‘Certainly. Kathleen there will keep you company. She loves to chat, don’t you, Kathleen?’
As he waited for Joan to come back, he took his seat beside Kathleen, who indeed was very keen on a chat. He was very pleased with how things were turning out. It had been so easy, looking up the nursing home online. The website had lots of helpful details, including a picture of Joan Keegan, the proprietor. He noted she’d gained a few pounds and a few years since her web photo had been taken. Joan had only written her first name on the postcard, as had Niamh, Ali and Caitriona. The prescription receipts stuffed in the back of the dressing table drawer might not have meant anything to most people, but the medication was something he had given to his own mother. The more he thought about Kate and all the things they had in common, the more he realised his worries about how badly things had gone with Caroline and Amelia were ill-founded. Had it not been for them, he and Kate Pearson might never have met. Really, he couldn’t deny that everything was falling into place as part of a delightful pattern.
As he waited, Kathleen told him all about the nursing home – what time they had dinner, how to get to the gardens out back. She even introduced him to the other ladies who sat in the large hallway. They all liked sitting there because of the open fire, Kathleen told him; she herself just loved open fires. He was extremely attentive. By the time Joan Keegan wheeled Gabriel Pearson out to greet him, he knew more than enough about Sweetmount Nursing Home, and the lovely ladies in it.
The first thing he noticed about Gabriel, as her wheelchair moved closer to him, was the way her mouth hung open, her lower lip dry, incapable of joining the upper one any more. It must be disgusting to watch her eat. No doubt she would have to be aided. His mother had been like that for a while, after one of her turns, the food continually collapsing out of her mouth like a sloppy child.
‘Lovely to see you, Gabriel. You look absolutely splendid.’
‘Look, Gabriel, William is here to visit you, and he’s brought you such beautiful flowers.’
Gabriel attempted a smile at both William and Joan, taking the lilies, smelling them automatically. When she looked up at him, she kept pushing her hair behind her ear, a form of repeat comfort, thanking him over and over. The woman had good manners at least.
It must have been difficult for Kate lately, what with the boy and all, both of them being such a draw on her attention. A sickly parent with a selfish disposition could wear a person down. He understood this more than most.
Two cups of tea later, and Gabriel was very happy to allow him to take her for a visit to the back garden. He knew exactly where to go. Kathleen had been very precise: a small area around the back that gave lots of sun and was away from the noise of traffic. It was like being in a secret garden, Kathleen had told him.
He asked Joan for a blanket to keep out the October chill, insisting loudly that Gabriel must be wrapped up well before venturing out. Caitriona had been most obliging, running upstairs to fetch one. A number of the ladies gave them a wave as they departed for the garden.
‘It’s lovely out here, is it not, Gabriel?’
‘I love gardens.’
‘I know you do. Most of the flowering is gone now though. Shall we explore the secret garden at the back?’
‘Secret garden? I don’t know any secret garden.’
‘Well, it’s a secret, isn’t it?’
Attempting to turn her head backwards to look up at him, she said, ‘I don’t think I know you.’
‘I’m William, Gabriel. Forgetful are we?’
‘I don’t think I know you.’
‘You will, Gabriel, you will.’
‘I want to go back. I’m cold. Take me back,’ her voice was loud but hoarse.
‘Don’t get angry, Gabriel. It isn’t ladylike.’
‘I want to go back. Nurse, nurse.’ Her voice sounding pathetically weaker.
‘They can’t hear you, Gabriel. Look, we are here now. I’ll put the brakes on the wheelchair and sit beside you. Plenty of room on the bench now we’re alone.’
‘I want to go back, do you hear me? I want to go back. My daughter—’
‘Kate?’
‘Kate, yes Kate.’
‘Kate and I are very close, Gabriel. She’s a little busy right now.’
He looked round to check that they were indeed out of view from any of the windows. He smiled to himself. Good old Kathleen had been spot on about this place.
‘Shall I move your blanket up, Gabriel? You said you were cold.’
‘Can I go back? Please, I don’t want to be here.’
‘But you love gardens.’
‘Who are you? I don’t think I know you. My daughter will be worried. My daughter …’
‘You put a strain on her, you know. Kate finds it very tough right now.’
‘I don’t mean to be a bother.’
‘Maybe not, Gabriel, but you are.’
‘Did she say that?’
‘She didn’t have to.’
‘I just want to go back inside. Can I go back?’