‘Oh!’ She blinked, blushing more furiously than ever.
He laughed softly and lifted her good hand to his lips, not moving closer, letting her know that he knew the time wasn’t now. ‘Let me help you to bed and then I’ll go. Where are your night things? You’re shivering.’
‘Oh, I need … I’ll put them on in the bathroom.’ After pulling something chequered white and blue from the nearby chest of drawers she hurried towards the bathroom.
‘Can you manage your—’
‘Yes!’ she threw back firmly, leaving him reflecting that her back view was every bit as good as the front. Restless and hyper aware of being in her bedroom he paced, trying not to look at the double bed with its fresh-looking white cover, wondering whether he’d gone some way to mending bridges. She hadn’t said much in reply to his apology but she hadn’t told him to forget it.
When she returned the blue and white fabric had resolved itself into pyjamas, which she was wearing, clutching the jacket closed across her chest. ‘Luckily my toothbrush is electric so I could manage it with my right hand. But the buttons …’ She glanced down at herself. ‘I can leave them open but they told me to sleep in the sling for now so I kind of need help with that.’ Her cheeks were on fire.
He swallowed. ‘I can do the buttons. I’m exercising iron control.’
Awkwardly, she kept herself covered by clutching the fabric together while he slid buttons through buttonholes. ‘This is killing me,’ he murmured, seeing his fingers shake as they worked, which at least made her giggle and, he hoped, would make her forgive his state of arousal if she looked down at the front of his trousers.
He resituated her sling and gingerly she slid her hand back into it. ‘Thank you.’
He thought about saying, ‘My pleasure,’ but decided it might not be the moment, got her a glass of water and her next dose of painkillers to leave by her bed and plugged in her phone to charge where it was within her reach. ‘Ring me if you need me. Otherwise, I’ll be in touch in the morning.’
He left her to climb into bed on her own. There was a limit to his self-control. And he’d reached it.
Chapter Eleven
The five hours of sleep Isaac grabbed felt far less. When his alarm went off at seven he dragged himself out of bed and into the shower, knowing he had a lot of ground to cover.
When he dressed and took Doggo out, jogging to give the grinning black-and-white animal the most exercise in the shortest time, he found that December had swept into Cambridgeshire, whitening Middledip with frost that glittered like a Christmas card. Ears nipped by the chill, he jogged across the playing fields and over Port Road to the bridleway that brought him out in Little Lane, then joined Main Road at The Cross and hurried back to the pub. Doggo, the most accepting of canines, trotted happily alongside, utilising the flexibility of the long lead to arrange his sniff stops and attend to business.
They breakfasted in the kitchen, Isaac on granola and Doggo on Bakers’ Meaty Meals, then Isaac began on the business of the day. He recorded Lily’s accident in the accident book and took a long look at the staff rota spreadsheet, frowning over how to cover his absence. He received a text from Lily: Did you mean it? Got a lot to organise today …
Decoding that by ‘it’ she meant driving to Switzerland he replied: Yes, and ditto. Will see you shortly but have to sort stuff with Tina and Mr Tubb.
He rang Tina first, crossing his fingers that she wouldn’t mind being disturbed at nine a.m. on a Sunday when she’d been suffering a heavy cold. Beginning with an apology, he laid out the situation.
Tina sighed when he’d finished. ‘Well.’ She sighed again. ‘We can’t let them down, can we? They’ve worked towards it for months and it’s not Lily’s fault. I can come back to work today and then cover your absence. I’ll sleep over in the other guest room while you’re gone.’
‘You are a star,’ Isaac breathed on a wave of relief. If Tina had said no or been too ill to co-operate he wasn’t sure where he’d have gone from there. Tubb was unlikely to be super-keen on an outside relief-relief manager coming in and it would probably have cost Isaac a month’s income or more, even if it could have been arranged at ultra-short notice. ‘Can you cover this afternoon while I get everything organised? Then I’ll come back for the evening to give you a short break before you take over as designated premises supervisor from the 2nd to the 9th. I’ll try and get back for the evening shift on the 10th, which is a Tuesday.’ They discussed logistics for a while before Isaac rang off.
