Thyme Out by Katie Fforde

Author:Katie Fforde
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2010-10-05T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Four hours, a thousand questions and answers and a million forms later, Perdita drove her van into the gateway of her house and turned off the ignition. She was exhausted. She had left Kitty lying on a high, narrow hospital bed, looking small and frail and light years older than she had when Perdita had seen her just the day before. It occurred to Perdita that life would now always be divided into pre-stroke and post-stroke. Pre-stroke already seemed a long time ago.

She let herself into her house, planning what to say to her parents on the phone. It was ten o’clock at night, and she ought to work out what time it was in their part of the world. But on the other hand, it was an emergency and they probably wouldn’t object to being woken.

She had her address book open and was ready to dial when there was a very quiet knock on the door. For the first time in her life Perdita wished she had a dog so she could hold on to its collar and pretend it was vicious.

‘Who is it?’ she called through the door.

‘It’s me, Lucas.’ She opened the door. ‘I came to see if everything was all right,’ he explained. He sounded almost apologetic.

‘You’d better come in. I’ve just got to ring my parents. If you listen, then I won’t have to say it all twice.’ Perdita swayed with fatigue, and Lucas steadied her elbow.

‘When did you last eat?’

Perdita had answered enough questions. She flapped her hand at him, went to the phone and started dialling.

Her mother, who had never accepted that Perdita was grown up, wanted to drop everything and fly over to be there for Perdita and Kitty. Perdita, who would have liked that in many ways, knew her mother drove Kitty mad.

‘I really don’t think that’s necessary.’

‘But, darling,’ her mother persisted, ‘it’s a lot for you to cope with on your own. Old people can be so difficult!’

Perdita didn’t like Kitty being lumped together with her mother’s idea of ‘old people’. ‘Honestly, Mum, I can manage. Kitty and I get on very well, you know that. We’ll be fine. There’s no need for you to come rushing over here.’

‘Well, we were going trekking in the Andes again, but—’

‘You go trekking. I can cope. I’d rather keep you for when I can’t than have you coming over now.’

‘Well, if you’re sure … I’ve never got on with Kitty in the way that you seem to. But she could turn into a really dotty old lady, love. You’ve got to promise to tell me if she gets difficult, and we’ll find a nice home for her.’

Perdita managed not to say that Kitty had a nice home, and that Kitty would stay in it while she and Perdita had breath in their bodies. ‘We hope it won’t come to that,’ she said instead.

‘And Kitty told me that Lucas Gillespie is in the area. I do hope it’s not awkward for you.’

‘No, not at all.

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