The Runaway Page 4

  Mum pulled a face. ‘We certainly are. This kitchen must date from the seventies, at least. Antique.’

  She turned to Dad, laughing, and he gave her a little push. For a second they looked like their old selves in London before things went wonky, and for some reason, a lump rose in Kelly’s throat. Everything had been better in London…

  ‘Mum – Dad. You know it’s my birthday soon?’

  Dad leaned back. ‘Got an idea for it?’

  Kelly pulled out her phone and showed them the Rock Home website. Rather to her surprise, both were interested. Wow. Wonders would never cease.

  Her dad took the phone to see better. ‘Looks like a mini version of Live Aid, that huge event back in the eighties. I was too young to go–’ His face darkened. ‘Not that I’d have been allowed to – but it was a big thing. They made a lot of money for Africa.’

  Kelly had heard of Live Aid. She crossed her fingers under the table. ‘It’s the Saturday after my birthday. Can I go? Please? If it costs too much I can pay you back from my pocket money.’

  Her parents looked at each other and as usual when it wasn’t what Kelly wanted to hear, it was Mum who spoke.

  ‘We won’t say “no”, Kelly, but we’ll have to think hard about it. It’s not just the money.’

  This was where she’d hear all about how it was in the middle of her GCSE exams, and how dangerous concerts were. Kelly blinked furiously – she should save the tears for another try.

  Her mum patted her shoulder. ‘We’ll get back to you about it, Kel, how’s that?’

  Kelly nodded. It was as good as she’d get today, anyway. She lifted her phone and trailed back upstairs. What wouldn’t she give for parents who remembered what it was like to be young? She would get the money somehow, though, and buy a ticket even if they said “no”. She was going to Rock Home, end of.

  Better not tell them about the Ariana Grande concert at half term, too.

  Chapter Eight

  Monday, 11th May

  The sun warm on her back, Nicola drifted along Wharf Road, gazing over the beach to the blueness of the sea beyond the pier. It was balm for the soul, being back in the – relative – bustle of a town, to be walking amongst people, of all things. Moving to the middle of nowhere had proved to her that she was a people person at heart. But things were looking up. She’d just emerged from the most successful interview she’d ever had, and from next week, she’d be commuting to and from her brand-new job in St Ives Arts Centre, where she was to arrange events, keep the stock in the shop up to date and look after the phone when the receptionist wasn’t there. General dogsbody, in other words, but it was a job and she was back in the art world again. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed working in a gallery until she’d stepped into another one. It wasn’t full time, of course, but to say she was glad to have it would be the biggest understatement since time began. Almost. And here was the ice cream kiosk – she’d earned one, hadn’t she?

  Vanilla wafer in hand, she drifted onto the beach and sat down on warm sand. However many times had she sat on the beach at St Ives over the years? Too many to count, though it wasn’t often this beach. They all preferred Porthmeor Beach further round for a family day out. But now she could sit on the beach every day of the year, on any beach, all the beaches, and – Nicola licked her ice cream, which was starting to melt. Maybe one day, when they’d settled in properly, being a seaside-dweller instead of a city girl wouldn’t feel like she was cut off from her real life.

  Wiping sticky fingers on a tissue, she returned to the road and headed back to the car park, mingling with early holiday-makers. Kelly’d be home from school now and doing her homework. School was the one thing about the removal that was working out as Nicola had hoped. Kelly brought home mark sheets every Friday for her or Ed to sign, and the improvement in the past a couple of weeks was enormous. They were back to sixty and seventy per cent results again. So why didn’t it feel better? Nicola arrived back at the car, and took the road out of St Ives. The thing was, Kelly was still miserable, and Ed was miserable too, though he was so withdrawn now Nicola had no idea what he was thinking any more. All her attempts at talks over dinner, walks, trips in the car – they’d all come to nothing. Ed maintained he was ‘just busy’, and of course he was, with his new job and the house and the worry about Kelly’s behaviour, which hadn’t improved as much as her school marks had. Nicola sighed. Perhaps he was right, perhaps they all needed more time. The half term break in a week or two might make a difference to Kelly.

