The Brooding Doc and the Single Mom
Auteur
Louisa Heaton
Lezers
16,7K
Hoofdstukken
10
CHAPTER ONE
Greenbeck Village Welcomes CarefulDrivers Twinned with Vebnice, Croatia
DR STACEY EMERY smiled as she drove past the sign, glancing briefly into the rear-view mirror. Her son, Jack, was looking out of the window at a field filled with sheep and new lambs. ‘We’re here!’ she beamed, hoping to see him smile and fill him with some excitement about their move. But he didn’t even meet her eyes.
She did worry about him. This move to Greenbeck was meant to be the answer to all their problems and worries. Their fresh start. Their reset button. All her hopes and dreams were pinned on Greenbeck working its extraordinary magic and bringing back the fun-filled, happy boy she’d used to know.
Greenbeck had been her childhood home and she had many wonderful memories here. She couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t been happy. It had always seemed to be summer. Sunshine...warmth on her face. Flowers. Playing with her friends. Feeding the ducks at the duckpond. Watching the canal barges drift beneath the Wishing Bridge. Calling to the people on the boats and waving.
She’d grown up on Blossom Lane, where the only traffic she’d had to be careful of was the horses being led out through the gate of High Field Farm. Whenever they’d come she’d run inside to tell her grandad to bring his shovel, because said horses had left some helpful, steaming piles of manure on the road he could acquire for his rose bushes and vegetable patch.
She’d picked blackberries and gooseberries from wild bushes. Scrumped apples from Merryman’s Orchard. Swung on a swing above the brook. Paddled barefoot in the water, looking for sticklebacks with a bright neon-yellow net on the end of a bamboo cane. There’d been the fun of the village fete. Skipping to school. Sports days with egg and spoon races...
Apart from when she’d lost her parents, Stacey couldn’t remember a time here when she hadn’t smiled. And she needed that for Jack.
She couldn’t remember the last time he’d truly been happy. Truly laughed. Truly enjoyed being a little boy.
She needed, desperately, for Greenbeck and her grandparents to work their magic all over again.
But she’d been away for so long. She hoped and prayed that the village had somehow ignored the passage of time and was still exactly as she remembered it.
The road after the sign would lead her down into the valley where Greenbeck nestled. She drove past the ancient ruins of Castle Merrick, a place she’d often looked up at and dreamed was filled with the ghosts of lords and ladies from centuries past. It was now a heritage site and she could see tourists gathering. Its one last turret stood formidably high, defiant against the years, casting a shadow over the road that suddenly began to twist and turn as it took her through the woods.
The green canopy of trees high above flickered with the snippets of sun breaking through, dotting the road and her windscreen with a dazzling array of strobing light. Then the car broke free from the woods and opened up into bordering fields, where she saw more sheep. Cows... Horses... And was that an alpaca?
A road sign declared that the upper speed limit for driving through Greenbeck was twenty miles per hour, so she slowed down, glad of the chance to look around and re-familiarise herself with a place that she hadn’t seen for a long time.
The few visits she’d managed had been way too short. Weekends here and there. Once to introduce her grandparents to her now ex-husband Jerry. Another after Jack had first been born. Her grandparents would have loved to keep their great-grandson in their lives, but it hadn’t been possible. Her job had been in Scotland. She’d done what she could...maintaining video calls once a month. But being a single mother didn’t often leave her with much time on her hands and so they’d not visited in person as often she would have liked.
Her grandparents, Genevieve and William Clancy, were so proud of her, though. For doing well at school, despite the trauma of losing both her parents in a tragic accident so early on in life. They’d supported her and cheered her on when she’d applied to study medicine at university, waving her off as she’d driven her ancient car away from Greenbeck to travel all the way to Edinburgh.
They’d managed to come up for her graduation ceremony, which had been nice, and had listened to her on the phone each week as she’d described to them what it was like on her hospital placements and then her GP training. And then how it had felt to fall in love.
They’d taken the news in a non-judgemental, wonderful way when she’d told them she’d eloped to Gretna Green to marry a GP she’d met and not invited anyone to the wedding. They’d listened in the same way when her marriage had crumbled after she fell pregnant with Jack...
So much had passed since she’d been away. So much heartache. So much pain. And not once had they admonished her. Their love for her was eternal and something that could never be broken, it seemed.
