Autumn Dreams at Mermaids Point, page 6
They barely glanced up as he now placed a couple of Cokes and a packet of crisps to share on the table in front of them. He stared at the crooked little crown of hair revealed by a too-short summer trim on Max’s bent head and wondered if other parents felt this same helpless sense of disconnection. How was it possible to know these two little souls as well as his own, and yet feel like they were strangers to him at the same time?
Once this meeting with Malcolm was over, he would put everything he had into the next few days. Though they’d only glimpsed it over the railing, the beach looked as encouraging as the pictures he’d seen and was begging to be explored. No phones other than for taking pictures, he promised himself as he returned to the bar, where the older man was waiting patiently for him.
‘They’ll spend so much time staring at those phones, they’ll miss out on life,’ Malcolm observed as Tom took the stool opposite him and reached for the blessedly cold pint of lager which had already soaked the beermat beneath it with drips of condensation.
The comment cut a little too close to the bone and Tom couldn’t hide a wince as he raised his glass to his lips.
‘No offence,’ Malcolm added quickly. ‘I mean, most kids these days are the same.’ He swept a dismissive arm towards the crowded bar in front of them, ‘Most of the adults too.’
Tom glanced around and had to agree. Everywhere he looked, people were fiddling with their phones or tablets. He even spotted a couple in the far corner with a tablet propped on a folding stand, sharing a pair of earphones. Each to their own, he supposed, but he couldn’t quite get the point of sitting in a pub to watch something when they probably had a decent flatscreen at home.
‘I know what you mean. We’re all hooked on our gadgets these days. I’m hoping to get them off the phones tomorrow and get out exploring. Is there anything you recommend?’
‘Well, there’s the beach, of course, and a nice footpath that’ll take you right to the top of the Point. The view from there is beautiful enough to make your heart sing.’ Malcolm patted his chest and gave him a sheepish grin as he added, ‘Even one as old as mine.’
‘You look fitter than me,’ Tom scoffed, not entirely joking. He and Anna used to run regularly when they were younger, and then when the children had been little, they were always on the go, so it had been easy to keep the weight off. He found himself sucking in the little curve of stomach that threatened to creep over his waistband and added exercise to his list of things he needed to get on top of. The list was expanding as quickly as his mid-forties spread.
As he studied the older man, he struggled to put an age to him. The deep lines on his face and a smattering of liver spots on the thinning skin of the back of his hand spoke of an age the rigidity of his spine and his hawk-bright gaze seemed to contradict.
‘I do my best,’ Malcolm said, ‘but it pains me to admit it, these old bones of mine ache too much at the end of the day.’
‘Hey, Doc!’ a voice called from across the bar. ‘Shelly needs a repeat, can I pick it up in the morning?’
‘No problem,’ Doc replied, without batting an eyelid. ‘I’ll leave one on reception for you.’
‘Cheers, Doc, you’re a life saver!’ The man raised his drink, a gesture Malcolm returned before taking a large swig from his pint.
‘Now then,’ he said to Tom, setting his glass back down. ‘Where were we?’
‘Does that sort of thing happen often?’ Tom nodded towards the man who’d called out who was now laughing at something with his group of mates. He hadn’t taken into consideration this aspect of village life – everyone knowing who you were when you were a prominent figure in the community and expecting you to be at their beck and call, even in the local pub.
‘Why did you become a doctor?’ Malcolm countered, ignoring his question. ‘More specifically, why did you become a GP?’
Taken aback, Tom paused to consider the point. He’d loved science at school and always been fascinated by the complexities of the human body. He couldn’t point to a defining event in his life like so many of his peers at medical school had claimed to have experienced, nor even remember it being a conscious decision. Being a doctor was just something he’d felt like he’d always wanted to do.
