Restoring Grace (13 page)

‘
Fuck technically,'
mumbled Demi into her folded arms.

‘
Demi's a really cool name,' said Ellie, trying to cheer
 
things up.

Demi raised her head. 'It's short for fucking
Demeter.' She lowered her head again.

‘Oh,' said Ellie.

‘
Her father
and mother won't call her Demi,' said Grace.
'They think it's common.'

‘Oh,' said Ellie again. 'But you do?’

Grace nodded. 'I think it's
mean when people won't
call you what you want to be
called.' Then she frowned, aware that she called her own sister 'Legs' when she
wanted to annoy her. 'I don't mean so much when it's a nickname, but if you've
been given quite a – a—'

‘Crap,' put in Demi from the table.

‘
—difficult
name,' Grace went on, 'I think you should
be able to adapt it to
something you like better.'

‘
So do I,'
said Ellie. 'And Demi's really cool.' She looked
at Grace. 'Apart from the bed problem, is there any reason
why
Demi couldn't visit?'

‘No reason at all, if you're not missing
college.' She
smiled at Demi, aware of the
dark circles round the girl's
eyes, and wondering if Edward had seen her
lately.

‘
I don't
want to visit,' said Demi. 'I want to live with
you.'

‘Why?' asked Ellie while Grace sat down,
looking distinctly shocked.

‘Because . . . it's crap where I live.'

‘No, it's not. It's very fashionable, lovely
shopping and
there's a regular train
service, not like here.' Grace contra
dicted gently. 'Have you fallen out
with your best friend, or something?’

Demi looked as if she was
going to cry again. 'That's
part of it. Her bloody parents have
taken her to New Zealand, of all places.'

‘I hear it's lovely,' said Ellie, then realised
she wasn't helping and shut up.

‘But it is quite a long way away,' said Grace.
'Demi, that's awful. You've known each other for years, haven
R
you?'

‘Primary school.'

‘
But you will
find other friends. I know it seems like
the end of the world but
really—'

‘Oh, I know all that!' said Demi, 'really I do.
It's just ..

‘What?' A spasm of anxiety shot through Grace
like a spear. Supposing Demi was pregnant? How on earth would her family cope
with that? 'You're not pregnant, are you?' The words came out as a whisper, her
mouth was so dry.

‘
No!' Demi
was clearly just as horrified as Grace at the
thought.

‘
Well, what
is it, then?' Grace took hold of Demi's hands
across the table, partly
in relief. 'You can tell me.'

‘I just don't want to live at home any more,'
Demi said
in a slightly strangled voice,
'that's all. I want to live with
you.'

‘But, sweetheart, you can't!' said Grace. 'What
would your parents say?'

‘They wouldn't care,' Demi grunted, burying her
head in her arms again.

‘
Yes, they
would! They would go mad at the idea of
their precious daughter living
with me! Your mother
despises me, and
Edward, well, he wouldn't ever think
of me as a fit person to have the
care of his daughter.’

Demi raised her head.
'Yes, he would! I told Mum about
Lorraine moving
to New Zealand and she just said,
"Never mind, she was common
anyway."'

‘That is a bit unsympathetic,' murmured Ellie.

‘Now they've both got partners, they've
forgotten all
about me.' She sniffed and
wiped her nose on the back
of her hand.

‘
I'm sure
they haven't.' Grace got up and found Demi
a bit of kitchen towel. 'I
know children always blame
themselves when
their parents get divorced—' she began,
dragging out the party line.

‘
I didn't
blame myself!' said Demi firmly. 'I know
perfectly well why Dad left Mum – she's a cow! But for
a while she
was at least a mother. Now she's in "lurve" she doesn't give a toss!'

‘Darling, of course she does!' insisted Grace.
'She loves you very much. She's your mother!'

‘
Oh, I expect she loves me!
She's just got no time for me!’

‘
Well, what about Edward,' Grace continued. 'I know
he thinks the world of you. Always
has.'

‘
He may think the world of me, but that bitch he's shacked
up with doesn't! You were cool, you never tried to come between me and him, but
she won't ever let us be alone together, and when I asked if I could live with
them she . .

‘Went mental?' suggested Ellie.

‘And the rest! So that's why I've come here.'

‘Well, you did the right thing,' said Ellie
firmly.

‘What?' demanded Grace. 'She did the right
thing, running away from home? Oh, God, Demi, does anyone know where you are?'

‘
They won't have noticed
I've gone, don't worry’

‘
Yes, they will!
They love you!'

‘
Not on a Saturday,' went on Demi. 'They think I'm out
with my friends. They always think I'm out with my
friends,
but they've no idea where I am really'

‘
And where
are you?' asked Grace, horrified at what
she might be about to hear.

‘
With my
friends! But I could be doing anything. I went
and stayed with mates up
in London for two days, and no one said a thing.'

‘
But that's
quite cool, isn't it?' suggested Ellie. 'Not
being nagged for a timetable of who and where and what
all the
time?’

