Rosa took a deep breath of relief and said, ‘Can he come tomorrow?’
CHAPTER 6
‘Oh Merlin, don’t you be starting that old nonsense again,’ Mary Cobb scolded as her big black cat swiped a quarter-full glass of water on to the kitchen table with his paw to get her attention. ‘I know it’s breakfast-time. Give me a minute, will you! You know I like my tea and toast before I do anything.’
Tutting, she reached for a cloth to soak up the spill, then with Merlin now loudly meowing his hungry discontent, she opened a sachet of food and squeezed it into the moody moggy’s metal bowl. She then turned up her radio to hear the South Cliffs Today weather presenter announcing, ‘A bright and sunny day, with temperatures of seven degrees and a chilly easterly wind. Torrential rain after dark. And don’t forget, all you boaters out there, a full moon will bring with it a high tide tonight. So, to summarise, it’s a sunglasses and wellies kind of day.’
‘For goodness sake, can I get no peace!’ Mary exclaimed as her landline phone started to ring. She pushed her long wiry black hair away from her ear to answer it.
‘Mum, it’s me. I’m on my way up the hill and going to pop in for a cuppa. Is that all right?’
‘Course it is, duck,’ Mary replied resolutely, quickly shoving the last mouthful of toast and chunky marmalade into her mouth. Then, draining her favourite yellow teacup, she quickly checked the tea leaves that lay all around the thin bone-china base.
On noticing the massive pumpkin and other Halloween decorations that adorned the front window of Seaspray Cottage, Rosa smiled to herself. Then, scrabbling to find her keys in her messy handbag, she let herself into her mother’s cosy home.
‘Oh, just you, is it? Where’s my boy and that hound of yours?’
‘That’s what I’ve come to tell you. Little Ned’s in the new nursery in the church for a couple of mornings this week. And I gave Hot a run on the beach before we came up, so he’s flat out at home. I just needed a break from the pair of them.’
‘If you’d have just asked, I could have…’
Rosa interrupted. ‘No, Mum, you couldn’t. You love working your few shifts at the Co-op and I think it’s good for Little Ned to have company. He’s being a little terror at the moment.’
‘Probably because his father is away again. Tea, dear?’
‘That’s not fair. Josh is a great dad. And if a couple of short contracts a year keeps his toe in the finance world and himself sane and happy, then that’s fine by me.’ Rosa sat at the kitchen table. ‘And yes, tea would be lovely, thank you.’
‘She’s got no children of her own, you know, that Gladys Moore.’
‘Oh, so you knew she was there then?’ Rosa said as her mother continued without listening: ‘So, are you sure you trust her with yours?’
Rosa bit her tongue. Mary’s alcoholism had seen to it that Rosa had had the most terrible childhood, so who was she to put this warning to her own daughter now? But Rosa had no wish to hurt her feelings by reminding her of this.
‘Yes, Mum, I do. Titch trusts her with Theo so that’s good enough for me. And I’m usually a decent judge of character, you know that. Gladys Moore seems a lovely person. Straightforward and kind.’
‘Two words. Joe Fox.’ Mary put two fresh cups of tea down in front of them. ‘You so trusted him, didn’t you?’
‘Mum! What’s the matter with you today? That was ages ago and my heart made that decision, not my head. And he got his comeuppance, didn’t he? His family left him and went to Spain to live.’
‘He’s back from Manchester, so I’ve heard.’
‘Well, bully for him. I certainly won’t be having anything to do with him, that’s for sure.’
Mary yawned. ‘I’m sorry, Rosa. I don’t know what’s wrong with me at the moment. One minute I’m happy as Larry, the next I’m snappy as a biscuit. I’m worried that’s maybe why Titch hasn’t asked me to do any more shifts for her at the Corner Shop.’
Again, Rosa didn’t want to hurt her mother, this time by telling her it was because she kept forgetting to give Titch messages or update the order sheets.
‘No,’ Rosa replied kindly. ‘I think Titch is being mindful about finances and the shop’s never as busy in the winter; we both know that.’
‘I’m always tired too at the moment, but I don’t help myself, as I was up until the small hours, getting the window ready for tonight’s trick-and-treating. So maybe you’re right, I probably shouldn’t take on too much babysitting at the moment.’
‘Well, you do like to sell yourself as the witch of Cockleberry Bay,’ Rosa teased, but also now slightly concerned about her mother’s ailments. ‘And what did you tell me about All Hallows Eve? That the dead return to the living world and reconnect with their families, wasn’t it? You probably won’t sleep tonight either.’
‘Maybe you should come up later and see if we can talk to Queenie. Your great-gran would have loved our Little Ned.’
‘As much as I’d love to,’ Rosa lied, ‘I can’t, as the boy will be fast asleep. Oh no – that reminds me.’
‘What is it, duck?’
‘Sheila Hannafore died a year ago today. Bless Luke. I was going to pop in and see him later. He took it so hard.’
‘That was a rum old business, wasn’t it? Those poor boys of hers.’
‘Let’s not dwell on it now,’ Rosa sighed. ‘Have you got all your goodies ready for the kids?’
‘I made hundreds of Critter Cookies with currants as flies last night. I just need to get some bags of sweets now.’
‘If there are any cakes left over from the café, I’ll get Nate to drop them up to you, if you like.’ Then Rosa added, ‘That reminds me – I must pop in and see how he’s getting on later. A woman’s work is never done and all that.’ She threw her coat on the back of her chair, sat down, and started to drink her tea. ‘So much to do. But for now, can I have some toast, please? I’m starving.’
‘You know where the toaster is, missy,’ Mary tutted, then on seeing the bags under her daughter’s eyes she got up and went to the bread bin. ‘I can read your leaves for you too if you like?’
‘No, you’re all right.’ Rosa took a big drink of her tea. ‘Why does nobody tell you how time-consuming having a baby is? I literally have so much to do every day and I only ever get half of it done.’
Mary sat down. ‘I wish I’d have experienced it properly and I could advise you a bit more,’ she said in a low voice, and put her hand on Rosa’s arm. ‘You do realise that I will make time to look after your little one whenever you ask me to? I can juggle the supermarket shifts if I have to. I may have failed you, but I want to be the best grandmother ever.’
‘Actually, yes, you’ve reminded me, can you have him on Fireworks Night, please, and Hot as well? You know how much I love it and the café will be extra-busy as we are doing food and drinks this year.’
‘Of course.’ Mary grinned. ‘I hate it in equal measure to you liking it. All that thick sulphur-filled air plays havoc with my breathing.’