The tulips had already loosened their stays and now they went right ahead and dropped their drawers, and the garden ran riot in an excitement of colour. The breeze was wet and creamy with the scent of its blooms, and the perfume of the tiny daphne, which Pearl brought as a sprig to Ken to smell, was so beguiling that he kept it in his pocket. When Pearl was out of sight, he sniffed it and said, ‘Beau’iful that is, really beau’iful.’
They had their mid-afternoon cuppa in the kitchen after Ken had wheelbarrowed the compost to the vegetable garden and spread it with the pitchfork.
‘They set a date?’ Pearl asked him.
‘Ooh?’
‘Nick and Astrid. Have they set a date for the nuptials?’
‘Well . . .’ He prevaricated, as he did when searching his memory for things that were of no immediate concern to him, hoping he’d find a small note someone else had left behind. ‘I don’t think so. No, tell a lie, I ’eard ’em last night saying they was going to get on with it and do it sharpish. Might as well.’ He sniffed, giving half of his biscuit to the dog. He dipped the other half in his tea. ‘Reminds me of me and you, you know, how we was once.’
‘Get back in your bleeding basket, will you!’ Pearl growled at the dog. ‘Do you have to bring your filthy ways into my house? Just eat the bloody thing. I don’t want a load of mush in the bottom of the cup to wash out, do I? For Christ’s sake. You must be making a right nuisance of yourself round their place.’
‘They don’t mind,’ he said faintly.
She let out uproarious laughter.
‘They don’t!’
She shook her head and sipped her coffee.
‘Mind you, it dun ’alf creak, that floor upstairs.’
‘Have you ever once in your life stopped to think about other people?’ She was judge and jury. ‘You haven’t, have you? Not once.’
He looked discomfited, but didn’t deny it.
‘Well, I’ve thought it all through,’ she said, wiping the stain underneath his mug. ‘You’d best move in here.’
He blinked.
‘You might as well be useful somewhere. On a trial basis. In the spare room. We’re too old for bunking up.’
‘I’ll be a nuisance to you, Pearl. I’m not in good ’ealth. I’ll be a drain on your ree-sources,’ he waffled. ‘I’ll get on your nerves. I’m no use to anyone.’
‘You can carry on helping me round the garden. Can’t you?’
The dog looked up at him, his amber eyes full of appeal.
‘It’s like this.’ She tapped the palm of her hand with a pointed finger. ‘I’m not doing any cleaning or tidying. Unless I feel like it. That’s none of your business. I’ll cook when I want and you can have some. You can give me your pension to pay the bills with. You’re not to wander off when there’s work to be done. I don’t want shirking or skiving. I won’t have it. I’ll do your washing, but don’t change your clothes more than once a week. You can take a shower every day, though – I don’t want you round here smelling like shit. And don’t use all the milk up when you make your tea. Is that agreed?’
‘Your rules, Pearl. That’s good enough. It’s very kind of ya. I’m much obliged, thank you. Just bein’ ’ere and bein’ with you, that’s all I want, Pearl.’
They turned away from each other quickly, she to berate the dog, he to adjust the cuffs of his cardigan.
‘Get in your basket, sod you! Do I have to keep telling you? You’re driving your mum crazy!’
The dog lifted its nose and gave its ‘mum’ a woeful look, then donned a noble expression, seeing on the window ledge the cat blinking at his disgrace, and slumped. When he felt her hand caress his head, the dog put his nose in his tail.