Saved by the Single Dad

by Annie Claydon

  ‘You worked abroad?’

  ‘Yes. I’m a teacher. I came home when my mother became ill and looked after her for some years. Then I taught in the school, here.’

  ‘And this one?’ A colour photograph of Miss Palmer, done up in waterproofs and walking boots, standing on high ground. Next to her, Cass had her arms held aloft in an unmistakable salute to some victory or other.

  ‘Ah, yes.’ Miss Palmer shot Cass a smile. ‘We climbed Snowdon.’

  ‘Miss Palmer raised a whole chunk of money...’ Cass added and Miss Palmer straightened a little with quiet pride.

  ‘Surprising how much people will sponsor you for when you’re in your seventies.’ A slight inclination of the head, as if Miss Palmer was sharing a secret. ‘They think you’re not going to make it to the top.’

  ‘We showed them, though.’ Cass broke in again.

  ‘Yes, dear. We did.’ Jack found himself on the end of one of Miss Palmer’s quizzical looks. She was probably checking that he understood the point that she’d just made. If she could do all this, then a flood wasn’t driving her from her home.

  ‘I’ll go and make the tea. Make yourselves comfortable.’ Martin sat down suddenly, as if responding to an order. Jack reckoned that any prolonged exposure to Miss Palmer would have that effect on someone.

  ‘I’ll come and give you a hand.’ Jack ignored Cass’s raised eyebrows, motioning for her to stay put. He wanted to speak with Miss Palmer on her own.

  She bustled, tight lipped, around the small modern kitchen. Jack gave her some space, leaning in the doorway his arms folded.

  ‘So. What are we going to do, then?’

  Miss Palmer faced him with a look of controlled ferocity. Jack imagined that she was used to a whole class quailing into silence at that.

  ‘I had assumed you might be off duty.’ She glared at his T-shirt and sweater.

  ‘I’m never off duty. I dare say you can understand that.’ Miss Palmer didn’t stop being a teacher as soon as she was out of the classroom. And Jack didn’t stop being a paramedic just because his ambulance had been wrecked and his uniform soaked through.

  ‘Yes, I do.’ She laid cups and saucers carefully on a tray.

  ‘Your friends are concerned about you. My job is to find out whether that concern is justified. To check whether you’re okay, and if you are to leave you alone.’

  Miss Palmer’s set expression seemed to soften a little. ‘This house is well above the flood line, and I’m lucky enough to have electricity and my phone still. Is it so much to ask, that I stay in my own home?’

  ‘No. And I’ll do my best to make sure that happens, but you’ve got to help me. If we can address any potential problems now, then that’s a good first step.’

  ‘Is this the way you deal with all the old ladies?’

  ‘Yes, of course. Is this the way you deal with all your pupils?’

  Miss Palmer smiled suddenly, her blue eyes twinkling with amusement. ‘A hundred lines, young man. I will not answer back.’

  Jack chuckled. He could see why Cass liked her so much; they were birds of a feather. Both as feisty as hell, with a sense of humour. ‘Are you on any medication?’

  Miss Palmer walked to the refrigerator and drew out a cardboard packet, which Jack recognised. ‘Warfarin. What’s that for—you have a blood clot?’

  ‘A very small one. The doctors picked it up on a routine screening six months ago. I had an appointment for an X-ray a couple of days ago, to see whether the clot had dissolved yet, but I couldn’t make it.’

  ‘Okay. When was your last INR test?’

  ‘Two weeks. I can’t get to the hospital.’

  ‘I’ll get a test sent over; I can do one here.’

  Miss Palmer nodded. ‘Thank you. My INR is usually quite steady but...’

  ‘Best to check.’ The Warfarin would be thinning her blood to dissolve the clot. The INR test made sure that the dose was correct. ‘Do you have some way of calling someone? In an emergency?’

  Miss Palmer opened a cupboard and reached inside, producing a panic alarm.

  ‘Is that working?’ First things first. Then he’d tell her that there wasn’t much point in keeping it in the cupboard.