Which was what they both needed. Her grandparents knew of Jack’s troubles. Knew of Stacey’s despair. And when they’d told her, ‘Come home. There’s a place for Jack at Greenbeck Juniors. We’ve already checked...’ she had known in her heart it was the right thing to do. It was time to come back home and be healed, despite the memories that impeded the thought of doing so. She’d lost her parents here.
The road took her through the heart of Greenbeck, past the village green, where small families stood by the pond, feeding the ducks and a pair of resident swans. She smiled, remembering the many hours she’d spent doing exactly the same thing.
‘Look at all the ducks, Jack!’
He made a non-committal sound in his throat and tightened his grip on his teddy bear, Grover, the stuffed toy he’d become attached to since he was a baby. Grover was a little bedraggled now. Stacey had lost count of the amount of times she’d stitched him up, repairing his paws and ears, because Jack never let him go when he was at home.
Stacey noticed a new building next to the church. Single-storey. Built in the same grey stone that most of the buildings here were constructed with, but with a large, modern glass frontage. Greenbeck Village Surgery.
So that’s where I’ll be working...
When Stacey had been a little girl the doctor had operated out of his own house. Dr Pickwick had been a dour-faced old man. A bit gruff, with steel-rimmed spectacles. But every time her grandma had taken her to see him, either because of illness or for an inoculation, Dr Pickwick had opened up his desk drawer and let her choose from a box of sweeties or lollipops if she’d been a good patient. And sometimes when she’d sat in the waiting room, ready to be seen—actually the front parlour of his home—Stacey had been able to smell whatever Mrs Pickwick was baking.
For a long time she’d associated going to the doctor’s with the delicious aroma of apple pie. One of Mrs Pickwick’s favourites... But that was for later. And even though she was also keen to call in on her grandparents, whom she hadn’t seen in person for a few years, she was very much aware that she’d been driving for hours and what she wanted most was something to eat and drink and maybe to take a shower, so that she could see them when she was feeling refreshed.
There was a parking space over by The Buttered Bun Café and she slid into it, pulling on the handbrake. ‘Here we are! Let’s grab a quick bite to eat. I don’t know about you, but I’m starved.’
She helped Jack clamber from his seat and then she held his hand as they entered The Buttered Bun. Above their heads a bell rang to announce their entrance and, spotting a seat by the window, she parked Jack and gave him one of the complementary colouring sheets and pots of crayons whilst she went to give their order.
There were plenty of delicious-looking treats on display. Sausage rolls, pies, sandwiches, cake slices, cream cakes, gingerbread men... She ordered two hot sausage rolls, one hot chocolate and a pot of tea for herself, paid, then went to sit down. Jack was busy studiously colouring in a dragon in bright purple crayon.
‘Wow, that looks amazing,’ she said.
‘Thanks.’
It was only one word, but it was the most she’d had out of him in hours. It warmed her heart. Made her feel hopeful. She sat and watched him for a few minutes, noting the way his eyebrows were arched in concentration, the way he worried at his bottom lip. Then the waitress, a pretty young woman with red hair almost the same shade as Stacey’s, brought over their order.
‘Hey, great dragon!’ she said.
Stacey saw her name tag: Jade. She smiled, then walked away, went behind her counter, busying herself with making coffee for an elderly gentleman who had come in after Stacey. Who was that? He looked familiar. But it had been so long her mind struggled for names from the past.
The sausage roll was perfect. Buttery, crisp pastry with warm, spiced meat inside. She needed a napkin afterwards to wipe her fingers.
Jack ate most of his, and was just finishing his hot chocolate when the bell sounded above the door again and in rushed the most handsome man Stacey had ever seen in her entire life.
She tried not to stare. But it was hard not to at a man like that!
Already her heart rate had increased, and she sucked in a breath to try and steady it, pretending to take a renewed interest in Jack’s colouring, in the hope that he wouldn’t notice her.
She’d fallen for a handsome man before and he’d been nothing but trouble. Men like that got noticed everywhere they went. By other women. Other men. They got hit on. Flirted with. And that was often an irresistible thing. It certainly had been to Jerry, her ex-husband. Meaning Stacey had been burned by love. Left as a single mother. And Jack was fatherless. His father wasn’t dead. Just absent. Being burdened with a child was not something Jerry had ever wanted.
Why didn’t I see it?
So Stacey would quite happily stay away from men who turned heads wherever they went.
