The Broken Man Part 25

'Maureen will probably bring a selection of puzzles and such. So the three of you should have a good time. I'll have Harriet already fed and changed. She'll be that sleepy, I'm certain she'll be no trouble.'

Alice smiled sweetly. 'If she cries I'll rock her pram and she'll go back to sleep. I've done it before.'

'I'm sure you won't need to do that,' Liz said. 'Maureen is well versed in what to do. Harriet's been crawling all over the place today, so she'll probably sleep well. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she started taking her first steps very soon.'

Jim winked at Alice, admiring the pink ribbon in her hair. 'You look very pretty, Alice.'

'Thank you, Daddy.'

'Would you rather we didn't go out tonight?' She seemed unsually quiet, he thought.

'No! You and Mummy go and enjoy yourselves. Me and Maureen will be fine.'

'And Adam ... don't forget him.'

'I won't.' She gave a slight nod of the head.

'You know we'll only be gone for a couple of hours, don't you?'

'Yes, and it's all right, Daddy,' Alice a.s.sured him brightly. 'You and Mummy don't have to worry about us. Maureen always takes care of us very well.'

'Thank you, sweetheart.' Thinking how Alice was sometimes like a little woman in her manner, Liz returned to the kitchen to collect the condiments. Alice had made her smile. Talk about an old head on young shoulders.

On returning to the table, Liz sat herself down. 'Come on, Alice. Tuck in.' Apart from Adam's meal, which was warming in the oven, everything was served.

Alice's meal was already set before her: boiled baby carrots, b.u.t.tered mashed potatoes, and a slice of pink, juicy fish, gently cooked in milk, the way Alice liked it.

'We've got Adam and Phil to thank for this lovely fish meal.'

Liz made the casual remark as Adam arrived to seat himself next to Jim. It wasn't long before he was ravenously tucking in.

'Woah! Slow down, son.' Jim was surprised.

'Sorry,' Adam apologised, 'but I'm really hungry.'

'I expect that's all the fresh air,' Liz suggested. 'Still, you don't want to give yourself indigestion, do you?'

Realising he'd been wolfing his food, Adam slowed down. 'Sorry.'

Jim playfully ruffled his hair. 'Aw, that's all right, Adam. I was the same when I was your age. I remember after we'd been out playing footie, me and my brother would run home, cram our food down, and be off out again, before anyone else had finished.'

The meal continued in a civilised if lively manner. There was much laughter at Jim's descriptions of his boyhood pranks, particularly the one about the time when he'd gone home with the bottom of his pants worn clean through, where he and his mates had spent the morning racing each other down the slide.

When the meal was over, Liz noticed that Alice had eaten everything except the fish, which was pushed to the side of her plate.

'What's wrong, sweetheart? You've always liked fish.'

'Well, I don't any more.'

'Really?' Liz glanced at Jim, 'And why's that then?'

Alice shrugged. 'I just don't, that's all.'

Jim sensed an underlying atmosphere. 'That's OK, Alice.' He smiled. 'You're allowed to change your mind.' Though, like Liz, he thought Alice was being unusually picky, for some reason.

By the time Maureen arrived, Jim and Liz were all dressed up and raring to meet up with their friends at the local pub, which was just a ten-minute walk from the house.

Liz wore her new red dress, while Jim looked every inch the sportsman in his dark trousers and black blazer with the darts club badge on the pocket.

'You're dressed a bit severe for a pint and a game of darts, aren't you?' Liz joked.

'No, I am not! I intend for our team to win,' he declared, 'so I thought I'd put on the gear.'

He did a twirl on the spot and was dead pleased when Adam told him proudly, 'You look really good.'

'Thank you, Adam. So, what do you think, Alice? Do you agree with Mummy, or do you agree with Adam?'

'I agree with Mummy.' There was no way she was about to agree with Adam.

'Well, I'm afraid you women are wrong.' Jim placed a kiss on the top of her head. 'To be a winner, you have to look the part, and I think I do. So this time, the men have it!'

After going through the usual check list with Maureen, Jim and Liz started off up the street, with Alice waving them off at the door.

'Have a good time,' she called.

'We will!' Liz called back.

'And don't be late, will you?' Alice reminded them.

'We won't.' Jim replied, and he had an instruction of his own: 'Alice! Go back inside and lock the door.' He waited for Alice to do as she was bid.

He thought it amusing how Alice had seen them off, so concerned and caring. 'When did it swing the other way?' he asked Liz.

'What d'you mean?'

Jim gave a whimsical little smile. 'Alice, just now. She's nine years old, and there she was, standing at the door, telling us to have a good time and not to be late home.'

Liz agreed. 'You're right. It's like we're the kids and Alice is the concerned parent.'

'She's always been like a little woman, though,' Jim said. 'Always so fussy and protective of her family.'

Liz laughed out loud. 'She's always been a little bossy boots!'

