Page 12 of A Sky Full of Stars
Thea laughed, but Tristan sensed the underlying worry of a mother deeply concerned for her child and upset by her actions. ‘Let’s hope she can channel her rage in a better direction next time,’ he said.
‘Thanks, Tris. You always know how to cheer me up. And thanks for popping over to see Gran. She’s got a new lodger, and you know how that worries me. I don’t like the thought of her having strangers in the house. The kids say there’s a dog, too, so it would be great if you could just check out the latest pair of strays who’ve wandered into Gran’s orbit.’
Tristan groaned. ‘I thought she was going to stop having people staying in the annexe. It’s not like she needs the money.’
‘I know,’ Thea agreed, ‘but she says she likes the company still. You know she won’t be told what to do.’
‘I’ll go and make sure it’s not some scrounger,’ Tristan replied. ‘Hopefully it’s just a short-term thing.’
‘Hopefully,’ Thea echoed. ‘She’s getting too old to have people she doesn’t know living in the annexe. If it wasn’t so small, I’d offer to move in there myself and pay her the rent!’
‘You’d never survive it,’ Tristan laughed. ‘You’d drive each other mad in a week.’
‘Yeah, you’re probably right, but it doesn’t stop me worrying about who she does allow to live there.’
Signing off, they both said goodbye and Tristan replaced the receiver. He reckoned he had about another hour before he’d have to head over to check in on their grandmother. He felt irritated that, despite having a talk with her some months ago, she’d decided to take on another tenant. They’d never been problem, but there was always a first time, and he didn’t want to be the one who had to pick up the pieces if his grandmother had taken on more than she could handle. With a dog in the mix, too, goodness only knew what his gran had let herself in for.
Leaving his office sometime later, Tristan got behind the wheel of his Audi Q8 and drove the short distance to his grandmother’s home. Soon, when he was on site at Observatory Field, it would be quicker to walk through the woods and down the hill, than to drive round to Nightshade Cottage. He resolved that he would pop in and see Lorelai more regularly when he was on the development site. For tonight, though, he still had a lot of work to do, and he’d promised to call back a casual girlfriend to firm up some plans for the following weekend – or not. He still wasn’t quite sure whether or not to commit himself.
Pulling off the main road and down the track that led to the house, he eventually reached the secluded driveway. He exited the car, and just as he was about to walk through the back gate towards the door that led to his gran’s kitchen, a familiar black cocker spaniel with a white star on its chest galumphed up to him, barking in a most proprietorial fashion. Before Tristan could stop it, the spaniel had placed its paws on the knees of his light-coloured trousers, covering them with mud. Tristan’s irritation rose instantly. Looking towards the garden, his eyes locked with those of the dishevelled-looking woman he’d met at the gates of the observatory three days ago.
‘Oh, God, Comet, not again!’ the woman stammered. ‘I’m so sorry. Let me get you a cloth and you can sponge off your trousers. He’s been playing in the sprinkler on the lawn.’
‘Don’t bother,’ Tristan snapped. Strolling briskly past her, he entered the door that led to Lorelai’s kitchen. What the hell had his grandmother done this time? Of all the waifs and strays she’d had in the annexe, this woman and her dog were definitely the scruffiest.
14
‘Well, looks like you’ve really done it this time!’ Charlotte murmured to the not-at-all-repentant Comet as he trotted back to her, tongue lolling out in the late afternoon heat. Her heart was racing after the new confrontation with Mr Rod-Up-His-Arse, and her legs felt shaky: a combination of embarrassment and upset. She’d never been good at being told off, and this had definitely felt like a telling off. Another one. From the same guy.
All the same, she wondered what the connection was between Lorelai and the man. From the familiar way he’d come around the back of the cottage and strode past her to Lorelai’s kitchen door, they must know each other. Perhaps he was the father of those adorable kids she’d met at the weekend? But would a dad of two children be quite so precious about some paw prints on his trousers?
