Page 43 of The Beach Cottage
“How did you know I like mushrooms so much, Bea?” Grace asked as she piled pasta onto her fork.
“I didn’t, but glad to hear it.” Bea smiled, twisting her fork into the pasta.
The conversation flowed smoothly and involved plenty of laughter after that. It was as if the initial tension had been broken, the words harboured in heavy hearts for too long had been set free and they were all released to be themselves.
After dinner, Grace packed up the things in the room Aidan had given her, embraced him goodbye and left with Kelly. Aidan promised to come and visit. She said she’d spend part of her school holidays on the island. And while Bea cleaned up in the kitchen, Aidan watched them pull out of the driveway and leave. He lingered outside for a while, and when he came into the kitchen to help Bea, his face was pale and his eyes were glassy.
“Tired?” she asked him.
He nodded. “Exhausted. It’s been a long week.”
“I’ll finish cleaning up, and then you can have the house to yourself. Maybe you should go to bed early, get some rest.”
He sighed. “Thank you again. Having you here made all the difference. We may not have been able to resolve things without you. I don’t know if Grace would’ve even been here if you hadn’t found her and brought her back.”
“You’re very welcome. I’m glad I could help. And I think you underestimate yourself and your daughter. You both would’ve been perfectly fine.”
Nineteen
It was a Thursday when Samantha Norton showed up at the wildlife refuge the next time. Penny was busy hosing out one of the bird enclosures when she heard a little voice calling through the fence.
She went to let her in, and this time, the girl didn’t hold back. There was no shyness remaining. She chattered nonstop while Penny finished hosing out the enclosure, and she even helped to put everything back in its place afterwards.
“Would you like some cake?” Penny asked. She was better prepared than the last time Sam was there, and had sandwich supplies on hand as well.
Sam nodded vigorously in response, and the two of them went inside to wash up and eat. Sam told her all about school and the issues she was having in her friendship group while Penny made them each a ham sandwich, a glass of milk and a slice of cake. She added a spoonful of Milo to Sam’s milk, and they sat side by side at the small kitchen table to eat.
Penny had to admit she was grateful to hear about Sam’s friendship problems at the school. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be certain the girl attended at all. Her hair remained tangled, her clothes stained and her face ruddy and dirty. But she was happy and chirped like a bird throughout their meal around mouthfuls of sandwich.
Penny excused herself for a moment to message Betsy that Sam was there, and Betsy replied that she was on her way over to see them. So Penny did what she could to occupy the girl until Betsy’s arrival. Had she done the right thing? She had no idea. Surely it couldn’t be wrong to give a grandmother a chance to know her own grandchild. But what if Sam’s father didn’t want her to see Betsy? What if there was something else going on that Penny didn’t know about?
Anxiety squirmed in her gut while they waited until Sam finally asked her if something was wrong. She pushed a smile onto her face. “No, nothing’s wrong. Let’s go and see if those wombats are still asleep.”
They were watching the wombats snoozing when Betsy buzzed at the gate. Penny let her in and walked with her to where Sam was patting a pademelon with a bandage around its tail.
“What’s wrong with this one?” she asked as Betsy stopped beside her. Sam looked up at Betsy without recognition. “Hi.”
Betsy squatted beside the girl, her eyes glistening with tears. “Hi, Sam. My name’s Betsy. But you can call me Gran.”
“Gran?” The girl’s eyes widened. “Are you my grandmother?”
Betsy nodded. “Have you heard about me?”
Sam studied her curiously. “I thought you’d be older.”
“Oh? I’m pretty old.”
Sam’s nose wrinkled. “Dad said we couldn’t see you anymore.”
“I hope he’ll change his mind. I’ve wanted to be with you every single moment since you were born.”
“Dad lied?”
“That’s not how I’d put it. I think maybe we got our wires crossed. Do you ever get your wires crossed?”
Sam shook her head, brows drawn together. “Uh-uh.”
“Grownups sometimes do. It just means we get confused and don’t understand something.”
