How Laura Lewis Met Richard Brown

Chapter Eleven

Richard placed the palm of his hand against Henry’s forehead. He didn’t have a temperature but the fact that his son had refused to eat his chocolate-encrusted cereal concerned him. A dreaded stomach bug was doing the rounds in the village. Richard hoped his son hadn’t caught it and that he was just having an off day. He’d keep him off nursery, just to be on the safe side.

He gave Henry a stack of old comics and set the television to the children’s channel.

He’d have to phone Megan as Tracey was out all day on a shopping trip with the Mothers’ Union. He knew that his former mother-in-law would cancel the trip to look after Henry, but it was unfair to ask her. Richard just hoped that Megan could cover. Hopefully, she didn’t have any meetings. It was at times like this that he was eternally grateful that his sister-in-law was a freelancer, usually able to fit in easily around his childcare emergencies.

After phoning preschool to inform them he was keeping Henry at home today, Richard phoned Megan and prayed that she’d pick up.

She did so on the second ring.

‘I’m happy to look after him. I’ll just bring my laptop with me. We can snuggle up together on the couch.’

Richard honestly didn’t know what he’d do without her, or Tracey in his life.

* * *

Half an hour later, Megan was sitting at one end of the couch, her laptop on the coffee table and cup of tea in hand, while Henry curled up on the other side, asleep.

‘Don’t you worry about him,’ Megan said, giving Richard one of her sympathetic, yet no-nonsense looks that she had perfected over the years.

Richard gave his son’s hair a gentle ruffle. He had to go but wanted to stay.

‘Really, we’ll be fine,’ Megan said, her tone soft, gentle, coaxing.

‘I know,’ he said. ‘It’s me. I always feel guilty when I have to leave him.’ He swallowed. ‘I shouldn’t have left him last night. I should have known he was brewing something.’

‘Richard,’ Megan said, sitting up straighter and placing her tea on the coffee table. ‘He was fine last night.’

Richard looked at his sleeping son and a tiny bit of guilt edged away. But he found it hard to leave Henry at home, especially as he saw so very little of him during the week.

‘I know he’s in good hands,’ Richard said, a resigned look on his face. ‘Take no notice of me. Just tired, that’s all.’

Megan pressed her mouth into a hard line and nodded, clearly repressing the urge to say whatever was on her mind.

Richard leaned over the couch and placed a gentle kiss on Henry’s forehead.

He straightened up, picked up his satchel and dropped his mobile into his jacket pocket. ‘I’ll give you a call at lunchtime.’

‘I know,’ Megan said with a smile before waving him off.

* * *

Laura wheeled the food trolley into the dining room and began to dish out the meals, trying her hardest to listen carefully to the orders that Linda shouted out to her. She needed to concentrate on the task at hand, especially as Hazel had questioned Linda about her whereabouts. Hazel didn’t class sitting and chatting to residents as work.

So, Laura dished out the meals and assisted those who needed a little help, but Gertie’s words, or rather the words in those letters, kept creeping into her subconscious. They were so very raw, personal, private, and Gertie had allowed her to read them. She had wanted Laura to take them home with her for ‘safekeeping’ but there was no way that Laura could do that. She had told Gertie that she should keep them and then hand them over to Richard, but Gertie shook her head at the thought of doing so, while muttering that her grandson would never understand what those letters meant to her.

Laura didn’t believe this to be true, not with what Gertie had already told her about Richard, but it wasn’t her place to pass comment. She had found the letters deeply moving — who wouldn’t be moved by reading the dying words of a man proclaiming his love and trust? But what had moved Laura the most was that Gertie had shared this secret with her. That she had been betrothed to another man before her husband, that she had loved this man with all her heart. The words undying love rang in Laura’s ears. Gertie had told Laura that nobody deserved to die alone and that everyone deserved a second chance. As she’d spoken, it had almost seemed that the old woman could read her mind, delve into her past, that she knew things about Laura that she couldn’t possibly know. Laura had never mentioned Mark, nor the cause of his death. Gertie had no idea why Laura had moved to Buttermarsh to start a new life. But the way in which she’d spoken to and looked at Laura made her think that the old woman did know things. And this brought up the question of how?

‘Earth to Laura,’ Linda said with a gentle prod on the shoulder. ‘Lillian would like the chicken casserole with peas and carrots.’

Laura obediently scooped the peas and carrots onto the plate, beside the chicken, and then poured over a generous glug of gravy.

Linda took the plate, her eyebrows raised, clearly waiting for Laura to explain why she was away with the fairies. But Laura shook her head. She would talk to Linda later on. Not now. Not with Hazel back on the premises. Of course, she wasn’t here in the dining room, helping with lunch. She was safety cocooned in her office, working . Hazel wouldn’t know hard work if it bit her on the bum. The nursing sister where Laura had worked had taken one day a week for office-related stuff, and the rest of her shifts were done pacing the wards, doing real work. Hands-on work. Hazel didn’t really have a clue about what went on in the home as she was cooped up in her goldfish bowl of an office all day. She was lucky she had good staff.