  ‘Yes, I try it out once a week.’

  ‘I want you to check it every evening. And I want you to wear it.’

  He was expecting some kind of argument but Miss Palmer nodded, putting the red lanyard around her neck and tucking the alarm inside her cardigan.

  ‘I want it within reach at all times. Particularly when you’re in bed or in the bathroom.’

  ‘You’re very bossy, aren’t you?’ Miss Palmer seemed to respect that.

  ‘Yeah, very. But I’ll make you a deal. You wear the alarm and let me give you a basic medical check, and I’ll get everyone off your back.’

  Miss Palmer held out her hand and Jack smiled, stepping forward. Her handshake was unsurprisingly firm. ‘All right. Deal.’

  * * *

  Jack had obviously been carrying out some negotiation in the kitchen. When he reappeared with Miss Palmer, carrying the full tray of tea things for her, it was apparent that they’d struck up some understanding. At least he’d got her to wear her alarm.

  Tea was drunk and Martin excused himself, leaving to make a call on another family in the street. Cass concentrated on her second slice of cake while Jack busied himself, taking Miss Palmer’s blood pressure, asking questions about her general health and checking on her heart and breathing.

  Finally he seemed satisfied. ‘Congratulations. I can find absolutely nothing wrong with you.’

  ‘Not for want of looking.’ Miss Palmer gave a small nod as Jack slipped the blood pressure cuff from her arm and she rolled down her sleeve. She liked people who were thorough in what they did, and clearly she approved of Jack.

  ‘I’ll be back with the INR test, and I expect to see you wearing your alarm.’ Jack grinned at her. ‘I might try and catch you by surprise.’

  Miss Palmer beamed at him. ‘Off with you, then.’ She hardly gave him time to pack his bag before she was shooing him towards the door. Cass followed, hugging Miss Palmer and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

  ‘Go carefully, Cassandra.’

  ‘I will. You too, Izzy.’ She whispered the name. It was something of an honour to call Isobel Palmer by her first name, reserved for just a few dear friends, and Cass didn’t take it lightly.

  She followed Jack down the front path and walked silently beside him until she was sure that Miss Palmer could no longer see them from her front window. ‘All right, then. Give.’

  He turned to her, raising an eyebrow. ‘I’ve done a deal with her. She gets to stay as long as I’m allowed to satisfy myself that she’s well and taking sensible precautions.’

  ‘I don’t like it.’ Cass would much rather have her friend looked after for the time being. Martin had offered a place at the vicarage and, now that Lynette was gone, there was more than enough room.

  ‘I know you don’t. Look at it this way. What’s important to her?’

  ‘Her independence. I know that. But this wouldn’t be for long.’

  ‘That doesn’t make any difference. Her community has still told her, loud and clear, that she can’t cope. How do you suppose that’s going to affect her in the long term?’

  He had a point. ‘But... Look, I really care about her.’

  ‘Yes, that’s obvious. And if there were any medical reason for her to leave her home, I’d be the first to tell you. But I’m not going to provide you with an excuse to make her leave, because taking away an elderly person’s independence isn’t something that anyone should do lightly.’

  Cass pressed her lips together. Izzy had helped her be independent when no one else could. Maybe it was fate that Jack was aski
ng her to do the same for Izzy.

  ‘Okay. You’re right.’ She pulled her phone out of her pocket and stuffed the earbuds into her ears. Before she got a chance to turn the music on, one of them flipped back out again as Jack nudged the cable with one finger.

  ‘So what’s the story with you and her? She was your teacher?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘And you stayed in touch with her when she retired?’

  He seemed to see almost everything. Which was obviously a good thing when it came to his patients, but Cass reckoned it could get annoying for everyone else.

  ‘She was my teacher for twenty years. Still is, in some ways. I have dyslexia, and she took me on. I used to go to hers to do my homework after school every day and she used to help me.’

  ‘And she let you struggle a bit with things?’

