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‘You’ve called him tonight?’ asked Tak suddenly.
‘Of course.’ Nell pulled a face. ‘He said it’s the weekend, so the earliest he can get someone out will be Monday, but Tuesday is more likely.’
‘Okay—’ began Effie, but Tak cut her off.
‘Not okay. It’s barely spring, it’s been a sub-zero winter and there’s another cold snap on its way. Repairing your faulty boiler is clearly his top responsibility.’
‘As he said, it’s the weekend, so that’s a reasonable time frame.’ At least it was if she didn’t want to risk being seen as a troublesome tenant and risk eviction. ‘We don’t all have the kind of money which gets instant action.’
‘I’m not challenging your financial circumstances,’ he commented unexpectedly. ‘I’m neither blind nor stupid. I do understand how putting yourself through medical school at the same time as raising a child must have crippled you.’
‘Oh.’
Of all people
, she didn’t expect Tak to understand so readily. At all, even.
‘And I realise you must still be sacrificing to send Nell to that school.’
‘It’s worth it,’ Effie cut in quickly, glowering at him. ‘Besides, as soon as I have time to house hunt, I’ll be able to find somewhere much better now that I know the area.’
‘Effie...’
‘Can we just drop it? Please?’
Tak didn’t look happy but, ultimately, he obliged.
‘So you aren’t going to call your landlord again?’
Not quite what she’d meant by ‘drop it’, but at least he wasn’t talking about the school any more. She didn’t want Nell uncomfortable at her new school.
‘Nell just said she called him.’
‘She’s thirteen.’
‘Nell’s very responsible.’ If only she’d never mentioned the shoplifting to Tak.
Her daughter had had to be responsible—it had always been just the two of them. As much as Effie had tried to protect her daughter from growing up too fast, being a single parent and a doctor had nonetheless played its part.
Still, she could be proud of herself that Nell didn’t really understand the kind of true ugliness out there that Effie herself had dealt with for most of her childhood. She’d used select parts of her past to teach her daughter how to be strong, confident, and able to think for herself. Yet she’d kept so much of it back—partly out of shame.
‘I’ve no doubt she’s extremely responsible...for a thirteen-year-old. Call your landlord.’
It was ridiculous that she found herself squaring her shoulders. ‘No.’
There was no way that Tak would understand that calling him a second time would only cause him to push their boiler to the bottom of his list. And she didn’t need him—anyone—telling her what to do. She would protect her own family the way she always had. She’d got this far on her own, hadn’t she?
She threw off the niggling fact that for once—with Tak—she was almost tempted to let someone else in.
‘We don’t need you swooping in, playing some kind of unwanted superhero. We can sort out our own problems.’
For a long moment they glared at each other.
‘Fine.’ Tak turned to her daughter abruptly, as though—insultingly—he considered the thirteen-year-old to be the more reasonable of the two of them. ‘Give me his number and I’ll call him myself.’
‘You can’t!’ Effie gasped.
There would be repercussions if he did. Their landlord wasn’t exactly renowned for his understanding nature. And as much as she might be ready to look for a better home as soon as she had some free time, she didn’t want them to be kicked out by an irate landlord before she had time to line up somewhere new.
