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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781466962279 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Trafford Publishing |
| Publication date: | 10/18/2012 |
| Pages: | 192 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.41(d) |
Read an Excerpt
GRANNY FOR HIRE
By Anne Welters
Trafford Publishing
Copyright © 2012 Anne WeltersAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-6227-9
Chapter One
IT WAS SUNDAY AGAIN. Ideally, a day of rest, and families, just chilling out but for Gail it loomed like a black cloud. First of all there was no reason to get up early.Actually there was no reason to get up at all, but then again, maybe, just maybe, one of the children would call, or even visit. Just maybe, you never know, so she dressed hurriedly, just in case. She delayed her breakfast of cereal and tea just in case she was invited out for breakfast. But by midmorning, she reluctantly prepared her usual breakfast, and ate it sitting on the bar stool at the kitchen counter. She kept her telephone nearby where she could easily reach it if it rang.
The morning passed while Gail dusted and vacuumed, much like other days, and the phone never rang, and no one knocked on the front door although Gail kept hoping that it would happen. Lunch was never really planned for because she often thought that se would be invited out, so today it was a simple meal of toast, topped with cheese and a banana for keeping healthy, a squirt of syrup on top was to quell the sweet craving which Gail knew would rear its head around three or four.
After reading for a while with her reading glasses on her nose and holding a magnifying glass a few centimetres from the page in order to read the writing, she closed the book. She was bored and lonely, and she felt unwanted, unappreciated, and unloved. Oh! Gail knew that the children were probably busy, and with working so hard, they needed some time with their families, and this she understood and accepted, although a phone call would surely not take up so much time, and would mean a lot to her.
The chair was pulled up close to the window where the light was better for reading and rays of sunlight caused a warm feeling on her body.
The book lay closed on her lap and her eyes stared at the wall facing her, without really looking at it, as thoughts flitted through her mind. Surely there must be something that she could do to change her lifestyle? Wishes, or was it dreams floated in and out, and in and out, and then a thought flirted with her mind. Not once but repeatedly. The same thread kept moving around, or was it pulling? She was not sure which but somehow the thought got snared on a tiny barb in her brain and kept flashing until she took notice of it.
Gail lived on her own since the demise of her husband of forty-one years.
To be honest, although she enjoyed being her own boss, and doing what she wanted, and how she wanted, she missed him. The children, now grown with families of their own spent less and less time with her and she knew it was not because they did not love her, no she knew they did, but it was because they were so caught up in their own lives, that they forgot to contact her, and that was OK! Except a call now and again would be nice, or even an invitation to share a meal, or a cup of tea and cake, but she knew they were busy and that was OK! Was it not?
Of course, if Gail had any money in the bank, or the safe, or in any place like investments, it would have been easier. Maybe a Granny for Hire package tour to some or other exotic land would be nice. After all, Gail always wanted to travel didn't she?
So here, on this quiet Sunday afternoon with the book on her lap and the suns' rays warning her body sitting by the window, an idea so bizarre, as to be most unfeasible, stuck in her mind and was sending flashes like small lightning bolts through her that made Gail smile. Well, why ever not? What could she loose?
It surely will be of benefit not only to her, but for those who would make use of her services. Of course, nothing may come of it, but it was worth a try, after all, what did she have to lose, and who did she have to answer to?
Gail took a clean sheet of paper and drafted and advertisement.
She took some time to weigh up all her options and narrowed her skills down to the basics. She had to include her age which was a good age if you think that sixty-seven is a good age, but of course the job was for someone of a good age, and that she was. She was also experienced for the job of a granny, after all you had to be a granny, to become a granny and yes, you should have experience for the job and Gail definitely qualified. The job would require that you live in, but that Gail was prepared to do, and Gail was even prepared to travel to the place of employment, providing that such expenses were paid by the employer.
This goes without question of course, and naturally, Gail would expect to be paid a salary. After all, it would be like a proper job, but only more personal and of course Gail would expect it to be personal, for the relationship to work.
After a few drafts she settled on a simple advert that read
"Granny for Hire—I am experienced, with references and willing to travel".
She added her telephone number and after some thought added the international code and then another thought prompted her to look at other locations that would be suitable. If making a change was exactly that, then surely it would be exciting to target another country. She mulled over this decision, thinking of her as yet unused passport, locked in the safe. Full of dreams, she had applied for this when there was a glimmer of hope, or was it a dream, that she would visit Greece. Three years have since passed and the passport still had not been used. So she added another line to the draft which said "fluent in English and Afrikaans." She also added her e-mail address. Although she hated e-mails, after all you never knew what popped up, on the computer screen, so she reluctantly used it, seeing as everyone expected one to have such a facility.
