Page 8 of Merrily Ever After
‘I’m sorry, it must be tough.’ He nodded and stepped out from the flat into the corridor.
PC Bright followed him and then turned back. ‘And you? Are you getting some support?’
Emily blinked back tears; she was OK until someone was kind to her. ‘I’m fine. We’re both fine. Thanks again.’
The officer held eye contact for a moment, as if weighing up whether to say more or not. Emily took a step back to close the door.
‘Glad to hear it.’ The officer raised her hand to say goodbye and left. ‘Good luck.’
Chapter Three
Emily
At the end of the school day, as soon as she could get away, Emily tidied her desk, put her coat on and, after reminding Alison about tomorrow’s early meeting with the chair of governors, she headed out to the staff car park.
The sky was grey and the daylight all but gone. She shivered in the cold and slipped her gloves on. Snow was forecast again later in the week, and it wouldn’t be long before the Derbyshire peaks were covered in white for the winter.
‘Everything OK?’ a voice called to her.
She looked over her shoulder to see Olivia, scurrying to catch her up.
‘After this morning’s phone call, I mean. You rushed past when you got back to school looking like you had the world on your shoulders, and I didn’t like to pry.’
‘Thank you for asking, but not really,’ Emily admitted. ‘My dad has dementia. He needs more and more of my time and I—’ She stopped short of admitting that she couldn’t cope. Olivia was a sweet girl, similar age, and the closest thing she had to a friend at the school. But she couldn’t risk it getting back to Alison.
‘I’m so sorry.’ Olivia laid a hand on her arm. ‘That must be terrible for you all.’
‘Thanks. It is hard.’ Except that her dad didn’t have anyone except her. There was noall. Even her mum hadn’t seen her ex for over a decade. So, the reason Emily looked as if she had the world on her shoulders, was because she did.
Olivia zapped her car to unlock it. ‘If I can do anything, let me know. My great-aunt had Alzheimer’s; it crept up stealthily. She’d always had a good sense of humour, but one year she came down to breakfast on Christmas Day in nothing but a Santa hat. We laughed about it at the time, but it was heartbreaking to watch her fade away. I’m here if you ever need to talk. See you tomorrow.’
Emily could only nod and smile as she climbed into her car.
It had been a stressful day and the little stone cottage she rented with its thick walls, open fire and pink décor was calling her. She was going to treat herself to a long soak in her claw-footed bath. But not before she’d been to check on her dad. She hadn’t felt comfortable about leaving him on his own this morning, but she hadn’t had much choice.
While she waited for the car to warm up, she sent her best friend, Izzy, a text.
Not been the best day. Dad went walkabout this morning in his pjs and ended up at the police station.
Oh mate!! Poor Ray and POOR YOU! Is he OK?
No harm done, luckily, but he’s getting worse, Izzy, and I don’t know how much longer he’ll be able to live on his own. I’m worried to death.
I’m sorry you’re going through this on your own. You need a break too. Could you get Gavin to look after him for a weekend and you come over here?
A few days pootling about by the sea with her best friend would be heaven. Emily missed her dreadfully since Izzy had moved to Jersey with her boyfriend. She’d wanted to live by the sea for as long as Emily had known her, so when Andrew was offered a job in finance over there, she left her own job to go with him. Now she was running a successful Airbnb business, looking to buy another property and loving life. Emily had only managed to visit her a few times but had always come away determined to do something more rewarding with her own life. But with Dad needing her more and more, that seemed like an impossible dream.
And as for the idea of Gavin, her boyfriend of eight months, stepping in to help … nope, not going to happen.
She sighed and sent back as optimistic a reply as she could muster.
I would love that. Maybe over Christmas when he’s not so busy. Love you xxx
Love you too xxx
She put the car into reverse, but before she had chance to move, her phone pinged with another message. This time it was from Gavin. Her stomach fluttered; things had been a bit tense between them recently. It was almost as if he was jealous of the time she was spending with her dad. She tried to involve him as much as she could, like when she’d taken Dad for a walk after lunch last Sunday and invited Gavin to come, but Gavin had declined her offer, saying there was no point joining them because Ray took all of Emily’s attention and he felt ignored.
She held her breath as she opened the text message.
