‘To get through it,’ I said, blinking away stinging tears.
CHAPTERTWO
‘Do you remember those amazing Christmases we had with Grandpa Eric and Nana Edith when we were kids?’ Maddie had sensed it was time to change the subject.
A weak smile forced its way onto my face as I remembered spending Christmas with Nana and Grandpa. Mum used to be an air hostess. She got the job after Dad walked out and left us for a woman in Glasgow. Maddie and I would be left with our grandparents for several weeks at a time whilst she jetted off to the other side of the world. As Dad’s parents had passed away a few years before, all childcare was down to Grandpa Eric and Nana Edith.
Mum dealt with her marital breakdown by flying to far-flung lands with her job and partying with her much younger cabin crew, as opposed to looking after us, her children. For seven consecutive years, Maddie and I spent a lot of time with Grandpa Eric and Nana Edith. No matter where Mum was in the world or how long she had been away, our grandparents would always made sure Christmas was a special time.
‘Rushing downstairs on Christmas morning to find Grandpa dressed up as Santa Clause,’ I reminisced. ‘Complete with a gigantic stick-on white beard, a red jacket, huge black boots and a sack of presents slung over his shoulder. He’d always pretend we’d caught him in the act of delivering gifts. I loved how he always claimed his sleigh was on the roof and if we listened quietly, we could hear Rudolph making reindeer sounds. I never heard him.’
Maddie nodded. ‘Nor me. Remember Nana’s legendary roast beef and her Yorkshire puddings which would be so big they’d take up the entire plate?’
My mouth began to water at that delicious memory. ‘Her roast beef dinners were unforgettable. What about her home-made mince pies and her Christmas chocolate stash in the pantry?’
‘We’d eat so much chocolate before breakfast on Christmas morning.’
I chuckled. ‘Dancing to Christmas songs with Grandpa by the tree, opening our presents but being more interested in Nana’s fancy wrapping paper and going out at night to wish the stars a happy Christmas.’
Maddie beamed. ‘Playing boardgames and cards with them both in the afternoon and Grandpa would win at everything.’
I laughed. ‘He’d happily beat us at cards, bankrupt us at Monopoly and wish us a merry Christmas.’
Maddie twirled one of her blonde curls around her finger. ‘Our cousins missed out. I can’t remember any of them ever getting the chance to spend Christmas with Nana and Grandpa.’
‘Grandpa once told me, you and I were their favourite grandchildren.’
Maddie began to giggle. ‘Really?’
I nodded. ‘He told me once Fay was “hard work”, but I was a kid, so I didn’t know what he meant.’
We both began to laugh, and Maddie picked up her phone. ‘I found this old photo the other day of you and Grandpa.’ She showed me the screen. I looked at Grandpa’s sweet face, his twinkly blue eyes and his short dark hair that had started to turn silvery. A seven-year-old version of me was sat on his lap. We were both sticking out our tongues at the camera whilst wearing wonky Christmas paper hats. The photo flooded my body with some much-needed warmth.
‘Aunty Karen says she must see Grandpa every day now.’
I stared at Maddie in shock. ‘The last time I saw Grandpa he was fine. He was his usual cheery self, and he didn’t act like he needed looking after. He burst out of his shed with such energy and pulled me into one of his huge hugs. I made him some food and we chatted before sneaking to the pub together.’
‘Did Aunty Karen know you had taken him to the pub?’
‘Aunty Karen was too busy getting a cut and colour at her local hair salon.’
Maddie shrugged. ‘That was in the summer, Rachel. Maybe he’s declined since then. Remember he’s eighty now. People at that age go downhill rapidly. He’s probably missing Nana Edith.’ She placed her phone in her lap.
Our beloved nana died ten years ago leaving Grandpa to fend for himself. The death of Nana Edith had left a crater in all our hearts, especially Grandpa’s.
‘Well, Grandpa and I email each other every couple of weeks, and he still seems himself,’ I say, recalling his latest email – he spent much of it moaning about Aunty Karen and Uncle Robert.
My eyes flicked to Maddie’s phone. The photo of Grandpa and me was no longer on the screen. It had been replaced by a photo from years ago that featured a young man smiling at the camera. The face looked familiar, and it wasn’t her husband Frank. It was Josh, her ex-boyfriend whom she dated when she was at uni. When they split up, she always used to say he was the nice one who had got away. She noticed me staring at her phone and fumbled with it.
‘Why have you got a photo of Josh on your phone?’
Two rosy, pink circles bloomed over her cheeks. ‘I was down memory lane and it popped up.’ She turned to me and dropped her phone into her handbag. ‘Look, I have a favour to ask.’
‘Oh… a favour – interesting,’ I said.
She reached out and rubbed my arm. ‘I think it might help you and get you smiling again.’
My sister’s words reminded me of Olivia. That was the phrase she liked to use after Sam dumped me. My breathing quickened, tears rushed to my eyes and my brain kindly played a showreel of everything that had gone wrong since he’d confessed to cheating on me with Chantelle.
