Page 31 of Mending Hearts at the Cornish Country Hospital (The Cornish Country Hospital #6)
Eden cut her mother off. ‘Mum, just don’t, okay? We’re never going to agree on what I’ve learned from my training versus what someone on TikTok has told you, and whatever it is I don’t want to hear it.’
‘Sometimes it worries me how closed-minded you are.’ Karen shook her head, and Eden was tempted to tell her that it worried her constantly just how much utter nonsense her mother allowed into her mind, but she didn’t want another row.
Karen wasn’t harming anyone, and this was just part of the addictive behaviour she’d spiralled through over the years.
If she had to have an addiction to something, this was almost certainly the lesser of a wide range of potential evils.
‘But wouldn’t it be boring if we were all the same.
’ As she spoke, Eden walked over to where her mother was sitting and slid an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her tightly for a moment, just like Teddie did.
‘Even if I do think some of your ideas are – how shall I put it? – let’s just say interesting , I still really love you. ’
‘I love you too.’ Karen looked across to where Teddie was playing with a bowl of plastic food clips, opening and closing them repeatedly. ‘And I love that little boy with all my heart.’
In the first couple of years of his life, before his diagnosis, he’d been bought all kinds of toys.
Eden’s parents hadn’t got to see him as much as she knew they would have liked, partly because of the distance, but mostly because of Jesse.
He’d made such a fuss about Eden going home to visit, and she hadn’t wanted her parents to see how bad things were if they’d come to stay with her.
It had meant the gifts that Karen and Dave bought Teddie were all the more lavish, but he’d never played with any of them.
He didn’t do any kind of creative play, that involved imagination or make believe, he preferred what the paediatrician had described as exploration.
He’d take tubs of Play-Doh out of the slots in the box they came in, and spend what felt like hours putting them back in those same slots, before repeating the process.
He wasn’t interested in the Play-Doh itself.
Since Eden and Teddie had been home, Karen had launched herself into finding ideas that might engage her grandson.
It was a good use of her research skills and it almost made up for all her crackpot theories.
Teddie’s favourite way to pass the time right now was with one of Karen’s creations: a series of empty cardboard toilet rolls, taped to the end of the row of kitchen cabinets, through which he could post small objects.
It was repetitive and predictable, and it gave Teddie an undeniable sense of contentment.
‘He loves you too.’ Eden stepped back from her mother’s chair. ‘He might not be able to say it, but you know it’s true, otherwise you wouldn’t be in the very small group of people he wants to hug.’
‘And those hugs are officially the best thing in the world. I swear there’s nothing they can’t fix.’ Karen put her hand over her heart for a moment, and then looked up at Eden. ‘Where are you two off to today? Out with Drew again?’
‘Yes, we’re taking Teddie to the park before the weather finally realises it’s supposed to be autumn and then we’re going back to Drew’s place for lunch.’
‘Oooh very nice.’ There was a twinkle in Karen’s eyes, but she knew better than to ask Eden if there was any romance on the cards.
They’d never really had the kind of relationship where they discussed things like they were friends.
The years of Karen’s addiction had robbed them of the easy closeness they might have had otherwise, and she probably knew that Eden would just have dismissed the idea anyway.
She’d been telling herself ever since she left Jesse that she didn’t have time for romance, and that she didn’t want it; except, even as the thought came into her head, she realised that wasn’t true.
The kiss she’d shared with Drew by the beach, under a blanket of stars, had probably been the most romantic moment of her life.
She couldn’t let her thoughts linger on that for too long, though.
If she did, she’d undoubtedly want more from him than Drew might be willing to give.
She’d had enough disappointment in her life, and there was no way she was setting herself up for more.
‘I’m not sure how nice lunch will be. Drew knows about Teddie’s very selective palate, so no doubt we’ll have a delightful beige banquet to look forward to.
’ Eden exchanged a look with her mother and they both laughed.
The beige banquet was a term they’d come up with after Teddie’s fourth birthday, when Eden had prepared all his favourite foods and every single one of them had been beige.
Chicken nuggets, garlic bread, pizza and chips, not a single bit of greenery in sight.
‘Just enjoy yourself, darling. You deserve it and remember that not everything you do has to be about Teddie. You are allowed to have a life for yourself too.’ Karen stood up and planted a kiss on Eden’s cheek.
‘Thanks, Mum.’ She knew her mother meant well, but she couldn’t agree with what she’d just said.
In her world everything was about Teddie, and one of the best things about Drew was that he understood that.
It was also one of the reasons why it would be so easy to fall for him, but she couldn’t risk putting her heart on the line.
She’d thought about it a lot since the party, and as much as she wanted to go on another date with Drew, she didn’t think it was a good idea.
She could end up losing Drew’s friendship and getting her heart broken in the process, which was just too much of a risk.
It was far safer to make their interactions all about Teddie, and that’s what she intended to do from now on.
* * *
The trip to the park was a huge success.
Teddie had squealed with laughter when he and Eden had gone on the rope-nest swing together, and Drew had pushed them higher and higher, until Teddie had begun clinging to her like a koala, communicating in his own way that they’d now gone a little bit too high.
Afterwards they’d put a picnic blanket on the ground, and Teddie had run his hands over the grass, enjoying the sensation of pulling clumps of it up and throwing them on the ground again.
That was when Eden had found herself making another confession to Drew, as they watched a little girl riding a tiny pink bike with stabilisers.
‘I need a bike like that.’
‘I don’t think even a fully trained clown could ride a bike that small.’ Drew had furrowed his brow and she’d smiled in response.
‘A fully trained clown? That sounds like one hell of a commitment to make to the vocation.’ They’d both laughed then, and she’d thought about how nice it was just to be sitting there with him, talking nonsense and teasing each other.
But she wanted to open up to him too, and for him to know more about why she wanted Teddie’s childhood to be so different to her own.
‘The real reason I need a bike like that is because I can’t ride one, not without stabilisers. I never learnt.’
‘Why not?’ His tone had been gentle, and Eden suspected it was because he already knew the answer.
‘Because Mum and Dad were a bit too wrapped up in her problems to make time for stuff like that. My brother managed to teach himself, but it involved borrowing a friend’s bike and more cuts and bruises than we get in A her face went scarlet and I hate the thought she might have been upset.’