Page 11 of Mending Hearts at the Cornish Country Hospital (The Cornish Country Hospital #6)
‘Why are you so annoying?’ The flush on Eden’s cheeks would have given her away, even if she’d tried to deny it.
So she may as well be honest with herself as well as with her brother.
There’d been a flash of attraction towards Drew, but she pushed it out of her head as soon as the idea had occurred to her.
She didn’t want to meet up with Drew because she had any interest in forming a romantic relationship, no matter how attracted to him she was.
She was interested in Drew because he seemed to understand Teddie on a deeper level than most people.
The last thing she wanted in her life were any more complications and she needed to remind Felix of exactly why that would be such a bad idea.
‘I don’t want to get involved with anyone else, especially not anyone else who needs “fixing”.
I’ve been there, done that, and got the scars to prove it. ’
‘What makes you think Drew needs fixing?’ Felix widened his eyes. ‘Please don’t tell me Mum’s brainwashing is getting to you, and you are starting to buy into the idea that ASD needs fixing?’
‘No, of course not.’ Eden’s flush deepened, despite her words, because her brother had got it spot on again and she was mortified that he was right.
She was guilty of making the assumption that because Drew had autism that it somehow meant he’d have problems that would become her responsibility to fix, if they were to get into some kind of relationship.
She hated herself for thinking that way, and for the arrogance of believing that a successful man in his thirties might somehow need her, a woman whose life was far from figured out.
Never mind the fact that a relationship was the furthest thing from her mind, or the wild assumption that he’d have any interest in her even if she did want that.
She was getting way too far ahead of herself and overthinking everything, just like she always did.
It was yet another legacy of her life with Jesse and her inability to just trust her own instincts, because he’d done his best time and time again to convince her that they were wrong.
Eden sighed. ‘I want to meet him for Teddie’s sake; I’m not trying to find myself a boyfriend. That’s all I meant.’
‘I think the lady doth protest too much.’ Felix grinned as she stuck out her tongue. ‘Okay, so you don’t want another relationship. Fair enough. But there’s no harm in making a new friend is there? Especially one who understands ASD so well.’
‘No, there’s definitely no harm in that.’ Eden knew her brother was right, but it didn’t explain why she was suddenly far more aware of her heart beating in her chest, as if she’d had far too much caffeine.
‘Well if that’s the case, then arrange to meet him.
It might just be coffee, but it could become a great friendship, or maybe something even more amazing.
But you’ll never know unless you reach out to Drew.
Don’t let Jesse take your present or your future from you, he’s already taken far too much of your past.’ Felix fixed her with a serious look for a moment, and she eventually nodded.
‘Okay, I’ll set it up.’ Slipping the card back into her purse, she told herself she would keep the promise. But there was no rush, and for now Eden’s biggest concern was how over the top their mother’s reaction was going to be to the news that Felix was home. Possibly for good.
* * *
Their father’s mouth literally fell open at the sight of his son walking into the house, carrying Teddie in his arms. With Eden just behind.
‘Oh my God, Felix, what the bloody hell…’ Dave Grainger clamped a hand over his mouth, and look towards his daughter. ‘Sorry love, I know you don’t want Teddie’s first word to be a sweary one, but this is a bit of a shock.’
Eden didn’t want to tell her father that she no longer cared if Teddie’s first word was bloody, or even something worse, she just wanted him to speak.
Six months ago, when she’d moved in with her parents, and Teddie was five months away from his fourth birthday, she’d still hoped his first word might come before that milestone.
All new mothers ached to hear the word Mama, but that ache had intensified over the last four years to the extent that it was almost a physical pain.
She wanted to hear him say it so badly, but she wanted to hear him say something – anything at all – even more.
It could be the key that unlocked a path of communication between them.
Eden would do whatever it took to be her son’s voice, but she still wanted him to have his own and to know that the things she was fighting for on his behalf were the things he really needed.
‘I hope it’s the good kind of shock, Dad?’ Felix embraced their father with Teddie wedged between them, the little boy not seeming to mind.
‘Of course it is, but why on earth didn’t you let us know you were coming?
’ Their father stepped back as Felix released him, rubbing his eyes, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.
‘We could have rolled out the welcome mat, your mum would have cooked your favourite dinner and I could have made some cake pops and turned it into a proper celebration.’
Eden couldn’t look in her brother’s direction, otherwise she’d have laughed.
Their father had ‘perfected’ his recipe for cake pops in time for Felix’s tenth birthday, and he’d proudly unveiled them on the day, to the bemusement of his son and all of the other ten-year-old boys.
