Everything We Keep, Di Walker [best pdf reader for ebooks txt] 📗

home, in case she called, in case she needed her. Agatha wanted to but didn’t.

She stood up from the table and headed to the back door. With the sound of their laughter in her ears and no Chief at her feet, Agatha reminded herself that she didn’t really belong here either. She silently closed the screen door, went into the kitchen and put her glass in the dishwasher before heading down the hall to the guest bedroom. Once there, she carefully closed the door, knowing her departure from the table had gone unnoticed. Invisible again, she thought.

34

Each time Katherine tapped on Agatha’s door; it was meet with silence. By lunch time she had tried four times and had received no reply.

‘This is exactly like the first week,’ she said quietly to Lawson, as they stood in the kitchen, making sandwiches for lunch.

‘Is it me?’

‘Probably.’

‘Hey?’

‘I mean it was just so unexpected. We both thought you weren’t coming for two more weeks and we’ve sort of hit a problem patch at the moment.’

Lawson retrieved three plates from the cupboard and three napkins from the holder. He realigned each one before placing the perfectly folded napkins in a neat pile beside the plates. ‘Well, we always knew this would take some adjusting, for all of us.’ He took each plate from the stack and held them, one at a time while Katherine put a sandwich on. Carrying two to the table, Lawson came back for the third and the napkins. ‘Maybe you should try again.’

Katherine nodded and went to Agatha’s door. She knocked, paused and this time entered, even though no reply had come. Agatha was sitting on her bed, her orange suitcase beside her.

‘No Agatha. Not this time. You aren’t running away this time. There’s nothing to run away from.’ Katherine’s voice was calm yet with a tone of authority. ‘Lunch is on the table.’ Katherine turned and left the room, leaving the door wide open behind her. Agatha sat for a moment. She looked down at her suitcase, already packed. She felt her stomach rumble. Taking a deep breath, she stood up, picked up the suitcase and walked to the kitchen. Lawson and Katherine were already seated, but neither had started eating.

Agatha walked to the other end of the table, placed the suitcase beside the chair and sat down. Katherine passed the sandwich, which had been placed at the chair opposite her, along the table to Agatha. She poured each of them another glass of water, this time, from a jug that had slices of lime and lemon, bobbing on the surface and ice making small clinking sounds against the side of the jug.

‘In the navy, Agatha, at mealtimes in the mess, we have a tradition of making a toast. On Sundays we say, Absent Friends.’ Lawson held up his glass and gave a slight nod.

Katherine did the same.

Agatha didn’t move.

Lawson and Katherine put down their glasses and picked up their sandwiches. ‘Oh, Lawson, change of plan. I need to be at home all day tomorrow.’

‘Really? All day?’

‘Yes. Sorry. I completely forgot about something I had already planned.’ Katherine took a bite of her sandwich.

‘Okay. Not a problem. Chief and I will go out, sail away the cobwebs. In two weeks, we’ll have all the sailing time in the world. How about you Agatha? Would like to learn how to sail?’

Agatha picked up her sandwich and took a large bite. She pointed to her overstuffed mouth with her finger and shrugged.

‘Right. I will take all non-answers as a yes,’ Lawson smiled. ‘It will be great to have another sailor in the family.’ He too took a larger than normal bite of his sandwich, making the same overstuffed face as Agatha.

‘Really, you two. Manners, please,’ Katherine chuckled.

Agatha shrugged, and Katherine knew what that one meant. She gave a slight nod to her husband.

Lawson and Katherine continued to talk about their house and boat, about the places Katherine had discovered while he had been away. Agatha remained silent throughout, watching the conversations go back and forth.

When she finished her sandwich, she swept up the crumbs that had escaped, having landed on the table, with her hand, softly tipping them onto her plate. She folded the napkin, aligning each edge, smoothing it several times and placed it on top. Finally, she sat back in her chair and folded her hands onto her lap.

‘So, tell me, Agatha,’ Lawson said, also folding his napkin, having finished his sandwich. ‘Do you always bring a suitcase with you to each meal?’ He moved his head slightly to the side and squinted his eyes. Agatha could read faces and this time she could not stop the smile that came.

‘Only for special occasions,’ she quipped.

‘Well then I am honoured to have warranted its appearance,’ Lawson replied, then seeing her smile turn into a frown said, ‘I’m pleased to see my sandwiches qualify as a special occasion. I thought they were really delicious.’

‘They were okay,’ Agatha said.

Katherine collected the plates and took them to the kitchen, flicking on the kettle after she had put them in the dishwasher. ‘Well, Agatha and I are going to do some French revision and a science assignment. Is that right?’ she asked looking at Agatha.

‘Yep.’

‘I think you mean oui,’ Lawson said in a whisper and with a slight French accent.

Agatha chuckled. ‘Do you speak French too?’

‘He tries, Agatha,’ Katherine said, standing at the counter, waiting for the kettle to boil.

‘Hablo un poco de español.’

‘That’s Spanish,’ Katherine laughed.

‘Right, I think it’s time for me to leave you two and head to the marina and check the boat, see if it needs anything, before I take it out tomorrow.’ As he walked through the kitchen, Lawson stopped and gave Katherine a kiss on her cheek. ‘I shall return,’ he said. ‘Chief?’ But there was no need to call him – Chief was already at Lawson’s feet, waiting for the next command.

For a moment Agatha could see her mother and father. She looked down at the