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“Why is Nova sending you letters?”Nan asked, and I looked over at her, still a little dazed by my trip down memory lane.
“What?”I asked, shaking my head.
She gestured towards the note in my hand.“I recognise her handwriting.”
I hadn’t told her about the connection between Nova and me yet.When I got back on Friday night from talking to her, I’d more or less said goodnight to my nan and gone to bed, then slept most of the next day.And although we’d been back from the market for a while, I’d spent some of that time writing my blog post in my room before joining Nan downstairs.
I placed the note down beside me on the sofa and said, “Do you remember when we used to come here for Christmas when I was younger to see Grandad Cain?”
Nan nodded.“I do.You used to come here first, and then come to Manchester for New Year.”
“Yeah.Well, Nova’s family used to live next door to them.And when I visited, Nova and I used to play together.”
Nan’s eyes widened.“Nova was the girl your parents used to call ‘your little friend’ when you came to see us?”
“You remember that?”
“I do because you used to blush whenever she was mentioned!Your grandad used to tease you and say she was your girlfriend!”
I rolled my eyes, although a strange feeling passed through me at her words.I remembered the teasing.Of course, I was nine when I first met Nova, and I had no interest in girls.She was my friend.The fact she had grown up to be beautiful was rather irrelevant since I wasn’t hanging around beyond Christmas.
“Anyway,” I went on, “back then, we used to put letters through each other’s doors.I don’t know what they were about now, just that we did it every day I was visiting.Apparently, she thinks I need to find my Christmas spirit.”
An uncharacteristic snort shot from Nan, and she covered her mouth, even though it was too late to conceal it.“The girl’s got a point, Donovan.”
She probably did.But did Iwantto enjoy a small-town Christmas?I’d already re-written Christmas by not being traditional for most of the past ten years, yet she thought I needed to go back to my roots.
“She wants to do some things we did as kids, I think,” I said, glancing down at the note again.Her cryptic clues didn’t give me much to go with, aside from that ‘Slip not’ probably meant ice skating.We had done that before.Well, I did.Nova clung to the side of the rink like it was going to disappear and her dad had pushed her around the ice, even though she was terrified.
Why can I remember so much of this now?
“Well, I think she’s right,” Nan said, placing her hand over mine.“You should re-connect with her.It certainly couldn’t do you any harm.”
I stared at my grandmother, really looking at her for the first time since I’d arrived.When I was younger, I only got to visit her once a year.Twice at the most because of school and distance, and then once we moved to Italy, she and Grandad came to see us a few times.Back then, Nan had blonde but greying hair.She used to wear it so it fell straight, just below her shoulders.My grandad was also quite short—I got my height from the other side of my family.Grandad Trevor had a full head of brown hair peppered with white streaks.He also had the best sense of humour.Used to drive Nan crazy because he rarely took anything seriously.Not that Nan was overly serious, she just had more concern for things.Probably something that stemmed from her being the one to run the household while he worked.Everything fell on her, from cooking and cleaning to parenting duties.She loved to do it, but it meant a lot of responsibility fell on her, at least until my mum had left home.
But I didn’t know them.Not their likes and dislikes.Favourite foods, favourite TV shows.I didn’t know how it must have felt when their family moved away.How it felt to miss their child and grandchild.And in my rush to do my own growing up and exploring of the world, I’d just kind of...forgotten about them.Not completely, obviously.But while I checked in with my parents regularly, they were the only ones I spoke to often.I saw the rest of my family’s updates on social media, messaged them now and again.But Nan and Grandad didn’t use social media.They emailed, but I often forgot to get back to them.I called them so rarely, swept up in my own adventures.
Now, Nan sat peering at me through her rectangular glasses, looking smaller than ever.Her personality and will were as strong as they always had been, but what Nova said earlier continued to run through my mind.Although my nan’s questioning at the market wasn’t handled well, I was almost a stranger to her now.Neither of us knew each other anymore.I couldn’t change my feelings about wanting to be travelling again; I’d been doing it for so long it was fully engrained in me to keep on moving.But Nova was right.Nan’s lifelong companion was gone.I couldn’t begin to imagine how that felt.Since I’d arrived, I’d done nothing but sleep and clash with her.Sure, I was tired and jetlagged, but that wasn’t her fault.
“Are you all right, Donovan?”she asked, and I blinked to pull myself out of my thoughts.I wasn’t ready to face that conversation with her just yet.
“Yeah.I was just thinking about what you said about Nova.I guess I don’t have much else planned while I’m here, other than doing some things with you.”
I was sure surprise crossed her face for a moment, but she smiled.“Well, Nova still has to work, so there’s time for us during the week.”
“What do you do during the week?”I asked.“Are there places you go to?People you meet?”
That flash of surprise again.“I always go to The Smugglers on Tuesdays to meet my friends for lunch.I meet Maureen for coffee every Thursday morning in town, and most days I go somewhere for a walk just to get out of the house for a while.”
I nodded thoughtfully.I remembered going to The Smugglers Inn once or twice.From my recollection, they did a daily carvery that was always delicious.Amazing views over the fields and the sea too.I made a note to go in for a drink.It wasn’t too far from Nan’s house; easily walkable for me.
“Is there anywhere you’d like to go while I’m here?”I asked.“Because I have the hire car, so we can go anywhere you want to.”
Her eyes softened, and she smiled.“I’ll have a think and we can choose some things to do together.”
“Okay,” I said, smiling back at her.I picked up Nova’s note.“Do you have a pen and some paper, please?And an envelope?I think I’m going to answer Nova’s letter.”
Nan stood up and walked over to the wide drawer in the TV unit.She bent down and opened it, then straightened and handed me the things I had asked for.“There you go,” she said.“Now, go and accept her invitation.”
