Page 56 of The Perfect Gift

29

The weather on Monday morning was absolutely filthy. Sunday’s grey drizzle had developed into a full-blown storm that showed no signs of shifting any time soon. Ed’s mood matched the weather thanks to a rubbish night’s sleep. It shouldn’t be possible this quickly, but he’d missed being in bed with Frankie. He’d wondered about going over the previous evening, but when Kat had returned after spending the afternoon with her she’d said Frankie was still nose-deep in her script, so he’d decided to leave her to it. They’d exchanged texts before bed and Ed had promised to go over later today once he and Matt had been to see Mrs Jenkins and worked out what was going on.

Matt parked his van in one of the handful of visitor spaces at Blue Horizons then he and Ed made a dash for the shelter of the entrance porch. Ed shook the rain off his jacket while Matt punched the number of Mrs Jenkins’ flat into the call panel. She answered it quite quickly. ‘Hello?’

‘Mrs J, it’s Matt and Ed Penrose. We’re sorry to disturb you but we just wanted to pop in and wish you a Merry Christmas if that’s okay?’

‘Matthew! What a lovely surprise. Come up, come up, you know where I am.’ There was a loud buzz and a clunk and the automatic door swung slowly open.

‘She sounds in good spirits,’ Ed observed as they stepped around and through the opening door.

‘Fingers crossed whatever was ailing her is in the past,’ Matt replied as he pressed the button to open the inner door. They walked through the lounge where a few residents were having a coffee and headed straight up the stairs to the second floor. They stepped out into the corridor to find Mrs Jenkins waiting for them outside the door to her apartment.

‘Hello, Mrs J, you’re looking well,’ Ed told her as he leaned down to press a kiss to her offered cheek. She did look good, her silvery hair freshly styled and her blue-grey eyes bright and attentive. She was perhaps a little thinner than the last time he’d seen her but that had been over a year ago and it wasn’t so significant to cause concern.

She placed her hands on his arms and squeezed them by way of a hug. ‘Edward, how lovely of you to visit. I can’t wait to hear all about your adventures.’ Her delicate scent of talc and old roses reminded him of Ma and it made Ed smile as he stepped back to let Matt greet her.

‘It’s good to see you, Mrs J,’ Matt said, his big body all but engulfing the tiny woman.

Mrs Jenkins leaned back, her eyes full of concern as she looked up at Matt. ‘I can’t tell you how worried I’ve been since you moved out. Come on in and I’ll put the kettle on.’

Ed and Matt waited for Mrs Jenkins to turn her back before they exchanged a meaningful look. Worried about Matt? What the hell was going on?

They scrubbed their wet shoes on the mat and tugged off their coats. ‘Where shall we put our jackets?’ Matt called out. ‘We don’t want to drip all over your carpet.’

Mrs Jenkins reappeared in the hall and shook her head with a smile. ‘Just pop them on the hooks.’ She gestured towards the wall. ‘And don’t worry about taking off your shoes, just come on in.’

They gave their feet another scrub on the mat for good measure then followed her into the main room. It was an airy, open-plan space with a kitchen area in one corner with a small dining table and two chairs tucked against the wall nearby. A miniature Christmas tree in a pot sat in the middle of the table on a white crocheted mat. A three-seat brown cord sofa dominated the centre of the room with a pair of matching armchairs all clustered around a large coffee table and facing towards a flatscreen TV on an ugly-looking black stand. At the far end of the room, a double set of doors led out onto a balcony with a view of the sea in the distance. Christmas cards covered every available surface. ‘Sit down, boys,’ Mrs Jenkins instructed. ‘I’ll bring your tea over in a minute.’

Ed wouldn’t be the son his parents had raised if he lounged about and let her wait on them so he followed her into the kitchen area, the wrapped box of chocolates he and Matt had bought at the fayre and a card in his hands. ‘Here’s a little bit of something from us,’ he said, setting them down on the nearest counter.

Mrs Jenkins turned to face him, a ceramic storage jar in her hand. Her face lit up when she saw the gift. ‘Oh, you shouldn’t have.’

‘Of course we should. Now then, what needs doing?’

A few minutes later, he was carrying a tray with mugs and a plate of biscuits over to the coffee table. Matt, who’d taken a seat on the sofa, pushed aside a stack of papers to make room for the tray.

‘Here, let me move those blasted things out of the way.’ Mrs Jenkins grabbed up the paperwork and thrust it on the shelf under the coffee table.

‘Problem?’ Matt asked in an ultra-casual tone as Ed settled beside him with Mrs Jenkins on an armchair set at a right angle to them.

‘Charlie’s been on at me about sorting out my power of attorney. He printed all the documents off and said it’s all very straightforward but there’s so much highfalutin language in them it’s hard to make heads or tails of what I’m supposed to be signing.’ She sighed and leaned over to pat Matt’s knee. ‘Don’t get old, dear, that’s my advice.’

Matt flicked a quick glance in Ed’s direction and he nodded back at him to keep the conversation going. Matt turned back to Mrs Jenkins. ‘I thought he’d already taken over looking after everything for you.’

Mrs Jenkins shook her head. ‘No, dear, not at all. I hadn’t even thought about it until he suggested it.’

‘Oh, I must’ve got the wrong end of the stick,’ Matt said, flashing another quick look at Ed.

‘I’m sure one of the solicitors at Taylors would be happy to go over it all with you,’ Ed suggested, stepping in before an awkward silence could develop. ‘I bet Chloe knows all about this kind of stuff.’ He addressed the second part back to Matt.

His cousin nodded and grasped the line Ed had tossed him. ‘She definitely does. Remember she helped Ma and Pa and Uncle Davy organise theirs last year after Uncle Davy had that health scare?’ Chloe was an administrator at the local solicitor’s office and although things were starting to pick up with her and Anya’s design company, his sister still worked there four days a week.

‘That’s right, she did.’ He smiled at Mrs Jenkins. ‘It got everyone talking and I know Mum and Dad intend to get Liam and Rick to do it for them when the time comes.’

Mrs Jenkins frowned. ‘And your grandparents and Davy went through Taylors to organise it? Charlie said it would be a waste of money paying someone to do it because the forms they use are exactly the same as the ones he’s downloaded.’

Ed was starting to wonder what else Charlie had had to say for himself. ‘If it would give you peace of mind about exactly what you are signing, then I don’t see that as being a waste of money. Why don’t you let Matt check with Chloe how much it would be and then you can decide?’