Page 30 of A Christmas Celebration
‘You won’t,’ I said. ‘I can deliver them for you.’
‘And would you be here while I had the test?’
‘Certainly,’ I said. ‘But only if you’d like me to be.’
He mulled that over.
‘And then I could get this place sorted out, couldn’t I?’ he said. ‘My sister would turn in her grave if she knew how bad I’d let it get. It’s been months since I visited her.’
He was quiet again and I realized that his reluctance to leave the house might be about more than a pair of mislaid glasses.
‘I hope you don’t mind me mentioning it, Albert,’ I said, rubbing my hands together, ‘but it really is freezing in here. Shall we go and see if your tank has any oil in it?’
‘You go and look by all means,’ he said. ‘There’s a gauge on the side, you’ll be able to see it better than I can.’
From the little interaction we’d had, I couldn’t be sure if his desire to stay indoors was to do with his limited sight or a fear of stepping outside, but I would hopefully work that out once he’d got his new glasses. So much for not getting involved.
‘It’s three quarters full,’ I told him, once I’d been out to look. ‘You should be as warm as toast.’
‘I wasn’t sure,’ he said, sounding heartbreakingly vulnerable. ‘And there was a storm which knocked the power out a while ago and I couldn’t remember how to reset the boiler. Not that I could’ve seen to do it.’
I couldn’t believe there was no one in his life to offer to do that for him.
‘Where is the boiler?’ I asked.
‘In a cupboard in the kitchen and there’s a manual for it in a drawer in there somewhere too.’
I ignored the state of the kitchen and read the manual from cover to cover. According to the paperwork which was with it, the boiler had been serviced the winter before last.
‘Won’t it go?’ Albert shouted.
‘I’m just about to try it,’ I said, but only when I was completely satisfied that I knew how to do it.
When I had finally reset the keypad, the boiler fired up without missing a beat.
‘I can hear the pipes gurgling,’ Albert called, sounding almost cheerful.
‘I’ll check the radiators in a minute,’ I called back, while quickly heating a tin of stew I’d found in a cupboard.
It looked to me like Albert had been living out of a hotchpotch of packets and tins for quite a while. There was nothing fresh anywhere and most of what was left was out of date or sailing close to it. I wondered how long it had been since he’d had proper contact with anyone.
‘What’s that smell?’ he asked, sniffing the air.
‘Sunday dinner,’ I said, carrying through the steaming bowl and a spoon and handing it to him without a fuss.
I didn’t give him time to object or become ruffled, but walked immediately away to check the pipes.
‘I’ll see if any of the radiators need bleeding,’ I said briskly, although I didn’t really know what that entailed.
‘Just do the ones down here,’ he said. ‘I don’t want you going upstairs.’
It was frustrating, but I knew I had to pick my battles.
‘All right,’ I agreed, ‘and then I’d better be off. I’ll take your phone number this time too, so I can let you know when the optician can come.’
My business-like manner seemed to do the trick. By the time I’d set the thermostats on the downstairs radiators,Albert had polished off the stew and his face had taken on a more relaxed expression. I quickly washed the dishes, leaving them to drain dry so as not to push my luck by staying too long. I then took a longer look at him as he fussed Bella who had moved to sit on his lap.
‘I’ll be off then,’ I said. ‘I’m going to book that eye test for you as soon as I can.’
