‘Back to the assisted living.’ Her father’s gaze was fixed firmly on Hannah. ‘How do you know so much about this?’
Phyllie’s eyes blazed. ‘How do you think? She’s done a full risk assessment of me living at home compared to going into one of these places.’
‘Have you?’ Nat gasped. She knew Hannah was obsessed with making charts and analysing outcomes, but Phyllie wouldn’t tolerate being the subject matter.
Hannah nodded. ‘I have, and if you’d like me to show it to you, you’ll see unequivocally why Phyllie needs care. Did you know that the likelihood of falling once you’re over the age of eighty-five increases by fifty percent? That’s a huge risk. And a fracture in an elderly woman increases their risk of death by twenty percent.’
Phyllie rolled her eyes. ‘This is what I have to put up with.’
Hannah shook her head. ‘I wish you’d take this seriously. Your house is too big for you to manage and the stairs pose a real danger.’
‘I want to make it very clear to all of you right now that I intend to stay in my home as long as possible. Ideally, I’d like to be carried out in a body bag upon my death, and preferably not before. You’re not to do anything behind my back, like sell my house or have me put in one of those places. Betty Mason’s children did that to her, you know. She died three weeks later of heartbreak. Missing her house and her little dog; it was a criminal thing to do and they ought to be ashamed of themselves.’
Her father glared at Hannah before turning to Phyllie. ‘Don’t worry, Mum, no one’s planning to do anything like that to you.’
‘And,’ Sue added, ‘you’d come and live with us before we ever put you in a home. Your grandchildren’ – she stared directly at Hannah – ‘would be much better off working out how they can help you stay in your home. How they can come and do your garden, clean your windows, cook your meals and take you shopping, rather than spending their time putting spreadsheets together showing you the risks of staying there.’ Sue stood. ‘Now, on a more cheerful note, I’ll go and check on dinner. It should be ready in a few minutes.’
Sue always served a favourite recipe of their mother’s at this dinner, and Nat had just put her cutlery down, savouring the last mouthful of the much-loved chicken cacciatore dish, when Amy turned to Hannah.
‘Aren’t you going to tell them your big news?’ The sarcasm inflected by Amy on the word ‘big’ confirmed to Hannah that she hadn’t been forgiven for being so short with her during the car ride.
‘She got a promotion,’ Amy continued before Hannah had a chance to speak. ‘She’s really important now.’
Hannah’s face turned a deeper shade of red. ‘Not exactly how I would have told you all, but yes, Amy’s right, I was unexpectedly promoted today.’
‘That’s wonderful!’ Their father’s eyes were bright.
‘Tell us about it,’ Sue prompted. ‘Will it be a big change for you?’
Nat noticed Hannah stealing glances at her husband as she gave them a brief overview of her new responsibilities. His smile didn’t reach his cloud-grey eyes. Something was off about Damien tonight.
Her father raised his glass to toast Hannah, glancing at Damien as he did. ‘You must be proud of your wife, Damien.’
Alarm crossed Damien’s face as he looked around to see all eyes were on him. ‘Sorry, I’m a little distracted.’ He turned to Hannah and took her hand. ‘I’m incredibly proud. You deserve everything you’ve worked for.’
Hannah’s smile was full of uncertainty as she accepted his praise. Nat’s interest was piqued. Something was going on with her perfect sister and her perfect marriage. It had always amazed Nat that a man like Damien, blessed with natural good looks, kind, intelligent and with a smile that lit up the room, had fallen for her neurotic, control-freak sister.
‘When does the new role start?’ Phyllie’s words broke into Nat’s thoughts.
‘Not until mid-September. I have eight weeks to hand over some of my existing work and be brought up to speed with the new responsibilities.’
‘Let’s raise our glasses to Hannah.’ Sue held up her champagne flute. ‘A perfect day to celebrate some good news. Your mother would be proud of you.’ She looked across to Nat. ‘She’d be incredibly proud of both of you and what you’ve achieved.’
They clinked glasses.
‘How about you, Nat?’ Sue asked. ‘Should we be toasting something that’s happening in your life? An opportunity at work, or a new man? A new interest?’
Nat choked on her champagne and shook her head. Definitely nothing to celebrate in her life right now.
‘Really?’ Hannah narrowed her eyes. ‘There must be something good happening.’
Nat stared at her sister. ‘Why?’
Hannah frowned. ‘What do you mean why?’
‘I mean why must there be something good happening?’
‘I don’t know. I guess I just hoped for your sake there was.’ She gave a little laugh. ‘Something less dramatic perhaps than you got fired or dumped or are homeless again. Pick one good thing from the last week.’
Nat continued staring at Hannah. She really was a piece of work. Just because she was constantly achieving greatness didn’t mean they all had to be. She took a large gulp of her drink before speaking. ‘Let’s just say I like to keep things dramatic. In fact, you got two out of three right for my week so far.’
Nat could have kicked herself as mouths fell open around the table. She hadn’t planned on talking about her current failures with everyone.
‘Oh Nat.’ The weary sound of disappointment in her father’s words reinforced exactly why she shouldn’t have said anything. If only the ground would swallow her up and she could avoid the humiliation to come.
Phyllie, who was on her right, immediately placed a hand over Nat’s. ‘You poor love. What can I do to help?’
Tears welled in Nat’s eyes. She shook her head. ‘Nothing. I was stupid and now I’m paying the price.’
‘Please don’t tell us you took another homeless person home?’ Hannah said. ‘We all know what the outcome of that would be.’
Nat clenched her jaw, refusing to meet her sister’s accusing gaze.
‘You know,’ Sue said, ‘your mum would be incredibly proud of you for caring so much about people. If you took someone home, then all I can say is good for you. I’m sorry if that ended your job but your selflessness is inspiring.’
Nat sighed, deciding to ignore Hannah. ‘Yes, I took a client home for the night as all the shelters and emergency accommodations were full. It’s against company policy, so I was fired this morning.’
‘When are you going to learn?’ Hannah said. ‘You were fired from St Josephine’s for doing the same thing and warned when you worked at J&J’s Support. Why would you risk it again? It’s almost guaranteed to get you fired.’
‘Because, as Sue has just pointed out,’ Phyllie said, ‘Nat puts others before herself, that’s why. Something we should all be doing.’
‘Not if it gets you fired; that’s just ridiculous,’ Hannah said. ‘You said I got two out of three right, what was the other one?’