The choice to become a GP rather than specialise had involved a more complex series of factors. He’d met Anna by then and already knew he wanted to build a life and a family with her. The stability of a more regular routine after the madness of junior doctor’s hours, as well as the realisation he wanted to establish long-term relationships with his patients, had steered his thinking towards general practice. He’d never been ruthless enough during his surgical rotation to push himself to the fore, and the constant pressure of A & E was one for the adrenaline junkies. Being a GP was a deeper investment and required a lot of things that seemed to come naturally to him. Specialisations each had their own highs and lows, but he got to see a bit of everything, from the nervous excitement of expectant mothers to easing the passing at the end of a life well-lived. It was a privilege even on the days it weighed heavily.
‘I like helping people.’
Malcolm nodded as though he’d passed some kind of test. ‘Folks round here need more help than most.’
Before he could say any more, a man Tom judged to be in his mid-fifties came and stood next to Malcolm. ‘There you are, Doc, mind if I grab a quick word?’ The expectant look on his face said he clearly didn’t expect Malcolm to mind.
‘Hello, Keith. This is a colleague of mine, Tom Nelson.’
‘Very nice, I’m sure,’ Keith said, barely giving Tom a first, never mind a second glance. ‘Now, look, I’m certain it’s nothing, but I gave my leg a bump the other day and it’s still not right.’ Not giving Malcolm a chance to respond, Keith propped his foot on the wooden bar of the doctor’s stool, almost kicking the poor dog curled up on the floor, and began tugging his trouser leg up.
Tom took one glance at the ugly wound on Keith’s leg before looking away, appalled at the man’s lack of discretion, as much as his foolishness in leaving an injury that nasty for so long without getting it looked at. The self-neglect he could forgive – it was nothing new, especially with a certain generation, and he knew pride and fear were a deadly combination in too many men when it came to seeking medical advice. Asking for a repeat prescription was one thing, but expecting Malcolm to run an impromptu clinic in public like this was a step too far.
‘Looks a bit ripe, doesn’t it, Keith? Hurts a bit and all, I bet?’ Malcolm seemed unperturbed about the unconventional setting. All his attention was on the man before him, who visibly deflated the moment Malcolm spoke, as though he’d puffed up all his courage in the moments before he’d approached them, and it was already deserting him.
‘Hurts like the devil. I cleaned it up and put a bit of Savlon on it, but the bloody thing won’t mend. I can’t be off work for this kind of nonsense.’
The edge of desperation in those last words tugged at Tom’s conscience. ‘We could pop over to the surgery and take a better look, if you like?’ he found himself saying.
Keith turned to give him a proper look as Malcolm said, ‘That sounds like a capital plan.’
‘I… I don’t want to put you to no trouble,’ Keith said, his cheeks reddening.
Bit late for that.
‘It’s no trouble,’ Tom lied. He cast a sorry glance at his barely touched pint still sweating on the bar, then turned to check the kids still had a drink. The kids! He couldn’t just leave them stranded in a pub full of strangers. ‘Hang on a sec.’
Emily looked up as he reached their table. ‘All right?’ she said, a shade too loud because she hadn’t taken out her headphones.
Tom pointed at her ears and tried to suppress a grin at the exaggerated sigh only a teenage girl was capable of as she removed the buds. ‘I need to give Malcolm a hand at the surgery for a few minutes.’
‘Who’s Malcolm?’
‘The colleague I told you about, remember?’ When Emily continued to stare blankly, he sighed. ‘Look, it doesn’t matter, I just need you and Max to come.’
‘But why? We’re fine here.’
‘I haven’t finished my Coke,’ Max piped up, having finally looked up from his phone.
‘I’ll get you another one. I can’t leave you here on your own.’ Tom swallowed down the sharpness creeping into his tone because none of this was their fault. ‘And a pickled egg, if you like?’ It was a silly joke, harking back to a time when Max had been nine or ten and insisted on trying one from a jar he’d seen on the bar in a long-forgotten pub they’d been to for Sunday lunch. The more he and Anna had protested he wouldn’t like it, the more insistent he’d become, until, in the end, Anna had shrugged and ordered one. With all the stubborn pride he possessed, Max had worked his way through the bloody thing like it was better than the best chocolate in the world, his little face growing greener with every chomp of his jaws. He’d lasted all of thirty seconds before Tom had whipped him off his feet and carted him into the gents just in time for the return trip.
