“Yes.” He shook his head. “No. Ellie freaked out about you not being here, then I stupidly mentioned that Ferne is in hospital. She’s really upset. I don’t know what to do.”
Beth sighed gently. “I should have woken her up before I left. Just let me speak to her. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
He held the phone out to Ellie, who took it from him and scooted back along the bed.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Beth said soothingly. “I had to go to work when you were still asleep. But Trystan’s going to look after you today. That’s nice, isn’t it?”
Ellie glanced up at Trystan, apparently unconvinced. “Ferne’s in the hospital,” she said, sniffing loudly.
“She’s fine though. The doctors made her all better. We can visit her tomorrow and you’ll see she’s okay. Just a bumped head.”
“When are you coming home?” Ellie asked.
“Today. It might be after dinner time. I can call you again later if you want. But you’ll probably be having too much fun with Trystan, won’t you?”
She shrugged and eyed him warily.
“Give the phone back to Trystan,” Beth prompted. “I have to go to work, but I promise you’ll be fine and I’ll be back later. Trystan will look after you.” She looked at him apologetically when he took the phone back. “I’m sorry, I have to go. I think she’ll be fine though. I’ll call again when I get a minute.”
“Thanks,” he said, slipping the phone into his pocket when she disappeared from the screen. He took a step into Ellie’s room and smiled at her. “Are you okay?”
Her chest hitched as she started to cry again. “Who’s going to make my breakfast?”
“I will,” he said, crouching by the bed. “Toast with loads of jam, right?”
She nodded solemnly and wiped tears from her eyes.
“Can you help me find the bread and the plates?”
She nodded again. “You’ll need a knife and the butter too.”
“Shall we go down and make it now?”
“Okay,” she whispered, sliding off the bed and giving him another uncertain look before leading the way downstairs.
It took the entire morning and another phone call from Beth for Ellie to warm up to Trystan again. In the afternoon she was back to her usual self and bossing him around the place, insisting on one game after another. Since the weather was so nice, they ended up in the garden, playing a game of chase before Trystan insisted he needed a rest and flopped into one of the patio chairs.
“What are we going to eat for dinner?” he asked when Ellie climbed onto his lap. He’d made sandwiches for lunch but noticed the fridge was pretty bare.
“I don’t know,” Ellie said.
He checked his watch. “We could go out to eat …”
She nodded. “I like chicken nuggets at McDonalds.”
“Let’s see how far it is.” He checked on his phone. “It’s too far to walk and I don’t think I can take you in my car without a child seat.”
“You can’t,” she agreed while he continued searching the nearby area on his phone.
“There’s an Italian place not far away. How does pizza and pasta sound?”
“Good. But can I ride on your shoulders so I don’t have to walk?”
“Go on then.” He shuffled her off his knee and picked up the spare key before they set off out the door.
The food in the restaurant was decidedly average but the staff were friendly and Ellie enjoyed her spaghetti bolognese and ate a slice of Trystan’s pizza too.
Her stream of chatter, which had been constant that afternoon, began to fade, which he took as a sign that she was getting tired. While Trystan paid the bill, she wriggled down from her chair and leaned her head on his arm.