She noticed the waitress—Jade—had perked up considerably at the man’s entrance. She was beaming a smile at him, eyes gleaming, chest thrust out, fluttering her eyelashes.
‘Hi. Can I help you?’
‘I’ve pre-ordered six of your finest white chocolate chip cookies.’
Stacey couldn’t help but notice that he was a fine figure of a man. Flat stomach. A hint of muscle beneath his shirtsleeves. Nicely shaped thighs and butt in tailored trousers. He didn’t look the sort to gorge on chocolate chip cookies. He looked like an avocado on toast kind of man. A man who knew exactly how much protein he consumed each day. Who could bench-press a considerable weight. Who she would no doubt see jogging around the village most days, looking all hot and sweaty and delicious...
He turned. Glanced her way.
Immediately she turned to Jack, leaning over the table to grab a crayon and help her son complete his picture. Stacey concentrated hard, until she heard the man finish his transaction and the ring of the bell behind her as he left.
She let out a breath and Jack looked up.
‘What is it?’
‘Oh. Nothing...’
She glanced at the waitress, who was twirling her necklace in her fingers as she looked longingly out through the café’s front window, clearly tracking the man’s progress.
Stacey shook her head slightly, feeling that she could easily give some wise, womanly advice to Jade about watching out for men like that. But she had enough on her plate and it was time to go.
‘Finished?’ she asked Jack.
He nodded.
‘Good.’ Stacey gathered their things, then thanked Jade. ‘Actually, could you help me?’ she added. ‘I’m looking for Blacksmith’s Cottage, Honeysuckle Lane. Could you direct me? I’m not familiar with that road.’
Stacey had assumed it was a new road, built in the intervening years since she’d been here last.
Jade looked at her curiously. ‘Sure. You turn right, then head to the end of the High Street. First left, then second right. It’s on the edge of the new development site there.’
Where the old blacksmith used to be, Stacey thought. On the edge of the village. Made sense, considering the name of the cottage. ‘Thanks,’ she said.
‘Welcome to Greenbeck.’ Jade smiled.
‘Thanks,’ she said again.
They headed back out to the car. Stacey was keen to get settled in. Offload their belongings. It was a shame they couldn’t stay with her grandparents, but there simply wasn’t room for both her and Jack. Jack was a growing boy. Her grandparents had offered, but no, it wouldn’t have been right. Jack needed his own space, and it would have been unfair to him for them both to squeeze into her old childhood bedroom. Her gran and grandad were getting on in years, too, and it would have been unreasonable to expect them to cope with a noisy young boy—much though she knew they would love having Jack in their lives.
‘Come on, Jack. Let’s find home.’
Dr Daniel Prior stood by the mantelpiece, staring at the picture of his wife Penny and his son Mason. It was something he did a lot. Often when he felt alone, or when he had a decision to make in life. As if staring at the image would somehow tell him what to do.
In the picture, Penny and Mason had just released lanterns into the night sky during a holiday in Oahu, Hawaii. Like them, he had stood and watched the lanterns float upwards with hundreds of others, during the lantern festival, and he’d pulled out his mobile to take pictures. The first picture had been of the sky, lit by the multitude of lanterns, and the second picture—the one he was looking at now—was Penny standing behind Mason, her hands on his shoulders, as they’d both turned to look at him, smiling—no, beaming in delight.
It had perfectly captured their delight and joy, and in that moment he had loved them both so much he’d thought to himself, Even if I never get another day it doesn’t matter, because right now is perfect.
‘But I was wrong,’ he said sadly to the empty room. ‘I’d give anything for another day with you two.’
His wife and son smiled back at him, unaware that their lives would both be cruelly cut short just one day later. The guilt of that thought tortured him even now.
Daniel rubbed at his hip. It still ached. Two years since the accident. If he’d lived, Mason would be six now—in junior school. Penny would be thirty. She’d always had such big plans for her thirtieth birthday party...
Sighing, he turned from the mantelpiece and went to the kitchen to pick up the bag of chocolate chip cookies he’d collected earlier from The Buttered Bun. It wasn’t much. Just a little housewarming gift for the new doctor. Or rather an annexe-warming gift.
When the senior partner, Dr Zach Fletcher, had told Daniel he’d hired someone new for their expanding practice he’d offered to put them up until they could find somewhere more permanent. His annexe was empty—it might as well be put to use. The rent would be nice, too. But most of all he knew how hard it was to find a place to buy in Greenbeck.
