Page 3 of Teacakes & Tangos
I gave my head a little shake to dislodge my gloomy thoughts.
It was no use wallowing in the past. We had to keep moving forwards, Dad and I, even though it sometimes seemed impossible without Mum.
‘How’s your back?’ I asked him.
Lost in his own thoughts, he didn’t seem to hear me at first.
‘Dad?’
He turned, drumming up a hasty smile. ‘Oh, you know. Improving all the time.’
I nodded, knowing better than to enquire further.
Back in January, Dad had been removing some dead branches from a tree in our garden when he’d slipped and fallen, injuring his back. At first, he’d dismissed the injury as superficial and tried to carry on working. But after a few months of this, he was looking grey with pain and exhaustion, and it broke my heart to see him like that.
I tried to persuade him that taking a break from the business so he could heal properly would be best in the long run, and eventually he gave in to my gentle suggestions, although I knew it was the last thing he wanted to do.
Dad had savings but I knew they weren’t going to last very long. He was worried about keeping up the mortgage payments on our house.
I was back living in the old family home by then, having moved out of Les’s place when he called the wedding off a year ago in August. I was earning a good salary, working at a local bank, and when Dad was injured and couldn’t work, I wanted to increase the amount I was giving him in bed and board.
At first, he wouldn’t hear of it. But eventually he was forced to give in, realising that if he didn’t accept extra help from me, we could lose the house. And I was more than happy to contributemore to the family budget. I was nearly thirty, a grown-up. OfcourseI should be paying my fair share of the household bills!
But then a few months after that – back in April – life dealt us another blow.
I was made redundant from the bank where I worked.
The branch was closing down, which meant Dad and I would be living on his dwindling savings and my small redundancy payment. How long would it be before the money ran out and we’d be faced with the nightmare of having to put our lovely family home on the market?
My good friend, Lyndsay, who’d worked alongside me, managed to get a job fairly quickly, working at a local garden centre, and I was so pleased for her. But it was August now – four months since we’d lost our jobs – and I’d had no luck so far.
I’d started searching for another job as soon as I was told about the redundancy, emailing four or five applications most weeks. But my hard work had yielded just two interviews so far, and I’d been pipped to the post by a better qualified candidate both times.
I felt weary and frustrated by the constant trying but getting nowhere, although I certainly wasn’t about to give up.
Dad kept saying, ‘The right job will come along at just the right time,’ and I appreciated his optimistic outlook although I didn’t have much faith in it.
Now, glancing again at Dad’s worried, faraway expression, I crossed the fingers on both hands.
Hopefully, I’d have more success at today’s job interview...
‘Are you okay, Dad?’ I asked at last, as the silence dragged on.
‘What?’ He turned, snapped out of his thoughts. ‘Yes, I’m fine, love.’ He smiled. ‘So... thought any more about online dating?’
‘Oh, Dad. Not this again.’ I grinned over at him.
He shrugged. ‘You shouldn’t let Les put you off, that’s all. Not all men are controlling buggers like him.’
‘I know that. But... well, I’d just be on the rebound, wouldn’t I?’ It was a good excuse, anyway.
‘You’ve been single for a whole year now, love. You never go out so you’re never likely to meet anyone. And I’d love to see you settled.’
‘Dad!’ I shook my head in despair.
He grinned. ‘I love the thought of being a grandad. So you’d better hurry up or I’ll be too old to play football with them. I’m getting on, you know.’
I hated it when he mentioned his age.
