Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
“Why? He likes it up there.”
“The shrieking says otherwise. Plus, he’s on concussion watch, remember?”
Danny wriggled.
“Fine, fine.” I slid him down to the ground while he giggled his little arse off. “Nanny is a such a spoilsport,” I whispered to him.
Mum leant over and clipped me around the back of the head. “I heard that.”
“Ow.” I rubbed where she’d just slapped me, wincing a little. “Where’s Zara?”
Danny looked up. “Mummy! Is she home now?”
Mum knelt down in front of him and cupped his face, an expression of regret on hers. “She’s not going to be home for a few more days, sweetie, I’m sorry.”
His lower lip jutted outwards. “Where’s Mumma?”
“At the shop. She’s got lots and lots of Christmas orders to fulfil. Lots of people want her wreaths,” Mum explained softly. “Although she told me to tell you that she’s going to take you for McDonald’s for dinner if you’re good today.”
All his sadness was wiped away with the promise of the magic restaurant. “I can have a Happy Meal?”
“And a McFlurry,” Mum whispered conspiratorially. “I know you’re sad and miss Mummy, but when she’s home, she’s here for ages for Christmas, okay?”
Danny nodded. “Nanny, will you come for McDonald’s too?”
“Oh, we’ll have to ask Mumma. I think she wants a special dinner with you.”
“Okay.” A bit of sadness tinged his tone.
“Hey, buddy,” I said, crouching down next to Mum. “I have to run the tree farm today. Why don’t you come with me and be my special helper?”
He turned to me, his eyes lighting up. “Really?”
“Oh, yeah, and I know that Mrs. O’Shea is working today. I bet she’s going to have some sweeties in her bag, and I’ll pretend not to see you eating them all.”
The grin that stretched across his little face brought a shine to his eyes. “Nanny, can I? Can I?”
Mum stood up with a smile. “Of course you can, sweetie.”
“I’ll get my boots!” Danny sped off through the room, and his excited footsteps thundered against the old wooden flooring that we’d painstakingly restored last year.
Mum let out a long sigh and looked at me. “You didn’t have to do that.”
I stood up with a shrug, not meeting her gaze. “I thought Zara was supposed to be home last night.”
“She was.” She folded her arms across her chest. “One of her colleagues is apparently unwell, and her boss asked if she’d stay to complete their project and do the presentation this Friday night.”
“She hasn’t seen him in person for two months! You’d think she was out of the country, not a few hours away in London.”
“I know, but what am I supposed to do? It’s not as if Danny doesn’t have a parent here, after all.”
I rubbed my hand down my face. She was right—he had Beth, but it wasn’t the same. “She’s so busy with the shop. She’s got Hazel and Julian’s wedding to deal with plus all her Christmas orders. Can she really afford the time to cut her hours short? She’s always open in the evenings at this time of year.”
Mum held her hands out. “She’s going in early. It’s her compromise. She said this morning she’d rather be here on an evening, and I don’t mind doing the school run at all. I don’t know how she’s getting it all done, but she’s furious at your sister.”
“She can join the club. She can’t hide from her responsibilities just because she can’t get over losing Dad.”
She swallowed, looking down. “We all deal with our grief in different ways, Thomas. You know that.”
“I do know that. It’s been over a year, Mum.” I rested my hands on her shoulders. “And you haven’t been allowed to grieve because she’s burying herself in her work, leaving you and I to pick up the slack while Beth works. There’s no excuse for it when she can work from home.”
“Thomas—”
“No. When she’s home, we need to talk to her. She doesn’t need to take off for a month or more at a time and keep extending her time there and letting Danny down. He’s six years old. It’s not fair on him, Mum, and it’s not fair on Beth. She shouldn’t have had to shut the shop yesterday to get him from school when he hurt himself. Zara should have been here to do that.” I checked the time on my watch. “He and I will take Beth some lunch before we go to the tree farm. He’ll like that.”
Mum sighed and patted my cheek. “Maybe you’re right. Your father would wring your sister’s neck if he were here.”
“There we are, then. Without him, I’m going to have to do it. I’ll be with Danny all day and when we’re done, I’m telling her she needs to get herself home or else.”
“Or else what?”
“I don’t know. Maybe being here is too much for her, but I just don’t know, Mum. Maybe it’s this place. Maybe they’d be better off moving out temporarily.”