‘Okay, we’ll be there soon,’ he said and hung up the call.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he said. ‘My dad can be a bit gung-ho and he’s not quite as athletic as he thinks he is.’
‘Don’t stress about it. Family comes first; apart from that, this seems considerably more fun than any movie. I want to meet the family that raised this man.’
Nick laughed, relief clearly on his face. ‘Oh God, this might be more than I bargained for. But thank you. You’re fantastic.’
Lily was both excited and nervous as they travelled to Nick’s parents’ place. They drove through Silverton and to a residential area and stopped at the front of a suburban home, with a car in the driveway and a very busy garden filled with flowers, sweet art projects and wind chimes.
‘Can you tell my mother is a nursery school teacher?’ he asked as they walked up the path past a collection of wooden spoons stuck in a pot, each one representing someone in the family, all painted and decorated.
‘That’s very cute though,’ said Lily, looking at the Nick the Nurse likeness. ‘It’s basically your mirror image.’ She giggled.
‘Rude,’ he said and rang the bell. She heard dogs barking.
‘That’s Ziggy and Zola – Norwich terrors,’ he said.
‘You mean terriers,’ she corrected.
‘Nope, terrors,’ he said as the door opened.
Maureen opened the door and hugged Nick and then hugged Lily.
‘Oh okay, hi,’ she said.
‘This is so lovely. Come in, your dad is upstairs. Lily and I can have tea.’
‘Mum, we’re supposed to be going to a movie,’ he said as two very cute small brown dogs jumped up at his legs.
Maureen looked disappointed at this news.
‘It’s fine, Nick. Let’s not rush. You help your dad and maybe check the other alarms and I can find out everything about you from your mum.’
‘Oh God, this might have been a mistake,’ said Nick as he went upstairs.
Lily followed Maureen through the very eccentrically decorated house. Each room was painted a different colour and there was art on every wall, with indoor plants trailing down from hanging macramé holders.
‘Your house is amazing,’ said Lily looking around. ‘I love it.’
‘Oh that’s nice to hear, Lily. Not everyone likes it. Jessica hated it,’ she said and then made a face. ‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned her. I think I’m nervous. Nick doesn’t bring his girlfriends home often.’
‘I’m not really his girlfriend. I’m just here for the summer,’ she said. The mention of Jess had deflated her mood. ‘Did you like Jess?’ she asked Maureen, wishing she didn’t care but she did.
‘I don’t think she was possible to like,’ whispered Maureen. ‘She was very intimidating.’
Lily nodded. ‘She’s in the play. She doesn’t like me very much.’
Maureen rolled her eyes as she poured hot water from the kettle into a brown teapot and put a knitted cosy in the shape of a strawberry on top of it. ‘She doesn’t like anyone very much,’ Maureen said. ‘Don’t you worry about her.’
‘How long did…’ Lily was about to ask when Nick came into the kitchen.
‘I need batteries. I’ll check the others,’ he said to his mum.
‘I’ll get some from the laundry,’ she said and they left Lily alone in the kitchen.
She walked around the room, looking at Maureen’s art and photos of the family.
Nick’s sisters were very beautiful, she noticed. One of them was newly married and Nick looked handsome in the photo, wearing a suit.
