Page 106 of An Unholy Affair
He passed his mum the milk. Her smile was tight as she took it. ‘Thank you.’
‘Dack-Dack, look! Mouse!’
Betsy pointed at the picture in the recipe book, where two smaller pancakes had been joined to a bigger one, giving the impression of a head with ears. Chocolate buttons had been used to make eyes, with a squirt of chocolate sauce to make a smiley mouth.
He frowned at it. ‘Dog?’
‘Noooooo! Mouse! Eek, eek!’ she squealed.
Both Jack and his mother winced as the sound shocked their eardrums.
‘Eek eek!’
‘Betsy-Boo,’ he said, bringing his head level with hers. ‘Want to play a game?’
She nodded.
‘Okay, this is a special game for you and me, and Nana is going to decide on the winner.’
Betsy’s eyes widened.
‘The game is called “quieter than a mouse”. Me and you have to be so quiet that Nana can’t hear us. The first person to say anything loudly, loses. Okay?’
Her head bobbed up and down and she slapped a hand over her mouth.
Jack gave her a thumbs up, then caught his mother’s eye.
‘Thank you,’ she mouthed.
Ten minutes later,Betsy had forgotten all about the game as she tucked into her pancakes. Steph entered the kitchen, her features pinched.
‘Thank you, Patricia. I really appreciate you looking after Betsy.’
‘Is everything alright?’ his mother asked her.
‘Oh, er…’ Steph seemed taken aback. In their past interactions, his mum had barely managed to be civil. Steph went to Betsy’s side, running her hand through her daughter’s hair. ‘That was my boss. One of my clients is having issues and won’t accept anyone else at the office dealing with his case. I’ve told him I’ve got to have this time off to allow Em to rest, but he’s not having it.’
His mother swallowed. ‘We, er, I could help?’
Steph glanced up, her eyes wide.
‘With Betsy,’ his mother continued quickly. ‘And cooking for Emily. Cleaning. Whatever you need.’
‘Oh, um, thank you, Patricia, that’s incredibly generous. I’ll speak to Em, but that could be really amazing. Thank you.’
His mum let out a breath and gave a tentative smile.
Betsy pushed her plate away. ‘Park?’
Steph turned to her daughter. ‘How about you go with Nana and Uncle Jack?’
‘Yes!’ She slid off the chair and grabbed Jack’s hand. ‘Dack, Nana, park.’
Five minutesfrom the house was a newly-built children’s playground. Jack had been here several times before and his mother didn’t make any comment as he led the way. Inside the fenced-off area, Betsy saw a friend, and the two of them chased each other around a small fort.
Jack stood, his hand in his pocket, fingering his phone and wishing he could call Eveline. It wasn’t just that he missed her down to his bones, he wanted to talk to her about his mum, even if just to share the strangeness of the situation.
‘There was never anything this fancy when you and Emily were young,’ his mother said, pressing at the rubberised ground with the toe of her shoe. ‘It used to be a seesaw, swings and a merry-go-round, all set in concrete.’
