The Waffle House on the Pier - Tilly Tennant Page 0,98

Graham said. ‘Apparently it’s our fault for bringing up such an ungrateful brat.’

‘Oh, Mum!’ Sadie cried. ‘What are we going to do?’

‘We’re going to do what we agreed last night. As soon as the waffle house is sold things will settle again. She’ll see in time that what appeared to be cruel was in actual fact a kindness.’

‘I don’t think I can last that long with her hating me.’

‘You really are worrying too much,’ Henny said, heading towards the kitchen. ‘Smells divine, by the way. Shall I go and check on it?’

Sadie collapsed into a chair and nodded. ‘If you like.’ She turned to her father. ‘I can’t bear it, Dad. There must be some way I can get Gammy on side again.’

‘If you find what it is please tell me; I could do with a bit of help too.’ Graham let out a sigh. ‘You’re never prepared for the death of a parent, but you’re certainly never prepared for what comes afterwards.’

Sadie watched as he closed his eyes for a moment and sank into the chair. He looked exhausted, and she suddenly felt like the most selfish person alive. She’d been so wrapped up in what was happening to her she’d forgotten that at the heart of all this was the fact that her dad had lost his own dad. She couldn’t imagine what life would be like without her father, but he was living it now, having lost Kenneth not so long ago. They’d all concerned themselves with how April was coping without her husband and nobody had stopped for a moment to consider how Graham was coping without his dad because he’d seemed so strong, so stoic that it was like he hadn’t been affected at all. But if he’d loved his dad half as much as Sadie loved hers, then he must have been keeping a lot of hurt locked up tight and that couldn’t be a good thing.

* * *

They ate dinner without April, who’d fallen asleep, and they saved a portion so she could eat when she woke. Though Sadie was relieved not to have to face her, she was also frustrated because she’d worked herself up to that meeting and she’d been ready for it, and then it hadn’t happened. Now it was hanging over her still, and the longer she waited the more anxious she became, the more impatient to get it over and done with. In fact, she was all for waking April, and did her best to make more noise than usual as she washed up with Graham, though it didn’t work.

After dinner she went into the drawing room to watch TV with Graham and Henny for a while. They were all full and content and happy to sit, though Sadie’s mind wandered a lot and she found it hard to concentrate on the complex plot of the police drama they were trying to follow.

And then she jumped as the phone she’d balanced on the arm of the sofa next to her began to ring. Natalie’s photo came up on the display.

‘Hello,’ Sadie said, taking it out into the hallway so she didn’t disturb her parents’ viewing, ‘I was just thinking about you.’

‘You’ll never guess what I’ve just heard!’

No preamble, just straight in there. Natalie sounded breathless, almost as if she’d run to get her phone, or perhaps it was just excitement. Whatever it was, it must be huge news.

‘Go on,’ Sadie said, ready to hear some tawdry gossip about someone in the town or someone Natalie worked with, or even some new sexual conquest she’d fallen instantly in love with who was probably going to become husband number three.

‘Declan and Melissa have split up!’

Chapter Eighteen

Sadie took the phone out to the garden. ‘Who’s told you that?’

‘Vivien. She got it from Nessa at the chip shop; says he came to see his dad in a right state. She overheard them talking in the back and then Dec’s dad took him home because he was drunk and couldn’t drive.’

‘She overheard them? What did they say?’

‘Just that Melissa did the dumping. I don’t know any more than that.’

Sadie was silent for a moment, processing what she’d heard, desperately trying to figure out what she was supposed to do – or even if she was supposed to do anything at all. Declan needed her, and if it had been the other way around, he’d have done what he could for her. She knew that, but if she got involved, might that make things