Rowan was in the kitchen. She was standing there in her white towelling robe, making waffles. She had a tea towel slung over her shoulder and the spatula in her hand. She turned around and smiled at them all. ‘Surprise, I’m back again!’ she said. Aidan felt a huge wave of relief rush through him, as the kids ran over and threw their arms around her. Even Callum had a huge grin on his face. They were all laughing and hugging her tightly and Aidan felt his heart soar. The people he loved most in the world were overjoyed and happy again, the way it should be. ‘Come on, Aidan,’ Rowan beckoned to him to join them.
He ran over towards them, but suddenly the doorbell rang.
‘I’d better get that,’ he said, turning in his tracks and heading down the hallway.
Suddenly her face fell. ‘Why do you put everything before me, Aidan?’ she asked sadly.
The doorbell went again and Aidan woke with a start. He looked around him feeling panicked and realised he had been dreaming. Milly was asleep in the bed beside him, he vaguely remembered her climbing in during the night. He checked the clock on his bedside table and saw that it was nearly eleven a.m. How had he slept in so late?
The doorbell went again and it dawned on him that it would be Rowan’s parents. Shit, he thought. He had completely forgotten that they had said they would call over to see the children on Monday. He jumped up and pulled on the same pair of joggers that he had been wearing the day before that he had tossed onto the floor going to bed. He pulled a sweatshirt over his head. He glanced quickly in the mirror, trying to tame his hair and make himself look like he hadn’t just been asleep. Then he hurried down the stairs, taking the steps two at a time, to open the door to Sheila and Philip, who didn’t look impressed to have been kept waiting.
‘Did we wake you?’ Philip asked straight away. No ‘good morning’ or ‘how are you?’
‘No,’ Aidan lied. ‘I was out the back, I didn’t hear the bell.’
‘We thought you might have gone out,’ Sheila said, ‘but your car was in the driveway. Where are the children?’
‘They’re still asleep.’
‘At eleven o’clock? They must have had a late night.’
They could never resist getting a dig in. Their latest issue was that Aidan still hadn’t taken the children to the graveyard to visit Rowan’s grave. The truth was that Aidan couldn’t face taking them to look at their mother buried under the cold, sticky earth, he didn’t feel able for it.
He led them to the kitchen and Aidan watched as Sheila surveyed the mess. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he thought he saw her raising her eyebrows in Philip’s direction. The last time they had called, she had not-so-subtly suggested that he hire a cleaner, but cleaning was the last thing on his mind; these days he was just trying to survive.
‘Can I get you a tea or coffee?’ Aidan asked.
‘I’ll have a coffee,’ Philip replied, sitting down at the island. He noticed Philip eyeing the blank space on the wall where he had taken down their wedding photograph.
‘Nothing for me thank you,’ Sheila said, pulling out a stool and joining him.
Aidan set to making a coffee for Philip and himself. He needed it. The headache that had pounded his head all weekend still lingered and his head was fuzzy from the dream and being woken so abruptly.
He made polite conversation and was relieved when Milly appeared a few minutes later. She would help distract Rowan’s parents.
‘Ganny and Gandad!’ she cried, running into the kitchen.
‘Hello, darling girl, how are you?’ Philip said, getting up from the stool. He lifted her up and swung her around.
‘She’s the image of her mother at that age, isn’t she, Philip?’ Sheila said sadly. ‘It’s like stepping back in time.’
‘She is, my love,’ Philip replied. ‘So have you any news for your old, Grandad?’ Philip asked as he sat back onto the stool with Milly on his knee.
‘The police came to our house – there was a girl one and a boy one.’
Aidan cringed. He had hoped he could avoid Sheila and Philip finding out about it.
‘The police,’ Sheila gave a nervous laugh. ‘Are you sure, Milly?’
Milly nodded her head definitively.
Philip turned to Aidan. ‘Was it something to do with the accident?’