Since its arrival on the list of the UK’s top ten best villages to live in, places to rent and buy here had become extortionate in price. Not many people left the village, and properties tended to stay within families. An incoming GP would struggle to find a place, so Daniel had kindly offered his annexe as part of the job, for as long as the new doctor needed it.
Zach had told him the new GP, the Clancys’ grand-daughter, had lots of experience in her old practice. Apparently, she’d been instrumental in putting together a variety of support groups for her patients: a diabetes support group. A ‘Knit and Natter’ group for some of her more elderly patients. A ‘Men’s Shed’ for widowers to get together and make new friends. A volunteer support group, and even a group for anxiety sufferers, who apparently took it in turns to meet at each other’s houses.
It certainly sounded as if she was a proactive person, and he was looking forward to meeting her. But even though she’d be in his annexe, and they would be colleagues, he hoped that she would respect his boundaries. Colleagues, friends and neighbours they might be, but he wouldn’t want them popping in every five minutes. Daniel liked his solitude now that he’d got used to it, and when he went home for the day he treasured his alone-time. It allowed him to recharge his batteries and let go of the stresses of the day.
His doorbell rang and he knew it would be her. She was early. He hadn’t had time to leave the cookies in the annexe yet, with the welcome note he’d been going to write.
Oh, well.
He put the cookies down and went to answer his front door. He pulled it open and stood there for a minute, absolutely stupefied at the sight of the young redheaded woman before him, her hands resting on the shoulders of a child who was clearly her son. He was the spitting image of his mother. Red-haired. Freckled. Pale, creamy skin.
There’d beenphotographs on the Clancys’ hearth, but he’d never looked at them up close.
‘Yes?’
He couldn’t help but notice her green eyes. The soft, gentle waves of the long red hair hanging below her shoulders. She was pretty...
No. She’s beautiful.
‘I’m Dr Stacey Emery. And this is my son, Jack.’
She was looking at him with uncertainty.
Daniel looked down at the boy, who was looking up at him with curiosity.
‘Erm...’ His brain scrambled madly for something sensible and welcoming to say, but all he could feel was fear and apprehension. Was he ready for this? A young boy? A child who could be the age Mason would be now?
I’ll just keep my distance.
‘I...er...wasn’t expecting you this early. You made good time?’
‘Not bad.’
‘You must be tired. Let me grab the keys and I’ll show you around.’
He grabbed the annexe keys off the hook, and the bag of cookies, and closed his front door behind him, intending to show her the annexe quickly and then leave her to it.
This was the woman that he’d spotted in the café! It had been a quick glance, but enough for him to hope that she wasn’t the person he was waiting for. He’d thought for a second that she was someone who looked a bit like Stacey Emery, but hoped it wasn’t.
He led the way around the side of his cottage to the annexe that he’d had built at the bottom of his garden. Originally he’d built it as a project in his spare time, intending to use it as a place for his parents to move into. But his mum and dad had begun to require nursing care as they’d got older, and they’d recently moved into a facility in Guildford instead, leaving the new annexe free.
He’d contemplated making it into some kind of studio. He’d had grand plans for making videos about what it was like to be a GP...maybe doing a podcast? Interviewing people with interesting medical stories and posting them online? But all that required that he be quite the extrovert, and he wasn’t ready just yet. Renting out the annexe had seemed like a good substitution.
He unlocked the door and pushed it open, stepping back so Dr Emery and her son could go in first.
She gave him a slight smile as she passed, and he couldn’t help but inhale the scent of her perfume. Floral. Light. Not overpowering in any way. The kind of scent that made you want to close your eyes and savour it for as long as you could.
But of course he wasn’t going to do that, so he just waited a moment or two for them to be in the heart of the living space and then followed them in.
‘This is the living area. Kitchen’s through there. It’s got everything you should need. Dishwasher, cooker, microwave. Cookies.’
He awkwardly placed the brown paper bag on her counter. Not wanting to draw too much focus to the gesture. Hoping she’d let it pass and just accept it as a run-of-the-mill housewarming gift.
‘There’s a separate utility room out the back. Down there are the two bedrooms and a bathroom, complete with shower.’
