drabs, shrugs and mutters, that Mummy had ‘smelled funny’ and Loren had seen her ‘taking a long nap on the sofa’ before. ‘Two times me and Maria got up in the morning and Mum was asleep on the sofa.’
He stroked her hair, cold inside as he acknowledged that Loren must have waited until the girls had gone to bed then drunk herself insensible. ‘Maybe Mum hasn’t been feeling well. I’ll talk to her about trying not to upset you or Maria in future.’
‘’K.’ Josie buried her face in her mug of chocolate and he felt grieved for her jumble of emotions and loyalties. It was nearly ten by the time she’d unwound enough to go to bed, tiptoeing around Maria, though the toddler slept as if no more than a dragon’s roar would wake her. Nico left her listening to a Roald Dahl audiobook and returned downstairs, tidying the kitchen and lounge with automatic movements, one eye on the clock. When Josie had been in bed for fifteen minutes without coming down he decided she was sufficiently settled for him to call Loren’s parents in Reading.
Vivvi and Redfern occasionally had Josie to stay or took her out for a day. To Nico they were polite but chilly. It was as if, he mused as he listened to the ringtone, he’d been the one to let down Loren. Maybe he had. Maybe another man could have supported her through her postnatal depression better or stopped the drinking.
‘Hi,’ he said, when his ex-mother-in-law answered, her voice surprised and apprehensive at the unscheduled call. He decided to jump straight in. ‘Sorry to call so late. I have to discuss something with you and I had to wait for Josie to go to bed.’
‘Oh?’ Vivvi replied, sounding mistrustful. ‘Is Josie OK?’ When Josie had stayed with him instead of leaving with Loren, she’d been openly unconvinced that a father could look after a child as well as – or better than – a mother.
He began the story, speaking unemotionally and trying to be factual and objective, neither sensationalising nor trivialising but hoping to put over the unsettling reality.
At first, Vivvi was inclined to be defensive, as if he’d called her to tell tales.
Gently, he broke into her splutterings. ‘I’ve talked to Josie and there have been elements of this behaviour before today. I had to leave Loren alone and bring Maria home with me. I’ve called you because I think you need to know those things.’
His words were met with several seconds of silence. Then Vivvi gave an exasperated groan. ‘I suppose I’ll have to drive over to see Loren tomorrow. But Red’s having a triple bypass op on Monday, so I can’t stay.’
‘Loren mentioned that. I hope everything will go well.’ Nico felt a band above his eyes as if he were wearing a too-tight hat. ‘Will you pick Maria up at the same time?’
Vivvi gave a strangled exclamation, a cross between dismay and incredulity. ‘How can I look after a two-year-old when Red’s in intensive care? I’ll have my hands full, especially once he’s home from hospital.’
‘Right.’ Nico had asked the question more as a reminder that the toddler wasn’t his responsibility than in expectation of her taking responsibility but the band around his head tightened.
‘Look, Redfern’s already in bed and I’m shattered.’ Vivvi’s tone indicated she didn’t need additional worries. ‘I’ll ring Loren now. Thanks for letting me know.’ She hesitated then added ungraciously, ‘I accept it’s awkward for you with Maria but it’ll be short term. And you do have a nanny.’
Nico was left with a dead phone in his hand and a flame of anger in his chest. Term began on Monday and Tilly didn’t work for him while Josie was at school. Any change to that would cost him a fortune. He wished Loren wasn’t an only child. A handy sibling to give Maria a little holiday from Loren would be welcome right now.
He went upstairs and peeped through Josie’s half-open bedroom door. Both girls were out for the count looking very much like sisters – lips parted, fair eyebrows half-lifted as if asking questions as they slept.
He jogged back downstairs, sloshed whisky into a crystal tumbler and threw himself into his favourite chair, swinging his feet onto the footstool before taking out his phone to text Tilly. I have an issue I’d REALLY appreciate your help with from Monday. Can I call you tomorrow? When would be good? He wouldn’t call without notice on her off-duty hours.