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“Nancy!” she exclaimed as she opened the door to find the woman from the university housing on her doorstep.
Haiden was staying late at the university that day, so wasn’t back as normal. Kristen had finally got around to getting him a key cut so he could come and go as he wanted.
She frowned, suddenly worried. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes, fine. I’m sorry to just turn up like this. I wanted to have a quick chat and see how you were getting on. I’m aware this is your first student stay.”
“Oh, of course. Come on in. Would you like a cup of tea?”
“Yes, please. That would be lovely.”
Kristen led her through into the kitchen. She was aware of how Nancy was glancing around, taking in everything. Was she suspicious of something? Heat crept up Kristen’s chest as she thought of the moments with Haiden where she’d felt like something had passed between them. Had Haiden said something to the student housing about her? Had she done something inappropriate and now Nancy was here to have a little chat with her? God, she would be mortified.
Trying to hide her discomfort, she went to the kettle and busied herself with filling it with fresh water and taking cups down from the cupboard.
She couldn’t put it off any longer. The suspense was killing her.
“So,” she said, turning to face Nancy, “what sort of things did you want to chat about?”
She forced a smile and wished she didn’t feel so God-damned guilty. It wasn’t as though she’d done anything wrong, had she?
“I did have a reason for coming here, actually,” Nancy replied.
Kristen’s mouth ran dry, her pulse racing. “Oh?”
She quickly turned and took the teabags out of the mugs and stirred in a little milk. Hoping her hands weren’t shaking, she picked up the mugs and carried them over to the table and set them both down.
“I didn’t want to look like I’m interfering,” Nancy continued, pulling the cup of tea towards her, “since Haiden is a grown man and can do whatever he wishes, within reason, but I just wondered if he’d mentioned falling out with his parents.”
Kristen frowned. “His parents? No, not at all. In fact, he says they’re close.”
Nancy pursed her lips. “Hmm. Yes, that’s what they told me, too. I probably shouldn’t even be getting involved, considering he’s twenty-three years old, and family issues really shouldn’t be a part of our concern. But of course, things like this can affect a student’s ability to concentrate.”
She lifted a hand to stop the other woman. “I’m sorry, but I think I’m missing something. Things like what, exactly?”
“Oh, it’s probably nothing, but Haiden’s mother emailed the office to say she hasn’t managed to speak with Haiden since he left. He’s sent them text messages to let them know he’s fine and everything is going well, but whenever she tries to call, he never answers, and he’s made no attempt to call home either.”
“Right... that’s strange.”
A wave of relief washed over her. This wasn’t anything to do with something she might have done or said.
“I mean,” Kristen continued in a rush, “I’ve heard his mobile phone ringing on occasions, but I didn’t really think anything of it. Maybe he’s just really busy and hasn’t had time to talk.”
Lines appeared between Nancy’s eyebrows, and she pressed her lips together. “That is what I told his mother as well, but she insisted it was really out of character for him not to call and speak to them all.” She threw her hands up in the air. “But there’s nothing we can do about it. If he doesn’t want to speak to his mother, it’s not like we can force him. He’s not a child.”
Kristen pulled a face. “Sorry I can’t be of more help.”
“You’ve been more than helpful. It’s not as though we expect you to get involved with the personal lives of the students, though obviously, if you have any concerns, then don’t hesitate to contact us.” She leaned in closer, her head tilted slightly to one side. “You don’t have any concerns, do you?”
“No, none at all. Haiden’s been a pleasure to have around.” She clamped her mouth shut, not wanting to say anything more. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing and ruin everything. If she said he stayed up in his room all the time, and didn’t get involved with their family life, they might think him to be overly withdrawn and that she hadn’t made enough of an effort to get him involved. But if she told the truth about how it felt like they’d become their own little family in the matter of a week, and that she was already dreading him going, she didn’t think that would go down too well either.
“Right, well, I’d better be off,” Nancy said. “If you do hear anything you think we might need to know about, please, just give me a call.”
Kristen noticed how she’d barely touched her tea, the drink still steaming hot. “Sure.” She thought of something. “Should I mention to Haiden that you were here? Or that his parents want to hear from him?”
Nancy flapped a hand, the blue nail varnish on her nails chipped and tatty. “No, no need. We wouldn’t want him to think we were spying on him, and we’ve already let him know his parents want to hear from him. Hopefully, he’ll just pick up the phone and everyone can stop worrying.”
She hadn’t been worrying, but now she wondered if perhaps she should be. What possible reason could Haiden have for not wanting to speak to his folks? Not that it was any of her business, of course. She hoped Ollie would still want to speak to her in twenty years, when he was fully grown and off doing exciting things. Her mind flashed forward twenty years, and the idea of a woman in her thirties who already had a son and an ex-husband having her eye on Ollie jumped into her head. She’d be furious and would make sure the other woman knew to keep her hands off her boy. Could that be part of the reason Haiden hadn’t called his family. Did she have something to do with it?