Demi bit her
lip. 'It should be, but when you know it's just like that because they haven't
noticed you're not
there, and don't really
give a shit what you do as long
as you
don't interfere with their lovey-dovey crap, it's
not.’

Grace, who had been left
in the care of her older sister and brother quite a lot as a child while her
parents were
busy working, had some
sympathy with this. She remem
bered being posted into a cinema to
see a film she didn't want to see so Allegra and the man who became her
husband could be alone. And there had been many
similar
occasions.

‘OK. What we'll do is ring your mother and ask
her if you can stay for a while.'

‘Are you at college or something?' asked Ellie.

Grace had forgotten about
that for a moment. 'Oh, hell,
they'll never let you stay if it
means you'll miss college. Your mocks must be any minute! Love, you'll have to
go back. A levels are important!'

‘You haven't got any,' Demi reminded her
bluntly.

Wishing she'd never
confided this to an impression
able Demi when
she was first trying to make friends with
her,
Grace said, 'No, well, it's do as I say, not as I did years ago and may live to
regret.'

‘She's right,' said Ellie. 'A levels are dire,
but you do
need them. Especially if you want
to go to university,
or anything. I've got them,' she added. 'It meant I
could go to uni and do art. I had a great time.' She sighed, thinking of how
she'd fallen in love with Rick and how
joyous
it had all been to begin with. What would it be like seeing him again, when
they finally got to collect
her furniture?

‘But Grace hasn't got them. She's just got
those wine qualifications,' persisted Demi.

‘But she's got something!' said Ellie.
'Something that can earn her a living!'

‘
I wouldn't go as far as that,' murmured Grace.

‘Anyway, it
doesn't matter,' said Demi. 'I haven't been to college for weeks, and no one's
noticed. They're not likely to make a fuss about it now.'

‘
What! They'll go . . . mental!' Grace borrowed from
Ellie's vocabulary in her hunt for a word bad enough. 'Not if they don't know.'

‘
They will
find out,' said Ellie. 'Although at college they
reckon that if you're
over eighteen—’

`Demi's not over eighteen,' said Grace.

‘But I look older,' said Demi. °Everyone says
so.'

‘Looking older is not the same as being older!
Your parents know how old you are, and so will the college!'

‘
I don't know about anyone else,' said Ellie
soothingly, 'but I'm starving – because I
am
pregnant. Shall I make
us all something to eat? Sandwiches, something like
that?'

‘
That's a good idea,'
said Grace. °Do you need me to
do anything?’

Ellie turned to Demi. 'I don't know if you know this,
but if Grace
was left to her own devices, she would never
cook and hardly ever eat,
which is why I've taken over
the cooking. Self-defence.’

This got a grudging smile out of Demi. 'I am
quite hungry. I didn't have breakfast.'

‘
Demi,'
asked Grace tentatively, sure she didn't want
to hear the answer, 'how
did you get here?'

‘I hitched.’

Grace groaned and took up Demi's stance of arms
on table, head on arms.

‘It's all right!' said Demi. 'I got here
safely!'

‘You're to promise never, ever to hitch on your
own again.'

‘OK,' agreed Demi. 'The bloke who drove me here
gave me a terrible telling off. He said it was dangerous, too.’

Ellie suppressed a smile,
and went over to the table by
the fridge. She observed Demi and
Grace as they sat at
the kitchen table. They
were talking quietly, both slightly
pleading, but Demi also a little
defiant.

Grace seemed
far too young to be a stepmother, but she could understand why Demi would
choose to come and live with her. If only Demi could stop seeing Ellie as
competition, it could work very well.

Ellie took care with the sandwiches, mostly to give
Demi and Grace
more time to talk, but also because she
was an expert at making meals which cost
virtually
nothing. It had been such fun in
the early days with Rick,
before she
lived with him. She would go round to his flat
and find that he hadn't eaten all day, and there was prac
tically
nothing in the house. Making tasty (if not particularly nourishing) meals out
of what was there felt so cosy and caring. She hoped Demi could stay with them,
it would make them like a family, which would be fun.

Feeling very
like an Earth Mother, and really quite proud of herself, she put a plate of
sandwiches on the
table between Grace and
Demi, and they both looked up,
startled.

‘
Oh, wow!' said Demi. 'I'm starving! Can I start?'

‘
So what
have you guys agreed?' asked Ellie, biting into
A
ham and
salad sandwich.

Grace sighed. 'After lunch we're going to ring
Demi's mother and tell her Demi's here.'

‘She won't care,' said Demi, her mouth full.

‘
Yes, she will! But if it's OK with her, and we
can sort
something out about college, she
can stay here. Providing
the parents agree.'

‘
Good,' said Ellie. `So, who wants to come with me to get
my furniture?'

‘I do,' said Demi, who was looking a lot more
cheerful now she was eating. 'This is going to be so cool.'

‘It might not be,' warned Grace. 'Your mother
may not allow you to stay with me.'