As he’d hoped, Emily started to giggle while Max scowled for a moment before he too started laughing. ‘I’ll pass, thanks.’
Tom crouched before them. ‘I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you, I promise.’
‘It’s all right, Dad,’ Max said in a world-weary tone. ‘Helping people is what you do.’
Swallowing an expected lump in his throat, Tom rose to his feet and turned away. They sacrificed so much with so little complaint. He would make it up to them.
While the children gathered their things, he moved back to where Malcolm was shrugging into a jacket that had been hanging unnoticed on a peg behind him as he urged the retriever to his feet. Was it possible for a dog to look resigned, because Tom swore there was the same here-we-go-again expression in his eyes as in Max’s.
Keith repeated his protests but was hushed into abashed silence by a wave of Malcolm’s hand.
‘Is everything okay?’ A soft voice spoke at his shoulder and Tom turned, wondering who else had come to join their little circus.
He stopped dead, face-to-face with her. He’d been trying not to think about her since that unexpected locking of eyes as he’d walked into the pub. Close up, she was even more striking, with wide dark eyes and a decadent tumble of rich black curls spilling around her face and halfway down her back. Those pretty eyes widened, the soft bow of her lips opening in a little oh, and he wanted to…
Tom wrenched his train of thought back so violently he took a physical step back, almost bumping into poor Keith in the process. ‘Sorry,’ he muttered, not sure who he was apologising to.
‘Ah, Nerissa!’ Malcolm greeted the woman. ‘Perfect timing. Could you be a dear and take Toby? We just need to pop back to the surgery for a few minutes with Keith.’ The way he said we clearly included Tom.
‘You must be a mind-reader,’ the woman, Nerissa, said with a smile. ‘I was just coming to rescue him for a walk on the beach, poor thing.’ She ducked down to scratch the retriever beneath his chin. The dog’s tongue lolled in a blissful expression and Tom found himself wondering if Nerissa would pet him like that.
Where the hell had that come from?
Coughing to cover the heady rush of embarrassment coursing through him, Tom glanced away to where Emily and Max were waiting. His son was staring at his phone, but Emily was watching him with the same intensity a hawk watches a mouse. The dog came to his rescue, squeezing between Tom and Nerissa, his wagging tail swiping Tom’s leg on the way through as he bounded up to the children. Though the subject of a pet had been raised several times over the years, Tom had stood firm on the subject, wanting them to be a little bit older and able to take on the responsibility that came with it. Then Anna had got sick and it’d become another missed opportunity to regret.
Perhaps sensing their hesitancy and unfamiliarity, Nerissa stepped closer and placed a hand on the dog’s head. The retriever sat at once, his lolling smile still fixed on the children. ‘This is Toby. He’s very friendly, if a bit licky at times. You can pet him if you like.’
Max beamed a grin so wide it threatened to split his cheeks. Shoving his phone in his back pocket, he hunkered down to stroke the dog, his awkward moves growing in confidence as Toby shifted to lean his weight against the boy’s shoulder. ‘Good boy.’ Max grinned up at Tom. ‘I think he likes me.’
‘I think he does,’ Tom agreed, his heart feeling like it might burst from his chest. When was the last time he’d seen his lovely lad smile with such unbridled joy?
‘I’m fine,’ Emily said when Nerissa gave her a questioning look. ‘He’s a nice dog, though,’ she continued hurriedly, as though concerned she might have caused offence.
‘He’s a menace, but I adore him,’ Nerissa said, making Emily smile and Tom want to hug her for her gentle empathy. This stranger didn’t know anything about his children, but she was being kind and careful of them, and he was grateful for it. Even more grateful a few moments later when she said, ‘I’m taking him for a walk on the beach. Would you like to come with me?’
Max’s head snapped up. ‘Can we?’
‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that.’
With her addressing the comment directly at him, Tom didn’t have any choice but to look at Nerissa. He focused on her chin, not wanting to meet her gaze and get caught in another embarrassing eye-lock. ‘It’s kind of you to offer, but you don’t have to.’