  A grudging laugh of assent escaped her lips. ‘She let me struggle all the time. She was always there to catch me, though.’

  He nodded. ‘Then perhaps that’s your answer.’ He picked up the earbud, which dangled on its lead against the front of her jacket, and gently put it back into her ear. Cass pretended not to notice the intimacy of it, but shivered just the same.

  It appeared that even though the crisis was over, the bonding part wasn’t. And wanting him, wanting Jack’s strength and his warmth, would only end badly. She and Paul had tried for two years to have children, and by the end of it she’d been a wreck. Sex had become a chore instead of a pleasure and Cass had felt herself dying inside, unable to respond to a touch.

  Worst of all, she’d become fearful. Afraid of a future that seemed to depend on her being able to have a child, and hardly daring to get out of bed on the mornings when her period was due. Fearful of the heartbreak that had come anyway, when Paul had left her.

  That fear had paralysed her whenever she’d even thought about starting a new relationship, because any man would be sure to react in the same way as Paul had. So Cass had turned to the parts of her life where she’d already proved she could succeed. Her job. Taking care of her family and friends. Overcoming her dyslexia. If wanting Jack brought her loneliness into sharp focus then he would be gone soon, and the feeling would pass.

  * * *

  Cass had withdrawn into silence as they’d trudged back to the church hall. The weather was getting worse, rain drumming against the windows, and when Cass didn’t show up for lunch Jack wondered if there was something wrong. It seemed almost as if the violence of the storm might be some response to the unspoken emotions of a goddess.

  Nonsense. She might look like an ethereal being but she was all woman. Tough and proud on the outside but with a kernel of soft warmth that showed itself just briefly, from time to time. Each time he saw it, the urge to see it again became greater.

  And that was nonsense too. His own childhood had been marred by loss and he wanted no more of it, not for himself or for Ellie. The uncertain reward didn’t justify the risk, even if he did crave the sunshine of Cass’s smile.

  Cups and saucers were filled and the lines of diners started to break up into small groups, talking over their coffee. At the other end of the hall, Martin was on his feet, talking intently to a man who had hurried in, a small group forming around them. Someone walked out of the hall and Jack heard Cass’s name being called.

  Ripples of concern were spreading through the community, people looking up from their conversations and falling quiet. Jack stood up, walking across to Martin.

  ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Ah, Jack.’ Martin’s face was creased with anxiety. ‘We’ve got a lost child...’

  Activity from outside the hall caught Jack’s attention. The shine of red hair through the obscure glass of the doors and then Cass was there, the man who had gone to fetch her still talking quickly to her, obviously apprising her of the situation.

  ‘What do you want me to do?’ Without noticing it, Jack seemed to have gravitated automatically to her side.

  She looked up at him. The defeated droop of her shoulders that he’d seen earlier was gone; now Cass was back from whatever crisis she’d been facing. Full of energy and with a vengeance.

  ‘We have a ten-year-old who’s gone missing. We’ll split up and search for him in teams. You’re with me?’

  Jack nodded. Of course he was with her.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  JACK FOUND HIS jacket amongst the others, hung up on the rack in the lobby, and pulled his boots on. People were spilling out of the church hall, finding coats and forming into groups. Everyone seemed to know what they were doing and Cass was at the centre of it all.

  Suddenly, she broke away from the people around her, walking over to a young woman in a wet jacket.

  ‘We’re going to find Ben now, Laura.’ Cass put an arm around the woman’s shoulders. ‘Can you think of anywhere he might have gone?’

  ‘He might be looking for Scruffy. He ran off and we couldn’t find him. Pete went out this morning, but there was no sign of him back at the house.’

  Cass nodded. ‘Okay. And where might Ben be looking?’

  ‘I don’t know...’ Laura shook her head and Cass took her gently by the shoulders.

  ‘It’s okay. Take your time.’ She was calm and quite unmistakably in charge of the situation. Just what Laura needed at the moment.

