Page 49 of Her Fixer Upper

‘Your table, madam,’ he said bowing deeply and then escorting me to my seat. He stood behind the camping chair and pushed it in as I sat down, as if we were in a fancy restaurant.

‘Dinner was meant to be my treat,’ I protested, making to get up.

‘You stay seated, I’ll sort it out. I’m very good at following direction,’ he said.

‘I hadn’t noticed,’ I said. He responded with a grin. ‘Fair enough, if you insist. The risotto should be nicely cooked by now, so all you need to do is serve it.’

‘Delicious,’ said Charlie as he ladled the portions onto the plates. Ted sidled into view and plonked himself down at our feet, never one to let a potential opportunity for scraps pass him by.

We took our time, talking and laughing throughout the meal. And afterwards we settled down on the second-hand sofa. Sitting together watching Netflix on Charlie’s propped up iPad while Ted snuggled on our laps felt properly wonderful, the way things should be. Once again I felt that burgeoning longing for something more. But a casual remark from Charlie, speculating how much value the new kitchen would add to the house, soon brought me back to my senses, and reminded me to stop letting flights of fancy interfere with our very sensible plan to sell up and move on.

ChapterTwenty-Three

As the kitchen started to bear some resemblance to a place where you’d actually feel comfortable preparing food, I got the news I’d been waiting for. Granddad Arthur was finally going to be discharged from hospital. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean he was well enough to return straight home, but instead he would be going into a care home where he would get intensive physiotherapy with the aim of giving him his independence back. Despite the fact that he was leaving hospital, Granddad had not taken the news about the care home well.

‘Care homes are full of old people,’ he’d complained, failing to accept that he would probably be one of the oldest residents there. I understood the sentiment behind his words, that he was scared that once he went into a home, there would be no return. I knew it was his idea of hell to be trapped in a place where there was enforced jollity and everyone treated him like an idiot. Mum reassured me that they’d managed to find somewhere really special for him where there would be no such patronising behaviour, but when I rang them up to arrange my first visit, I didn’t have a good feeling.

The woman at the other end of the line had a very no-nonsense manner of speaking.

‘Visiting hours are between twelve and three, and you must sign in on arrival. It’s for security reasons.’

‘Fair enough,’ I said, although I really didn’t like the idea of visiting being a restricted thing only allowed between certain hours. ‘And can we bring Granddad’s dog to see him?’

There was a sharp intake of breath. ‘A dog? Categorically no,’ she said, in a tone of voice that made it sound like I’d suggested smuggling illegal drugs into the home.

‘Can I ask why that is? Is it for health reasons?’ I said, determined to push the issue, for Granddad’s sake.

‘They are disruptive to the residents and get in the way,’ she retorted. There was clearly nothing more to discuss.

I rang off and turned to Charlie, a disappointed expression on my face. ‘They’ve said no to bringing Ted. Granddad is going to be gutted.’

‘It’s not because there’s someone in the home who’s really allergic?’

‘No, I got the impression that the woman on reception doesn’t like dogs. Probably too much fun for the residents. That’s such a shame. Granddad will be so sad, and I promised Ted a visit too.’

‘Perhaps it’s time we reviewed our “Terrible Twosome” credentials. We can’t be disappointing Arthur and Ted, after all.’

‘I’m not sure what we can do about it. We don’t want to get Granddad into trouble.’

‘Rediscover your sense of adventure, Freya. What’s the worst that they can do? Don’t worry, I have a plan,’ said Charlie.

The plan involved smuggling Ted into the home in a giant Ikea bag. Simple, but hopefully effective, although I had my doubts. Charlie parked around the corner, and then we coaxed Ted into the bag.

‘Are you sure he’s going to be all right in this?’ I said, already envisaging the countless things that could go wrong, many of which involved us getting Granddad evicted from the home for breaking the rules.

‘He’ll be absolutely fine, won’t you, Ted? It’s nice and open at the top so he’ll get plenty of air, and as long as he stays still, the bossy person on reception will be none the wiser. We’ll say we’re bringing some extra clothes in for Arthur.’

‘Hmm, it’s the staying still bit I’m worried about. I can’t recall Ted ever staying still, not even after he cut his paw open on some glass when he was a puppy.’

Ted peered up at me with his big brown eyes and I swear he winked.

Charlie gently lifted the bag up on his shoulder and stood there, trying to look nonchalant as the contents wriggled.

‘You couldn’t look more suspicious if you tried,’ I said.

‘We’ll go for distraction techniques,’ said Charlie, seizing my hand and striding forward so confidently that I had little choice but to go along with him.

‘Why are we holding hands?’ I hissed as we walked up the front steps and into the reception.

---