Greece was where she had wanted to go to, but the language could be a problem, so Europe would probably be the best. She pinpointed two possibilities, Austria and France. If she had no response from these places she would broaden the field.
But first she had to find out how to go about placing and ad in the newspapers of those countries. This exercise she found out was actually quite simple. One telephoned the local newspapers and after reading the add and her credit card details, they assured her the ad would appear in the newspapers of those two countries, within a few days.
The next few days flew by as Gail checked her e-mails each evening after dinner. She had not said anything to the children. Not because no contact from any of them was forthcoming, but she did not know if her ad would have any success. After all, you never know if you wasted your money, what little you have, or your idea of course, or not, and that is why Gail never phoned them, especially when she knew they were so busy.
On the fourth day, Gail had made little ticks on the calendar, an e-mail message appeared and she held her breath as she clicked on the line to open the message.
"Dear Madam" the message started. "My name is Johan Gerber. I live with my three children, a girl aged eleven and two sons aged nine and six. My wife passed away seven months ago and the children are missing her a lot."
Her heart started to pound and she instinctively put her right hand to her breast, as she carried on reading.
"I saw your advertisement in our local newspaper and as we are South Africans working abroad I thought that a granny could help them. If you feel that this is so, please reply, as soon as possible. Kind regards Johan Gerber—Austria."
Her first instinct was to click on the reply button, but she hesitated, and got up and walked to the lounge where she sat on her chair near the window where a curtain now blocked out the night. Could this really be happening? What if this plan got off the ground, what, what?
There are so many what ifs, and she closed her eyes for a short while.
After seconds passed or was it minutes, Gail did not know for sure how long she sat there, she got up and went back to the computer. The next step had formulated in her mind and her fingers found the keys easily.
"Dear Mr Gerber" and here she paused, should she say Mr Gerber or should she say Johan? This hesitation did not last long and she left it as Mr Gerber, after all one did not want to be familiar with a stranger and that is after all what he was.
"I am a widow, aged 67. My children are all grown up with grown up families of their own and I decided that I could be of use to someone who needed me.
My age is of little importance as I am healthy and love to have children around me. Please let me have more details regarding your requirements.
Kind Regards, Gail Harper."
Two days went by of e-mails going back and forth and two other enquiries also came through during that time which was exciting for her as she was initially dubious about the whole idea. Goes to show, she thought, there is a market out there, for people whose 'sell by' date, had seriously expired.
Well, she was going to make this work for all parties concerned, her employer, his children and herself. The whole thing just felt so right that she felt a bit afraid that it was just a dream.
On the fourth day after the first communication, she still had not had a call from any of her children.
Gail realised that she would have to phone them to tell them about her plans. Thinking about it and everything that had to be done made her hands feel clammy and she was sure her heartbeat was faster. Tonight she would phone them but first she had to see her grandson Bernard to see if he would move into her home. She thought it could work well as he had recently got out of a sticky relationship and anyway he loved to be near the sea and his life passion was being on a surfboard.
First she thought she would just lock up the house and go. There was no guarantee that the job would pan out although on the other hand it would be foolish to leave the house unused if she was going to be away for any length of time.
Gail went to the place where he worked and after hearing what she had to say he was keen and the matter was settled.
"Hello" came he deep voice of Jake her eldest son. She loved, hearing his voice, it reminded her of her late husband who also had that timber in his voice.
"Hello Jake, how are you all."
"Oh, hi mom, haven't heard from you in a while, is everything OK?"
"I was wondering if you could perhaps come and visit soon" before he could make any excuse, Gail carried on "it is rather important and the matter is urgent."
After a slight hesitation he said "you are all right are you, do you need a doctor?"
"No, no" she said "but I have to see you all."
The next call to Gavin had a similar reaction, but visits from both sons could be expected within an hour. She would call Sarah after their visit as Sarah lived far away and it would not really be any different as visits to her only took place once or twice a year.
When the two brothers arrived more or less at the same time, Gail had all the documents ready. Once she started making arrangements there were actually quite a few official forms that had to be signed, like a will that had to be updated, and power of attorney forms in case something went wrong while she was away and visas and tickets that had to copied.