He wanted to hand over the keys and get out of there, even if it seemed rude. He was still scrabbling to accept that this was the Clancys’ granddaughter, incredibly beautiful, and that she had a son the same age Mason would be, had he not died...
He let out a breath as she turned this way and that, perusing everything. ‘You can make any changes you want in regard to furniture,’ he said. ‘But I’d appreciate it if you could store anything original in the attic space.’
‘It all looks wonderful. And bringing the cookies was thoughtful. Thank you.’ She smiled, then knelt down to face her son. ‘Jack? Want to go choose a bedroom?’
The little boy nodded and sped off down the corridor, clutching a manky-looking teddy bear that had clearly seen better days. It needed to go in the washing machine, but Daniel wasn’t sure it would be in one piece after a wash.
The annexe had two double rooms. Both the same size. He’d kept decorations quite minimal, thinking of his parents. White walls. Lots of stained wood. Lots of greenery. He imagined it would all seem a little too grown-up for a young boy.
‘If he wants to put up posters and things, that’s fine.’
‘That’s great. I appreciate you letting us stay here for a while. Hopefully it won’t be for too long.’ She smiled again, lighting up her green eyes.
He nodded. ‘You’re the Clancys’ granddaughter?’
She seemed surprised that he knew this. ‘Yes. You know them?’
‘Kind of.’
He couldn’t say any more. His mouth didn’t seem connected to his brain right now.
He couldn’t think of anything else to say to her, so reached out a hand to pass her the keys.
‘Here you go. Do you need help with your bags, or...?’
Please don’t need help with your bags.
‘We’ll be fine. Just a couple of cases in the car.’
‘Right. Well, I’ll leave you to it, then.’
He turned and walked out of the annexe, breathing a huge sigh of relief once he was back in the fresh air.
What a complication! He’d fervently hoped Dr Emery would keep her distance and respect his boundaries before she got here, but now he knew that he would have to keep her at arm’s length as much as possible. Because, as much as he’d loved his wife and vowed never to look at another woman ever again, he’d felt an instant something when he’d opened the door to Dr Emery.
In his experience that something...that spark...always led to something more, and he wasn’t ready for it.
Dr Emery and her young son Jack were a threat. A danger.
And he knew he had to protect himself at all costs.
Oh, no.
That had been her first thought when Dr Prior had opened the door, and the second one that had come tumbling right after it was, Don’t let anything show on your face.
Dr Prior—the man she was renting her home from, living next-door to, becoming his tenant—was exactly the same man she’d seen rush into The Buttered Bun to collect a bag of cookies. That stunner of a man who now, up close, she could see was even more handsome than she’d realised whilst at the café. Dark-haired, with a well-groomed beard, chocolatey brown eyes, a jawline that was square and proud. And since he’d been in the café he’d removed his tie and opened the neck of his shirt. She’d been able to see the slight hint of a hairy chest upon well-developed muscle.
Her mouth had instantly dried, even as her heart rate had rocketed. Thank God for Jack, who’d stood in front of her like a human shield.
For a brief moment she’d hoped it was a mistake. He’d certainly looked confused by her arrival, as if he’d not been expecting her, and she’d hoped that maybe she’d stopped at the wrong cottage and the address she really needed was next door, or something. But no. She wasn’t in the wrong place and this man was going to be her landlord and her new colleague...
Oh, dear God, he’s going to be hard not to look at.
That was the problem with beautiful things. You looked at them. Admired them. And admiration turned to wanting, and wanting led to...
It’s best I don’t think about what that leads to. Dr Prior is off-limits. I’m off-limits.
Her grandparents had said that her new landlord was a nice man. A very good doctor whom they’d known for a few years. So she’d expected someone older.
But the annexe was perfect for her and Jack, and Jack looked keen to explore.
Now Dr Prior had handed her the keys and left she was able to take in its features better—without the distraction of an Adonis at her side. It had a large living area, with soft leather sofas, a low coffee table, and bookshelves filled with a selection of mixed fiction, mostly crime and thrillers. The kitchen was modern and sleek, with soft-close drawers and cupboards. The utility room was functional, with both a washer and a dryer, and the bathroom had black marbled tiles with both a shower and a bath.
The bedrooms were very modern-looking, with a Swedish feel to them. Jack chose the room that looked out onto the garden and she took the other, leaving the suitcases that she’d heaved from the car waiting to be opened by the side of their beds. With nothing in the fridge or the cupboards, she figured it was time they went to see her grandparents and finally let them meet Jack for real—though she would have loved to relax in the shower first...
