Love and Lockdown by Alyce Caswell

Author:Alyce Caswell [Caswell, Alyce]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Alyce Caswell

20

Day Two

Angela decided the very next day that she really shouldn’t have been so trusting.

The smoke alarm was wailing unhappily and Colin was jumping around underneath it, waving a tea towel in an attempt to clear the haze settling against the ceiling. He didn’t own a ladder, so they couldn’t reach up and turn the damn thing off.

All this for chocolate and marshmallows, melted into an indistinct and scorched lump on a tray in the oven—the decadent, sugary lunch had apparently been part of ‘The Plan’ Colin had concocted yesterday. She’d definitely heard capitals when he’d given it that name. Well, she had to give Colin this. So far The Plan hadn’t been boring.

‘It’ll be fine! It’ll be fine!’ Colin shouted, much like a broken record. Or a CD that kept skipping. Or a digital file that hadn’t been copied across correctly. Angela was tempted to come up with an updated simile involving streaming services just so she could use it on him.

Someone knocked at the door. ‘Colin! Are you alright? Loraine and I heard you screaming.’

Angela dropped her head into her hands and tried not to laugh.

Colin hurled the tea towel aimlessly over his shoulder and raced towards the front door, checking that it was still locked. ‘Sorry! We’ll get the smoke to clear soon. I can’t let you in and you should wash the hand you used to knock immediately. Just in case. We’re in quarantine. I honestly can’t remember the last time I touched that side of the door.’

‘Right,’ Bernard’s voice said. ‘Is this place going to burn down in the next fortnight? We’d like some advance warning, Colin. It’s going to take time to arrange a move in these current conditions. I’m sure you understand.’

‘It is not going to burn down,’ Colin insisted.

‘But Colin might burn up all of our groceries,’ Angela added.

A pause, then—‘Do you need me to get you some bits and bobs from the Sainsbury’s? I’m taking Loraine out later with her walker.’

Colin’s face paled. ‘Bernard…’

‘It won’t be much, mind,’ Bernard went on, either not hearing Colin or ignoring him completely. ‘We’re not as spry as we used to be, but I’ll get you the staples. Bread and milk. Maybe some meat and veg. We should be able to carry that back. Hang the bags on the walker’s handles. Yes, that ought to work.’

‘Bernard…’ Colin tried again.

‘Colin. We are neighbours. We’re supposed to help each other out. And if not during a bloody pandemic, then when?’

‘But…’

‘Go on, let him,’ Angela interrupted. ‘He’s got to get his jollies somehow.’

‘Loraine and I are perfectly capable of getting our jollies while staying in,’ Bernard said. She could have sworn she’d heard a wink accompany those words. ‘Let us help you, dear boy. You’ve done a lot for us. And you’ve kept me sane with your visits. Lord knows I wasn’t created to have only Loraine for company, much as I love her. Telephoning the grandkids doesn’t really help things. It’s not the same.’

‘But I don’t deserve this,’ Colin said quietly.

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