Bad at Love

Two

The university email still sits unread on my phone, but I choose to ignore it.  Instead I've managed three episodes of some reality show on Netflix and demolished a bag of salted popcorn.  I haven't even ventured upstairs yet.  The thought of my childhood bedroom becoming my actual bedroom again keeps causing my stomach to knot so I've only left the sofa in the snug to get snacks and use the downstairs loo.

Presley had abandoned me only twenty minutes after he'd dumped me here, so I've been sulking alone ever since.  I assume Dad is at work, having briefly checked the wendy house turned dark room at the bottom of the garden before I'd slobbed on the sofa.

The only one around to keep me company is Norm, the goofy lab that Mum rescued a couple of years before I escaped this village.

Whitehaven had looked exactly the same as I remember when Presley had driven us through the tiny high street, still boasting the same café and corner shop, crumbling doctors surgery and red bricked pub.  The only new thing I noticed was the sign stating Whitehaven's intent to enter Britain in bloom.  That's about as exciting as it gets around here.

It's gone six in the evening when I hear the front door open and Norm gets up from his place by my feet to bolt out of the room.  I get up to follow him with much less enthusiasm, finding Dad in the hallway, hanging up his coat.  His eyes go wide when he sees me.

"Hi Dad."

"Memphis?"

I step into his warm hug, my nose twitching at the smell of farm clinging to his wool jumper.

"I thought Presley was rambling on about you visiting this morning but guessed I was hearing things.  Why would city girl Memphis be visiting outside of a family celebration?"

I roll my eyes at his teasing smile as he breaks our hug to look me up and down.  His expression catches on my face and he frowns.

"I'm fine, Dad.  Sorry it's such short notice but I've actually decided to spend the summer here."

I follow Dad into the kitchen, not surprised when he turns around to laugh at me, a singular booming sound.

"I think I need to get my ears checked."

"Ha-ha."

He flicks the kettle on and without thinking much of it I pass him two mugs from the draining board before searching in the cupboards for the small yellow box I left here at Easter.

I source it just as he says, "Your funky tea is on the top shelf."

"Thanks, Dad.  You sure I can't tempt you?"

"Tastes like grass."

It's my turn to laugh at him.  "It's green tea.  It's good for you."

"I'll stick to Tetley thank you."

I watch as he drops two scoops of sugar into his mug, before bending down to scratch Norm's ears.  Satisfied, Norm clip clops along the kitchen floor to his bed in the corner of the room.

"So the whole summer, huh?"

I nod, leaning back against the worktop.  Dad hands me my mug when it's full and I breathe in the familiar scent.  When my mind averts to mornings in bed with Jeremiah, I set the mug down without taking a sip.

"Yeah, if that's ok?"

"Why wouldn't it be?  This is your home, too.  Besides, it'll be nice to have the company while your mum's away."

Guilt seeps into me at the thought of not being here to wave Mum off, knowing I wouldn't see her for at least a couple of months.

"How is Gammy?"

Dad pulls a face but quickly tries to hide it by taking a sip of his tea.  "I think she's doing better."

I leave it at that, knowing my mum's mum, Gammy, is a bit of a prickly subject in this house. After all, what kind of mum disowns their child right up to the point of being on death's door?  I know Mum says it's because she moved to England without Gammy's approval, but you'd have thought having two grandkids would change her mind.  Apparently not.

Dad coughs, as if to clear the subject from both of our brains.  He sets his mug down and moves to the fridge, peering inside.

"What do you fancy for tea?"

"Oh don't tell me you cook now?"

Dad laughs again and I realise how much I've missed hearing it.  "Don't be silly." He shuts the fridge door and points to the two takeout menus stuck under magnets I'd bought back from school trips: a penguin from the zoo and turtle from the aquarium.  "Fish and chips or pizza."

"Fish and chips," I reply.

I've gone off pizza for a while.