Over a cup of coffee he came up with a staff rota to support Tina in his absence, emailed it to Tubb then sent him a text. Can we Skype ASAP? Something’s come up. Within two minutes of opening his Skype app on his computer, Harrison Tubb calling flashed up.
Tubb’s image was grainy and jerky but Isaac had no trouble seeing his furrowed frown. ‘What’s up?’ he demanded.
So Isaac explained, keeping his voice even, stressing that the situation was under control but had changed, omitting Zinnia blaming Lily for their parents’ split-up for fear that Tubb would want to know why and Isaac wouldn’t have a good answer.
Tubb looked angry and upset, smoothing back his thinning hair. ‘Why would Lily’s sister come in and have a row with her?’
‘She seems a bit excitable,’ Isaac said diplomatically, then moved swiftly on. ‘In the circumstances, I’ve emailed you a draft rota so you can see what I intend to do. I should have consulted you before committing to take the driving on but I explored other avenues with Lily and she’s really struggling to find an alternative driver at the eleventh hour. There seems a real danger of the whole trip having to be cancelled.’
‘Shit,’ Tubb said succinctly. He looked away from the screen and said, ‘Have you been listening to all this, Janice? It’s going to leave Max in an awkward position if the trip’s cancelled so maybe I should fly back to take over—’
Isaac barely had time to feel a quiver of alarm on Lily’s behalf before a calm female voice chimed in from out of shot. ‘Strictly against doctor’s orders and Isaac’s got Tina in place to run the pub.’ Janice’s face loomed into the on-screen image. ‘Hi, Isaac. This is a pain in the bum, isn’t it? Have you got the staff to agree to the extra hours?’
‘I thought I ought to speak to Mr Tubb first.’ Isaac’s eyes flicked to the clock in the corner of his computer screen. The morning was draining away.
Though he rubbed his chin worriedly, Tubb did pull the staff rota out of his email and look over it.
Janice gave him a reassuring pat as she read it over his shoulder. ‘It’s no different to when we went on holiday together, is it? Tina’s running the show, which is why you paid for her to get her licence.’
‘Suppose.’ Tubb looked as if he were allowing himself to be talked round.
On-screen Janice smiled. ‘How long’s Lily going to be off? According to this rota she’s due back on the 13th. Will that be too soon for her injury?’
‘It could be.’ That had been next on Isaac’s list. ‘I think we ought to give her that weekend off with pay. She would have been self-certifying this week if she hadn’t been down for annual leave.’ Quickly they covered Lily seeing her GP for a certificate and Isaac reporting the incident to the Health & Safety Executive.
Tubb nodded. ‘It’ll be busy by then, mid-December.’
They worked through all the organisational details that would allow Isaac to take an abrupt leave of absence. ‘I’ve just about accrued enough annual leave to cover the trip,’ he said finally.
Tubb grinned, his eyes twinkling. ‘I won’t let you lose by it. I suspect Max and his boss will see you as the hero of the hour.’
When the call was ended, Isaac tried to call Hayley but it went straight to voicemail. He left a message asking her to call back as soon as possible, then, for good measure, texted her too. Sorry for the short notice but is there any chance of you taking Doggo back from today until the 10th or 11th December? Something urgent’s come up.
The nex
t message went to Lily. Tina and Tubb on board. Working my way through details but we can go ahead with me as driver.
He rang Flora next, explaining as briefly as he could. ‘So, two things. Is it OK for me to call at yours and grab my cold weather gear out of your loft? And can you work an extra evening shift? It’ll be Wednesday the 4th.’
Flora sounded pleased. ‘A chance to earn more money? Yes, please. Willow doesn’t work on Wednesdays so she can have the kids.’
‘Great, thanks.’ Isaac ended the call and tried Hayley’s phone again. If he was to deliver Doggo it would save time if he could do it on the same trip as going to Flora’s. Once again the call went to voicemail. Damn. She hadn’t asked to come over to see Doggo this weekend. Maybe she was away. He tried the number of the kennels that had looked after Doggo when Isaac and Hayley went away together but found they were booked up. He read reviews on a couple of others but wasn’t keen. Shit.
