Birds Of A Feather Episode 24
Paloma stood apart from the young mums as she waited for Will’s six-year-old son to come out of school.
Along with renting the flat, she had taken on the job of helping out where Finn was concerned, and doing light housekeeping duties in the old farmhouse.
The children came out in excited little gaggles, the boys pushing and jostling each other and the girls squealing and giggling.
Only Finn came out on his own. He stood at his teacher’s side, waiting.
“It’s Miss Brookes, isn’t it?” the teacher asked. “Mr Gregory explained you’d be collecting Finn today.”
“And most days,” Paloma told her. “Ready, Finn?”
She reached out her hand, but he shrank from it and walked silently by her side.
“Did you have a good day?”
A shrug.
“How was lunch?”
“Yuck.”
She gave up until she reached the car. Will had given her his booster seat, which she’d put in the back of the car.
“Do you need help with your seat belt?”
He shook his head.
“I can manage.”
They drove in silence for a bit.
“I’ve got to stop at the farm shop on the way home to milk the goats,” she told him. “I thought perhaps you’d like to help me.”
Finn pulled a face.
“Goats smell.”
“In that case, you can wait in the tea room for me. I won’t be long. There are cakes if you’re hungry.”
“I’m not hungry,” he said sullenly and Paloma gave up.
When she reached the tea room she settled him at one of the tables where, once again, he declined the offer of cake and fished a book out of his school bag.
Paloma left him with Lisa and went off to the barn to milk the goats.
At least they were pleased to see her, she thought sadly.
When she returned, Finn was in the same place she’d left him, reading the same book, although she noticed he didn’t seem to have made much progress.
Jess had gone home and Tom and Maggie’s mother, Vanessa, were sharing a pot of tea.
“How’s Maggie?” she asked Tom.
“She’s sleeping,” he replied. “This bug’s really hit her hard. I’ll give it twenty-four hours and if she’s no better I’ll insist she sees a doctor.”
“Wise,” Paloma agreed, then turned to Lisa. “Thanks for finishing up in here, Lisa. I’ve got to dash off, this young man needs his tea.
“Tom, I don’t know how I’d have managed without Lisa these last few days. She’s been wonderful.
“So tell Maggie to take all the time she needs and not to worry. We’re managing fine.
“Come on, then, Finn, let’s go home.”
He followed her across to her car and didn’t speak again until they got back to Moor View Farm.
She’d collected a pizza from the farm shop for him and he ate it with relish.
“Can I leave the table?” he asked.
“Of course. Do you want some help with your reading practice?”
He shook his head.
Then he looked along the dresser shelves that she’d tidied the day before and reached for a handmade earthenware pot.
“Grandma has one of these,” he said. “She said my mummy made it. It looks just the same as this one.”
Paloma was pleased. It was the most he’d ever spoken to her.
“Then I expect Mummy made two of them, don’t you think? One for Daddy and one for Grandma.”
“Can I hold it?” he asked, as he stretched his hand towards it.
The shelf was slightly out of his reach, but before she could tell him to be careful, he’d reached for the cup, fumbled with it and it had fallen to the tiled floor.
They both looked at the shattered pieces in horror.
The next moment, Finn’s look of horror turned to fear as the kitchen door opened and Will came in.
“I managed to get away earlier –” he began, then stopped as he saw the broken pottery.
“What happened?” he growled, his face rigid with suppressed anger.
Paloma spoke before Finn could answer.
“It was me. I was replacing a cup on the top shelf when it slipped and knocked the pot over at the same time. I’m so sorry.”
He didn’t answer. The silence in the kitchen was broken only by the ticking of the old clock on the wall.
“I’ll clear up the tea things,” Paloma began, but he shook his head.
“Don’t,” he said crisply as she started to pick up the broken pottery. “You can leave that, too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
At least she still had a job to go to tomorrow, she thought as she walked across the yard to her new flat.
It wasn’t the best of starts in the job and she was glad she’d picked up the pile of shirts she’d found in the utility room earlier.
Maybe if she ironed them and sewed on any missing buttons it would go some way to making up for what he thought she’d done.
It had been worth it, though, to see the flash of gratitude in Finn’s eyes, and his answering smile when she said goodnight.
It was the first time she’d seen him smile.
The evening passed quickly. She loved the new flat and loved the space.
As for the ironing, she was one of those rare people who enjoyed it and she looked with satisfaction at the neat pile of shirts, each one with its full complement of buttons.
It had been one of the best evenings she’d had in a long time.