To lessen the impact which Gail knew would soon explode, she first served drinks all round and made small talk about their families and their work. When she casually said she would be away for a while they thought she was going to Sarah on holiday.
Slowly and methodically she laid her plans on the table. After a stunned silence Gavin was the first to speak.
"Why are you doing this Mom?"
A wistful smile softened Gail's face as she said "It feels good and I am looking forward to it." She knew she could never tell them how they neglected her.
More questions were asked and answered, and then the time came for the documents to be signed which caused more questions to be asked and more answers.
The next few days went by in a mad rush to pack all the personal things like clothes and photos that would be stored, and sorting through clothes that should be taken with or not. Gail thought about the conversation she had with Sarah and she felt a little sad as the relationship between them had been strained for a while. Somehow Gail knew that Sarah felt that she, Gail, thought she was not a good mother to her two rebellious sons.
This Gail felt, was because they were too indulged and given too much importance besides all the attention that was lavished on them. The total result was that the children gave their parents no respect or gratitude.
Gail also knew she could never point this out to Sarah who would again take it up the wrong way, so Gail said nothing, except to ask about their health, and wellbeing. Her own plans, when explained, were classed as unimportant to Sarah, as her attention was distracted by a demand of some kind from her eldest son. When Gail put the telephone down, she realised that Sarah actually had no idea why the phone call was made in the first place.
Well there was nothing Gail could do about that.
Chapter Two
After the courier had dropped Gail at the airport and she settled her luggage with a porter, who helped her to the airline, she was travelling with, she sat on a chair—a nice soft one—and watched the big planes on the tarmac. The whole thing felt like a dream to Gail and she actually felt very emotional.There was no objection from Jake or Gavin when she told them that a courier would take her to the airport. This saddened her. Amazing how little anyone cared these days. She knew they were busy, but still it would have been nice to have one of her family members with her on this momentous occasion. Well, she would hopefully be going to a place where she would be needed, and this cheered her somewhat, but still, it would have been nice.
She was nervous, after all, she had never been out of her country before.
She applied for her passport nearly three years previously and never had the opportunity to use it.
So here she was, her travel tablet helped to keep her heart steady, although she knew that she would have to take another one later when she was settled in the plane, which was OK, she was fine with that, she hoped.
The size of the plane inside with its many people was awesome and once settled in her seat she unobtrusively scanned the faces nearest to her and tried to link a story to the face. So many travellers, where are they going, who will they meet?
Although daunted by the long hours she would be in the plane, Gail settled herself into a comfortable position. The take-off, after two tablets, was not quite as nerve racking as she imagined it would be.
She took a deep breath and relaxed. She had done all she could, said prayer after prayer for a safe journey and pleasant stay, and knowing the situation was now out her hands, she smiled. This was it! She was on her way. This was her adventure and she would live it, however it turned out to be.
Chapter Three
A feeling of panic flashed through her heart and it seemed to grow stronger by the second. For a fleeting moment she closed her eyes and sent a silent prayer for courage once again, and then she opened her eyes and smiled at the man holding up a board with her name on it. He took her trolley with her bags on it, and she followed him to a car where he opened the back door for her to get in.The car was comfortable and the temperature was just right. Gail slowly, relaxed and once they left the airport she sat forward to look at the buildings they passed.
No conversation took place between her and the driver and she wondered if he could speak English so she asked.
"Excuse me, do you speak English?"
"Yes, Mrs Harper, I do."
"I am happy to hear that, could you please point out the places that we pass. You see, I have never been here before."
"With pleasure" he said and gave short descriptions of the buildings, as they drove by.
Gail enjoyed the drive and the information given by the driver kept her from thinking about her forthcoming meeting with her new family.
The driveway was not very long and the house at the end was large, but not, unpleasantly so. It had a flow to it like corn growing on he fields.
It was painted in soft earth ochre and had white trimming around the windows with a roof of brick coloured tiles.
When the driver opened her door, Gail smiled at him and she was sure she detected a faint smile from him. She got out and with a firm stride, which belied, the feeling of panic, within her walked to the door which opened before she could knock. In the doorway were three children looking all excited. They came to meet her and hugged her around her waist and knees. Completely taken by surprise she instinctively put her arms around the little group and then she was pulled inside.
The person that greeted Gail in the entrance was in her early thirties and had a friendly smile. In broken English she greeted Gail.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from GRANNY FOR HIRE by Anne Welters Copyright © 2012 by Anne Welters. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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