A Message From the Other Side by Moira Forsyth

Author:Moira Forsyth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sandstone Press Ltd
Published: 2017-06-21T00:00:00+00:00

Later, Catherine called Kenneth. He was not there either. At ten thirty, as she was getting ready for bed, he called back.

‘Sorry. Over at Rosemount.’

‘I thought you might be there. How is your mother?’

‘She’s all right.’

She hesitated, but it was foolish to be afraid of asking. (And yet, it started such a tirade.) ‘Was Gil there?’

‘When is he not?’ A gusty sigh swept along the telephone line between them. ‘Bloody leech that he is. He’s not even paying her for his keep.’

‘He is her son.’

‘Whose side are you on?’

‘Side? I’m just trying to be fair. I like Gil. You’re too hard on him.’

‘You know nothing about it. You think because he’s all sweetness and light with you, he’s harmless. He’s not.’

‘I know he’s not perfect – that night he was so drunk—’

‘My father’s funeral, right.’

‘Let’s not speak about Gil – it always ends like this.’

‘Like what? You having to face up to the fact that he’s a total shit.’

‘Kenneth, I’m getting off the phone now. I’ve had a long day and I can’t bear this.’

‘Sorry. Don’t go. Not yet – tell me what you’ve been doing.’

‘Working,’ she said. ‘What do you think?’ Relenting, she told him about Helen’s postcard, but he didn’t attach any significance to it.

‘Barcelona,’ he said. ‘I quite fancy seeing the football stadium.’

‘I doubt if that’s why most people go.’

‘You want a bet?’ Then he said, ‘Would you like to go? I mean, not for the football – to see the place?’

‘I’ve seen it. That’s where Alan and I went on honeymoon.’

He laughed. ‘I’m not doing so well tonight. Call it a day, eh? I’ll see you on Saturday.’

‘There’s a problem with Saturday – but we might manage over by the evening.’

She could actually feel him stiffen, miles away in his beautiful modern house, his bare, unspoiled house. She would not apologise. Why should she? Flora and she had lives apart from his. That was inevitable, as things were.

He did not like things as they were. Tense, they said goodnight.

Lying awake, her book laid aside, a book she had not been able to read anyway, she gazed into the shadowy dark and thought about Kenneth, Helen for the moment out of her mind. There was nothing to worry about; Helen was unpredictable.

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