I give her a sheepish smile. ‘It does. You don’t want to buyit, do you? Ghosts included.’
She laughs. ‘If I had that sort of money, which I definitelydon’t, I’d rather buy a ready-to-move-into place. I bet it needs loads of work,Sycamore House.’
Ellie flicks her eyes to the ceiling. ‘Don’t hold back onyour opinions, Maddy,’ she says, but she’s shaking her head and smiling at thesame time. ‘This is Lottie, by the way.’
I chuckle. ‘Actually, you’re absolutely right. It does needa lot of work. The building is sound now, thankfully, but it needs paintingthroughout, new carpets, that kind of thing, as well as a brand-new kitchen andbathroom. And then there’s the garden, which can only be described as ajungle.’
‘Why has it been empty for so long?’ asks Maddy. ‘Don’t youlive around here, Lottie?’
‘Er, no.’ I swallow, looking down for a moment. ‘I...it was the family home, but I’m living in Bournemouth now.’
I feel awkward telling them an edited version, but I tend tosteer away from mentioning the dark times in my life, mainly because of theresponses I’ve grown used to from people hearing that Dylan and I ended up incare. Some are visibly shocked and they clam up, not really knowing what tosay, and others are full of sympathy and start asking about how it came to that,which can be even worse. There’s definitely a stigma about being taken intocare. People look at you differently, and right from the start I realised that,so I was secretive about it. The kids at school could be really unkind and Ididn’t want to be bullied for being ‘different’.
My years in care were fine. Well, maybe that’s glossing overit. But I certainly had an easier time of it than Dylan, who found it reallyhard. It helped that I made friends in the home, and one friend in particular –Fiona. We gravitated together, our friendship cemented by our similarexperiences, and she’s still one of my best mates to this day.
But although I coped in there, I still felt the stigmakeenly. Being labelled ‘child in care’ often made me feel like I was a memberof an alien race, viewed with suspicion by ‘normal’ people living in ‘normal’families. I felt other people assumed I was somehow ‘bad’ and that I’d donesomething to deserve being taken into the care system, whereas the truth wasthat most of the kids in the home had found themselves in a desperately sad – andsometimes tragic – situation, through no fault of their own, and they just neededto be protected.
‘So your folks aren’t around to sell the place?’ Maddy isasking me, with a look of sympathy.
I swallow hard.
But luckily, at that moment, the café door jingles, and weall turn as a tall man with greying, short-cropped hair and an easy smile walksin. Maddy obviously knows him well because she laughs and says, ‘Well, look whoit is! Shouldn’t you be working?’
I breathe a little sigh of relief.
Saved by the bell!
My legs feel a little wobbly after Maddy’s well-meaningquestions, so I take my coffee and my slice of chocolate and cherry cake overto a table by the window, flopping down into a seat and hoping to fade into therose-patterned wallpaper.
But Maddy, it seems, wants to pull me in to the conversation.‘Lottie, this is Marcus,’ she’s saying. ‘Technically, he’s my dad – thebiologicalone – but I call him Marcus.’
Marcus grins over at me. ‘She does.’
‘So what’s the reason for your visit?’ Maddy asks, turningto Marcus. ‘We’re still having lunch tomorrow, aren’t we?’
He nods. ‘Of course. No, I’m meeting Liam to talk thingsover.’ He shrugs. ‘I need to show him the ropes before I go.’
‘Ah, of course.’ Maddy grins at me. ‘Marcus is going to bean entertainer on the cruise ships. He used to do it full-time and he missed itso much he’s going back to it. He’s a big hit with the ladies. Well, the morematureones, at any rate.’
‘Hey, you.’ Marcus grins, pretending to be affronted, butyou can tell he’s quite pleased.
‘Marcus used to write all the jingles for the radio station,then he took over as a DJ when Chris Coombes left?’
‘Great.’ I nod, adding, ‘I’m living in Bournemouth just now,so I’m not familiar with the local radio DJs.’
‘Right. Well, anyway, when he leaves, Marcus is handing thereins over to a really cool guy called Liam.’
Marcus frowns. ‘You’re saying I’m not cool?’
Maddy laughs. ‘Well, I suppose you’re cooler than most dads.Being a ship’s entertainer and everything.’
‘Gee, thanks, daughter.’ Marcus turns and peers out ofwindow. ‘Here’s the lad now. Destined for greatness, that one. So talented.He’ll be brilliant on the lunch-time show.’
I turn as the door opens, interested to get a glimpse of thenew DJ on local radio.
Then I clap eyes on this talented Liam person, and I actuallywant to slide down in my chair and disappear under the table.
It’s him.
