This time, he really did think she was going to cry. Instead, she got up, brushing away imaginary crumbs from the front of her trousers.
‘Thank you, Dario. You always were the best of your mum and dad. She’d be dead proud of you.’
The lump in his throat was back.
‘And since you’re taking care of me, probably time I go make myself useful and achieve the impossible for you.’
‘The impossible?’
She found the strength to give him a wink. ‘I’m going to the pub round the corner, and I’ll drag big Matty back. We’ve got sixty people at lunch to feed.’
He nodded, managing a grateful smile. ‘I’d appreciate that.’ He really did – because otherwise he’d be dragging out his old kitchen whites and doing it himself.
She got halfway to the door, then stopped, turned around.
‘You know, Dario, I’m heartsore for your dad in all this. I’m really worried that news like this will end him.’
‘Me too, Sonya,’ he replied, feeling the knife in his chest twist yet again as he said it. ‘Me too.’
12
MINNIE
Minnie groaned as she turned over in bed, and she must have hit a sore spot in her hip because her leg involuntarily flinched. It was just one of many parts of her that were aching, but she wasn’t going to complain. Could have been so much worse.
That tumble in the main street had fair taken her breath away though. Thankfully, she’d somehow managed to stick her shopping bag out in front of her, so her shortbread got the worst of it and had been crunched into crumbs. Her bag, thick scarf and padded coat had cushioned the fall, but she had an aching hip, two skint knees, two bruised palms and a whole lot of embarrassment at the fuss she’d created.
As she’d lain there, stunned for a few seconds, she’d mentally checked that everything was still working. She could still feel her arms and her legs, and she hadn’t banged her head, so she wasn’t worried about concussion. It was more just the racing heart from the shock of the fall. Reassured that she was still in one piece, she’d begun to think about getting up when she’d suddenly heard Gladys, who’d got to her side in seconds, screeching, ‘Call an ambulance’ at the top of her lungs.
Minnie had been mortified. Mortified! And she’d been like an upside-down turtle for a moment as she’d tried to right herself to assure the gathering crowd that she was fine. ‘No, please don’t,’ Minnie had objected, as she managed to push herself up on her knees, then turn around so she was sitting on her bottom. By that time, quite a crowd had gathered, including the young man from the jewellers who’d dashed out and was on the other side of her now.
‘Why don’t we take you inside and get you a seat?’ he’d offered.
‘No, she shouldn’t be moved!’ Gladys had tried to take charge. ‘I’ve seen that onCasualty.They always say the victims shouldn’t be moved without one of those collar thingies on their necks.’
Minnie had put her hand on Gladys’s arm and squeezed it, realising that the other woman meant well. ‘I think a seat inside the shop would be lovely while I get my breath back,’ she’d told her.
The gent from the shop, and another burly bloke who’d stopped to see if he could help, took one of her arms each. ‘Now you’re sure you’re ready to get up? Your friend might have a point.’
Minnie had shaken her head, trying not to wince as it sent a pain shooting down her shoulder. If ever she needed her granddaughter Emmy’s nursing skills, it was right then. ‘I promise you, everything feels fine,’ she’d fudged the truth slightly. ‘The worst part is sitting on this cold ground.’
That had seemed to convince them, because, much to Gladys’s disapproval, the next thing, they were very slowly and gently lifting Minnie to her feet. Another person in the crowd picked up her bags, and handed them to Gladys, who seemed to have declared herself in charge of the whole affair. Not that Minnie was ungrateful for the assistance or the kindness.
As soon as she’d been settled in a chair in a little room just off the main sales area of the jewellers, the young man who worked there had disappeared and returned with a glass of water.
Gladys had jumped right on that. ‘Oh, son, I could do with one of those maself,’ she’d said, and Minnie had flushed with even more embarrassment as the kind lad had gone off to get it. She really hated to create a scene.
She’d thanked the other gent who’d helped her profusely, and he’d given her the loveliest smile. All the terrible news in the world could make someone think otherwise, but people really could be so very nice.
‘Now are you sure you don’t want us to call an ambulance?’ he checked.
‘I think we should,’ Gladys had interjected. ‘I mean, anything could be broken in there. My husband fractured his kneecap just climbing a ladder.’
Minnie, while feeling very sorry for Mr Gladys’s pain, had wanted a hole to open up and swallow her. ‘I’m quite sure. I really do feel fine now that I’m getting my breath back.’ Still not strictly true, but she really couldn’t be going off to hospital. She had so many other plans for today.
The assistant had returned with Gladys’s water. ‘Is there someone I can call for you, Mrs Ryan? Or would you like me to phone a taxi to take you home?’ He must have remembered her name from the order she’d collected.
She’d thought about that for a second. She really hadn’t the strength to be walking all the way home with a sore hip and stinging knees, so a warm taxi had sounded just perfect. ‘That would be lovely, thank you.’
