Tread Softly (32 page)

‘Where is it?' Selfishly, she hoped Kathy wouldn't move too far away.

‘Weybridge. They badly need somewhere in that area. Hayes Court is due to close this year and Belmont's closed already. Homes for the elderly are disappearing at a rate of knots, you know. Mostly because they can't meet the new government regulations. I wouldn't be surprised if Oakfield goes under too.'

‘But what will happen to the residents?' Lorna had a vision of poor Frances turfed out into the street, Dorothy Two fulminating about such iniquitous treatment.

‘Well, I suppose we could take one or two at The Cedars – those who can afford it, and are relatively fit. It's not a nursing-home, you see, only residential. Chris was clear about that at the outset. It means you don't need so many specialist staff. And she's aiming at the private market, to avoid hassle with local authorities. Chris is in it for the money – she doesn't pretend otherwise. And her brother even more so. He's something big in the City. He made his first million before he was twenty-five, and God knows what he's worth now.'

‘It doesn't sound like
you
, though, Kathy, all this talk of profit.'

‘No, but the great thing is they're giving me a free hand to run it the way I want. Which means the highest possible standards of care. And that isn't incompatible with profit. If you offer the best, you'll get customers. It's a growth industry, after all. We're all living much longer these days. There are nine million people in Britain now who are over sixty-five, but by 2030 there'll be fifteen million. And three million of those will be over eighty-five, compared to only nine hundred thousand at the moment. So if you take –' The front-door bell interrupted her. ‘Are you expecting anybody?'

‘It's probably the toner for the fax machine.' Lorna went to the door, to find not the expected courier but a gaggle of people on the step – six in all (or seven counting the massive black Alsatian, growling in a threatening manner).

One of their number stepped forward – the only man, as far as she could see. He wore a royal-blue blazer, a yellow-spotted cravat and several chunky rings. ‘Hello, love. We saw the For Sale board and wondered if we could look round.'

Lorna quickly summoned Ms Unflappable, who spoke in calm but resolute tones. ‘I'm afraid it's appointments only. If you phone the estate agents I'm sure they'll –'

‘No can do, darlin'. It's now or never.'

‘I'm sorry but it's not convenient.'

‘Oh, come on, just a dekko. You'll hardly know we're here.'

Doubtful, thought Ms U, eyeing the dog's raised hackles, the squalling babe-in-arms and the truculent-looking toddler. ‘I'm sorry,' she repeated. ‘I have someone with me at present.'

‘Not much point advertisin' if you don't want buyers.' The thin-faced woman curled her lip. ‘Let's not waste our time, Ed. It looks a dump, anyway.'

‘Phew,' said Lorna, returning to Kathy. ‘We nearly had company for lunch! And, talking of lunch, you must be starving. I just need to check if a fax has arrived and then we can eat. Come into the office. I won't be a sec.'

‘So this is where you work. Goodness,
two
computers! I'd never cope. Put me in front of a VDU and I turn into a gibbering wreck. Mind you, I've got to do some training – Chris insists. Perhaps you could give me lessons!'

Lorna wasn't really listening. She was annoyed that the promised fax hadn't come. Why were clients so unreliable?

‘Are these all the jobs you've done?' Kathy was studying a large framed map hanging on the wall, stuck with a scattering of different-coloured pins. ‘I never realized the business was so big.'

‘It isn't really. Only the green-headed pins are completed jobs. Red means jobs in hand, and pink we've quoted for but haven't had the go-ahead.'

‘You
are
efficient.'

Lorna laughed. ‘Hardly. It just helps me keep track of things.'

‘Oh, and this must be your publicity stuff.' Kathy picked up a brochure from the desk. ‘It's quite a work of art, Lorna.'

‘I'm glad you think so. I designed it myself. It's not bad, I suppose, although Ralph and I look horribly smug. We decided to put our picture on, to make it more personal.'

Kathy scrutinized the photo. ‘Ralph's so much younger here.'

‘Actually it was taken not that long ago. The business has worn him down, poor soul – especially the past two years. It isn't easy being self-employed.'

‘Nothing to it,' Ms Unflappable put in. ‘I could run a business in my sleep.'

