He certainly seemed happy to have her with him again. The couple fussed over her, checking she was okay, that she had all her medication, that she wasn’t too tired or dizzy or feeling unwell or in need of water, until she flapped her hands and rolled her eyes in mock irritation. But she was going through the motions. She had barely stopped talking about him since she had told me.
I was to stay and look after the place ‘for the foreseeable’, according to Frank Junior. I think that meant until Margot died, although nobody said it out loud. Apparently the realtor had said that nobody would want to rent it as it stood, and it was a little unseemly to gut it before the ‘foreseeable’ so I had been awarded the role of temporary caretaker. Margot also made the point several times that it would help Dean Martin to have some stability while he adjusted to his new situation. I’m not sure Frank Junior felt that the dog’s mental wellbeing was quite as high on his own list of concerns.
She took only two suitcases and wore one of her favourite suits to travel, the jade bouclé jacket and skirt with the matching pillbox hat. I dressed it with a midnight blue Saint-Laurent scarf knotted around her narrow neck, to disguise the way it now emerged, painfully bony, from her collar, and dug out the turquoise cabochon earrings as a final touch. I worried that she might be too hot but she seemed to have grown ever tinier and frailer and complained of cold even on the warmest of days. I stood on the sidewalk outside, Dean Martin in my arms, watching as her son and Vincent oversaw the packing up of her cases. She checked that they had her jewellery boxes – she planned to give some of the more valuable items to Frank Junior’s wife, and some to Vincent ‘for when he gets married’ and then, apparently satisfied that they were safely stowed, she walked over to me slowly, leaning heavily on her stick. ‘Now. Dear. I’ve left you a letter with all my instructions. I haven’t told Ashok I’m going – I don’t want any fuss. But I have left a little something for him in the kitchen. I’d be grateful if you could pass it on once we’re gone.’
I nodded.
‘I’ve written everything you need for Dean Martin in a separate letter. It’s very important that you stick to his routine. It’s how he likes things.’
‘You mustn’t worry. I’ll make sure he’s happy.’
‘And none of those liver treats. He begs for them but they do make him sick.’
‘No liver treats.’
Margot coughed, perhaps with the effort of talking, and waited for a moment until she could be sure of her breath. She steadied herself on her cane and looked up at the building that had housed her for more than half a century, holding up a frail hand to shield her eyes from the sun. Then she turned stiffly and surveyed Central Park, the view that had been hers for so long.
Frank Junior was calling from the car, stooping so that he could see us more clearly. His wife stood beside the passenger door in her pale blue windbreaker, her hands pressed together with anxiety. She was apparently not a woman who liked the big city.
‘Mom?’
‘One moment, thank you, dear.’
Margot moved so that she stood directly in front of me. She reached out a hand, and as I held him, she stroked his head, three, four times with her thin, marbled fingers. ‘You’re a good fellow, aren’t you, Dean Martin?’ she said softly. ‘A very good fellow.’
The dog gazed back at her, rapt.
‘You really are the most handsome boy.’ Her voice cracked on the last word.
The dog licked her palm and she stepped forward and kissed his wrinkled forehead, her eyes closing and her lips pressed to him just a moment too long so that his wonky eyes bulged and his paws paddled against her. Her face sagged momentarily.
‘I – I could bring him to see you.’
She kept her face to his, her eyes shut, oblivious to the noise and the traffic and the people around her.
‘Did you hear what I said, Margot? I mean once you’re settled we could get the train out and –’
She straightened up and opened her eyes, glancing down for a moment.
‘No. Thank you.’
Before I could say anything else, she turned away. ‘Now, take him for a walk, please, dear. I don’t want