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Jacob

‘Thank you for coming, sir,’ Clarice Toad said, standing by the door in her pretty pinafore, her hair held up by a neat little bonnet emblazoned with the tearoom’s logo. A floral lace nametag gave her first name in swirling letters. Aunt Marjorie had felt it best to stick to first names, just for the time being. As she stood by the counter alongside Jacob and watched Clarice thanking the departing customers, wishing them a good day and asking them to come again, Aunt Marjorie leaned close to Jacob’s ear.

‘She’s just perfect. She’s got a natural way with customers, and I’ve never known anyone work so hard. Her cooking will be an asset too. She told me she had to get creative on her family’s budget, but some of the ideas she’s given me … honestly, if I were to expand and open another shop, I wouldn’t think twice about hiring her as manager.’

Jacob smiled. ‘She burst into tears when I told her why I wanted to talk to her. Although some of that might have to do with showing up with Mark. He let Billy put the cuffs on me, just to show how they worked.’

‘She’s doing a great job.’ She patted Jacob on the arm. ‘And so are you. No word from your lady?’

Jacob sighed and shook her head. ‘She didn’t show up at the children’s home on Wednesday night. Lisa said she had a bit of a cold, but Michaella said she was fine at school that day. Perhaps she heard about the police, or James fed her some lies … or both.’

‘Why don’t you just call her? You know, I thought I saw her standing outside the tearoom the other night? She looked like she was waiting for you.’

‘It was probably someone else. Why would she want me when she could be with James?’

‘Because you’re a decent human being and he’s not?’

Jacob shrugged. ‘That’s not really enough these days, is it?’

‘Come on, cheer up. Oh God, is that Barbara Bakersfield? This’ll be a good test for Clarice; the future Ghost of Christmas Criticism.’

It was hard to concentrate on the job, but with Christmas just around the corner, the tearoom was busy, and Jacob was run off his feet all afternoon. After they closed, he hurried over to the hospital to visit Nora. He found Rita sitting in the waiting room, reading a newspaper.

‘How is she?’

‘Oh, Jacob,’ Rita said, wiping away a tear. ‘She recognised me for the first time this morning. We had a real chat. The doctors said her medication is starting to take effect, and while she’s clearly not all there, she’s improving quickly. She might need to stay in hospital for a couple more weeks, but there’s a good chance she’ll be out before Christmas.’

‘That’s great news. What will happen to her?’

‘My family is keen for her to come back with us to the States, if she’s able to travel. She doesn’t have a passport or anything like that, and she can’t go anywhere without medical approval. But, you know, we’re hopeful.’

He was about to ask something more when a doctor approached, telling Rita that Nora was awake and asking for her. Holding back floods of tears, Rita patted Jacob on the arm, thanked him again, then hurried after the doctor.

Jacob sat down again. Through a window he saw that it had started snowing once more, thick, fluffy flakes floating gently down. An elderly patient leaning on a walker looked out of the window and gave a little chuckle, then muttered, ‘A new hip please, old man.’ At least Nora was all right. Things might not be working out for Jacob, but that didn’t matter. He’d done something good, helped someone.

He wasn’t looking forward to the long walk home in the snow, so went to get another coffee out of the machine to fuel him for the journey. Taking the little cup, he turned away, and found Charlotte’s friend Kelly, in her nurse’s uniform, standing right behind him, so close he could have reached out and plucked the name tag off her scrubs.

‘Jacob.’

‘Uh … Kelly? Nurse … Collins?’

Kelly smiled. ‘I just spoke to Doctor Kipling. I wanted to know what you were doing here. He told me about Mrs. Shapton. Nora. You brought her in, didn’t you?’

Jacob shrugged. ‘An ambulance brought her in. I just found her.’

‘He told me that she’d be dead if it wasn’t for you.’

‘I wouldn’t go that far—’

‘Doctors never lie. Not unless it’s necessary. Did you drive here?’

He shook his head. ‘I walked. I don’t have a car and this ice … not great for bike riding.’

‘I just finished a shift. Can you meet me in the lobby in five minutes? I’ll give you a lift home.’

‘Ah, sure. If you really want.’