'Well, there you are. Now then, will you please stop creating things to worry about. We have a wonderful baby, a bossy young daughter, with an old head on her shoulders, a fine son, who fits into our family like a hand in a glove, and a dog called Buster, who rules the roost.'

Greatly rea.s.sured by his wise words, Liz gave him a quick kiss on the mouth. From now on, instead of looking for things to be anxious about, she would remind herself of how fortunate they were.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

FOR THE BEST part of an hour, Maureen and the children played on the mat with big coloured b.a.l.l.s. It was really a game for baby Harriet, who, with screeches of laughter, rolled the b.a.l.l.s haphazardly back and forth to the others, while Buster the dog looked on, too lazy to get up and play along.

'Where's Adam?' Maureen asked. 'I haven't seen him since your parents went out.'

Alice simply shrugged her shoulders, as she often did to avoid answering a particular question.

Maureen was concerned. 'Alice, can you keep an eye on Harriet for just a minute,' she asked, 'while I go and see if he's upstairs?'

Scrambling to her feet, she collected Harriet and placed her in the baby pen, but as she went to leave the room Alice called out, 'He's not upstairs.'

'So, where is he then?'

'He's in the shed. He asked Daddy if he could paint the little cart, and Daddy said yes.' A deep frown betrayed her disapproval.

A few minutes later, Maureen found Adam busy in the garden shed. 'Hi, Adam. I thought I'd come and see if you were OK.'

'Hi, Maureen. Look, what do you think?' He proudly pointed to the cart, all wet and s.h.i.+ny in its brand-new coat of dark stain.

'Great! Looks like you're doing a good job.'

'Did you want me for anything special?' Adam asked.

'No. I just wondered where you were, that's all.'

'Oh, I'm sorry. I should have told you, but I just wanted to come straight in here and get on with it. I'd like to fnish it before they come back. I'm hoping it'll be a nice surprise.'

'I'm sure it will.' Maureen excused herself. 'Now I know you're all right, I'd best go and sort the girls out.'

'Call if you need me for anything.'

'Thanks.' Maureen did not intend taking him up on his offer of help. She had always seen herself as more than capable.

An hour later, with Harriet still happily playing in her pen, Alice was in the kitchen looking out the window at Adam, who she could see through the open shed door was putting the last few strokes to the little cart.

When he stood back to check that he had covered it thoroughly, Alice dodged back, not wanting to be seen.

Suddenly Maureen called out, startling her, 'Alice, are you in the kitchen?'

'Yes.'

'You're not touching the kettle or anything, are you?'

'No!'

'So, what are you doing?'

'Just having a drink of lemonade.'

'Oh, you wouldn't fetch me one, would you, please?'

'OK.'.

Carrying the gla.s.s of lemonade, Alice found Maureen stretched out on the sofa, her head buried in Adam's Beano comic.

Maureen sat up to take the gla.s.s of lemonade. 'Thanks, you're a darling.'

Throwing the Beano aside, she asked Alice, 'Do you want to play that new Donkey card game?'

'No, it's boring. Mum says I need to tidy my toy box, so I'm going upstairs now.'

'All right then. See you in a while.'

She watched Alice leave. 'Don't go lifting anything heavy,' Maureen advised her. 'If you need any help, just shout down.'

Five minutes after Alice had gone upstairs, Maureen heard the back door open and shut. 'Is that you, Adam?'

'Yeah. I've finished painting the cart. I'm just about to wash my hands.'

'Make sure you don't tread any paint into the house, or I'll get the blame!'

Taking her advice, Adam retraced his steps to the back door on tiptoe and slipped his shoes off on the mat; Maureen was none the wiser.

She did, however, pop into the kitchen to return her empty gla.s.s. 'Alice is cleaning out her toy box,' she informed Adam. 'Apparently her mum's told her it was well overdue, so you'd best do what I'm doing, and leave her to it.'

Adam gave a wry little smile. 'I'm sure she wouldn't thank me if I interfered anyway.'

From upstairs, Alice heard the two of them talking together, and it wasn't long after that when she heard Adam coming up the stairs.

Quickly, she ran to softly close her bedroom door, while not actually clicking the lock.

Adam called out as he walked past her bedroom, 'Hi, Alice.'

'Hi.'

Going softly to peer through the c.h.i.n.k in the door, she watched him go into his room, which was directly opposite.

She watched as he went to the wardrobe and chose a pair of clean trousers and a jumper.

When he turned round and seemed to look straight at her, she ran quickly to the back of her room, where she sat on the toy box, wondering if he'd seen her peeking.

She bided her time, and when she again heard Adam clattering about in his room, she edged towards the door. Stooping down to peer through the narrow c.h.i.n.k, she followed Adam's every move. She saw him tidy up the clothes he'd taken off, then he was behind the wardrobe door, hauling up his trousers, and now he was slipping on a clean s.h.i.+rt and rolling up the sleeves.