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‘Good morning, love,’ said Marielle, looking around for Teddy.
‘He’s in the kitchen but watch out, Auntie Marielle – he’sirato.’
‘I heard that,’ said Teddy. ‘You need to go to whisper school.’
‘I’ll get you a coffee,’ said Flick. She loved Marielle and though she tried not to admit it to herself, she thought she loved her more than she did her own mother. Her feelings for Cilla were complicated, while her feelings for her aunt were straightforward, because she was a far nicer person. Auntie Marielle lied in the kindest way too, like making it sound as if Flick would be doing her a favour by living in her little holiday flat when she wanted to move out of her mother’s house because Hugo had moved in.
‘Teddy, come and spare me five minutes will you,’ said Marielle, sitting down at a table.
Teddy wandered out of the kitchen and Marielle thought as he walked towards her,How did we produce this man between us, Sal and I?He had Sal’s thick, dark hair and her blue eyes and he had the height and build of his maternal grandfather, but he was a much warmer, kinder person. She wasso proud of him, and protective. He might have been less than two years away from his fortieth birthday but he would always be her baby and she was ready to fight anyone who was threatening to hurt him and destroy what he had taken years to build.
Teddy scraped back the chair opposite and plonked himself on it.
‘Okay, what have I done?’
That made her laugh. ‘I’m not here to tell you off. I’m here to solve one of your problems.’
‘It’s solved. She’s going to university in September.’
‘Oh very funny,’ said Flick, giving him her best middle finger.
‘I know a lady who needs a job and I think she’d be perfect.’ Marielle let that sink in as she took a sip from her coffee.
‘Can she string sentences together?’ asked Teddy. ‘Because I’ve interviewed god knows how many people so far who can’t.’
‘Yes, she can, quite adequately. She’s a business advisor,’ said Marielle, though she wasn’t quite as sure as Sabrina about that, but it did make her sound trustworthy and hard-working.
Teddy tilted his head at his mother.
‘A business advisor,’ he repeated flatly. ‘What would I want with a business advisor?’
‘Well, there’s a reason she can’t do that job at the moment and would like something… lower key.’
Teddy sat back and crossed his arms, waiting for the big reveal because his mother was about to hit him with something he wasn’t quite sure he’d like.
‘Presently, she’s renting out Little Moon from me,’ Marielle smiled at him.
Teddy’s eyes narrowed. ‘You don’t rent that flat out, Mum. You lend it out free to people you don’t know, who fleece you and then run off.’
‘Oh Teddy, shush, it was only one… two. Listen to me. This lady has been in hospital.’ Teddy opened his mouth to close this conversation down but Marielle wouldn’t let him. ‘She has a few gaps in her memory but not about anything that would affect her doing a job.’
‘She won’t forget to put her clothes on then, and turn up naked?’ said Teddy.
‘You wish,’ said Flick.
‘She wants a job and you need some help and I can vouch for her. If she can’t do the job adequately, then you have my permission to let her go, but I’m asking you to give her a trial run.’
‘Mamma…’ Teddy put on his best beseeching expression, while rubbing his forehead and muttering a string of Italian expletives.
‘Teddy. Hear me out.’
Marielle pleaded her case further, reminding him of how she’d helped the woman in Naples. He listened in silence, although throughout, his expression shouted that he was convinced she was setting herself up for another disaster. But she was his mother and he wouldn’t just turn her down for the sake of it. There was a caveat, though.
‘Okay,’ he said at the end of her appeal. ‘I will see her, but if she doesn’t fit in, she goes. Everyone has to, even someone who cleans the toilets. Deal?’
‘Deal,’ said Marielle, beaming that she’d got her own way. She polished off her espresso and stood up. ‘I’ll go and fetch her now and introduce you to each other. No time like the present.’
She left quickly, before her son changed his mind, which was entirely possible if she gave him too much time to think.