  And here was Coast Road. And home. Nicola shrugged out of her jacket and called up the stairs. ‘I’m back! How was school?’

  ‘Fine.’

  The usual flat monosyllable from above, and no sign of her daughter running downstairs to greet Mum and ask how the interview had gone. Nicola took the whipped feeling through to the kitchen. The kettle was warm, so she couldn’t even take up tea as an excuse to visit Kelly in her room. Fifteen wasn’t half an awkward age.

  Time to go home. Ed shouted goodbye to Joe, the guy who looked after the deer at the park, and strode from the wooden shack that housed the park keepers’ equipment and provided a base for them all to work from. Friday evening, but thank God, he was on call this weekend so he had an excuse to escape back here if home became too unbearable. It wasn’t only the house, though that was bad enough – what wouldn’t he have given to have had an outside base to escape to, as a lad? He flung himself into the car and started the engine.

  Home was the house that kept on giving. As well as all the stuff he was determined not to think about, his inheritance now housed a teenager in a major strop. In the five days since she’d sprung Rock Home on them, Kelly had pleaded and moaned at them alternately. The sunny little girl who’d brought such joy to his life was unrecognisable these days. Was puberty always like this? He didn’t know; Mel was so much older, at fifteen she’d seemed like one of the adults to him, and his own experience – don’t go there, Ed.

  Nicola was busy with the corkscrew in the living room when he arrived home. She grinned at him and poured generous glasses of Merlot, and for a moment it was almost like old times.

  ‘Come and have a drink. We’re celebrating my last weekend as an unemployed person.’

  Ed dropped his briefcase behind the sofa and accepted a hug and a glass. She was trying so hard to make this work for them all. They clinked, and he took his place beside her on the sofa. Perhaps it would be better when he’d renovated this room into an unrecognisable state.

  ‘Where’s Kelly?’

  Nicola rolled her eyes. ‘In her room, as if you needed to ask. Oh, Ed, she’s miserable – what are we going to do about Rock Home? I think I’ll call Sue at the weekend – maybe one – or both of you dads can go too? Make it a kind of Dad and daughter thing?’

  ‘What’s wrong with making it a mother-daughter thing?’

  ‘You heard Kelly when she thought I was going to be with her in London at half term. She won’t want me with them.’ Her chin wobbled.

  ‘The same would apply to me, and anyway, I can’t.’ For the life of him, Ed couldn’t stop the ice creeping into his voice. ‘She’s being rude and ridiculous. She doesn’t deserve to go.’

  The fridge opened with its usual creak in the room next door, then the sound of Kelly rootling around filled the silence. Footsteps stomped past the living room door and up the stairs.

  Nicola wilted beside him, but Ed nodded. Kelly must have heard him. Serve her right for creeping down like that; a few home truths would do her nothing but good. And the sooner he renovated the past from this room, the better.

  Chapter Nine

  Saturday, 30th May

  Nicola bit her lip. Here they were, the half-term week behind them, repeating the silence of the drive from London to St Ives on removal day. Even the weather was the same.

  She blinked ahead as the wipers swung right and left and – face it, Nic, their new start in Cornwall hadn’t been a success. Kelly was miserable now
as well defiant, and Ed’s renovations were taking up way too much of the little free time his new job allowed him. They had less family time in St Ives than they’d had in London, and the past week had seen the three of them well and truly separated, with Kelly at Jess’s while Nicola was in Blackheath with her cousin. She should have stayed at home with Ed, but the thought of Kelly so far away in her current mindset had ruled that option out.

  Kelly pulled out her ear buds and glowered at her phone before rummaging in her bag for the power pack, and Nicola seized the opportunity.

  ‘I’m looking forward to seeing what your dad and the decorators have done at home, aren’t you? It’ll be nice to have more space in the kitchen.’

  ‘Don’t care. It’s not like I’ll be there long to enjoy it.’

  Apprehension dried Nicola’s mouth, and she swallowed painfully. How the heck was she supposed to react to these threats to return to London? Ignoring them hadn’t worked. Family conference? Or perhaps a woman-to-woman thing would be better; Kelly was hurting and Ed was increasingly impatient with her, not the best starting place for a family discussion. Successful discussions à trois were as much a part of the past now as living in London was. And all this was before you considered the Rock Home concert problem – Kelly and Jess were bound to have discussed that. A private chat with Jess’s Mum was high on Nicola’s list of things to do.