‘You're not exactly short of phones,' Kathy remarked, continuing her tour. ‘No wonder you're so busy.'

‘Luckily they're quiet at the moment. I daren't turn on the answering-machine in case a prospective buyer rings. Let's just hope we can get through lunch without too many interruptions. By the way, do you mind eating in the kitchen? The dining-room's a bit like a morgue.'

‘It's a treat to be invited to lunch at all. I've been up to my eyes this month, what with Oakfield House and making plans for The Cedars.'

‘Won't you miss Oakfield in some ways?'

‘I'll miss the residents, but nothing else, I assure you. That home's so badly run it makes my blood boil! I couldn't say anything when you were there, Lorna, but the amount of abuse that goes on is scandalous. They don't pay the staff enough, so of course they get the dregs.'

‘
You're
hardly the dregs,' Lorna observed. And nor was Oshoba. He was continually on her mind – the kick of desire countered by the brake of guilt. That was one thing she couldn't tell Kathy, dared not even tell Clare. He had phoned again last week and begged to …

‘Well, some of us do try. But the general apathy is terribly frustrating. I've hated it for the last eighteen months, so when Chris offered me the job I was over the moon!'

Lorna dragged her thoughts from grey blankets, black fingers on white breasts. ‘You must feel rather daunted, though. It sounds a pretty big undertaking.'

‘Yes, but Chris has done the donkey-work. She started ages ago, as soon as probate was cleared. All the building work's completed. We've got thirty en-suite rooms in the main house and ten assisted-living apartments in a new block in the grounds. And the health spa's finished. And they've converted the old stables and the coach-house to make staff living-quarters.'

‘Oh, the staff will live in?'

‘Some of us.
I
'll be in the coach-house. I fell in love with it at first sight. It's got such character. And you know how boringly fifties my flat is.'

‘When are you moving?'

‘Four weeks from today.'

‘So soon?'

‘Yes, I'll be free of Oakfield by then. The Cedars isn't opening until June, but Chris wants me on hand to help interview staff and do various bits and bobs. She's planning a swanky launch party to publicize the place – inviting local dignitaries and GPs and what have you. It'll be a kind of open day, with food and wine and tours of the house. Anyway, enough of me and my news! Let me show you the bumf for Agnes.'

‘We'll look at it over lunch, shall we? I've made some carrot-and-orange soup. And beef Wellington to follow.' Yes, Ms Unflappable had pulled out all the stops – quite a contrast with her own efforts in the past, when part of her job had been to entertain business clients. (Was the menu right? Suppose the cream sauce curdled? Would Mr A and wife get on with Mr B and mistress?) It was easy for her to blame their current peculiar eating habits on Ralph's anti-social temperament, but in fact his suggestion that she stop cooking hadn't been entirely selfish. True he hated long, elaborate meals, but he also wanted to reduce the stress on her.

‘You shouldn't have gone to so much trouble,' Kathy said, as Lorna led the way into the kitchen. ‘Just a sandwich would've done.'

‘No, I wanted to make something special,' Ms U responded airily. ‘I don't often get the chance to cook.' Well, that was true at least. In the last few weeks Ralph seemed to be surviving on whisky and tobacco, while she grabbed an apple or a hunk of cheese when time allowed. It certainly made a change to sit down to a proper meal.

‘The table looks pretty.' Kathy unfolded her gingham napkin. ‘Those tulips are gorgeous.'

‘It's another house-selling ploy – flowers everywhere, to create a good impression. But these I bought for us.'

Kathy took a spoonful of soup. ‘Mm, delicious. Bit different from the Oakfield variety!'

‘Yes, I remember the lumps!'

‘You must have found Oakfield awfully noisy compared to this place. I can't hear a sound. Don't you get lonely, though, stuck here on your own?'

‘Not now, with all the comings and goings. But I used to, yes. When Ralph was away, sometimes I didn't speak to a soul for days.'

‘Well, you'll soon be able to change all that. Have you thought about what sort of job you want?'