  Laura took a deep breath. ‘Maybe... Oh, Cass. Maybe he’s gone down to the river. We take Scruffy for walks along there.’

  ‘Whereabouts? Down by my place?’

  ‘Yes... Yes, that’s right.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll check that out.’

  ‘I’m coming...’ Laura grabbed hold of Cass’s jacket.

  ‘I need you to stay here so that we can bring him straight back to you when we find him. Join the group that’s searching the church buildings and keep your phone with you so I can call you. All right?’

  Laura nodded. Jack knew that Cass was keeping her away from the river, and the reason didn’t bear thinking about.

  ‘Let go of me, then...’ Cass gently loosened Laura’s fingers from her jacket and turned, leaving her with Martin. Her face set suddenly in a mask of determination as she faced Jack.

  ‘I’ll get my bag...’ The heavy bag would slow him up but he might need it.

  ‘Thanks. If you give it to Chris, he’ll stay here with the car. He can get whatever we need down to us quickly.’

  ‘Okay. Makes sense.’

  Jack fetched his bag and handed it over to a man standing by an SUV which was parked outside the church hall. Then he joined Cass’s group and they set off, moving quickly through the village and down the hill.

  They passed the spot where the bridge had been washed away yesterday, and Cass stopped to scan the water. ‘I can’t see anything...’ She stiffened suddenly and pointed to a flash of blue and red in the branches of a partially submerged tree. The wind caught it and it flapped. Just a torn piece of plastic.

  ‘Where is he?’

  The exclamation was all she allowed herself in the way of emotion. After surveying the river carefully, she started to walk again. They scaled a rocky outcrop which afforded a view across the land beyond it.

  Nothing. Jack strained his eyes to see some sign of the boy. The house ahead of them must be Cass’s, stone-built and solid-looking, the extension at the back blending so well with the stonework at the front that it would be difficult to say for sure that it was modern if he didn’t already know. He hoped that Ben hadn’t got in there; the river had broken its banks and the place was surrounded by water.

  ‘Ben...’ Cass filled her lungs and shouted again. ‘Ben!’

  She stilled suddenly, holding her hand out for quiet. Nothing. Just the relentless sound of the rain. Then she suddenly grabbed Jack’s arm. ‘Can you see something? Down there?’

  Jack squinted
into the rain but all he could see was the swollen river, flanked on this side by twenty feet of muddy land. The river must have flooded up across it in the night and receded slightly this morning because he recognised part of the bridge sticking out of the quagmire.

  She pulled a pair of binoculars from inside her coat and trained them down on to the mud. Then her breath caught. ‘Got him. He’s down by that bit of bridge. He’s covered in mud and it looks as if he’s up to his waist in it.’ She lowered the binoculars, feeling in her pocket. Jack squinted at the place she’d indicated and thought he saw movement.

  Cass handed a set of keys to one of the other men in the group. ‘Joe, I’ve got a ladder in my garage and a couple of tarps. Can you guys go and find them, please?’

  ‘Okay. Anything else?’

  ‘Yeah, just pump out the water and clear up a bit while you’re there.’ A small twist of her lips and that wry joke was all she allowed herself in the way of regret.

  She was off before Jack could say anything to her, scrambling down the other side of the ridge. The four men with them headed towards the house and Jack followed Cass, getting to the bottom before she did and catching her arm when she slipped in the mud.

  ‘Careful...’

  ‘Yeah, thanks.’ One moment. There was no time to tell her that he was sorry to see her house flooded, and no time for Cass to respond. But her brief smile told him that she knew and she’d deal with it later. Jack resolved to be there when she got around to doing that.

  They set off, jogging towards Ben. Jack could see him now, covered in mud, sunk up to his waist, right next to the remains of the bridge. And, huddled next to him, wet through and perched on one of the stones, was a small black and white dog.

  ‘He must have seen the dog and tried to get out there to fetch him.’ Jack supposed that Scruffy was light enough to scamper across the mud, but the boy had sunk when he’d tried to follow him.