A Long Way Back (Unfinished Business #2) - Barbara Elsborg Page 0,20
looked distraught. “I’ve never stolen anything in my life. I don’t need Tay’s laptop. I have one of my own in my bag. I can show you if you don’t believe me. I read a lot. I’m reading a brilliant book set in Russia at the moment. I don’t have any health issues. I don’t owe money to anyone. I prefer coffee to tea. I can cook basic stuff. I eat most things. I like playing my cigar box guitar. I can sing…okay, I guess. I’m just an average guy.”
No, you’re not. Tay’s heart beat faster.
“I get the impression you’re just drifting through life,” his father said. “What are your ambitions? Where do you see yourself when you’re thirty?”
“Dad, this is a domestic help job not a role at Microsoft. Leave him alone.”
His father sighed. “You made Tay smile, so maybe you’re the guy he needs. One week to prove it. If Tay tells you to leave, you leave. If you fail the police check, you leave. Right, I need all your addresses for the last five years and the dates you lived there. Plus, your National Insurance number, passport details and driving licence.”
Something about Ink’s expression… “I’ll handle all that,” Tay said.
His father turned to him. “You sure?”
Tay sighed. “I’m not fu… helpless.”
“Okay.” His father handed Ink two keys on a small keyring and a piece of paper. “The shiny one is for the outer door, the other for the flat. Don’t let me down. Don’t let Tay down. Don’t let the dog trip him up. On that paper, there’s a list of contacts. Phone numbers and emails for us, Tay’s sisters, his doctor and the hospital consultant he’s under. What’s your number?”
Ink rattled it off.
His father took out his phone. “Again please. Put it in your phone too, Tay. We’ll both call you.”
Ink took his phone from his pocket. “Let me unmute it so you can hear the calls coming through.”
Tay called him first, then his father, and after Ink tapped on his phone, he slipped it back in his pocket. An old, very basic phone, Tay noticed.
Tay’s mother finished on her call and sighed. “They’ll deliver the bed tomorrow between nine and twelve. I asked for as early as they could, but they can’t do it today.”
“That’s fine. I can share with Tay tonight, right?”
His parents laughed, but Tay didn’t. He was struck dumb in a combination of fear and excitement. He forced a laugh when he registered it was expected.
“I’ll be fine on the floor,” Ink said. “I’m… It won’t be a problem.”
Had he been going to say he was used to it?
“We need to get going.” His mother hesitated, then hugged Tay. “Bye, sweetheart. Try to say yes instead of no, okay?” She let him go.
Tay just about tolerated an embrace from his parents. When they’d moved away, he saw Ink staring at him.
“Have a great time on the cruise,” Tay said. “Send postcards.”
His father sighed. “If you need us, call or email.”
“I will.” Over my dead body. “Enjoy yourselves.”
Then they were gone and it was just him and Ink. And the dog.
Ink rubbed his hands together. “Where’s the vodka?”
Tay laughed. “I don’t have any.”
“Damn. I’ve always wondered if it really tastes of nothing. Want me to make us a coffee and we can get to know each other a bit? You can tell me exactly what you need me to do and what you don’t.”
“Okay.”
“Black, no sugar, right?”
“Right.”
“I’m just going to put out Dog’s water bowl in the kitchen where you won’t trip over it. Dog! Want a drink?”
The dog lifted his head and then lowered it.
“You call him Dog?”
“I wasn’t going to keep him. Seemed wrong to name him. I was going to ask you to have him.”
Tay frowned as Ink went over to the kitchen. What made him think that he’d want a dog? He noticed Ink remembered where everything was. Mugs, coffee and spoons. Part of Tay liked the idea of someone being around to help him. Company when he wanted it. The other part of him didn’t. Company when he didn’t want it. He suspected that was the half that would dominate.
Ink handed Tay his coffee and sat down at the end of the couch with his own drink.
“What did you mean about the dog?” Tay asked.
“I saw you on the high street a couple of times in your wheelchair. You looked as if you needed cheering up. I thought you might like a dog. Dog’s so friendly, no one