Felix had wanted a laser tag party, but their mother had forgotten to book it and she’d gone on a bender when the oversight was discovered, ranting about how she was useless and everyone hated her, and attempting to numb the pain with red wine and vodka.
Instead, Felix’s party had taken place at home, a damp squib of an affair, where rain had even stopped play in the garden.
It wouldn’t have been hard for the cake pops to be a highlight of the event, but Eden wasn’t sure she could find the words to do justice to just how dry they’d tasted.
Unfortunately, their father hadn’t seemed to realise and it had become his way of marking every special occasion since then.
Neither Felix nor Eden had ever been able to swallow one of their father’s cake pops without the aid of water. Lots of it.
‘I didn’t want you go to a load of trouble, that’s why I’ve rented an Airbnb for while I’m here.
I didn’t want Mum trying to rearrange the rooms or make up a bed for me downstairs.
Where is Mum, by the way?’ Felix craned his neck to look towards the back room.
Teddie had slid out of his grasp and was dropping a ball into an empty box over and over again, clearly enjoying the sound it made as it bounced around inside each time.
‘She’s at her book club. She should be home any minute.
’ Eden’s father glanced at his watch, at the precise moment she heard the sound of her mother’s keys in the lock.
Karen had managed to find a tee-total book group, because watching the other group members sharing opinions about the latest Richard Osman novel over a glass of merlot, could so easily have been the path to ruin for her.
‘Here she is, she’s going to be thrilled to see you, son.
’ Dave clapped a hand on Felix’s shoulder, and Eden finally exchanged a glance with her brother.
Just like her, he was probably wondering whether their mother would react the way her husband expected her to, or whether she might be upset, at least at first, that Felix had kept it quiet.
‘Felix!’ Karen shrieked his name as she spotted her son, hugging him tightly and launching a flurry of the same questions his father had already asked him.
By the time he’d answered them all, she’d pulled away and her mouth was slightly downturned at the corners.
‘I can’t believe you’re staying in a holiday rental.
Haven’t you seen any of that stuff online about what goes on in those places? ’
‘Should I even ask?’ Felix widened his eyes, but there was probably nothing their mother could come out with that would shock either of them all that much.
‘You’ve got no idea when you book these places who they belong to and what they get up to.
Some of them have been used as brothels and I’ve even read about ones that have satanic artefacts lying around that could cause you long-term problems. Aren’t you worried about what might have been going on there? ’
‘Funnily enough, no.’ Felix rolled his eyes, and Eden had to dig her fingers into the palm of her hands to stop herself from telling their mother she was being ridiculous.
Karen had an addictive personality, so it had been almost inevitable that when she finally managed to stop drinking, something else would take its place.
She’d started quite a few different hobbies and she went all in on every single one of them, but there was one obsession that overrode everything else.
Karen spent hours on internet forums and conspiracies sites, getting sucked down a rabbit hole of outlandish ideas and opinions, which Eden’s mother mistook for fact.
After all, they had to be real if someone had written them down and published them on the internet.
‘You can try to make light of it, but don’t tell me you’ve never stepped inside a building that has a bad atmosphere, and heard your inner voice telling you to get the hell out of there. What if this place is like that?’
‘Oh yeah, I know the feeling.’ Felix looked as if he might be experiencing it right now. ‘But none of the five-star reviews for the apartment I’m renting mentioned anything about satanic pentangles being scrawled on the wall. It’ll be fine, Mum, I promise.’
His voice softened towards the end and he put an arm around her shoulders.
‘We’ll have the best of both worlds this way.
I’ll get to see lots of you while I’m here, but you won’t have to rearrange the whole house to try and make room for me.
I can even have all of you over to dinner at mine too.
That’s if the holiday let passes your satanic ritual inspection, of course. ’
‘You shouldn’t joke about that kind of thing, Felix.
’ Karen laughed despite her words, and Eden forced herself to smile too.
She understood why her brother hadn’t mentioned his upcoming interview to their parents, he probably didn’t want to build up their hopes, as well as hers, if it ended up coming to nothing.
But she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was hedging his bets and keeping his options open about going back to San Francisco permanently, even if he was offered the job.
He’d seemed really keen, but now she wondered if there was something he wasn’t telling her either.
Maybe it was because Jesse had spent their entire relationship saying one thing and doing another.
Although if she couldn’t trust her brother, she couldn’t trust anyone and she had to stop letting her imagination run away with her, otherwise she could end up as paranoid as their mother.