Page 61 of Forgive Not Forget
“I can see that. Abigail certainly seems taken with her,” Anna said, tucking his blanket on his legs.
“Mabel has far more interesting stories than I do.”
“You rest. I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay, love. Make sure you bring the doc next time. I miss seeing her cheery face.”
Anna hesitated and gave him a kiss on the head. “I will.”
She wanted to tell him that she missed it too, but that would let on that she and Katherine were at odds. She barely wanted to admit it to herself, let alone worry her dad. That would lead to crying, and if that happened, it may never end. She sucked in a breath and headed back to reception to find Mabel and the children waiting for her.
“All done and ready to go.”
“Thanks, Mabel. Right, come on, kids. Let’s go home.”
They said their goodbyes to Mabel, Abigail promising that she’d be back with her atlas soon. As Anna turned to leave, Mabel pressed something cold into her hand.
“You keep this. I think you made it for someone special. Make sure you give it to her.”
It felt like her pebble. She gripped it tight. Mabel was right, and Anna was glad to keep it. She flashed Mabel her first genuine smile and herded the children outside.
“I like Mabel,” Abigail said, “and your dad is funny. Do you like her? Is she his girlfriend?”
As always with Abigail, you never knew which question to answer first. One thing Anna did know was to get her answers in quick before she asked more.
“Yes, she is, and I think I might be starting to,” Anna said, turning to look at Baycroft, where Mabel was still waving from the entrance.
Abigail and Tom argued all the way back to Nunswick about whose pebble was the best. Already exhausted from the day’s activities, their spat was something Anna could have done without. At least the rest of the afternoon would involve crashing out in front of the television to watch a movie. She hadn’t quite appreciated how tiring entertaining two children could be, especially with the weight of responsibility for them added.
The spring sunshine was beaming down on Nunswick as they drove into the village and past Abbey House. Anna glanced over for any sign of Katherine, to no avail. It was still early when they pulled up outside Laura’s cottage. It would be a shame to coup them up to watch a movie just yet.
“Shall we play in the garden for a little while? Whilst the sun it out.”
“Can I go out on my bike?” Tom asked.
“Yes, of course. Just don’t step outside the village —”
“And keep off the main road,” Tom huffed as he finished her sentence. “I know. You’re beginning to sound just like Mum.”
They all made their way through to the garden, where Abigail suggested they play swingball. Tom unlocked the shed door and extracted his bike and helmet first, allowing Abigail to scramble about further to find the swingball in the overfilled shed.
“Found it!” Abigail said as she reversed out of the shed, swingball bag in hand. It knocked something inside, which rolled out onto the grass, stopping shy of Anna’s feet. She looked down to see what it was only to see a can of spray paint with a purple lid.
Abigail bent down to pick it up when Tom pushed her back and swooped in to grab it first. He shoved it into his back pocket, clambered onto his bike, and was off down the side path before Anna could even blink. More concerned with Abigail to process what had just happened, she helped her up.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes,” she replied, getting up. “Stupid twit,” she yelled loudly after her brother. “That’s the paint Dad used for my bike.”
Anna knew it was also the paint that had been used to tag the abbey, and now she knew who by.
Abigail set up the swingball and went on to win every game, but Anna’s mind was elsewhere. Should she have gone after Tom? She couldn’t leave Abigail alone. Katherine would know what to do in this situation.
Anna decided she’d give Tom an hour or two and see if he showed up when he was hungry. It would give her some time to think about what the hell she was going to say to him. As the light began to fade and Abigail tired of their outdoor games, Anna returned the swingball set to the shed only to spot a metal detector leaning against the side.
CHAPTER25
Katherine flipped back a page in her book, realising she hadn’t taken any of it in. She wasn’t a stranger to feeling alone, sitting by the fire with a book and a cat on her lap. This time, though, something was different. She was truly alone. In the time after Helena and before Anna, she would have had Rebecca checking in on her every day, if not twice a day. Although they were only in contact once a week now, she hadn’t heard from her since she’d stormed out a week ago.
