Page 42 of The Knitting Club at Wagtail Ridge

‘That’s enough, Vicki. Now, you should go to your room, shut the door and think about your manners.’

With a pout, Vicki turned away. As soon as he heard the door to her room close, Matt turned to Sally. When he held out the phone for her to take, his hand was almost shaking with rage.

‘How dare you?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Who gives a six-year-old a phone? And what gives you the right to do that without talking to me?’

‘I was worried after that business with the animal blood. I thought it would be good if she could call us—or you—if she was frightened or lost or something.’

‘Sally. I take good care of Vicki. She’s not going to get lost. She’s a smart kid. And with that phone, she’d be on the internet in no time at all and would be exposed to all … that. Or she’d be playing games, or a hundred other things she shouldn’t be doing at her age. Take this back and, please, don’t ever bring a present for my daughter again without asking.’

‘Well—’

‘I mean it, Sally. Brian. I can’t have her being pulled in two directions like this. She’s only now beginning to bounce back from losing her mother.’

‘You want her to forget Kim. I won’t stand for that!’ Sally shouted.

‘Please lower your voice,’ Matt said calmly. ‘I can assure you I would never want her to forget her mother. And that has nothing to do with what we are talking about. Please put that phone back in your bag and take it home with you.’

‘But—’

Help came from an unexpected direction. ‘Sally. Matt’s right.’ Brian leaned over to pat his wife’s hand. She snatched it away. ‘We probably should all calm down, then go and have a nice lunch with Vicki. That’s why we came up here.’

Matt stood up. Before going into Vicki’s room, he stopped by the bathroom, washed his face and looked at himself in the mirror. How had things come to this?I’m so sorry, Kim. I didn’t handle that well. I just want to protect her. And I don’t want to stop your parents seeing her. But I don’t know what to do now.

As always, he was answered only by silence.

He knocked on the door of Vicki’s room before opening it. He found her sitting on her bed, her face stained with tears.

‘Oh, honey.’ He sat down next to her and hugged her. Hard.

‘I’m sorry, Daddy.’ Her voice was muffled against his shoulder.

‘And I’m sorry too, Vicki.’ He kissed the top of her head.

‘I don’t want to forget Mummy. But sometimes it’s hard. She’s been gone for so long.’

So she’d heard Sally’s accusation. She shouldn’t have to cope with that. ‘I know. I’ll always help you to remember her. The most important thing is to remember that your mummy loved you very, very much.’

There was a sniff against his shoulder and he gave her another squeeze before gently pulling away to look down into her face. ‘Do you understand why you can’t keep the phone Granny bought?’

‘Because I’m too little?’ When she was upset, Vicki always sounded even younger than she was.

‘Yes, you are. I promise I’ll buy you the right phone when you’re a little bit older.’

Vicki nodded.

‘And remember, Granny and Grandpa love you too. They want you to be happy and sometimes they make mistakes. Just like I do. And just like you do sometimes too.’

She nodded again and Matt pulled her into his arms for a few more seconds, holding her as if he would never let her go.

‘Now, you go and wash your face,’ he said as he released her. ‘Then we can go for lunch. And after lunch, the library is coming, so you can go and get some more books.’

‘I asked Miss Lou to bring more books about alpacas.’

He laughed. ‘Well, we can go and see if she has managed to find any that you haven’t already read.’

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