The House of Memories by Monica McInerney Read Free Book Online Page A

on the ground floor was shut, his signal that he was reading or marking papers. I quietly went up the stairs and got to my room without seeing anyone. I fell asleep easily, for once.
    •   •   •
    The kitchen was empty, the dirty dishes on the table proof that Lucas and the tutors had been and gone. I put on some coffee, then went upstairs to fetch my laptop. The door to the bedroom on the first landing was open. I didn’t look too closely. It had been Aidan’s room when we both lived here. If I thought of Aidan, I would think of Felix, and if I thought of Felix—
    Back in the kitchen, I poured a coffee and set up my laptop. I was online in minutes. Lucas was right—there was excellent Wi-Fi in the house.
    There were two e-mail messages from Charlie. One was his family report—
It’s Been a Noisy Week in Boston
in the subject line. As usual, I moved it without reading it into the folder marked
Charlie
. I opened the second one, subject
You and flight
, read it, then quickly typed a reply.
    Dear Charleston.
Since we were kids, we’d played around with each other’s names for fun. Over the years he’d called me everything from Ellaphant, Ellavator, Ellaquent. . . .
Thanks for your e-mail. Yes, I’m here safe and sound with Lucas.
    I did a quick calculation of the time difference. Too early in Boston for Charlie to be online. But he’d worry if that was all I said; I knew that.
     
    He’s great, as ever. Very welcoming, as ever.
     
    A new e-mail came in as I decided what to write next. It was from my mother’s account. I clicked on it. It wasn’t from Mum herself. It was a general mailout from one of her production staff.
    Missed out on
MerryMakers
this week?? Fear not! All the highlights are here, and remember, whatever you do and whenever you can—eat, drink and be merry!
    I wondered whether I was the only daughter in the world who kept up with her mother’s whereabouts via group e-mail. I moved that into my
For later
folder and went back to my e-mail to Charlie.
    Lucas has made me an interesting job offer. I’m thinking about it. I’ll keep you posted.
    Lots of love for now,
    E xxx
    The Ella of old wouldn’t have signed off like that or written such a brief e-mail. I’d have asked him about each of his four children in turn, asked about Lucy, wanted all the family stories and photographs. I’d have been planning a visit too. Before . . . before everything, I’d visited Boston as often as I could afford it. I loved seeing Charlie. I loved the chaos of his house and life. I loved seeing him so happy with Lucy. I loved seeing him with his children, the way they clambered all over him, how patient he was with them, the fun he brought into their lives, the love they had for him and he had for them—
    Do something else.
    Quickly.
    I finished my coffee and ate a small bowl of cereal. I didn’t eat much these days. I’d lost my appetite that day and it had never really come back. I’d lost interest in everything except wishing and thinking and—
    Keep busy.
    I washed the dishes. There were a lot of them. The table was covered in newspapers and crumbs as well. Possibly that was one of Lucas’s criteria before inviting any of his tutors to come to live and work with him. I imagined the ad pinned up at the university:
Must be clever, have a gift for teaching and love making a mess.
    I cleaned out the fridge. I swept the kitchen floor. I moved into the hall and swept that too. Next was Lucas’s withdrawing room. It was hard to know where to start. I knew from experience not to touch any of the surfaces. Not that I could see any of the surfaces. They were all covered in books, papers, magazines. . . . I cleaned out the fire and emptied the ashes into the almost-full bucket. As I stood and turned around, I saw it. I hadn’t noticed it the night before, too jet-lagged or sitting in the wrong seat. I dropped the bucket. Ashes went everywhere. I ignored them and walked toward the wall, holding