Page 25 of The Knitting Club at Wagtail Ridge

‘She told me you said you couldn’t afford for her to go on this school trip. So I told her she could go and we would pay for her.’

‘You shouldn’t have done that, Sally.’

‘Whyever not? She’s our granddaughter. If we can give her the things you can’t, we will.’

‘Can you hold on?’ Matt got up from behind the desk. ‘Vicki, I’m stepping outside for a minute. You wait here. Read your books.’

‘And I can go on the trip, Daddy?’ Her eyes, so like her mother’s, were shining.

He didn’t have the heart to say no.

As the office door shut behind him, cutting off Vicki’s excited cheer, Matt put the phone back to his ear. ‘Sally. We’ve had this discussion before. It’s very generous of you, but you can’t just do things like this without talking to me first. It’s not the right thing for Vicki.’

‘How can going on the school outing not be right for her?’

‘It’s not that. She has to understand that she can’t have everything she wants. If you do things like this, she’ll start asking you for stuff all the time and expecting to get it. As she gets older, she’ll play the two of us off against each other.’

‘Kim would have wanted her to have all these things.’

‘Emotional blackmail, Sally?’ Anger made his words blunt. ‘I thought that was beneath you. I’m her father. I’ll raise her as Kim and I planned to raise her. And I don’t want you interfering with that.’

‘Interfering? Because we want to help.’

‘Sally. I mean it. You and Brian are Vicki’s grandparents, part of our family, and I hope you’ll always be close to her. But you have to start listening to me about things like this. And ask me before you make promises to her. This is the last time.’

‘What do you mean the last time?’

‘The last time I will let you do this. Next time, talk to me and we can do things together. But if you do this again, I’ll say no. And I’ll explain to Vicki why.’

Stunned silence on the phone was replaced by a dull whirr as Sally hung up. Matt took a couple of deep breaths before going back into his office.

‘Thank you for saying I can ride the ponies.’ Vicki greeted him with a hug.

‘Remember, it’s just this one time. As a special present. It doesn’t mean you can have a pony of your own.’

‘Why can’t I have a pony? Granny and Grandpa would pay for him if it’s too much money.’

This was exactly what Matt had feared. ‘Honey, I wish I could give you everything you want, but the world isn’t like that. Sometimes I will have to say no. Do you understand?’

Vicki frowned. ‘I think so.’

‘Good. Now, it’s time for the library to open. Do you want to go and get some more books?’

‘Yes. Miss Lou said she would try to get me more books on alpacas.’

‘Well, then, give me a minute to close the office and we can walk down together.’

The mobile library was parked, as it was every fortnight, beside the hall. It was already doing a roaring trade, with kids and adults streaming up and down the metal steps, clutching books. Jake was attaching a notice to the side of the truck.

‘Hi, Jake.’

‘Matt. Thanks for the recommendation with Bree. I’ve done some work for her.’

‘My pleasure. How’s it all going?’

‘Fine. I’m done now. She said her alpacas were arriving yesterday, and—’

Vicki squealed. ‘Alpacas! When can we go and see them, Daddy? This weekend? Please!’

---