunita said, spotting my eyes watering.

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Yes, I’m good.’

Bella started to wail, and the conversation came to an abrupt end as Sunita got up and starting striding around the room in an attempt to soothe her.