Page 8 of The Cosy Travelling Christmas Shop

As though he knew he was being observed, Edwin looked towards the door and when he saw Daniel standing there, his whole face lit up in a wrinkly grin and he beckoned him in.

Smiling, Daniel went over to him and gave him a kiss on his stubbly cheek. ‘How are you, Grandad?’

‘All the better for seeing you, my boy.’ He scanned the room, saying, ‘This is my grandson, Daniel, Linda’s son. She was the one who was here earlier.’

A series of hellos and other assorted greetings came his way, along with waves and smiles, before everyone’s attention returned to the game.

‘It’s the final,’ Edwin said to Daniel. ‘Another tournament starts next week. I’ve already put my name down, and for the Scrabble competition.’

‘What are they playing?’

‘Cribbage. Have you never played it?’

Daniel shook his head.

‘Help me up and we’ll go to the kitchen. I could do with a brew.’

Daniel held onto the old man’s arms and hefted him gently to his feet, keeping a firm hold on him whilst he got the walker into position.

‘Hey, that’s mine!’ a woman’s voice cried. ‘Get your own.’

‘Itishis own, you daft bat,’ another lady said. ‘Ignore her, Edwin. Nelly can’t see for looking. Hers is behind her chair.’

‘What’s it doing there?’ Nelly demanded swivelling awkwardly around in her seat. ‘No wonder I didn’t see it – I haven’t got eyes in the back of my head.’

‘Oh, shush.’

‘Don’t you shush me!’ Nelly was trying to get to her feet, and Daniel wondered if he should help, but Edwin was already halfway to the door and Daniel decided to follow him.

‘Don’t mind that lot,’ his grandad said. ‘There’s no harm in them. I’ve been told that Nelly is as cantankerous as they come, but she’s got a heart of gold. She gave me a welcome-to-prison card. She’d made it herself, but it’s the thought that counts. Shove a teabag in a mug, will you? I’m parched.’

Daniel looked around the kitchen and saw that it was equipped with a hot drinks dispenser, a fridge, a toaster and a microwave. ‘Do you have to pay for this?’ He pointed to the drinks machine, unable to see anywhere to put money in.

‘Help yourself. It’s part of the package.’

As Daniel set about making tea for them both, he asked, ‘Is it really like a prison?’ He kept his back to his grandad, but he could see the old man’s distorted reflection in the gleaming stainless steel.

‘Good grief, no! It’s great.’ Edwin’s expression was surprised. ‘I know I didn’t think your mum could cope with my health problems, but I’m not a masochist. If it was that bad, I wouldn’t have moved in. It’s pretty good so far. The food is decent, my room is nice, the staff are friendly, and the other residents seem a nice bunch. Did you know Nelly also gave me a pair of slippers as a welcome present, and when she gave them to me she apologised and said shecouldbe arsed but it wasn’t her fault because she didn’t have many options. I have no idea what she was talking about. She’s as batty as they come, but it was kind of her to give me a welcome present,’ he added. ‘Ta, son.’ He took the mug with both hands, to steady it.

Daniel studied his grandad’s trembling fingers to see if the shaking had grown any worse since the last time he’d seen him. He was forever checking for signs of the inevitable deterioration.

‘She’s got dementia, I expect,’ Edwin continued. ‘Poor lamb. It’s an awful disease.’ He peered at him over the rim of his mug. ‘Old age is a bugger, which is why I don’t want you getting to my age and not having lived your life the way you wanted to live it. Now that you and your mum are free of me, what have you been doing with yourself?’

‘It’s only been a couple of hours, Grandad,’ Daniel chuckled. ‘I’ve been trying to sort the truck out – I told you the exhaust was making a funny noise, didn’t I? And I don’t know what Mum’s been up to since she settled you in this morning.’

‘I told her to get her hair done or have a facial, but I bet she went home and cleaned my old room.’

‘Yeah, she probably did,’ Daniel agreed fondly, and he suspected she would have been sobbing as she did so, bless her. It was a good job he was popping in to see her after this, so she wouldn’t be on her own. Even if she hadn’t asked him for tea, he’d have called in anyway, just to check how she was coping. Grandad had lived with her for a good few years, so she was bound to be feeling strange now he wasn’t there.

Daniel spent over an hour with his grandfather, chatting. He was quick to reassure his grandad that he hadn’t forgotten the old man’s birthday in a few days’ time (no, Edwin didn’t want a cake or balloons, or any other kind of fuss), but Edwin was more concerned with reassuring Daniel that his decision to move to the care home had been the right one. Although Edwin had only eaten two meals there so far, they’d both been lovely he told Daniel, and he proudly showed off his room, and the public areas such as the TV room and the gardens, and Edwin told him what he’d learnt of the other residents so far.

Daniel had to concede that his grandad appeared content with his lot.

As the old man had said so many times before, and he repeated again today, he felt he was able to come to terms with his illness much more now that he had round-the-clock care and didn’t have to worry about how his increasing dependence was affecting Linda and Daniel’s quality of life. No matter how vociferously Daniel protested, Edwin insisted that caring for an old man like him wasn’t any life for a young man like Daniel. Or for his mum, for that matter.

‘Linda can work for a bit longer if that’s what she wants to do,’ Edwin said. ‘Or enjoy her retirement, now that she doesn’t have to spend all her time looking after me. And you, young man, can see about finding yourself a proper girlfriend – one who treats you right and loves the bones of you – because that’s what you deserve.’

‘OK, Grandad,’ Daniel said, smiling. But although his mouth was doing the right thing and he was making the right noises, his heart wasn’t as keen on the idea. As far as Daniel was concerned, he’d had enough of women for a time, especially cheating ones with children who could get hurt.

---