‘Not really.' She'd hardly had time to job-hunt and anyway would need to enlist the help of Ms Unflappable to combat the apprehension she felt about working for an unknown boss and possibly having to deal with office bitchiness. To say nothing of having to travel on public transport. There'd be more choice of jobs in London, but that would mean being wedged chin to chest in claustrophobic trains and, worse, descending to the dreaded tube, fearing she might never reemerge. ‘Let me have a look through this stuff,' she said, purposely changing the subject. ‘What I'd like to arrange for Agnes is – Damn! There's the doorbell again. It must be the toner this time. Excuse me a second.'

‘We've
made
an appointment – eight o'clock tonight. But Kylie here's busting for a pee. Can she use your toilet?'

‘Well, I …' Ms Unflappable had chosen just this moment to disappear.

‘Please. It's urgent. She's only three and she can't hold on.'

The child pushed past her father into the hall, a hand clamped over her crotch.

‘It's through here,' Lorna said, judging it safer to agree than risk a puddle on the carpet. She opened the cloakroom door for the child, whereupon the rest of the party, including the muddy-pawed Alsatian, trooped into the hall.

Lorna seethed inwardly. It was clearly a ploy to gain entry. Indeed the man was already peering into the sitting-room, while his wife inspected the stair-carpet and the two other women (sisters? friends?) fingered the ornaments on the table. Seeing this invasion of her home by strangers gave her a dismal foretaste of the future: being uprooted, losing all her possessions, having to start again from scratch in some alien little flat. Yes, Ms Unflappable had deserted her completely.

‘If you're quite finished,' she snapped, as the man sauntered down the hall, ‘I'll see you this evening.'

Back in the kitchen with Kathy, she exploded. ‘Honestly! That wretched dog's tramped mud all over the carpet.'

‘You shouldn't have let them in. You're too soft – it's time you stood up for yourself. Take Ralph. It's obvious to me he's losing it, yet you still let him make all the important decisions. What about
you
, for heaven's sake? I mean, this new job and everything – you don't seem to have even considered what you actually want to do.'

‘Well, yes, I … have. As I said, I don't like being so isolated, so I'd change that if I could. To tell the truth, I rather envy
you
, working in a community.'

Kathy stared at her for a minute, then clutched her arm in excitement. ‘That's
it
, Lorna – of course! You must come and work with us. As it happens, Chris is looking for an administrator. The one she had lined up got pregnant and cried off. You'd be perfect for the job.'

‘Oh, I don't know … I've never done anything remotely like that.'

‘You run your business, don't you? Do the accounts and bookkeeping?'

‘Yes, but –'

‘Well, that's what Chris wants – someone to deal with the residents' fees and staff salaries. And chase debts. And judging by the office here you're a model of efficiency. You can even design brochures, which would be jolly useful in the future, should Chris need help with marketing.'

‘But ours is the only one I've ever done.'

‘Doesn't matter. It has the professional touch. Also you're tremendously good with people – I noticed that at Oakfield. You got on well with everyone. A lot of them still miss you. Sharon and Frances, and Val especially. She says whenever you helped with darts or painting you'd get the others interested and bring them out of themselves. That's a rare talent, Lorna. We want all our staff, even on the admin side, to relate well to the residents. And by the way, I heard about that time you gave Speranza what for.'

‘Gave
who
what for?'

‘The Kenyan nurse you found carrying on with Sunil in the lounge.'

‘God, I'd forgotten about that. I made an utter fool of myself.'

‘Not at all. It showed you had ideals. And courage. Those are exactly the qualities we need.'

‘But how on earth did you hear about it? It was the middle of the night – you must have left hours before.'

‘Oh, these things get around. And walls have ears, you know. Anyway, I was impressed.'

Was Kathy just being kind? No, she
did
have courage – she had stood up to Mr Hughes and lived to tell the tale.

Kathy seemed to have forgotten lunch, and Agnes. Her soup sat untouched as she continued eagerly, ‘You'd be working with me, as manager, and because we're friends already things would be so much easier. OK, the pay isn't marvellous, but at least you'd be getting a regular salary without the worry of keeping a business afloat. Besides, staff get lots of perks, and it's a beautiful place to work. Honestly, Lorna, it's time you made a new start – like
I
‘m doing. We're both coming up to forty, you know. We need to take stock. I've been battling on at Oakfield when I knew deep down it wasn't right for me. Then one day I decided that I must do something about it and that if I didn't make a move this year I never would.'