Page 76

Chapter 76

September 2011

There are no more phone calls.

Tess is desperate to know if the stop sign has done the trick, but has no way of finding out.

She convinces herself that she will be given her marching orders as soon as Georgia gets home, and she starts to look at the adverts in letting agents’ windows to see if there are any flats she might be able to afford.

Unfortunately, Baxter is an obstacle.

No dogs, no pets, no animals.

Another letter arrives in a grey envelope and she opens it without taking deep breaths or having butterflies in her stomach.

Dear Ms Dutton,

Our client has instructed us to inform you that no further action will be taken in respect of the goods and property damaged by yourself.

Yours sincerely.

She puts the envelope into the paper drawer in the drawing room ready for winter fire-lighting, and carries the letter upstairs where she has started a new filing system in a box under her bed.

She flips to U and files it under UNPLEASANT.

She leaves the phone in the hall plugged in, in case Georgia calls.

People still ring to sell conservatories and double glazing and there are numerous calls from men (it is always men) telling her that her computer has a virus.

She buys a new iPhone at the Apple shop in Glasgow and doesn’t care that it uses most of her savings, because she hasn’t needed to ask anyone their opinion about it.

She opts for a brand-new phone number but doesn’t give it to anyone.

Not yet.

She sets up a new email account at [email protected] and uses it to join the library.

She doesn’t download Twitter or Instagram or Facebook.

She listens to podcasts about birds and knitting, and takes photographs for her own pleasure, not for sharing with anyone else.

She looks at the weather forecast, and dances around the kitchen to the Proclaimers and Deacon Blue.

She doesn’t count her steps or feel guilty for not reaching a goal.

Instead, she browses in the local charity shops and chooses things for her room, even though she isn’t sure if Georgia will want her to stay.

She buys an old vegetarian cookery book by Rose Elliot, and a little wooden chest with twelve tiny drawers for her earrings, and a blue vintage ink bottle with the wrong kind of plain glass stopper.

And she looks at the Gumtree app and buys herself a second-hand yellow bicycle.