He hurried through handover notes for Tina to cover his absence then grabbed a sandwich and ran downstairs to find Tina had arrived and was preparing to open up with her usual stolid good humour. ‘Thanks again,’ he called as he cut out through the back door. He kept trying Hayley as he drove to Flora’s house, munching the sandwich. Once there, he had to spend ten minutes with Jeremy and Jasmine because it would have taken a harder heart than his not to meet their screaming excitement at seeing him with anything but hugs, tossing them in the air and tickling them while they giggled with delight.
‘I wanna go in the loft with you!’ Jeremy declared, running to the bottom of the stairs in preparation.
‘An’ me!’ bellowed Jasmine, following her big brother.
‘Ask Mummy,’ said Isaac. ‘But I think she’ll say no.’
‘No!’ gasped Flora.
‘Aw, pleeeeeease,’ began the children, tears starting in their eyes.
A compromise was reached whereby Isaac, holding on firmly, took each of them to the top of the ladder to peep into the roof void, by the light of his torch, at boxes and cobwebs. Then he gave them back into Flora’s care while he searched out boots, base layers and padded trousers.
Flora’s voice floated up to him through the loft hatch. ‘Get the Christmas decorations down for me while you’re up there, please.’ So he located the tree and its boxes and lowered them down to Flora while Jeremy and Jasmine danced around excitedly. ‘Can we put the tree up now? Is Uncle Isaac going to help? Aw, pleeeeeease …’
After testing the Christmas lights and putting the tree on its stand he handed over to Flora, resisting all childish blandishments to stay longer. He tried Hayley again as he finally drove away but with no more success than before. It was looking increasingly likely that Doggo would have to come to Switzerland. It was a good job he had a valid pet passport.
He headed straight to Lily’s place. He received no reply when he knocked at the French doors that provided entrance to her apartment but she must have seen him arrive because his phone rang. ‘I’m in Carola’s part of the house. Can you come to her front door?’
She was awaiting him there by the time he’d retraced his footsteps up to the front of the house. Her leggings and oversized purple hoodie went quite well with the navy blue of her sling and her cheeks were less wan than when he’d left her last night. ‘I was about to ring you,’ she said by way of greeting as she ushered him into the house. ‘The minibus insurance might delay us tomorrow because I can’t phone up with your details until eight a.m. but we can change the tunnel crossing by an hour and still easily make the hotel at Chalons en Champagne for the night.’
She paused to glance back and as if he hadn’t been letting his gaze stray to the movement of her behind he blinked his eyes to hers as she went on, ‘I’ve been in touch with Don at Acting Instrumental. He says we’ll have to retain one of the seats that were going to come out but we should still be all right for luggage space. He’s okayed the change of driver with the head guy. The beauty of the college being a small independent is that they can cut red tape and the head guy would never stop a band hitting the road if it could be avoided.’
They entered a huge dining room with a stack of stuff at one end and a load more on the table. Carola sat amongst it all, blonde hair tucked behind her ears and her gaze on her laptop. ‘Glad you’re here,’ she said briskly. ‘I need to book your rooms for the overnight stops in France.’
In between providing the details she needed he broke the news about having to take Doggo. ‘I can’t get hold of Hayley and Flora can’t have him because of her daughter’s fur allergies.’
Lily groaned. ‘Just when you think you’ve thought of everything.’
‘Luckily, the hotel has pet-friendly rooms,’ Carola interrupted, focused on her own task and tapping furiously.
‘Doggo’s crate takes up room in the luggage compartment,’ he warned Lily. ‘An alternative is to put him in a doggy seatbelt but that means you’d have to have another seat in and he’s more comfortable in the crate. You can stack luggage on top of it,’ he added helpfully.
Lily rolled her eyes. ‘Then backpacks will have to be stowed under seats. Ten people, ten backpacks, instruments, the PA and now a Dalmatian in a box.’ Lily turned to Carola. ‘Let’s add Isaac and Doggo to the Eurotunnel booking.’ Lily turned back to Isaac. ‘I’ve phoned Max about your accommodation in Switzerland and he said leave it with him. He was so mega relieved that you’re saving the whole venture – and his face – that he said he’d put you up in a hotel at his own expense if necessary.’
