‘I’ve spent weeks trying to track you down,’ Harvey adds. ‘The newsagent had taken your card off the noticeboard and didn’t have your contact details. Then a friend of my flatmate’s mentioned that her daughter’s started coming to you – Chloe Watson?’
‘Yes, she’s had a couple of lessons …’ In Freddie’s room now, with Buddy sniffing about at her side, she surveys the explosion of books and toys on the floor.
‘When she said it was a Kerry, I knew it must be you. I hope that doesn’t sound too bizarre,’ Harvey adds with a self-conscious laugh. ‘It’s just, I’d had a really shitty day doing, er, some work things. I was sitting in my car, having a moment to myself, when this tiny piece of paper – like a bit of napkin or something – blew onto my windscreen with your
name on it.’
‘That
is
weird.’ Kerry motions for Freddie not to wear his wellies tonight, but they’re already being pulled on amidst sniggers as he tumbles into bed. ‘So it was sort of like a sign?’ she adds with a weary smile.
‘I don’t know. Yes, maybe it was.’
Wandering through to Mia’s room now, Kerry takes the brush from her dressing table and works through her daughter’s wavy caramel hair in sweeping strokes. ‘Well,’ she says, ‘maybe I could fit you in on Saturdays, if that’s good for you.’
‘Er, that’s my busiest day unfortunately.’
‘What’s your job, Harvey?’
‘I, er … sort of organise events. Parties, conferences – that kind of thing.’
Nice, friendly voice, she decides. There’s a trace of a northern accent, although not one she can entirely place. ‘Right. Well, I’m sorry but that’s the best I can do. I’m pretty full up during the week.’
‘Okay,’ he says firmly. ‘Saturdays would be good – I’m sure I can sort something out.’
‘Would you want lessons at your house or could you come here?’
‘Oh, my flat’s not suitable,’ he says quickly. ‘I’ll come to you, if that’s okay.’
‘Of course it is. Most pupils do. D’you live in Shorling?’
‘Yes, up by the golf course.’ Kerry puts down the brush and motions for her daughter to choose a story book. Mia chooses to tip out her vast collection of Sylvanian Families animals out of their battered shoebox instead.
‘So, what I’d normally do,’ Kerry continues, still clutching her phone as she helps her to line up the badgers and bears, ‘is suggest that you come round for a chat before we arrange your first lesson. I don’t charge for that, obviously. It’s just so we can talk about the kinds of music you like, and whether you’d prefer to follow a structured course, and work towards exams, or have a more relaxed, free-form approach. It’s also,’ she adds, absent-mindedly tickling Buddy’s ears as he nuzzles against her, ‘so you can be certain that I’m the right teacher for you.’
‘Oh, I’m sure you will be.’
Kerry can’t help smiling at his childlike eagerness. ‘Well, we’ll see.’
‘So when could I do that?’ Harvey asks.
‘Um …’ She frowns. ‘I’m teaching all day tomorrow, then on Thursday I have a meeting for a show I work for. Friday’s a bit hectic so maybe next weekend, if that suits you?’
‘Oh.’ His disappointment is palpable. ‘I don’t suppose tonight would be okay?’
Kerry pauses, carefully placing Mia’s favourite rabbit at the helm of the large toy narrowboat which she’s extracted from under her bed. God, he’s keen – perhaps
too
keen. What kind of person spends weeks trying to track down a name from a soggy piece of paper when Shorling is awash with music tutors? If you wanted your child to learn the marimba, there’d be someone local to teach them. Kerry fears that, since the split with Rob, and her mainly fruitless attempts to befriend Emily, Lara and the rest of the school-gate clique, she’s lost her ability to suss out whether someone is a decent person or not. Yet she’s also …
intrigued
.
‘Mummy!’ Freddie yells from his room. ‘Hurry up and do my story. I’ve been waiting
hours
.’
‘In a minute, hon,’ she calls back. ‘Er, okay,’ she tells Harvey. ‘It’s 82 Ocean Drive, the white house at the end. The one with the scruffy front garden that’s probably going to wreck Shorling’s chance of winning Britain’s Prettiest Seaside Town this year. You’ll easily spot it.’
‘Right,’ he chuckles. ‘See you in half an hour then?’
‘Could you make it an hour? I’m just about to launch into the bedtime story routine.’
‘Oh. Um, yeah. Okay.’ He sounds rather perturbed as Freddie bursts into song in the background. It’s more of a taunt, actually, bellowed out to the tune of
Stop the bus, I need a wee-wee
, but with substitute lyrics:
Daaaa-ddy’s baby is a bo-ooy …
‘See you at half-eight,’ she says quickly before ending the call.