  But here was St Ives. She’d soon be pouring a nice glass of red. Nicola circled tense shoulders. Please, please let the summer do them all good. She needed a break here.

  Five minutes later she was pulling up in the driveway, and what did you know, the park Land Rover wasn’t there, so Ed wasn’t, either. The car crunched to a stop outside the house that still felt more like her mother-in-law’s home than theirs.

  Spontaneously, Nicola slung an arm around Kelly when they met at the boot to unload their luggage. For half a second Kelly allowed the hug, then she shrugged Nicola’s arm off to wave to their neighbour, who was emerging from her house next door, car key in hand.

  Dorothy called across the fence. ‘Welcome home! Did you have a good time, Kelly? Did you enjoy the concert?’

  Surprise jolted through Nicola. What concert was this?

  ‘Yes! It was ace. Best week I’ve had all year.’ Kelly smiled at Dorothy, shot Nicola a filthy look, and stomped towards the house.

  Dorothy came to the fence, her plain face sympathetic. ‘I’m sure the break will have done her good. She’ll realise she doesn’t need to lose her friends even though she’s at a distance now.’

  Nicola stared miserably after Kelly. ‘It feels like I’m the one losing her. She’s obviously talked more to you about her holiday plans than to me.’

  ‘It’s her age. She’s a nice girl; she’ll settle down in time.’ Dorothy held up her car key. ‘I’m going out to dinner, but why don’t you come for a coffee tomorrow morning? We haven’t had a chat for ages.’

  Nicola dabbed her cheeks. ‘Lovely. Tennish?’ She waved as Dorothy’s mini vanished up Coast Road, then extracted her case from the car. And where the hell was Ed?

  The answer was on the hallway table, scribbled on the back of a receipt from the DIY store and propped against the bowl they kept car keys in. Called to work – 3 deer escaped. Pizza in fridge. See you later. E.

  Nicola stepped across the hallway into the living room and stood still. Wow. You’d never think it was the same house. Gone was the stud wall separating living room and kitchen, and light was flooding in from north, south and west-facing windows. At this end, their comfy blue London sofa and assorted armchairs were arranged around the fireplace where a new wood burner stood. She wandered down to the kitchen end, where the seventies fittings had been replaced by a Belfast sink and a new cupboard arrangement. Guilty appreciation flooded through Nicola – Ed must have worked his socks off to get all this looking so nice. She opened the fridge and found a rectangle covered in foil, with a bowl of chopped mushrooms and ham on the shelf below. She grabbed her mobile.

  Love the kitchen! Good luck with the deer xx. Message sent, she hurried to the bottom of the stairs, sticking her head into the utility room by the back door as she went. Brilliant – most of the shelves were up. Her phone pinged as Ed’s answering text came in. Deer caught but injured. Back late.

  Nicola stuck her chin in the air. Ed had made them a lovely kitchen, and pizza for dinner. She yelled up the stairs. ‘Kelly! Your dad’s left us pizza, come and get it! And have you seen the kitchen?’

  Three seconds silence, then, ‘Coming!’ and a thud from above was enough to gladden Nicola’s heart. Mother-daughter communication might be that bit easier with home-made pizza in front of them.

  Ten o’clock the following morning saw Nicola walking up Dorothy’s driveway. Rob had the front door open before she could ring the bell.

  ‘Saw you coming. Mum’s on the patio – normal coffee or cappuccino?’

  ‘Black, no sugar, please. Have you had a good week?’

  ‘Perfect. Mia’s been in heaven. She and Phoebe are in St Ives buying holiday souvenirs, so we’ll have peace and quiet.’

  Nicola went out to the back garden, where Dorothy was wiping the patio table. How many times had she sat here with various members of the Gillan family over the years, sunshine above them and refreshments on the table? Rob appeared with a loaded tray, and Dorothy opened a packet of chocolate digestives and offered it to Nicola.

  ‘How’s Kelly this morning?’

