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‘That would be lovely.’ She watched him go inside, then tilted her head up, resting it on the back of the garden chair, and gazed at the stars once more. It was strange to think that if she’d still been in Australia she’d have been looking at a different sky. Not all of them were different obviously, but many of them were; however she wouldn’t have been looking at the stars right at this very moment because it would be late morning there.
Homesickness punched her in the stomach and she let out a gasp.
‘Are you OK?’ Ron was at her side, a tray in his hands, concern in his voice.
‘I’m fine.’ She gave him the stock British answer, and he studied her for a moment before putting the tray down on the glass-topped rattan table.
She noticed he’d made black coffees and had brought out a small jug of milk and a bowl of sugar.
‘I don’t know how to use that infernal coffee machine,’ he said, ‘So I made it the old-fashioned way with instant granules. Sorry.’
Annabelle laughed, tears hovering perilously close to the surface. ‘Instant is fine.’ She would make do; any caffeine was better than no caffeine right now.
‘How do you take it?’ he asked.
‘Just milk, please.’
He poured some into her cup, then handed it to her. ‘Help yourself to cheese and crackers.’ Three varieties of cheeses sat in the middle of the plate, surrounded by several types of biscuits.
‘Helen,’ he said by way of an explanation when he saw her looking at them. ‘She likes things just so. I’d have been happy with a block of Cheddar and a couple of Jacob’s crackers.’ He picked up a poppy seed cracker and cut off a sliver of oak-smoked Wensleydale. ‘Thanks, Helen,’ he said. ‘I’m going to enjoy this.’
Annabelle followed his example. ‘Hmm, tasty.’ She hadn’t realised she was hungry. The coffee was also good, despite it being instant.
The two of them ate in silence, and once the snack had been demolished and the coffee was drunk, Annabelle got to her feet, feeling suddenly bushed.
‘It’s been a long day,’ she declared. ‘It’s time I was in bed.’ If she didn’t get some sleep, she’d be good for nothing tomorrow.
‘It has been rather a full one, hasn’t it? Goodnight.’
‘Goodnight,’ she called back as she made her way into the house, feeling better.
Abruptly, she realised that she wanted to make the most of this unexpected holiday; there would be time enough to worry about the future when she returned home.
Home… she meant her parents’ house obviously, because although it was her childhood home and her mum and dad had assured her that she and the kids could stay with them for as long as they needed, it wasn’therhome. Annabelle didn’t have a home any more.
Her final thought as she snuggled into the single bed in the room she was sharing with her daughter, was that she and Ron were in the same boat. Both of them were technically homeless. If it hadn’t been for her parents, she too wouldn’t have anywhere to live. And an old saying flitted through her mind – “there but for the grace of God...”