Such musical talent at five years old, Kerry reflects, snatching a random picture book from the buckling shelf in Mia’s room. She could be one of those mothers who’s forever boasting about her gifted children – if it didn’t make her want to squash a pillow over her head and cry.
Buddy
’s urgent barking announces Harvey’s arrival. While Kerry is slightly regretting arranging to see him tonight, at least someone is keen to spend time with her around here. It’s come to something when, apart from being ridiculously grateful for seeing Brigid once or twice a week, Kerry has become reliant on pupils for adult company. She has even found herself looking forward to Jasmine arriving in a cloud of expensive perfume on Thursday afternoons, despite the fact that piano lessons are merely filling a gap until yoga starts up again.
‘Hi.’ Harvey’s face breaks into a grin as Kerry welcomes him in. ‘Thanks for making time to see me.’
‘That’s okay,’ she says, taken aback by the fact that his phone voice and appearance don’t entirely match. She’d figured mid-twenties tops, gangly and puppy-like, but the man who stands before her in her cluttered kitchen is towering above her, a proper strong-looking man with dark, almost black wavy hair, playful deep blue eyes and a hint of stubble. Buddy is now sitting obediently on his cushion in the corner of the kitchen, as if in readiness for being judged.
‘Nice dog,’ Harvey offers. ‘Loves people, obviously.’
‘We’ve only had him a few weeks,’ Kerry explains. ‘We’re still new to the whole dog business.’
He smiles, casting Buddy a fond glance. ‘Nothing to it, not once you tune into what they’re all about.’
‘You’re a dog person then?’
Harvey nods. ‘Always had them, until about a year ago when my flatmate moved in. He’s allergic, unfortunately.’
‘That’s a pity.’
‘So how’s he settled with you?’
Kerry pauses, tempted to gloss over Buddy’s quirks, but decides there’s something about Harvey that compels her to be honest. ‘He’s brilliant with us, loves being off the lead and charging about on the beach. But he barks like crazy at other dogs and hates being left alone in the house. He has a bunch of neuroses.’ She shrugs. ‘I guess he’s just a little needy.’
Harvey nods. ‘Separation anxiety’s pretty common. Maybe he’s had some sort of trauma or loss.’
‘Er, yes, his previous owner mentioned something like that …’
‘But dogs are like humans,’ he adds. ‘Pretty resilient. It just takes time.’
For a moment, Kerry is stuck for words, as if it’s not Buddy he’s talking about, but her.
It just takes time.
How long, exactly? She hates it, the way she can be fine one moment and utterly grief-stricken the next. A hazy picture, of a smudge of baby in a womb, floats into her consciousness.
‘I’m sure you’re right,’ she says quickly. ‘Anyway, let’s go through to the music room and we can talk about what you’d like to do.’
As he follows her out of the kitchen, Kerry silently curses the Impregnator for turning her into the kind of woman who could, literally, blub at anything.
‘So have you played much before?’ she asks, clearing her throat as they sit side by side at the piano.
‘Er, only an old Casio keyboard I have at home. I know middle C and the C major chord but beyond that I’m pretty lost.’
She glances at him, deciding she likes this smiley, amiable man; his eagerness is refreshing, especially after the gloomy twelve-year-old boy she taught this afternoon.
‘So what kind of music d’you want to play, Harvey?’
He shrugs. ‘Oh, anything really.’
‘Really? You don’t have a preference?’
‘Well, maybe not death metal.’ He grins.
‘How about I play something now, and you improvise here’ – she indicates the upper reaches of the keyboard – ‘just to get a feel for it?’
‘Um … okay.’ She starts to play, and after a few moments’ hesitation Harvey starts to pick out notes, tentatively at first, then relaxing a little.
‘Mummy?’ comes the small voice from the doorway.
Kerry turns to see Mia, pink-faced and sleepy with pillow-mussed hair. ‘Sweetheart, what are you doing out of bed? It’s gone nine, you’ve got school tomorrow …’
‘Got a tummy ache.’
‘Oh, have you? Come here, darling.’ Mia’s gaze remains fixed upon Harvey as she strides over and hops up onto her mother’s knee. ‘This is Mia,’ Kerry adds.
‘Hi, Mia, nice to meet you.’ He smiles and raises a hand in greeting.
‘I know
you,’ she announces with a sly grin.
‘I don’t think you do, Mia,’ Kerry says. ‘He’s just come to talk about piano lessons.’
‘I
do
, Mummy.’ She turns to him. ‘You’re Harvey Chuckles and you came to my school.’
‘Harvey Chuckles?’ Kerry repeats.
