The Women Who Wouldn't Leave by Victoria Scott

Author:Victoria Scott
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781804544716
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

— 25 —

October

Constance

‘Honestly, Mum, I really don’t think they’ll notice if the mantlepiece isn’t dusted,’ said Connie, watching her mother buzzing around the lounge like a mosquito on a hot summer’s night. Her mother’s constant need to be doing, to be cleaning, to be tidying, to be organising, had always been exhausting to watch. She had to constantly fight the urge to yell at her to just bloody sit down, so they could both relax together for just a moment, face to face, stationary.

‘They might. But even if they don’t, I will. I was brought up to always put my best foot forward when we had guests, and I’m sorry, Connie, but I’m going to stick to that.’

Nana Jane, Ellen’s mother, had definitely been a meticulous housekeeper, right up until the end. Connie had often gone with her mother to help out in Nana’s bungalow, which had been in a nearby village, when she’d become too disabled to manage all of it. She still remembered watching Ellen ironing bedsheets and washing curtains, keeping up her mother’s standards until the end.

Connie went into the kitchen, where she found that Ellen had assembled enough snacks to feed the five thousand. There were neat rows of cheese and ham sandwiches sliced into dainty triangles, a pyramid of freshly baked sausage rolls, a tower of chocolate ring biscuits that were more chocolate than biscuit, and a huge serving dish piled high with ‘posh’ crisps flavoured with caviar and gold leaf, or something similarly unlikely. Connie had tried to point out that it was the middle of the afternoon and most people would have just had lunch, but Ellen had not been dissuaded, despite the obvious cost to her in both time and money.

Despite her exasperation, Connie did understand why it was important to her. She knew that it had been a long time since Ellen had had anyone else in the house – certainly, it had been before she’d landed on her mother’s doorstep and begged for shelter – and she understood that it was important for her to show that she, they, were still keeping their heads above water and soldiering on.

Ellen had been soldiering on for decades now, ever since Connie’s father had abandoned her when she’d told him she was pregnant, and it was only recently that Connie had begun to appreciate the emotional and physical energy this had taken from her mother. How Ellen managed to remain so cheerful, still going to work every day without complaint and doing extra shifts to pay for unexpected bills and the occasional treat while her daughter’s father lived a life of luxury in London, Connie didn’t know. She doubted she’d have been anything like as sanguine.

Connie’s thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell.

‘I’ll go,’ she said, aware her mum would need a moment or two to hide the duster.

Connie opened the door to find Jamie on the doorstep.

‘Are you ready?’ he asked.

‘Yep,’ replied Connie, pulling on her trainers. She followed Jamie as he walked round to Matilda’s house and knocked on her door.

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