Page 20 of Barging In
Still, part of her ached at what they’d given up for her. Although she couldn’t remember much of that time, looking through the old photographs made her realise there had been a kind of magic to those early years.
“The kitchen is perfect,” her mum said, breaking the silence as she inspected everything.
“Well, I had a little help on the layout,” Clem said, giving her mum a nudge. “Thanks for the suggestions. The appliances do work best being on one side, just like you said.”
Her mum opened a small cupboard that separated the hot and cold appliances and peered inside. “Galleys happen to be my forte,” she added with a smile. “I’ve spent enough years in them. Keeping doors that you open regularly to one side works wonders for efficiency.”
She stepped inside the bathroom next. “What’s this?” she asked, poking at the sopping sweater in the sink.
“I was hoping you could help me bring it back to life,” Clem admitted sheepishly. “It kind of fell in the canal. I’ve rinsed it several times and left it to soak. I wasn’t sure what to do to get the smell out.”
Screwing her face up, her mum plunged her hands into the sink, feeling the jumper. “Not letting it soak for too long would be a start. This is cashmere.” She drained thebasin, then pressed the jumper gently to squeeze the excess water out. “I’ll see what I can do with it.”
“Thanks,” Clem said, relieved it was one less item on her to-do list.
“Now let me see the rest,” her mum said, drying her hands on a towel.
Clem led them down to the bedroom.
Her mum pointed to the bed. “We used to have a sofa there, facing this stove.” Her fingers traced along the appliance, stopping and circling an area on its top. “That’s definitely the original stove. I recognise this dent. Your dad dropped a hammer on it.”
“That’s right,” he said, a smile forming at the memory. “It just missed my foot.”
“It was Florence that brought us together,” her mum said, smiling at her dad. “You came out to fix her engine for me.”
“Yes, and I only charged you for parts because you were upset at your boss getting handsy.”
“Mmm. It came with the territory as a secretary in those days.”
“Probably still does.” Clem groaned.
“But your dad turned the day around for me.” She rubbed her hands together and then squeezed Clem’s cheeks. “I’m so glad you’ve brought her home. I can’t believe you managed to keep it from me all this time.”
Clem couldn’t help feeling a little smug at how well her plan had come together. “I’m not you, Mum, and it’s only been six months. To be honest, it didn’t feel real until I moored her at Gram’s. When I collected her, it felt like I was hiring her for a couple of weeks, and then someone would demand I return her.”
Her mum wiped her cheeks. “Oh, get me a tissue formy eyes and a bag for that jumper, will you? It’s time I got dinner in the oven.”
Clem looked to her dad, who was still grinning. They both knew her mum well enough to know she couldn’t cope with anything too soppy and didn’t like to show emotion very often — if ever.
After a dinner of exquisite lasagna aboardTheKingfisher’s Rest, Clem insisted on helping her mum with clearing up the galley, mainly as an excuse to question her about their impending retirement.
“Are you sure you’re ready to hang up your apron and sell up?” she asked.
“It makes sense,” her mum said with a shrug. “Everything has happened at the right time, at least for your father. I’m not sure I’m as ready as he is. I just feel like I’m losing a part of myself, along with my home. What am I going to do all day if I don’t have theKingfisher?”
“Find a hobby?” Clem suggested, then added, “It is retirement. It’s supposed to have a different pace. You could take up gardening, grow some veg.”
“Gardening?” Her mum scoffed. “I never had much luck making anything grow except you when we lived on land.”
“There’s a golf course near here. You could try that. You might even meet some local people, make some friends.”
“Golf! I don’t think so. The clothes would be terrible for my figure.”
Clem sniffed out a laugh. “All right. What about a job?”
“Who would hire me at my age?”
Clem prayed she wasn’t looking for an answer and busied herself with packing the dishwasher.
