‘Better bring your wellies, Mimi.’
‘I’ve got them.’ She slid over into the passenger seat and felt in the footwell for them, pulling them on over her socks. Mimi hadn’t been about to lay herself open for a repetition of the carrying incident.
Rafe was already jogging towards the front door. Matthew led them through to the kitchen, where Janet was drying cups and plates and stacking them in a high cupboard.
It was evident that they hadn’t got here too soon. Water was leaking in under the back door, sloshing around on the kitchen floor. Janet was shaking.
‘Mimi, thank you so much for coming.’ Janet put the tea cloth down and turned to Rafe. ‘And...?’
‘Rafe. It’s a pleasure.’
‘Thanks, both of you.’ Matthew held out his hand and Rafe shook it. ‘We’ve loaded our car up, but anything else you can bring along would be much appreciated.’
Rafe smiled—the smile he kept for emergencies, which showed both his readiness to take on any challenge and his utter certainty that things were going to work out fine in the end. ‘I’ll help you carry your things out to the cars.’
Janet seemed to be sizing Rafe up. ‘Matthew...the cabinet...’
‘It’s too heavy, Jan; we tried it already...’
‘But...’ Janet lapsed into silence, picking the tea cloth up and folding it carefully. She was in shock, resorting to small tasks that were not going to make any difference so she didn’t have to face the one big task ahead of her.
Mimi nudged Rafe. ‘They’ve got a really nice china cabinet in the sitting room. Maybe you and Matthew could manage to get it upstairs?’
‘Good idea.’ Rafe strode out into the hallway, and Matthew followed.
‘We really appreciate your help, Mimi.’ Janet was looking around the kitchen abstractedly, as if to make sure that it was tidy before she received visitors.
‘It’s a pleasure.’ Mimi took Janet’s arm. ‘Are these boxes to go?’ She pointed to the cardboard boxes on the kitchen table.
‘Yes. Our tea service. It was a wedding present.’ Janet’s eyes filled with tears.
‘Right then. We’ll stow that carefully, in the front seat of my car.’
‘Yes.’ Janet didn’t move. ‘Thanks.’
She seemed to be paralysed, dreading what was coming next. Mimi picked up a waterproof jacket that was lying on the table next to
Janet’s handbag. ‘This yours?’
‘Yes. I got it in the sale.’
‘Yeah? It’s a lovely colour. Where did you get it?’ Mimi gave Janet the jacket and she automatically put it on.
‘The place down by the cinema in town. The one that does camping gear...’
‘I’ll have to pop in and see if they have anything that suits me. Yours is really nice.’ Mimi picked up a box and put it in Janet’s arms. ‘Let’s get started.’
Once Janet had something to do, she worked with a will. The necessities had already been packed into Matthew and Janet’s car, and now some of their most precious items could be brought along too, instead of leaving them upstairs and hoping for the best. After a bit of bumping and banging about on the stairs, Matthew and Rafe got the cabinet from the sitting room safely out of the water’s reach and Matthew appeared with a pretty wooden box in his arms.
Janet beamed with joy. ‘My sewing box! Is there room for it?’
‘Of course. We’ve still got my car to load up.’ Rafe strode down the path after Matthew to open the passenger door of the SUV so that the precious box could be placed carefully on the front seat.
Then it was time to leave. Janet picked up her handbag from the kitchen, took one last look around and then they walked outside into the pouring rain. Matthew locked the front door, as if in some way that would keep the water out.
Matthew put his arm around his wife’s shoulders. ‘We’ll be back before long, you’ll see.’
‘Yeah.’ Janet smiled up at her husband.