A Son for John by Gill Sanderson

Author:Gill Sanderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783755783
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2013-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

John had decided to buy the flat, and Anna’s solicitor had moved with unusual speed. Soon it would be his officially, but he could start thinking about redecoration and furnishings.

Anna had given him some suggestions about colours and what to buy, but she was insisting that he make his own mind up.

‘This is your first real home,’ she said. ‘You’ve got to make the decisions.’ And that was what he was doing. On the floor were a number of carpet swatches, and he was trying to work out which he preferred. ‘Your carpet is the first and most important decision,’ Anna had told him, ‘because all your decorating, curtains, even furniture, have to match it.’

There was more to this home-furnishing business than he’d ever thought. Could he really live with a cherry-red carpet? He was rather enjoying it. After a life largely spent living out of a suitcase he was looking forward to having some roots. And he was surprised at the number of things he had to see to. A telephone, gas, electricity, council tax, insurance – most had been done for him in the past.

The front doorbell rang – his first visitor! He glanced out of the window. Ellie’s car was parked there. Ellie! There was no one he wanted to see more. The flats were fitted with an intercom and door-release, but he ran downstairs anyway.

He hadn’t seen much of Ellie in the past week. She had stayed the night with Anna, and the two families had gone swimming together on Sunday morning. He had loved being with them. But they had all been together so there had been no chance for a further private conversation, and after swimming Ellie had driven straight home.

On the ward on Monday she’d told him she was thinking about what had happened, but that he was to give her time. The old, tough Ellie had reappeared. He had given her time, hoping that not crowding her was the right thing to do. But it had been hard, and he was getting impatient.

Now he realised it had been the right thing to do! She knew his new address and had come to see him.

He opened the door, and somehow managed to keep the smile on his face. Ellie was there – but also her mother. This was not going to be the intimate meeting he had hoped for.

Somehow he managed to be hospitable. ‘My first visitors,’ he said. ‘Do come in.’ However, he suspected that from the semi-secret smiles the two women exchanged that they knew what he had been hoping.

‘I told Ma about your new home,’ Ellie said, ‘and she very much wanted to come and see it.’

‘When I was first married I lived in a flat in a house just like this,’ Marion said. ‘This brings back memories.’

‘It’s still empty,’ he said, ‘but I can do three mugs of tea and there’s a packet of biscuits. You can tell me what you think about my ideas for furnishing.’

The smaller rooms were soon surveyed, but it was the living room that attracted all the attention.

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