‘Er … it’s sort of my professional name,’ he says quickly. ‘They booked me last minute at school when the other entertainer couldn’t make it …’
‘But I thought you said you organised conferences?’
‘Well, er …’
‘These conferences are for under-eights,’ she says with a smirk.
‘Er … I suppose so, yes.’
‘You had a yellow wig on,’ Mia continues, clearly in her stride now, ‘but we saw you take it off,
and
your face-paint, and make yourself back into an ordinary man.’
Harvey is laughing now, and blushing; the effect is curiously endearing, Kerry decides.
‘You weren’t supposed to see that part,’ he tells Mia. ‘Anyway, do you play the piano? I expect you do …’
‘Yeah, Mummy teaches me.’
‘We’re sort of doing it casually,’ Kerry explains.
Mia grins at him, swinging her legs from Kerry’s lap, stomach ache evidently forgotten.
‘We play together,’ she says proudly, ‘and it’s not boring learning like at school. Every time I get better ’cause that’s what Mummy does. She makes it fun.’
‘Well, that sounds great,’ Harvey says. ‘That’s exactly what I’d like to do too.’
‘D’you like being a clown?’ Mia asks him.
‘Um … I do,’ he replies, clearly fibbing, ‘although I wouldn’t say it’s what I’d like to do for the rest of my life.’
‘Yeah.’ She nods thoughtfully. ‘You don’t get old man clowns.’
‘Mia,’ Kerry cuts in, ‘you really must go to bed now. Come on, sweetheart.’ She lifts her daughter from her lap, carefully stepping over Buddy who’s been gnawing his rubbery hamburger toy at her feet. ‘Sorry about that,’ she tells Harvey as Mia reluctantly makes to leave the room, yet still lurks, clearly intrigued, in the doorway.
‘That’s okay. Maybe I’d better leave you in peace, though. I’ve taken up enough of your evening already.’ He smiles and, once again, Kerry finds herself warming to this affable man who seems to have attached some curious significance to a scrap of paper stuck to his wet windscreen.
‘See you next Saturday then,’ she says. ‘Is two thirty good for you?’
‘Yes, looking forward to it.’
‘If any conferences come up,’ she adds, ‘we can always rearrange.’
At least he’s able to laugh at himself, she notes as she sees him out, with Buddy barking in protest, seemingly grief-stricken at his departure. Still, that’s probably an essential quality for a clown.
‘I felt sorry for Harvey Chuckles,’ Mia murmurs as she and Kerry head upstairs. ‘Audrey-Jane was mean to him and I don’t want to be her friend.’
‘Oh, honey.’ Tucking her in and perching on the edge of her bed, Kerry gently brushes a crinkle of her daughter’s hair from her face. ‘I thought you liked Audrey-Jane. Didn’t you say she was being much friendlier at school?’
‘Yeah, sometimes. Dunno.’
‘Well, maybe we could ask her around for a playdate soon, or anyone else you’d like to play with – you don’t have to be friendly to someone who’s not very nice to you …’
Mia scowls, her bottom lip wobbling. ‘She doesn’t like me. Nobody does.’
‘Darling, they do,’ Kerry murmurs, aware of Mia’s beating heart as she holds her close. ‘You’re a lovely girl and you’ve got to know lots of people already …’
‘I don’t have a
best
friend.’ She sniffs loudly.
‘I know, but these things happen naturally when you get to know people properly. We’ll start planning your birthday party soon, okay? And you can invite as many people as you like.’
Kerry kisses her cheek, then clicks off the bedside light, aware of Mia’s large, dark eyes fixed intently upon her. ‘No one’ll come,’ she announces.
‘Of course they will. Why wouldn’t they? We’ll make it really fun and I’ll do you a really special cake …’
‘Will Daddy come?’
‘Er …’ Kerry clamps her back teeth together. ‘I’m sure he will.’
‘Can Harvey Chuckles come too?’
‘Oh, darling, we hardly know him and it probably costs an awful lot to hire a clown …’
As Mia falls silent, Kerry gently strokes her hair, wishing she had the power to make everything all right.
‘Tabitha threw a sweet,’ she murmurs sleepily, ‘and it hit him on the head.’
‘Poor Harvey. That wasn’t very kind, was it? Come on now, love. I’ve got a song to finish tonight.’
Mia nods, but before Kerry has even reached her bedroom door, she calls out, ‘Mummy?’
‘
Yes
, Mia?’
‘Can I have my birthday cake from a shop please?’
‘Oh.’ Kerry frowns. Following the Egyptian theme which has gripped Mia’s imagination, she has started making tentative plans for a sarcophagus cake covered in gold paste icing and studded with jewels. ‘Why d’you want a shop cake, sweetheart?’