‘I understand that some of them will need quite a lot of support. But like I said before, these are grown adults. Plenty of them live independently. They don’t need supervision at the theatre or a cricket match. Jed Tetley used to bowl for Nottinghamshire! He already goes to all the test matches. All we’re doing is helping them go together.’
Mum’s face had turned grey. ‘That’s what we’ve been trying to explain, Jessie. It’s the together when the trouble starts. One of them has an idea and then another one tries to outdo it, then before we know it they’re climbing onto the roof serenading Katherine Lewinski.’
‘It seems a shame that everyone misses out because of a select few.’
‘Maybe so,’ Dad agreed. ‘But this new programme will mean some big changes and the older we get, the more challenging some of us find change. And just to be clear, I’m referring to your mum and me, not the Outlaws. Let’s get the Monday to Thursday programme up and running, make sure we’ve smoothed out any snags before we consider Friday trips.’
‘But thank you so much, Jessie, and well done!’ Mum beamed. ‘What an amazing job, in only a couple of weeks. We’re so excited to see what a huge difference all these fabulous ideas are going to make. You’re our heroine, riding your white steed all the way from Brighton to save the day.’
‘Or, I’m simply doing my job.’ I picked at the remains of the doughnut, unable to meet their gaze.
‘No! No simply about it! What you’re doing here is priceless.Priceless!And we won’t hear any different. Now, it’s nearly five thirty. I’d say that’s a great time to stop and head home for Monday Mumday!’
‘Mum and Dad day,’ Dad added. ‘I’ve made lasagne, your favourite. Because you’reourfavourite… daughter.’
‘Thanks, Dad. High praise indeed.’
21
On Tuesday, I cut short a brutal game of monopoly with Madeline to avoid complete financial annihilation and helped her onto the minibus before heading home myself, reassuring my parents that I’d catch up the lost hour working at home.
‘We trust you, Jessie! We know you’re a dedicated professional who’d rather resign than be caught shirking or skiving.’
I don’t know how they could possibly know that, given the number of times I’d been fired for both shirking and skiving. Sometimes both.
Once home, I followed the sound of exasperated grumbling. Isaac was standing at the kitchen table, his hands covered in sticky dough, a smear of flour in his hair and murder in his eyes.
‘How the hell am I supposed to turn this abomination into spheres?’
‘Hello, brother. I’m fine, had a good day, thanks for asking. How’s yours?’
‘How do you think?’ he growled.
‘Right.’ I approached the table, shrugging off my denim jacket and pushing up my sleeves.
‘No.’ Isaac held up one pastry-laden hand. ‘No helping.’
‘This is not the time to be proud.’ My eyes widened when I got close enough to see the state of the table. ‘Connie will be here in an hour.’
‘I’m making this dinner by myself. I’ve built a million-pound company from practically nothing. I can manage a three-course dinner for three people without needing my sister to step in and rescue me.’
‘With all due respect, the state of this table suggests otherwise…’
‘Are you seriously casting doubt on me now, at my lowest point? I thought you, of all people, believed in me.’
It was good to see that some trace of humour remained beneath all the stains and splatters.
‘Oh I do. I believe that you are a man of great accomplishments. Just not when it comes to pastry. I’m not going to interfere with that blob you’ve made, but you have to let me give you a couple of hints.’
Once Isaac’s ego had finished wrestling with his need to impress Connie, he gave a sharp nod. Feeling a surge of pride that I was even in a position to offer cooking tips, I quickly explained where he was going wrong (my disaster last week had proved useful after all). As soon as I’d finished, there was a knock on the front door.
‘What the hell?’ Isaac spluttered. ‘We agreed six.’
‘You did, but then I arranged for her to arrive at five.’
‘And what, forgot to tell me? Why would you do that?’
‘Don’t panic! She’s here to see me. We’ve got something to discuss, and Connie thought it made sense to do it when she was already coming over here.’
