Page 65 of Secrets and Seashells at Rainbow Bay
‘Out of the habit of what?’
‘Smiling. Until I came here life wasn’t that great. I didn’t have much to smile about.’
‘I know.’
‘How do you know? I’ve never told you.’
‘Benji.’
‘Ah, Benji again . . . I should have known. But Benji only met me a little while before I moved here. He doesn’t know everything.’
‘I never said he did.’
‘Do you want me to tell you about it?’
‘Do you want to tell me?’ Tom asks in that same soft voice he had before, as we stand in front of the door that leads up to the top of my tower.
‘Sometime . . . ’ I say, looking up to the window behind which my bedroom, and more importantly right now my comfortable bed, is waiting. ‘Right now I think bed is calling. For me!’ I add hurriedly when Tom doesn’t speak. ‘I didn’t mean—’
‘It’s okay,’ Tom says, smiling at me. ‘I know what you meant. However, I think getting you up those spiral stairs isn’t going to be easy.’
‘Why?’
‘Stand on one leg,’ Tom suggests.
‘What?’
‘Stand on one leg. Let’s see what your balance is like. Even if I can get you up the stairs, there is no way I’m leaving you. If you need to come down in the night – you’ll fall to your death.’
‘Pah! Fall to my death. I’m perfectly fine,’ I say, lifting my right leg off the ground and immediately toppling to the side. Luckily Tom is prepared, and deftly catches me.
‘See,’ he says. ‘Dangerous. Who’s babysitting Charlie?’
‘Dorothy.’
‘Right, let’s see if we can at least get you up the stairs, then I’ll relieve Dorothy and bed down on your sofa for the night.’
‘Really, Tom, stop fussing; I’ll be fine.’
‘Let’s try the stairs first, then we can re-evaluate the situation if need be, okay?’
With much grumbling – from me – Tom and I attempt to navigate the narrow stone staircase. I go first, and Tom follows up the rear – literally one at a time, when he has to put his hand on my bum to stop me falling back down on top of him.
‘Sorry,’ we both say at once. Then we go on in an embarrassed silence for a few steps – until finally we reach the floor that holds Charlie’s and my bedroom.
I move towards the next flight of stairs, but Tom stops me.
‘Whoa, lady, where do you think you’re going?’ he whispers so as not to wake Charlie.
‘To see Dorothy, and check everything is all right,’ I reply in an equally hushed tone.
‘Your journey stops right here.’ Tom barricades himself across the entrance to the next set of steps. ‘If you go up there, you’ve got to come back down again to go to bed. Going up with you has been bad enough; I don’t want to think what will happen if we try to attempt going down.’
‘But . . . ’ I say quietly, looking up again.
‘Is everything all right down there?’ I hear a low voice ask. ‘I thought I heard you coming back in.’
‘Benji, what are you doing here?’ I ask, recognising his voice at once. ‘Where’s Dorothy?’