The drive from Blacksmith Cottage to Blossom Lane barely took ten minutes, and as she pulled into the road where her grandparents lived she thought it was a lot smaller than she’d remembered. The road seemed more narrow, the cottages were closer together, the gardens filled with more flowers.
Her grandparents’ place, Gable Cottage, had recently been rethatched, and the purple jasmine around the door was in full bloom. Once upon a time she would have just walked straight in, but she’d been away for so many years she felt awkward, and she knocked instead.
When her grandmother opened the door Stacey beamed a smile at the woman who had raised her after her parents’ death. Genevieve Clancy had not changed one bit. Okay, maybe there were one or two more lines upon her face, maybe she’d got a little plumper, and maybe her hair was a fine silver, but the woman herself was just as wonderful and warm.
‘Stacey! My darling girl!’ Genevieve threw her arms around her and gave her a big squeeze. Then she turned her attention to her great-grandson. ‘And my mighty Jack! Haven’t you grown?’ She stooped down and threw open her arms, and Jack stepped into them for a hug. ‘William? Will! they’re here!’
Stacey looked up to see her grandad making his way down the hall. He walked with a stick now, it seemed, but that was his only nod towards the fact that the pair of them were now well into their eighties and he was still going strong.
‘You’re looking pale, Stacey. Have you been eating?’ he asked.
‘Oh, you know what it’s like... It’s been a long drive. And the stress of moving—that’s all it is.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘Absolutely.’
She stepped towards him and gave him a hug, inhaling the scent of his usual soap and aftershave. It was like coming home. So familiar and yet also poignant. She’d forgotten it, having been away so long...
‘Let’s get you both in and I’ll make some tea. Jack, I’ve made a cherry pie, if you’d like a slice?’
Jack nodded.
‘He needs to eat some dinner first, Gran.’
‘Oh, right... Well, let me see... I’ve got some shepherd’s pie in the fridge. Shall I heat that up for the both of you?’
‘That’d be great, thanks.’
Her gran beamed. She always had liked feeding people. Mothering them. She and her grandfather were forever taking in waifs and strays who needed help. Even if they saw a homeless person when they were out and about they’d buy them something hot to eat or drink.
Her grandad led them into the living area and it was like stepping back in time. There was the old three-piece suite, still with the pure white antimacassars on the backs and arms. The cabinets were still filled with trinkets and knick-knacks. The circular rug was in front of the gas fire. The horse brasses hung on either side.
And on every conceivable surface family photos took pride of place. Stacey. Jack. Her parents. Gran and Grandad on their own wedding day, holding each other’s hands and gazing into each other’s eyes with so much love. it almost made you want to weep.
Gran’s bag of knitting lay at the side of the sofa. There was Grandad’s pile of papers and TV guides. A book on World War II with his reading glasses perched on top.
Stacey might have gone away and changed her life, but here in Gable Cottage time, it seemed, had stood still.
‘Hey, Jack. We got you some things to play with so you wouldn’t be bored.’
Her grandad pulled out a box from his side of the sofa, and pushed it towards her son. It was filled with books, toys, cars and jigsaws and Jack dived into it with glee.
Stacey smiled to see him happy. She’d missed that.
She settled onto one of the sofas. ‘Can I help with anything, Gran?’
‘Oh, no, dear! You sit down and rest. I’ve got it all in hand.’ Gran bustled in from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her flowery apron and beaming at Jack, who was playing on the floor. ‘We picked up a few bits from the local charity shops. It’s not much, but we didn’t want him to be bored.’
‘It’s great. You’ve gone to a lot of trouble.’
‘Oh, no trouble at all! It’s what you do for family. Have you moved in yet? Have you looked around the annexe? What did you think?’
‘Oh, it’s very modern. Very nice.’
‘Daniel has worked very hard on it.’
‘Daniel?’
‘Dr Prior. Your landlord.’
At the mention of his name she felt her cheeks glow. ‘Oh, right. Yes. Him.’ Stacey gazed down at Jack, who’d emptied a jigsaw puzzle onto the floor. The picture he was trying to make was of a whole lot of cartoon characters. ‘You never mentioned he was my age. Or so good-looking,’ she admonished kindly.
Her gran looked at her, innocently. ‘Didn’t I? Must have slipped my mind. Can I get you some tea, Stacey? Coffee?’
