Page 35 of Merrily Ever After
‘Wow, I bet the kids love you.’ Kylie still looked impressed. ‘Our school secretary was terrifying. She had a hairy chin and wore her glasses right on the end of her nose like the scary one inMonsters, Inc.’
Emily laughed. ‘I’m not sure they love me, but I don’t think I scare them.’
‘Anyway, the album cover is over there if you want to collect it.’ Kylie pointed.
Emily followed Kylie’s finger. As well as a multitude of twinkling fairy lights and baubles, a Fleetwood Mac album was wedged into the tree. ‘Whoops, sorry about that.’
‘No harm done; it already had a few bent branches.’ Kylie waved a hand dismissively. ‘Bernard hung his damp pyjama bottoms on it to dry yesterday. We see it all here. Try the communal lounge, for your dad. They serve coffee in there after lunch, he was watching telly last time I looked. Just don’t stir up trouble with your non-existent biscuits.’ She smiled warmly.
‘I’ll do my best.’ Emily plucked the album from the tree, stacked it on top of the tin and headed off in search of her dad, bumping into Gail on the way.
‘You found the famous tin then,’ said Gail.
‘Yes. Thank goodness. Hopefully, he’ll feel happier when he’s got it back. Was he OK at lunch?’
‘Absolutely fine,’ replied the manager. She cleared her throat and looked at the ground.
After almost a term working in a school and having toget to the bottom of numerous teenage dramas, Emily was attuned to someone hiding something.
‘If there’s something you’re not telling me, I would rather know,’ Emily said. ‘Please.’
‘Ray got a bit agitated at the TV at one point when Lavinia used the remote to switch programmes, that’s all,’ replied Gail, effusively, putting her hand on Emily’s shoulder. ‘Nothing we’re not used to.’
Emily winced. ‘Poor Lavinia, I hope he wasn’t too rude.’
She chuckled. ‘No harm done – she gives as good as she gets, does our Lavinia. And Ray is obviously very fond of the shopping channel.’
Emily frowned. ‘That’s news to me. I think the TV in his flat was so ancient that he could only get a few channels. And I do know he hates shopping.’
Gail shrugged. ‘Ours is not to reason why … Anyway, there was a truce when I left them, and they seemed quite friendly.’
A friend already, thought Emily, going into the lounge to find him. She remembered what he’d said about not having anyone to call because he’d never been one for friends. Perhaps being at Springwood House would open a new chapter for him, a chance to build relationships.
Emily found Ray in front of the TV at the end of a sofa, feet up on a pouffe, looking very comfortable. Sitting at the opposite end was a lady with lovely long silver hair. She was regal in her posture, straight-backed and hands clasped in her lap, her fingers glittered with emerald and ruby rings. If this was Lavinia, her name suited her perfectly.
The coffee table between them contained two empty mugs and a plate with just a few crumbs. Emily’s stomach rumbled; it had been a long day and she hadn’t managedto eat lunch yet. She set the tin down on the table along with the Fleetwood Mac album.
‘Hi, Dad,’ Emily said, touching his shoulder softly, so as not to make him jump. ‘You look like you’ve made yourself at home already.’
Ray blinked a couple of times before he recognised her. ‘Hello, love.’
The old lady’s head swivelled towards her immediately. ‘Who’s this?
‘I’m Emily,’ she replied, taking a seat. ‘And you?’
‘Lavinia,’ the old lady informed her. ‘What a lovely face you have. You must be the same age as me, twenty-five?’
‘You flatter me,’ said Emily, deciding to go along with it. ‘I’m thirty-five.’
‘You must give me the name of your facialist,’ Lavinia replied. ‘Your skin is remarkable. We were watching a lovely programme on television, where they sell all sorts of face creams. I was going to order some, I’m starting to get a few wrinkles,’ she whispered, stroking her beautiful, if a little crinkly, skin. ‘But this gentleman started shouting at the television set, so we turned it off, and since then we’ve been having a lovely chat, haven’t we?’ She turned to Ray.
‘You mean you have,’ he grumbled. ‘You’ve been nattering on for ages.’
‘I apologise for my father’s rudeness, Lavinia.’ Emily was mortified, although Lavinia didn’t seem to mind.
‘Oh, you’re his daughter, the famous one!’ Lavinia’s eyes widened. ‘From the television!’
Emily smiled. ‘I wish. No, I work in a school.’