Aidan shook his head. ‘I had a bit of bother with Callum on Saturday,’ he admitted.
Sheila’s face fell. ‘What do you mean?’ she asked.
‘He was caught shoplifting.’
‘Callum wouldn’t do that!’ she replied with confidence.
‘Unfortunately he was caught with crisps and a can of Coke concealed inside his hoodie.’
‘Oh for God’s sake,’ Philip spluttered. ‘That’s ridiculous, he was probably just carrying them in his pocket – you know what teenagers are like.’
‘The Gardaí said he walked out of the shop without paying.’
‘He probably just forgot to pay. The boy made an honest mistake. What were their names - those two Gardaí? I have a friend in the golf club who is a superintendent. I won’t have my grandson branded like some sort of… some type of… of… criminal – it’s ridiculous.’
‘They have it on CCTV, they seem pretty certain,’ Aidan continued. Although he himself hadn’t wanted to believe it was true, he had had to accept what the guards had told him.
‘Well, even if it’s true, why cause all that drama for the sake of a couple of euro? Could you not just have given the shop owner the money owed, maybe a little extra for the hassle, and we could forget all about it?’ Philip continued, turning the blame onto Aidan.
‘It’s not that simple,’ Aidan explained. ‘It doesn’t matter if he stole two euros’ worth of stuff or two hundred euros, they told me they have to be seen to come down hard on shoplifting.’
‘Why would he do it?’ Sheila asked, clearly bewildered. ‘He gets pocket money, doesn’t he?’
Aidan nodded. ‘That’s the thing…’ he paused, ‘they think it was a cry for help—’
Sheila’s jewelled hand fluttered to her necklace and she began sliding its diamond pendant back and forth across the chain. ‘Oh the poor boy, he’s really suffering. He was very close to his mother.’
‘Well, did you talk to him?’ Philip demanded. ‘Find out what is going on with him?’
‘I tried, but he keeps shutting me down. He won’t open up to me.’
Philip shook his head in exasperation.
‘Maybe he should come to stay with us for a while?’ Sheila suggested. ‘He might just need a little time and space away.’
‘He’s not going anywhere,’ Aidan said quickly. He knew what Sheila and Philip were like, they had this way of suggesting they were helping you when really it was them trying to be in control. When he and Rowan had been getting married, Philip had offered to pay for the wedding and then had invited half of his golf club. Aidan hadn’t recognised most of the guests at their reception. When they had been buying the house and Aidan was arguing that they couldn’t afford to live on Ledbury Road, Sheila and Philip had fronted the money, just so Rowan could have her own way. There was always a catch with their generosity. It had been the same way his entire marriage.
‘You don’t need to be so defensive. I’m only trying to help you, Aidan. You’re so busy with the younger two, maybe a little one-on-one attention is what Callum needs right now.’
‘This is his home,’ Aidan said with a steely resolve, just so there was no doubt in their minds.
‘But if you’re not able to cope…’ Sheila continued, throwing the accusation out there, leaving it dangling in the air, turning it sour.
‘Of course I’m able to cope,’ Aidan retorted bitterly. ‘Callum has lost his mother and he’s a teenager – it’s bound to be tricky. It’s going to take a while for him to process it,’ he said, repeating the advice that Gemma had given to him.
‘Well I won’t stand by and watch my grandson turn into a delinquent because you weren’t able to keep him in line!’ Philip blasted.
‘It was one incident, let’s not get carried away,’ Aidan said with more assurance than he felt. ‘I’ll try to talk to him again.’
‘Well, you better regain control over his behaviour before this gets any worse,’ Philip warned.
‘Just think about it, Aidan,’ Sheila tried to persuade him once more. ‘It would only be for a few days… you wouldn’t even notice he was gone.’
‘Callum is going nowhere!’ Aidan said resolutely. As much as Callum was hard work at the moment, something told him that his son needed him now more than ever. ‘This is his where he belongs – with me, Jack and Milly.’