‘Tea would be great, thanks. We’ve not had time to go food shopping, so there’s nothing in.’
‘Oh, we’ve got plenty in our cupboards! You must take something home with you until you can make it to the shops.’
‘That’s all right. I’d hate to take food away from you.’
‘It’s no problem at all. I’ll put a little bag together right now.’ And her gran bustled back into the kitchen, glad to have a project.
Stacey looked up at her grandad. ‘Nothing changes.’
He smiled and nodded. ‘No, nothing changes. Your gran likes to make sure people are all right. It feeds a need in her.’
‘She’s always been the same.’
‘Like that doctor of yours. She—’
At that moment her gran came in again and her grandad stopped talking as Genevieve got down on the floor to help her grandson with his jigsaw.
Stacey wondered what her grandad had meant. ‘That doctor of yours’? Did he mean Dr Prior? The Adonis of Greenbeck? How had her gran been helping him? And why? He seemed a man strapping enough to take care of himself. He’d also seemed a little standoffish, and not the kind to accept help. Especially from an elderly lady.
I must have misunderstood what he was getting at.
‘Oh, I have missed this! Having a little one around the place!’ said Gran.
‘Well, get used to it—he’s going to be here a lot!’
‘When is his first day at the school? Monday?’
Stacey nodded, suddenly full of apprehension. ‘Yeah. Same as me. My first day at the surgery.’
‘He’ll be all right. You explained everything to them? They know what happened at his last place?’
Memories of that time filled her with the darkness and fear that she’d begun to hate. ‘They know.’
Gran reached out to touch her knee. ‘He’ll be fine at Greenbeck Juniors. They’re good there. Nice kiddies. Small classes. He’ll fit right in...you’ll see. They’ll keep an eye on him.’
‘I hope so.’
The bullying Jack had received at his last school had sunk her son into a vast depression. His difference—a large, bright red birthmark that covered most of his stomach—had made him a target for bullies, and Jack had become school avoidant. He’d begun complaining of illness most days, growing more quiet every day, and the day he’d stated that he wished he were dead had struck fear into her heart like a knife.
Only recently there’d been an article on the news about a boy who’d killed himself due to online bullying. There was no way that Stacey was going to let a bunch of bullies ruin her son’s life. He’d already lost his father, due to no fault of his own, and now his childhood was being stolen from him. She’d not wanted to run away from the problem, but she’d been so scared, and so alone, she’d longed for the warmth and protection that family gave. So she’d returned home for good, hoping that the magic of Greenbeck Juniors—the school that she herself had attended, and in which she’d been so very happy—would somehow work its magic and bring back the boy she’d once known.
‘There’s never been an issue at that school. He’ll be happy there. Won’t you?’ Gran asked her great-grandson.
Jack just looked at her uncertainly and shrugged.
‘It’s okay to be nervous on your first day. I’m sure your mum will be, too.’
‘First days are the hardest,’ Stacey agreed. ‘But once they’re done and out of the way all the other days are much easier.’
Jack didn’t look sure, and she couldn’t blame him. He probably thought the new kids he’d meet would be fine until they saw him get changed for PE and then the bullying would begin. If it did she had no idea what she’d do. Home-school him? How would she do that? With her job? They couldn’t live on thin air...she needed to be working.
‘No word from...?’ Her grandad nodded towards Jack and she knew he was asking about Jack’s dad—Jerry.
‘No. I thought he might get in touch when I informed him we were moving, but I haven’t heard a peep.’
Grandad shook his head, totally disgusted at Jerry’s behaviour. ‘Shocking.’
Gran and Grandad had never been big fans of Jerry after meeting him, but they’d kept their doubts to themselves when she’d announced that they were getting married. They had supported her, believed in her own ability to make the choices that were right for her. And when it had all come crashing down around her ears months later, after Stacey fell pregnant, they’d been there again, to support her. Even making a rare trip up to Edinburgh on the train to stay with her for a week or two. They’d never blamed her. It was always Jerry.
‘That’s all in the past now, though. This is our new start and we’re going to be fine!’ she said, trying to convince herself as much as them.
‘Of course you are, love,’ said Grandad. ‘It’s going to be all right.’
She smiled at them both, overwhelmed by the love she felt for them and wishing that all her dreams for her and Jack’s future would come true.