Charlotte had returned from the observatory a little after four in the afternoon. She’d spent the time before she left unproductively opening drawers carefully and just trying to get a feel for the scale of the job ahead of her. When she’d done her postgraduate qualification in Archives and Records Management, one of her professors had warned her never to rush into an archiving project: that it was better, in the very first hours, to get an impression of a site, to tap into the intellectual lie of the land, and not to put things at risk of damage or – horrors – mis-cataloguing by pulling things out willy-nilly. She’d heeded that advice in every job she’d had so far, and she wasn’t about to ignore it now. Besides, the collection of archive boxes and other paraphernalia wouldn’t be delivered for another few days, and she wanted to make sure she had her cataloguing system up and running before she actually had to start putting things away.
As an astronomical historical archivist, her mission on a project was always complex, and had to be tailored to the specific site she was working on. Lower Brambleton’s observatory had been given the once-over by the University of North West Wessex when it had initially closed a decade ago, but their renewed interest in the area, especially in the light of its proposed demolition, had meant that her job was now to catalogue, digitise and preserve any remaining artefacts of cosmological or historical importance. What if, buried deep in the reams of paper in the observatory’s library and research room, there was a snippet of data, some research that had been overlooked in the first attempt to mothball the place?
She’d stopped herself just in time from gliding off on that particular flight of fancy. Chances were, she’d thought to herself firmly, that all she was going to find was a bunch of yellowing printouts from the dot-matrix printer that had been attached to one of several Commodore computers that had formed the mainframe of the observatory’s internal computer network. It was highly unlikely that anything of great astronomical significance was going to be found. Whoever had archived the Winslow papers would have had ample opportunity to find things and whatever had been left would probably just end up in anonymous archive boxes or a skip.
All the same, Charlotte was excited. The novelty of working alone on this project, the first time she’d been given sole responsibility, was intoxicating, and her senses were tingling at the prospect. It wasn’t just the opportunity to flex her skills as an archivist, but the chance to put her degree in astronomy into practice, too. The project was hers, all hers.
Settling back into the garden chair, where she’d been relaxing and watching Comet frolicking in the spray from the sprinkler, she picked up her phone to check her emails. She’d managed to get logged onto Lorelai’s wi-fi, but it was slow. As she waited for her email to load, she couldn’t help tuning in to the voices that were emanating from Lorelai’s living room. Whoever the guy was, Lorelai was obviously pleased to see him, as even though Charlotte couldn’t hear their conversation, Lorelai’s tone sounded light. In response, he still sounded gruff and uptight.
These musings passed the moments while her emails loaded. When they appeared on her iPhone’s screen, she smiled to see one from Professor Edwin, politely enquiring if she’d settled in all right, and reminding her to check in regularly with updates about anything that she might find to add to the Winslow archive.Not as yet, she thought.
There was also an email from Todd. He hadn’t contacted her since his rather cowardly ‘Dear John’ before she’d come to Lower Brambleton for the summer, and she contemplated just deleting the email without bothering to read it. Her finger hovered over the screen, ready to swipe Todd’s communique into oblivion, but she hesitated. What harm would it do to read it?
Just at that moment, Charlotte’s attention was dragged away from her phone by the sound of the door to Lorelai’s kitchen opening, and voices, still deep in conversation, coming towards her. She glanced up to see Lorelai and her visitor moving towards the gate. As they drew level with her, they paused.
‘Charlotte, this is my grandson, Tristan,’ Lorelai said. ‘I thought it was about time you were properly introduced, although I gather you met yesterday rather less formally.’
‘Hi.’ Charlotte gave her best smile, despite her lingering sense of irritation. ‘It’s nice to meet you, Tristan.’
‘Likewise,’ Tristan replied shortly. Then, turning back to his grandmother, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Think about what I said, Gran. It’s important.’
Lorelai shook her head. ‘And you think about what I said, Tristan, darling. I’m not ready to change my mind just yet.’
Charlotte found that she was watching the interplay between grandmother and grandson keenly as a pause descended between them, which was swiftly filled by Lorelai. ‘Pop in and see me sometime next week,’ she said, and from the tone of her voice, even Charlotte knew this wasn’t a question, but an instruction.
‘I will,’ Tristan replied. He glanced at Charlotte again. ‘I take it you’re going to dry off that dog before it sets foot in my grandmother’s annexe?’
