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‘Nothing.’
‘Yep, just as I thought. He’s such a dumbass.’
This time Thea couldn’t ignore her language. ‘Really, Katie, that’s a bit rude.’
‘But he is. His grades are just rubbish, unlike mine. I’m in the top group at everything.’
She frowned at her niece. ‘That’s no way to talk about your brother.’ Thea couldn’t abide smugness. ‘I bet you’re not in the top group for modesty.’ Thea said sarcastically.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
Thea grinned. ‘Look it up. And while you’re at it, don’t call your brother a dumbass ever again. I bet he has hidden talents.’
‘Oh yeah – like what?’
‘Well, that’s why their hidden. You’ll find out one day, and then you’ll eat humble pie.’
Katie turned around and slammed her door shut.
Thea sighed. Perhaps she should have kept her mouth shut, but she hadn’t been able to. Did Jenna let her get away with speaking about her brother like that? If Katie’s grandmother had been there, she’d have given her what for.
Thea turned from the door. She thought she heard the creak of a floorboard upstairs. When she looked up, she thought she caught a glimpse of Toby. Had he been standing on the landing listening to that exchange? She couldn’t be sure.
Thea looked at the dog. ‘Well, have you eaten yet?’
Winston barked.
She frowned at him. ‘Is that one bark for yes, two for no?’ She was joking of course, but Winston barked again – just the once. ‘Well, all right then, let’s go find you some dog food, shall we?’
She could tell Winston was about to give another bark, so she put a finger to her lips, shushing him, and whispered, ‘Indoor voices, please,’ just like her sister had done with the twins when they were little and were being loud and obnoxious. Thea smiled at Winston. She didn’t know if she was a dog-person or a cat-person. They’d had a cat once, years and years ago when they’d lived in Suffolk. But never a dog. She didn’t even know if she liked dogs. What Thea did know was that Winston’s company was far preferable to that of the twins.
Winston looked at her, but didn’t bark again.
‘Good. I think we have an understanding.’
She watched the dog race downstairs. She found him in the kitchen, standing over his food bowl. ‘Well, you’re one smart pup, aren’t you? Now, where is your dog food – eh?’
Winston raced over to a cupboard and nudged the cupboard door. Thea opened the cupboard but didn’t find dog food. Instead, there were crisps and chocolate bars. ‘Oh, no. They are not for you.’
She hunted through the cupboards and didn’t find any dog food at all. ‘Okay, that’s weird.’ She looked at Winston. She guessed why Mark hadn’t mentioned the dog. It would be just one more thing she was responsible for.
‘Good grief. Where on earth is your food?’ Thea turned full circle in the kitchen and caught sight of a detached, single-storey red-brick building adjacent to the house. ‘The garage – of course!’ She’d forgotten about the garage. It was accessed from the street but to the side of the house, so that you had to drive past the side of the house and up a short drive.
Thea opened the patio doors and stepped out into the garden to take the short-cut across the lawn, hoping the side door into the garage wasn’t locked.
Winston seemed to know where she was going – and why. He bounded after her and reached the door first. This time, he barked.
Chapter 21
When she opened the door, Winston barged past her, heading straight to a large plastic storage container, where she guessed the dog food was kept. Thea stopped inside the entrance and waited for her eyes to adjust to the gloom.
She walked over to the plastic container, took off the lid and reached inside for a tin of dog food. She noticed a large bag of dried biscuits and a small empty plastic bowl. There was a plastic scoop, which she used to put some dog biscuits in the bowl.
Winston stuck his snout in the biscuit bag. ‘Hey.’ Thea nudged him out of the way and put the lid back on the container. She had an idea why the food was kept out here, away from prying snouts.
‘Come on.’ Thea picked up the can of dog food and the bowl and looked around the garage. There was an old car which belonged to Mark, and in the far corner were piles of boxes. Thea put the dog food down for a moment and found the light switch. She pulled the cord, flooding the garage with light from the single light bulb and walked over to the boxes, which were stacked rather haphazardly. There were a couple of Persian rugs, and a large ornamental lamp, the base in the shape of an elephant’s head. It was obviously too large to fit in a box. Thea recognised these. All this stuff belonged to her mum; she was storing her personal belongings in Jenna’s garage while she was travelling. Her furniture was still in the flat that Gracie was renting.
She remembered that during her last visit, she’d been into the garage to get into Jenna’s car. She’d not taken much notice of the boxes, but she did remember that they had been neatly stacked and sealed; she had carried them in there herself after her mum had packed them, and there had been a small plastic sheet covering them because the garage roof leaked sometimes.
