AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Before she had a chance to say anything else, he added, ‘I wrote a list and a schedule of where we need to be in two weeks’ time.’
He sounded so nonchalant, as though he was planning a student lesson, not packing up their lives. ‘You mean you’re packing up more stuff?’
‘Well, our buyers said they want to be in as soon as possible. Theywant their children to start their new school at least a couple of weeks before the end of term.’
‘You mean before Easter? That’s less than two months away!’
‘That’s what I mean. You can see where we’ve got to get our skates on.’
‘So, what about us? Where will we spend Easter?’
‘Well, it looks like we will be Freya and Theo’s houseguests. Assuming, of course, he gets this job and their mortgage offer still stands.’
‘You are joking. We didn’t discuss this.’ She halted, realising she’d obviously not overheard the full conversation between Jeffrey and their daughter. ‘Oh, I get it.’ It felt as though they’d been plotting behind her back.
‘Look, if it takes us a bit longer to find a place, or a suitable rental, Freya is more than happy to put us up for a bit.’
‘I bet she is,’ scoffed Alice, thinking of Freya settling into her new home, the one that would come from the proceeds of her own house sale. ‘I don’t want to go into rented accommodation.’
‘Oh, Alice, it won’t be forever. Besides, if we get our skates on and keep looking, perhaps we will find our own place to buy.’
She wished he’d stop using that term,get our skates on. It was getting on her nerves.
‘Now, you can see why we haven’t got the time for a holiday. I’ve still got the loft to sort out. Besides, if any paperwork comes through from the solicitor, we both need to be around to sign it, otherwise it could hold up the sale.’
Alice couldn’t care less about holding the sale up.
‘And we wouldn’t want Freya’s house purchase to fall through, would we?’
She wanted to see Freya settled and happy. She looked at Jeffrey. ‘No, of course I wouldn’t want their sale to fall through.’
‘Well, there you go. So, if we get our skates on, and get packed up, we can relax.’
Alice rolled her eyes, but she could see his point. He was right: if they packed everything up, they wouldn’t have anything much to do if they suddenly exchanged contracts. Alice looked at the stack of empty flat-pack boxes that Jeffrey had spent an afternoon assembling. She walked over and picked up as many as she could carry. So far, she hadn’t packed a single box.
Jeffrey watched her. ‘What are you doing?’
She sighed. There was no good railing against the inevitable. ‘I’ll make a start in the loft.’ Alice caught the surprised look on his face. She knew why. It was the first time she’d offered to help.
‘Oh, that would be grand. I’ve just got some more lessons plans to get done, then I’ll join you. We could do a trip down memory lane, while we’re at it.’
Alice thought of all the stuff up there. Years of stored memorabilia and paraphernalia, half of which she couldn’t even remember. She couldn’t decide whether a trip down memory lane was a good idea or not.
She turned on her heel and walked out of the study, taking the narrow flight of stairs up to the first floor of their Victorian terraced home. On the landing, she put the boxes down and reached up, pulling a cord. The loft hatch opened and metal steps unfolded, giving easy access to their boarded loft. They no longer had to climb up there on step ladders like they had done for many years before they’d had the steps installed.
Alice flicked on a light switch. Fortunately, along with the metal stairs, they’d also had a light installed. The sixty-watt bulb was bright enough to illuminate the stairs without switching on the hall light. Alice took the boxes up to the loft and retreated back down the stairs, making her way to the ground floor to grab her warm winter coat, which was hanging on a hook by the front door. She’d forgotten how cold it could be in the loft in the winter.
As she headed back up into the loft space, Alice could see her breath like a little cloud. ‘God, it’s cold up here.’ She hadn’t thought to grab her scarf, gloves and hat too. She glanced around, her eyes alighting on a large trunk in the centre of the floor, surrounded by various overflowing boxes, a chest of drawers with an attached mirror – no doubt full of stuff too – and a long mirror she’d forgotten all about. Alice took the empty packing boxes over to the trunk and knelt in front of it. She opened the lid and clapped her hands. On the top of a pile of clothes was a red scarf, hat and gloves set, brand new and unworn; they were still in a cellophane wrapper. She vaguely remembered that someone had bought her the set for Christmas one year. It had been a nice thought, but red really wasn’t her colour.
Alice didn’t care about the colour now. She unwrapped them from their packaging. The material, chenille, was soft and luxurious. She draped the scarf around her neck, slipped the bobble hat on her head. She didn’t want to think about what her hair would look like when she removed the hat. It reminded her she was due for a haircut and a colour. Her short, softly layered style was a warm chestnut colour, not far from the colour her hair had naturally been before it had turned grey a decade earlier. She knew her style framed her round face and full cheeks nicely and complemented her freckles.
She stood up and walked over to the long mirror, staring at her reflection. She was surprised to find that despite her misgivings, the red bobble hat actually suited her. Her gaze dropped to her face, and she studied the fine lines around her brown eyes. She touched her jowls. She no longer had the taut, smooth complexion of a young woman, but she knew she still looked younger than her sixty years. She shook her head gently, wondering where the years had gone.
She turned away from the mirror and crouched down by the trunk once more, picking up the gloves and slipping them on, trying to recall who had bought the set for her. She didn’t have a large family; both her and her husband’s parents had passed away. She didn’t have any siblings. Her husband had a brother in Australia whom they barely saw. He and his family hadn’t been back to England for years. Jeffrey had always wanted to fly over there and visit his brother, but it would be an expensive trip, and the years had just rolled on until he accepted it wasn’t something they’d do until he retired. Alice supposed that was one positive thing about selling the house. They could finally make that trip.
Alice guessed it was probably Freya who had bought the scarf, hat, and gloves set. It wouldn’t have been her best friend, Jane, who was another retired teacher. Alice and Jane went way, way back – back, in fact, to the happiest time in their lives, when they were all in their early twenties and on holiday on the Suffolk Coast.
Jane was also the only one who knew Alice and Jeffrey’s secret.
