Tom took a deep breath before stepping inside the hallway of the tiny one-bedroom flat. He could do this. He had to do this. His gran’s flat would be sold soon but first he needed to see whether there was anything of sentimental value that he wanted to take before it was cleared of everything.
He felt Eleanor come into the hall behind him and forced himself to go on into the lounge at the back of the flat. The two front rooms were the bedroom and bathroom. The tiny kitchenette was in middle and the lounge overlooked the garden.
He was grateful for Eleanor’s company, although he hadn’t felt much like chatting on the car journey into south London. But, after they had dropped Dylan off at Willow Tree Hall, she had put on the radio and let the music fill the quiet air in the car instead.
‘This is very sweet,’ said Eleanor, standing next to him and looking around the flat.
Tom smiled. ‘Nothing’s changed in here for years and years.’
It was true. The armchairs and sofa were the same. The wooden furniture was years out of date. The same plates and paintings filled the same places on the walls as they had always done. Even when he had made his fortune from singing, his gran hadn’t wanted anything new or different. So he had bought the flat for her from the landlord, ensuring that the home she had known for so many years would remain hers for the rest of her life.
‘What will you do with all of this?’ asked Eleanor, gesturing at the furniture.
‘I thought I’d get in a house-clearing company,’ said Tom.
She nodded. ‘But you’d like to take some sentimental pieces, I’m sure.’
‘Yeah. That was the idea.’ But his voice cracked under the weight of sadness as he spoke.
He felt her hand slip into his. ‘How about we take it one room at a time, okay?’
He squeezed her hand in response.
‘You don’t have to make any huge decisions now,’ she told him. ‘Just keep anything that you can’t decide about. Then, if you change your mind later on, at least you’ll have it with you.’
He nodded. ‘Okay. I can handle that.’
He found the kitchen easier to go through than he had imagined. Until he discovered his gran’s writing in a tatty notebook. Flicking through the pages, he realised that it was her recipe book. His hand faltered when he got to the page titled ‘Cherry Cake’.
He didn’t know how long he stood staring down at the book until Eleanor gently removed it from his hands and placed it carefully into a nearby box that she had brought into the kitchen to pack with anything to be kept.
There was nothing in the bedroom that he wanted to keep, apart from all the photograph albums that were stored on a bookshelf. Only the bobbly, brown winter coat hanging up on the back of the door caused him a sharp pang of grief. He reached out to stroke the arm before managing to hold himself together enough to head into the lounge.
He had already decided to take the record player and albums with him. But in addition, there were a couple of paintings that he couldn’t decide on, and a precious framed photograph of them both, taken when he was a boy.
‘What about the ornaments?’ asked Eleanor.
But Tom shook his head. ‘I don’t think so.’
He watched as Eleanor checked one last cupboard, bringing out his gran’s sewing box. She opened the lid and ran her hand across the many spools of ribbon and thread.
‘She loved to sew and make things before the arthritis affected her fingers,’ said Tom, thinking back.
Eleanor smiled down at the box. ‘Such pretty colours.’
‘You’re welcome to take it, if you’d like,’ he found himself saying.
She looked pleased. ‘Really? I’m sure I can find a use for some of this. And Mum certainly would.’
Tom nodded. ‘I think Gran would like it to be used.’
So they packed up the sewing box as well.
Once everything was loaded into the boot of the car, Eleanor left Tom alone so that he could take one last walk around the flat. It was so quiet, that was the strangest part. He realised it was the music and laughter that was missing. But he could take that with him wherever he went in life.
‘Thanks, Gran,’ he whispered into the still air. ‘For everything.’
And then he turned to close the front door behind him.
He was grateful once more for Eleanor’s company on the way back to Cranley. He chatted a little about his gran but mostly he was feeling wiped out from the emotion of the day.
‘Dylan will be glad to see you,’ she said, when they were on the outskirts of the village at last.
He smiled. ‘There’s nothing friendlier than a welcome from a dog.’
He and Dylan were so alike. Two mongrels who hadn’t been shown much love in the past but were getting used to being part of a warm, loving family now.
It was a massive step for him to adopt a dog. He had been mulling over the idea for a while when he voiced his innermost thoughts to Eleanor. The trouble was, all of the queries that she had raised were true. What would happen to Dylan when he was away on tour? The best thing would be to have a dog sitter, but Dylan was pretty untrusting of most people – apart from Eleanor and the Harris family. And no, his new flat didn’t have a garden or anything like the grounds of Willow Tree Hall. If he even went for a walk in one of the many London parks, no doubt he would get his photo taken or hassled on a daily basis. He didn’t miss the city at all, he had found. The lack of smog and noise meant that he felt calmer in the countryside.
He glanced over at Eleanor as she looked out of the window. He couldn’t have faced his gran’s flat on his own that day. And Eleanor was one more thing that would be missing when he went back to London. She didn’t appear to have any plans for heading back any time soon.
He had a sudden image of having dinner with her in some country cottage, Dylan snoring nearby. The two of them laughing and sharing a bottle of wine.
These were not his normal thoughts, he knew. He was independent. He didn’t rely on anyone else. He didn’t need anyone else in his life.
But whichever way he looked at it, staying in Cranley with Eleanor and the Harris family appeared to be the best thing for both him and Dylan.
A few months ago, he knew that thought would have scared him. But now the future felt warm and bright. Especially if that future occurred with Eleanor alongside him.