She shrugged, the gesture causing a ripple of wild curls to fall forward. ‘It’s no trouble. We’ll just be heading down onto the beach, along the waterline and back up the steps at the other end and to the surgery.’
‘I don’t want you to go out of your way,’ Tom protested again, but there was no force in it. He couldn’t see any harm in it – they’d be in the open at all times and though the sun was drawing down it was still light enough outside. Besides, this slip of a woman wasn’t much bigger than Emily, and Tom sensed nothing but a willingness to help from her. It would also give the children a chance to explore a bit rather than being dragged from pillar to post.
She laughed as though he’d made some hilarious joke. ‘It’s not out of my way.’ Turning to the children, she gestured towards the door. ‘Come on then…’
Tom watched the three of them – and the dog – walk away. When Max turned his head up to say something to Nerissa, she placed a soft hand to his back, laughing at whatever he’d said. His son seemed to grow before his eyes, like a flower unfurling at the touch of the sun’s rays.
‘She’s part of the deal, you know?’ Malcolm said at his shoulder, startling Tom’s attention away for a moment.
‘I’m sorry?’
‘Nerissa.’ Malcolm nodded at the last flash of dark hair disappearing out the door. ‘She works for me at the surgery. When you take over, I expect you to keep her on.’
‘Oh. Well, yes of course. I wouldn’t dream of putting anyone out of a job.’
‘Or a home, I trust,’ Malcolm said with a pat on his shoulder. ‘She’s the live-in housekeeper as well as my receptionist. You’ll be glad of an extra pair of hands, no doubt, with two children to manage.’ Barely pausing to draw breath, he turned to Keith, ‘Right then, let’s get that leg of yours sorted.’
It wasn’t until he and Malcolm were helping Keith hobble up the steps in front of a sprawling white building at the end of the seafront that Tom realised both he and Malcolm had been talking as if his move to Mermaids Point was a done deal.
He paused on the threshold to glance up at the pretty window boxes stuffed with sunny marigolds and trailing ivy. It was the kind of welcoming touch a woman would think of. He pictured the stone pots Anna had framed their doorstep with in London now dusty with barren soil, the seasonal door wreaths she’d made now gathering dust in the cupboard under the stairs. As he followed the men inside, he thought of Max, glowing under Nerissa’s gentle attention, and knew in his heart he wanted to see his boy smile like that every day.
8
‘Wait there,’ Nerissa called as they wove their way through the group of people who’d spilled out of the pub onto the pavement. As the children halted obediently at the kerb, she realised she didn’t even know their names. Deciding it could wait until they were safely on the beach, she checked the road both ways before smiling at the girl. ‘Sorry, I’m sure you’re both sensible enough to cross the road on your own, but indulge an old lady. It’s not a busy road, but there’s always one person who doesn’t think and drives too fast. We’re heading for those steps, just over there.’ She pointed a little to the right.
‘You’re not old!’ the girl said, winning Nerissa’s loyalty forever. ‘And don’t worry, Dad is much worse when it comes to stuff like this, so we’re used to it. I can’t believe how quiet it is here,’ the girl said as they made their way across. ‘Even in the evenings, there’s always loads of traffic on our street.’
‘It’ll be bumper-to-bumper at the weekend,’ Nerissa replied. ‘We get a lot of day trippers as well as people who choose to stay.’ She made sure to hold onto Toby’s lead as they negotiated the steps. He wasn’t a badly behaved dog, but he knew the steps meant the beach and the beach meant he could run, and he was already quivering with anticipation. The last thing she needed was him bumping into one of the children and potentially knocking them down the steps.
The moment her foot touched the pebbles at the base she bent to unclip the lead and Toby barrelled away, tail flying madly. With a whoop, the boy set off in pursuit, leaving Nerissa and his older sister alone.
‘I’m so sorry, we didn’t get introduced earlier,’ Nerissa offered her hand. ‘I’m Nerissa.’
