The Forgotten Life of Arthur Pettinger by Suzanne Fortin

Author:Suzanne Fortin [Suzanne Fortin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

31

Over the next few days, Maddy was relieved the attention from social media was dying down. She was grateful for Sheila putting out a discreet tweet saying she had signed up with a company to look into Gramps’s story. She was also grateful that Esther hadn’t put any details out on her vlog either. Maddy shuddered at the thought of someone getting hold of the photograph with the address on the back.

As she busied herself in the garden, cutting the grass while Esther and Gramps were sitting on the patio having a bite to eat, her mind turned to the photograph. She was sure the address on the back held the key but she couldn’t work out why or how. Joe was looking into the electoral register for that address to see who was living there during the war.

Joe had phoned her every evening for the past four days to keep her up to date with what he was doing. It wasn’t necessary, Maddy knew that, but all the same she was beginning to look forward to his calls. Last night’s call had drifted from the subject of Gramps and they had ended up speaking at length about a variety of things, from what music they were currently into, the films they had seen and holiday destinations they’d been to – all this since they had separated. Finding out their tastes were still similar was comforting in a way Maddy hadn’t expected. She felt some sort of reassurance and even a touch of excitement in the knowledge they still had so much in common. It was like putting on a favourite well-worn jumper or curling up on a comfortable sofa, wrapped in a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate in one hand and a book in the other.

So far, they had avoided talking any more about their relationship, either past or present, or the circumstances of their break-up. Maddy felt they’d come to some sort of understanding, having navigated the emotional terrain of their relationship, and neither wanted to dig the past up again.

Maddy enjoyed talking to Joe, albeit on a superficial level. She had to admit since coming to live with Gramps she had started to feel a little lonely. It was difficult to have a proper conversation with her grandfather due to his Alzheimer’s. She was grateful for Esther being there but it still wasn’t adult conversation. Sheila was lovely and had called in regularly but apart from that, Maddy was pretty much on her own. Maddy didn’t like to burden Sheila too much with any of the difficult moments she had with Gramps.

She didn’t regret her decision to come here. She’d done the right thing and for the right reasons she reminded herself, as she turned the mower around to make the final trip down the lawn. She was quite impressed with her grass-cutting skills. She remembered how Gramps had mowed in lines and she had stood at the top of the steps and admired the alternating dark and pale green stripes in the grass.

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