Laura dished out the last meal. ‘We’ll chat later,’ she said. She could tell Linda what Gertie had said without breaking a confidence. She just wanted someone else to keep an eye on Gertie. The way the old lady had spoken to her had rung a warning bell of sorts. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what was wrong, but Laura felt it was almost as if she was preparing for something. That she knew she was about to die. That’s what had unsettled her. Laura remembered reading Gertie’s file and couldn’t remember seeing any unusual blood results or a diagnosis of any kind. If Hazel was a more approachable manager, then Laura would chat to her, but that simply wasn’t the case so she would chat to Linda instead. She’d worked at the home for a very long time and knew Gertie well.

It was while Laura was clearing away the plates and putting them in the trolley that she felt Hazel’s presence in the room.

Without a hello or even greeting the residents, Hazel tapped Laura on the shoulder and told her to stop what she was doing and follow her.

Laura fought the urge to stick her tongue out like a naughty schoolgirl. She was a grown woman. She shouldn’t let Hazel talk to her this way. But she needed the job, for now at least, so that she could stay in the village, rebuild her life. She had to play the role of a care assistant who was afraid of those in charge. Nothing could be further from the truth. She had once run a busy medical ward. But not now.

Laura spun on her heel, forced a tight smile and said nothing. She merely followed Hazel back to the office.

‘Shut the door.’ Hazel barked the order as she lowered herself down into the chair behind her desk

Laura gritted her teeth and did as she was told. With her hand on the visitor’s chair, she waited for Hazel to tell her to sit down.

Hazel made no such offer.

Laura knew this was all about control. Why did this woman dislike her so much?

‘Right then, I just want to know where you were this morning when you should have been on the floor working?’

Laura’s first thought was, how on earth does she know that she wasn’t on the floor? Who told her? Not Linda? Hazel must have spies everywhere.

‘I was with Gertie, chatting,’ Laura said. ‘She was worried and—’

‘I know all this,’ Hazel interrupted with a scowl. ‘But why weren’t you on the floor working?’

‘Why? I’ve already told you. Gertie wanted a chat.’

‘We are not here to chat . We are here to work . And hiding in a resident’s room could be viewed by some as trying to get out of working.’

Laura opened her mouth to protest, wanting to shout out that sitting and talking to a resident was just as important as feeding and washing, but she pressed her lips together. What was the point? Hazel wouldn’t listen to her. More importantly, Laura couldn’t get angry. Perhaps that was Hazel’s goal? To goad her. Give a reason to sack her. Well, Laura had been around the block, too, and knew how to play the game.

So, she said nothing. Silence was her best weapon with people like Hazel.

Hazel sat rigid, waiting for Laura to say something.

Laura stared back. She wasn’t going to apologise for talking to Gertie on her break and she wasn’t going to share why Gertie wanted to talk to her. Hazel had no right to know.

‘Well, please don’t let anything like this happen again. You can chat to residents in your own time, not mine.’

Laura bristled at Hazel’s choice of words and cool tone. The woman couldn’t even refer to this particular resident by name.

Laura took a breath, wondering if she could escape, when the telephone rang. Hazel picked up and waved her hand in Laura’s general direction. Dismissing her.

It was as Laura’s hand touched the door handle that she heard Hazel say, ‘Hello, Richard. How can I help you?’

Richard? Was Hazel talking to Gertie’s Richard?

Closing the door as quietly as she could, Laura continued to listen to the conversation.

‘Gertie is absolutely fine.’

So, it was Richard.

‘There really is nothing to worry about. She’s been fine this morning. Her usual happy self.’

Laura fought the urge to open the door, storm into the office and snatch the phone from Hazel’s claw, to tell Richard that Hazel had no idea how his grandmother was as she hadn’t been near her, or any other resident, all day.

Instead, she took a deep breath and walked back to the dining room.

Richard was worried about Gertie.

She needed to find a way to talk to him.

* * *

‘You didn’t have to cook tea,’ Richard said, shovelling a huge forkful of lasagne into his mouth.

‘Oh, I don’t mind. I had a rummage in the cupboards and fridge to see what I could rustle up.’

‘Well, thank you. It’s delicious, and to be honest, I’d have had beans on toast.’

Megan laughed. ‘That’s why I cooked. There’s loads left as well, so you can just reheat it tomorrow. Henry had a small amount with garlic bread, so whatever he has, it isn’t the dreaded sickness bug.’

Richard looked over to the couch where Henry was leafing through a large pop-up book.

‘Thank goodness for that, but I’ll keep him off tomorrow, as I learned today most of the kids have caught it. Best to play it safe. I’ll ask Tracey if she can look after him.’

Megan’s fork hovered mid-air. ‘There’s no reason for that. I’m still working on this big project and, to be honest, I got a lot of work done today, so can take tomorrow off. It’s no problem.’

Richard mulled this over in his mind. He had to be careful here. He didn’t want to upset Tracey by not asking her, but then, at the same time, he didn’t want to upset Megan either. So, he said yes.

Megan beamed back at him. ‘Do you hear that, Henry? Me and you again tomorrow.’

Henry looked up from his book and along with a grin, gave her a thumbs up.

Yes, Richard thought. There was nothing wrong with Henry at all.