‘So long as I don’t have to sleep in the minibus,’ Isaac said easily.
The two women continued to fire their way through the rejigging of their trip. Carola seemed more brusque than usual and twice hurried upstairs to scold Charlotte and Emily for taking too long over their packing.
‘How are you today?’ Isaac asked Lily, afforded a minute’s privacy by one of these trips.
‘Fine,’ she said absently, squinting past him at the pile of things by the door.
‘“Fine” as in, your hand is a purple, squashed mess and you’re having to deal with all this crap instead of resting and getting better? Does it hurt much?’
A smile flickered over her face. ‘Fine under exactly those terms,’ she admitted. ‘It’s throbbing like a galloping horse, to be honest. But I’ll be able to rest tomorrow once we’re on the road and Chauffeur O’Brien does all the driving.’ She paused, pushing back her hair with her uninjured hand and her smile grew warmer. ‘By the way, I don’t think I’ve thanked you for putting your life on pause to do this. You’re being brilliant.’
Her face turned up to his, eyes smiling, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to kiss her, but then Carola returned, grumbling about teenage girls spending more time arguing and texting than packing, so he just reminded her, ‘You stopped me from getting my head caved in. One good turn deserves another.’
When, quarter of an hour later, Carola charged upstairs yet again in response to raised voices from the upper storey, Isaac had no chance to cosy up to Lily as he really, really wanted to because she whispered, ‘Carola’s upset because her boyfriend, Owen, hasn’t contacted her for several days. She’s even driven to his house but he didn’t seem to be home.’
He frowned. ‘This is the guy she met through the dating site? I hope she isn’t being ghosted.’
She grimaced. ‘Is that the thing where rather than ending the relationship they just go totally silent or block you? I hope not. He seemed like such a nice guy.’
When Carola came back in, scowling, Lily gave her a hug. ‘I think we’ve done everything we need to for now. I packed on Saturday, luckily, but I can’t do up my case and my backpack needs some last-minute additions. Isaac, could you pop down with me and manage the zips?’
‘Glad to,’ he said, meaning ‘Glad to be alone with you.’
After making his farewells to Carola, who looked pale and unhappy, he followed Lily into Carola’s well-equipped kitchen and through a door that led to a narrow s
taircase down into the bijou apartment downstairs. Carola certainly had a hell of a place.
Isaac paused at Lily’s suitcase lying on the floor. ‘Have you packed that blue sequinned dress?’ he asked hopefully.
She laughed, flushing prettily. ‘Just jumpers and boots. I need chocolate.’ She headed for the fridge and extracted two Mars bars. ‘And codeine.’ With one hand she managed to pop two little white pills out of the blister strip lying on her table and gulped them down with a glass of water before lowering herself carefully onto the sofa and offering him one of the Mars bars.
‘Thanks.’ He let himself down beside her. ‘Have you heard from your sister today?’
She ripped her bar of chocolate open with her teeth. ‘She rang this morning and asked to come over but I said I wasn’t ready to talk yet. She’s very sad and apologetic, full of self-blame, but talking things out with her could take hours I don’t have and we both need to cool off. Unfortunately, the basic facts haven’t changed. She’s being eaten up by what I’m doing.’ She bit off the end of the Mars bar. After she’d chewed and swallowed she added, ‘Even if she’s not being fair, I can’t just ignore how she feels. It’s always been us, you see. Us against a not-very-understanding world. People gossiping or making fun of our two-mums situation, being quite horrible sometimes. We’ve always been a unit, even if we don’t deal with things in the same way. She feels threatened.’
‘By the existence of your brothers?’ Isaac thought he could see that, even though Zinnia wasn’t high on his list of favourite people right now.
‘Exactly.’ Lily sighed. ‘So when I get back from Switzerland I’m going to have to decide where I go from here.’
He digested this. ‘You mean literally? You’ve definitely decided to leave?’
A tear formed on her cheek and she dashed it away. ‘I’ll have done what I set out to do, met my brothers.’
They ate their chocolate. Isaac enjoyed the sugar jolt. He’d hit the ground running this morning and his day was going to be long. ‘So you’ve come up against a lot of negativity about your two mums?’
Let It Snow Page 13