  Nicola took one. ‘Asleep! And Ed’s only just up; it was after ten when he got back last night. He works so hard, and I wish he didn’t have to.’

  Rob looked over to the house next door. ‘Mia was disappointed Kelly was away.’

  Nicola pulled a face. ‘Mia can go over later. That’ll put Kel in a good mood, even if she’s not up yet.’ Anything that put her daughter in a good mood was worth gold these days.

  Rob laughed. ‘I remember Kelly coming here at the crack of dawn, champing at the bit to help change Mia’s nappy, back in the day. They’ve had some good times together, these two – I’m sure they’ll be friends for life.’

  ‘I wish Kelly’s life wasn’t so – prickly. She barely talks to me.’ Nicola slumped in her chair.

  Rob put his hand over his mother’s. ‘I’m not looking forward to the teenage stage. That’s another reason we want you to move to Brighton when you retire, Mum. You’d be able to help us when Mia starts sprouting hormones.’

  Nicola thought about life here without Dorothy, and her heart sank. Suppose this house became another holiday lets property? That was more likely than not, and it would leave them sole residents of Coast Road all winter. It was a bleak and lonely thought.

  The front door banging announced the arrival of Mia and Phoebe.

  Mia danced across the patio, dark hair flying behind her and joie de vivre all over her seven-year-old face. ‘Nicola! Is Kelly up yet? Nan said I should wait until she was before I went over.’

  ‘Hello, sweetheart. Kelly should be up, so you go ahead. I’ll be right behind you.’

  Mia dived off, and Rob walked Nicola to the door. ‘I’m glad you’re back; it’s lonely for Mum here. Do your best to persuade her to retire soon, and come to Brighton.’

  ‘I will, but she’ll leave a horrible gap in our life. Sometimes I feel that Dorothy’s the only person I can communicate with, these days.’

  He hugged her. ‘Ed’s under a lot of stress, I guess, with the new job and everything. Things’ll settle down.’

  People kept saying that. Nicola trailed back down Dorothy’s driveway and up their own. Music and laughter were coming from Kelly’s room, and Nicola went to join Ed, who was sitting at the kitchen table poring over the house plans. For today at least, their daughter was sorted.

  Shrieks and giggles were coming from the back garden as Kelly and Mia batted a shuttlecock about. Ed banged the last shelf in the utility room into place and stared at it, his heart rate increasing. Another thing finished. He’d have no excuse fo
r not getting on with the cellar soon. Nicola wanted a store room down there, which of course was a good idea, but… He was a coward. They’d been here two months and he still hadn’t been in that room downstairs. He could only ignore the past when he avoided confronting it.

  Nicola appeared beside him and beamed. ‘Nice work – thank you. How about a prowl along the cliff? It’s a lovely afternoon, and we need to talk about Kelly.’

  Ed sniffed. Talking wasn’t going to change Kelly’s hormones. That girl didn’t know she was born – when he thought back to his fifteen-year-old self… But that was exactly what he shouldn’t do, or this whole façade would come tumbling down. Kelly’s behaviour was rubbing his nose in the contrast between her teenage life and his, and he didn’t know how much longer he could take it.

  He pulled on his jacket, hearing Nicola’s sigh of relief. And God love her, but her determined optimism was hard to live with too, and he hated the feeling. He wasn’t the same man he’d been for the last couple of decades.

  They turned right outside the gate and strolled towards the cliff path. Ed gazed over the sea, which was all but covering the beach now. Give it another few minutes and the waves would be crashing into the cliffs. How he’d loved the beach, back then. Now, he wished he was a million miles away from the ocean and St Ives. He should have told Nicola everything the moment she suggested moving here.

  Two seagulls soared over the clifftop, and Nicola shaded her eyes to watch them. ‘Kelly was glad to see Mia, wasn’t she? Our girl’s still in there, Ed. Once we get past this rebellious stage… We should try to present her with a more united front.’

  He sighed. ‘She can be so bloody infuriating.’ He hadn’t felt like that in London, though, had he?

  She took his arm. ‘We were probably horrible teenagers too. It goes with the territory. I think we should try – not cutting her some slack, exactly, but she seems to respond well to humour and affection?’