Page 75 of Finding Jacob
I had been approached a few times by the owner of the neighbouring property. “I have his card somewhere,” I said.
I headed to a sideboard and the ‘junk drawer’ as I called it. It contained everything I couldn’t throw away but didn’t have a home. I found the card at the top of the pile.
“Well, that’s fortunate,” I said, picking it up. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw it but then, it wasn’t a drawer I’d go through normally. I handed it to Jacob.
“Want me to call him?” he asked, and I nodded. I was just too tired to bother with it.
When Nathan returned with the suitcases, we started to pack. I folded; the boys screwed things into a ball. I complained, they informed me that it could all be dry-cleaned again. I told them they needed to look at how wasteful of resources they were. The five minutes of banter cheered me up and took my mind off the atmosphere that seemed to have developed in the house.
When my closet was empty, Nathan and Jacob dragged the cases downstairs. It highlighted how difficult it would be with a child in one arm, perhaps laundry in another. The stairs were narrow and steep, typically Victorian. I was used to them, but Jacob slipped at the bottom and cursed.
“That’ll be those size twelves,” Nathan said, patting him on the back.
“No, it’ll be these stupid stairs,” he replied.
The bags and cases were loaded into the car. The kitchen was still off-limits, and I was concerned about fresh food going off. I’d get a cleaning team in to give the house a once over, but that didn’t stop me worrying about smells. I’d always been very house-proud and didn’t like the dusty fingerprint residue left by forensics.
I gathered some personal paperwork, grateful I was organised, and everything was in files, and then we left the house. I knew I’d have to return, of course, but for now, the house could be locked up and left. Nathan was staying behind to wait for the locksmith and alarm company and then promised to join us later.
While driving back to Hampshire, I called Jane.
“Hi, just letting you know I won’t be in for a couple of days; I’m going to work from home,” I said.
“That’s great, I can manage here. Is there anything specific you wanted doing?”
We chatted back and forth about my diary and moving any appointments for the foreseeable future. The fashion shows were done for the year, so there was no need for me to travel, not that I was planning on it. Crete had been my last trip abroad until after the baby, I’d decided.
Jacob reached over to take my hand in his. “Are you okay?” he asked gently.
“Yeah. I’m happy to move in with you, but I wish it hadn’t been forced on me. Does that make any sense?”
“Perfect sense. I’ll call an interior designer later and you can decide what changes you want to make to the house. Do whatever you want with it,” he said.
“We don’t need to worry about all that expense. Let’s just live in it and then decide if we need to change anything for the baby.”
He squeezed my hand. We chatted during the journey, mostly about the baby. We purposely didn’t talk about the incident and the farther away from London we got, the more I started to relax.
“We should think of names soon,” I said.
Jacob smiled. “We should! Spanish or English?”
“Spanish, I think. What was your mother’s name?”
He glanced over to me. “Paloma Santiago.”
“Paloma. That’s a lovely name,” I said, smiling at him. I could imagine my daughter being called that. “Why don’t we call her that?”
Jacob didn’t answer immediately, but I saw him take a large swallow. He slowly nodded, not looking at me. “I’d be honoured if you called her after my mother,” he said.
I raised our joined hands and kissed his knuckles. I then placed both our hands on my stomach. “I think she’s happy with her name,” I said, chuckling. Paloma was doing somersaults.
“I wonder if every other decision will be as easy as that,” he replied, also laughing.
When we arrived home, Jacob opened the front door for me and then dropped the key into my palm. He promised to introduce me to his housekeeper and her husband, the gardener. They would visit daily, he informed me. I’d never had anyone pick up after me or clean my house. I’d always done that myself, but I also accepted Jacob’s house was huge, and I didn’t want to dedicate the time it would take to keep on top of all the jobs. For him, obviously, it was added security to have someone at the house every day when he wasn’t. It didn’t make me feel comfortable and I wondered how I’d managed. Especially when it came to monthly budgeting and shopping!
“How does that work?” I asked, walking to the kitchen.
“Once a month, Sadie and I will go through all the bills that need to be paid and she’ll give me a list of all the shopping she needs. I sign it off, she sorts it out. It’s quite simple and efficient. All you have to do is let her know if you want anything added.”