***
SHE WAS RELIEVED WHEN the working week came to an end.
To her surprise, Stephen came to pick up Ollie, stating that he’d have him for an extra night this weekend considering he’d missed the Friday night the week before. Ollie seemed happy enough to go off to his dad’s, and he bounded off with Stephen, chatting about his day as happily as ever. She hoped he was going to be able to sleep all right that night, and she wouldn’t have more issues with Stephen complaining. He hadn’t even mentioned the letter from the solicitor when he’d come to pick him up, but still that niggle of worry wiggled around inside her.
What if he was going to take Ollie and refuse to bring him back again? What if he fed poisonous thoughts into Ollie’s head about her—maybe even making him think she was replacing him with Haiden?
But she could only assume from Stephen’s change in demeanour that the things she’d said to him on the phone about how impractical it would be for him to take Ollie during the week had actually got through his thick skull. She hoped he’d also accepted what she’d said about how unreliable Stephen was, and how there was nothing between her and Haiden and only had him staying because of the money. She doubted this momentary truce would last, however.
Even though it was Friday night, Haiden was sitting on the couch, watching Gardener’s World. For someone who was only twenty-three, she got the impression he was far older at times. She paused in the doorway, her arms folded as she observed him engrossed in the programme, even though he’d never mentioned being particularly interested in gardening, with the exception of the pots he’d recreated for her.
“Don’t you have friends at the university you should be out with on a Friday night?” she asked him.
He glanced away from the show and rewarded her with a smile, a dimple appearing in his left cheek. “Not really. It’s a strange age bracket to be in. Everyone there seems to be either eighteen and having barely left home, or they’re much older.”
“Like me, you mean?” she said, only half teasing.
“Not at all. You’re not older. I mean, these people are in their fifties and trying to fill in time created by an empty nest.”
“Right.” She suddenly felt sad at the idea of Haiden all alone and with no friends at the university. Maybe it was the maternal side of her. She couldn’t help putting Ollie in everyone else’s position.
“Anyway,” Haiden said, “you’re hardly one to talk. Don’t you ever go out?”
“Out?” The question surprised her. “Well, I work, and take care of Ollie. We go to the park and the shops...”
She trailed off, realising she didn’t have too much more to add.
He laughed. “I meant out out. Don’t you ever go and do something fun?”
“I enjoy spending time with Ollie. That’s fun to me.” God, that sounded so lame.
“What about the weekends like this, where he’s at his dads?”
She couldn’t tell him that she was always too broke to do anything. That she didn’t want to spend precious money on restaurants, or even cafes, or hairdressers and nail salons. It would just feel too selfish, too self-indulgent.
She shrugged. “Honestly, I enjoy the peace and quiet. I’m surrounded by kids all day at work, and then I come home and take care of Ollie. It’s relaxing for me to take a bath and read a book, and just... you know, hang out.”
She couldn’t tell him how fearsomely lonely she found those weekends—how the hours stretched on forever, and she lay awake half the night, torturing herself that Ollie was also awake, upset and needing her.
He gave her that lopsided smile. “Except now you have me hanging around, too, so I guess I’ve ruined your peace and quiet.”
She flapped a hand. “Oh, no, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m happy to have you around. It’s good to have some adult company, too.”
“So, since your peace and quiet is already ruined, why not let me take you out tomorrow night? Doesn’t need to be anything much—maybe the cinema? I don’t know many people around here either. I’d appreciate the company.”
“The cinema?”
“Yes, you know that place with the big screens that shows lots of different films?”
He was teasing her now, she could tell by the tone of his voice, and it only made her mortification grow. She couldn’t go to the cinema with him, could she? It wasn’t as though it was a date. They were just two people thrown together who were making good use of their free time.
She had to keep reminding herself that she wasn’t in her twenties anymore. The way she saw him was completely different to how he saw her—and even if it wasn’t, to even consider the possibility that this would go any further was utterly irresponsible. True, it wasn’t as though he was underage or anything, but he was under her care, in a way.
She shook the thought from her head. It was ridiculous even thinking this way. It wasn’t how Haiden was seeing this at all—she was just his frumpy landlady who already had tons of baggage. He was only offering this because he hadn’t made any friends here yet.
“You know what,” she said, “what the hell. Let’s do it.”
His face broke in a smile. “Yeah? That would be great. Anything you want to see?”
“As long as it’s got plenty of action, I’m good.” The last thing she wanted was to end up in a cinema with him watching a sexy romance, or a tear-jerker that was going to make her cry.
“Great, so it’s a date.”
“I’ll look forward to it,” she said, already hoping she wasn’t getting herself into something she couldn’t handle.