morning,’ said Fleur, curling herself into the chair opposite.
‘Do you have plans for today?’ asked Charlie, as she ran her fingers through Millie’s hair in an effort to remove the worst of the knots before she had to drag a reluctant comb through it.
‘I need a lift to Harold Hill to get my car.’
‘Or what’s left of it,’ snorted Charlie.
‘Don’t. That’s not funny.’
‘Nor is Harold Hill,’ said Charlie. ‘Yes, I’ll take you there. What time?’
‘No rush,’ said Fleur, with a yawn. ‘Maybe I could help you?’
‘That would be nice. I think I may have blown it with Ruth. She’s coming to see me later.’
‘Don’t worry, she’s all hot air.’
‘I’m not so sure that she is,’ said Charlie, feeling the ominous cloud of Ruth’s words hanging above her, raining down pellets of dread.
Fleur clapped her hands together. ‘What you need is a bit of fun!’
They decided that they would all have a walk to the park and take a picnic lunch. Charlie felt she needed to broach the subject of the children returning to school – and a bit of moral support from Fleur would be nice. After breakfast Fleur was playing mummies and babies with Millie and hadn’t appeared to see the irony of the game, but both she and Millie seemed content enough. George was playing something unsuitable on the games console with Ted so they were both happy and Eleanor was giving Wriggly a bath.
Charlie was counting out drinks into the cool box as the phone rang and it was answered somewhere else in the house. Ted strolled into the kitchen and mouthed that it was Ruth on the phone, followed by a roll of his eyes. This way she could at least listen to one side of the conversation and decide if she needed to pack now or later.
The conversation that followed was rather one-sided as Ted listened and Charlie could hear Ruth getting crosser in the background. After a couple of minutes, he handed the phone to Charlie. ‘She wants to talk to you,’ he said, taking the plate of toast and sitting down at the table. Charlie took the phone and regarded it as if it were a hand grenade with its pin missing.
‘Hello Ruth,’ said Charlie, trying to brazen it out.
‘We got cut off this morning,’ said Ruth, and Charlie thought for a bizarre moment that perhaps Ruth was being kind. ‘I think there’s a problem with my phone, it keeps doing it,’ but it turned out that, for once, luck was on Charlie’s side.
‘And there was me thinking you’d put the phone down on me, but who would be so rude?’
‘Quite,’ said Ruth. ‘Is Edward all right? He doesn’t speak.’
It was Charlie’s turn to roll her eyes. ‘He’s a teenager, Ruth. You’re lucky if you can get a grunt out of him.’
Charlie felt the toast hit the back of her head and turned around to see Ted holding a second slice aloft. She gave him a death stare and he grinned before biting into the toast.
‘Can you explain why my father seems to think he’s going to be the children’s guardian?’
‘I suggested it to Roger and he seemed quite keen. I spoke to Social Services about it too. Is there a problem?’
‘Yes, there’s a problem. My father was never one of the options. He is in a nursing home for a reason. He is not in a fit state to be the children’s guardian.’
‘But Social Services explained everything. They need to do an assessment of whoever puts themselves forward as guardian, they fill in some forms and it goes to court to grant the formal guardianship. I think they want someone who really wants to be the guardian to do it. Either way, I can go on looking after the children here in their own home,’ said Charlie. It was worth a try, she thought.
There was a slight pause and Charlie bit her lip. ‘I have power of attorney for my father. Do you know what that means?’
Charlie let out a defeated sigh. ‘That you’re going to say no.’
‘It means I have the legal right to make decisions for him. My decision is that he will not be the children’s guardian. I’ll be along later to discuss…’
‘Ruth, hold on. I only want what’s best for the children. And I know that sounds really big-headed of me, and before you say it, I know I’m not a qualified nanny, but it works. The children and I get on really well. This isn’t just a job to me, I love these kids.’ There was no response from the other end of the line so Charlie continued. ‘Ruth, I don’t want to upset you or anyone else in the family, I want to do what I think Helen and Toby would have wanted and I honestly believe that they would have wanted the children to stay in their own home.’ She felt an unwelcome tear poke the back of her eyes. There was still no response. ‘Ruth, are you still there?’ There was silence. ‘Bloody phone!’ said Charlie as she switched it off.
The mood was decidedly un-picnic-y as they threw down the rugs, including a plastic-coated Winnie the Pooh one for Millie. The grass was damp but the rain was currently holding off. Millie was the only one who was disappointed about this as she had brought her umbrella in the hope of a downpour. George flopped down onto a rug, looking intensely bored already. Millie spotted the play area and started running.
‘Here you go!’ said Charlie as she threw the Frisbee towards Ted, who sidestepped it and wandered off after Millie. He walked with a slouch these days. Charlie wasn’t sure if he always had but it seemed more noticeable recently. And his ear buds were permanently attached to his ears. ‘Football?’ said Charlie, offering the ball up to George and Eleanor.
‘I’m going to take Wriggly for a walk,’ said Eleanor glumly.
‘Keep where I can see you, okay?’
‘I’ll go with her,’ said George, dragging himself up from the rug.
‘And then there were two,’ said Fleur.
‘At least they’re getting some fresh air,’ said Charlie, trying to ignore the distant rumble of London traffic.
Fleur’s phone beeped for the umpteenth time that morning. ‘It’s Knob,’ she said, ‘he’s dropping the charges.’
‘You were right,’ said Charlie, feeling relieved. ‘Anything else?’ she added, suspecting that the lovely Fleur wasn’t telling all. She settled herself down so she had a good view of the play area and of George and Eleanor, who were already quite a distance away.
‘He still loves me.’
‘Uh, huh, that explains kissing Sophie and dumping you at your own wedding reception.’
‘He says he didn’t know what to do for the best, what with all the money my parents had spent.’
‘Yes, I can see that that would concern Knob. You’re not thinking of taking him back are you?’ asked Charlie, dragging her eyes away from Millie, who was squealing happily as a nonchalant Ted tried to push her swing one-handed and without looking.
‘No…
