Isaac chose not to pick up on her slightly barbed comment about Hayley, understanding that his mum must be fed up with the way things were going in her life. Fifteen years ago, before Ray had become ill, they’d had good jobs and a roomy farmhouse to live in. They’d both worked on the farm, Ray working tirelessly in the fields and Stef providing meals for the farm workers and looking after the chickens and their few cows. Now Stef and Ray lived in a small house on an estate on the edge of a city. There was never enough money. No nice things. Stef, though she tried valiantly to hide it from Ray, chafed. She didn’t mean to take it out on everyone around her but picking fault was free entertainment.
‘Sorry, Mum,’ he said, meaning it. ‘I’ll do my best but there has to be a licensee near enough to call on. It’s the law.’
Before Stef could reply, Lily turned to their table. ‘Are we ready to order?’
‘Burger, chips and a b’nana,’ Jasmine requested promptly.
Lily grinned as she wrote it down. ‘Shall we save the banana for your dessert? Just have burger and chips for now?’
Jasmine beamed and nodded and Lily noted everybody else’s wants briskly. Her hair today was plaited down the back of her head and looped in a shiny band. ‘I’ll bring your drinks right over.’ And she whisked away, disappearing through the counter flap in the direction of the kitchen.
‘Nice girl,’ observed Ray. Isaac was glad to hear him volunteering even such a short comment. He spent so much time inside himself, zapped by chronic fatigue. Generally, he reserved what energy he had for fighting his latest health crap.
Isaac turned back to Stef. ‘This may be my last Christmas in the licensed trade. I’m looking for a more fun career.’ And he told them all about the courses he’d booked to open the door to jobs in the fresh air.
Stef listened with visible interest. ‘Will it mean you being home next Christmas?’
Isaac laughed. ‘I will if I can.’
The drinks arrived, Lily wielding her tray as if it were a part of her. Jasmine and Jeremy dropped the crayons they’d been beginning to bicker over and fell on their Fruit Shoots with cries of, ‘Yeah!’ and ‘Yummmmmmm!’
After a couple of appreciative sips of white wine, Stef turned back to Isaac. ‘So all we need is you to settle down and give us more grandkids.’
Isaac refused to be ruffled. He gave Jasmine and Jeremy a pointed look. ‘You have the best grandkids in the world already.’
Stef regarded them fondly, gently easing the Fruit Shoot bottle from Jasmine’s hand. ‘Don’t drink it all at once, lovie, or you won’t have room for a lovely burger.’ She turned back to Isaac. ‘But we need some more to carry on the name. Jeremy and Jasmine’s surname is Scrivens, like their dad.’
‘But there must be plenty of O’Briens in the world,’ Isaac objected. As he was neither on duty nor driving tonight he’d ordered a pint of Amstel and he took a long draught of it.
‘But not our family,’ Stef pointed out. If she’d stopped there then Isaac would happily have let the conversation drift onto other topics and felt that things were going OK. However, Stef obviously couldn’t resist harking back to exactly what had caused discord between them for the past several years. ‘Trouble was,’ she said, ‘you spent all that time with Hayley and kids weren’t on the cards, with her being a decade older than you.’
Lily had returned to the next table to serve drinks, chatting as she did so.
Perhaps out of embarrassment that she’d probably overheard, Isaac found himself saying tartly, ‘It was nine years and, next time, I promise to find a brood mare.’ Then he felt bad for letting his annoyance show and laughed, slinging his arm around his mum to give her a hug. ‘Hayley could have been younger than me and we might still not have had kids. People do make that choice. Anyway, as we’ve split up, it’s a good job we didn’t have any.’
Then he saw Flora’s startled and hurt expression and cursed himself for being a thoughtless prat. He definitely needed to put a brake on his mouth. ‘I’m just going to check on something.’ He sought sanctuary by going behind the bar and out into the back. He was checking his phone for messages when Lily bustled in behind him carrying a pile of dirty crockery.
‘Hello,’ she said, sounding surprised to encounter him there. ‘Something wrong?’
He looked up from his inbox. ‘Me. I’m finding nothing to do for a couple of minutes while I work out how to apologise to my sister for being negative about single parenthood when she’s a single mum and I love her kids to bits.’
She took a step towards the kitchen. ‘They’re lovely children.’
He agreed. ‘And Flora’s coped brilliantly since she discovered her ex-husband was using scuzzy dating sites while still married to her.’ He stopped, wondering what made him tell Lily things.
‘That’s awful,’ Lily exclaimed. Then added, ‘Dating sites aren’t all scuzzy though.’
He cringed. ‘Crap. Have I just insulted you too? If you use dating sites then I’m sorry—’
‘Not me,’ she reassured him with a grin, moving off towards the clatter of the kitchen. ‘But look at Carola and Owen all loved up. They met on a dating site and Carola’s one of the least scuzzy people I know.’
He slid his phone back into his pocket, saying drily, ‘I’m sure their site was respectable and allowed a lot of people to find love. But the one Billy used wasn’t respectable and it allowed him to find extra-marital sex.’
She wrinkled her nose and resumed her course for the kitchen while Isaac, having given himself a timeout and a talking-to, made his way back into the bar. Unfortunately, the first thing his gaze lit on was Andy leaning on the bar and chatting. Beside him Tina served one customer while several others waited their turn.
Isaac’s bad mood found an outlet. He came up behind Andy and said in his ear, ‘Got a minute, please?’ and turned on his heel.
After a few seconds Andy followed him into the back area wearing an expression that was both pugnacious and defensive. Isaac got straight to the point. ‘It’s great you’re on friendly terms with so many villagers and I’m sure that’s an asset to a village pub. However, you need to serve as well as talk, I’m afraid. I’m sure you don’t mean to leave the work to others, but that’s what’s happening.’
Andy turned away dismissively. ‘Don’t worry about it, young man.’
‘Andy!’ Isaac’s voice cracked out so loudly that Andy swung around in surprise. He spoke his next comments softly in contrast. ‘Mr Tubb has left me in charge.’
The older man began to bluster. ‘Harry Tubb’s been my mate just about all my life. He trusts me.’
‘In that case,’ Isaac said deliberately, ‘you’re letting him down.’
Face turning a dull red, Andy stalked over to where the staff members hung their coats and snatched his down. ‘You can take my name off the rota until Tubb gets back.’
‘Noted.’ Isaac watched while he struggled into his coat, saw him from the premises and strode back into the bar area. Quietly he said to Tina, ‘Andy’s going home and says he’ll be off the rota until Mr Tubb returns. Can you and Lily manage, or shall I give you a hand?’ From the corner of his eye he watched Lily race past with a plated meal in each hand.
Tina rolled her eyes. ‘We’re OK for now. I’ll give you a shout if we get desperate.’
‘Great.’ Isaac had made a mental note to gently challenge Tina tomorrow on why she hadn’t had a word with Andy herself but decided to leave it for now. Lily was quick and Tina, although she looked as if she strolled everywhere, got work done. Then, as he turned,