A few moments later he came out with a glass of milk in one hand and a familiar paper bag dangling from the other Vanilla slice or doughnut he said You choose Bella reached for the doughnut She knew Grandad wanted the vanilla slice He always did and she always let him have it pretending that whatever else he’d bought was what she wanted most in the world She took a quick bite then passed the bag back to Grandad His eyes lit up when he saw the vanilla slice but then he frowned Oops Mustn’t forget the fruit You know what your mum’s like I’ll get it Bella went to stand up but Grandad waved a hand No no You sit She heard the fridge door open and close and then he was back peeling the cover off a small dish of sliced apple and watermelon All done see He smiled You are a guest in my house When I am a guest in your house then you can serve me Bella smiled back All right I will Actually Grandad waggled his eyebrows I think you will be serving me cake Cake Bella was puzzled for a moment but then remembered Grandad’s birthday She hadn’t really forgotten of course How could she when Grandad was just about her favourite person in the world and was coming next week for his special birthday sleepover And also when even though she’d been racking her brains for ages she still had no idea what to get him for a present Maybe even two slices Grandad went on Two Bella pretended to be shocked Do you think you’ll be allowed You know what Mum’s like
It could be carrot cake Grandad winked That’s practically a vegetable He reached for the vanilla slice and as he did something went click in Bella’s brain Hmm she thought Maybe that was a birthday idea Maybe she could buy him a whole tray of vanilla slice Only that wouldn’t be very special would it The shop that made the flakiest and squishiest and absolute best vanilla slice in the world at least according to Grandad was right around the corner from his house Even though Grandad said he only had it when Bella came over after school on Tuesdays she suspected that might not be quite true Bella shook her head and sighed Oh would you rather have this Grandad had noticed her staring at the vanilla slice which was at this very moment halfway to his whiskery mouth Oh no Bella took another quick bite of doughnut I was just thinking Thinking eh That sounds promising Grandad raised his eyebrows Anything I can help with No Bella replied It’s nothing Just stuff Ah Well you know how fond I am of stuff Grandad waved a hand behind him and Bella smiled in spite of herself Grandad’s whole backyard was crammed with stuff odds and ends collected from junk shops and rubbish collections bits of wood and metal and spare parts saved from things he had taken apart You never know he always said when something might turn out to be the absolute exact thing you needed at some particular moment Like a pipe you could mould into the perfect statue for the front of your boat
Like a garden stake you could shape into a frame for a photo of your boat and its perfectly perched statue to put on the wall of your very special bedroom Like a periscope you could unfold out the window of your very special bedroom when your house started moving in the middle of the night an unusually extra long periscope that unfolded out and down and past the floor so that even from upstairs Bella could see all the way down to a pair of spindly pink legs underneath Like those things and so many more Grandad had a knack for that of always having just the right thing at just the right time He was the same with birthday presents always giving Bella strange and unexpected things that turned out one day to be unexpectedly and completely perfect Just for once she wanted to do the same for him She took another bite of doughnut and chewed slowly Then she looked up and met his eyes Grandad what would you say was your absolute best birthday ever Well let’s see Grandad stroked his moustache Was it last year you gave me your biggest brightest smile Or was that the year before Grandad Bella grinned But then she saw his gaze shift Not a lot but a little Almost so little you might not notice it unless you were a girl who knew her grandfather better than anyone in the world He was looking past her and inside to where a picture hung on the lounge room wall And Bella didn’t need to look to know what it was because she had the same one on the wall in her bedroom It was a photo of his old boat with the three of them on board Bella and Grandad and Grandma too
At once the feeling of that day washed over her The waves were gentle the water clear as glass The sun was warm and a cool breeze tickled around them They dropped anchor off a quiet beach on a little island and a friendly seal swam right up to the boat They sang Happy Birthday and ate cake even though they were going to do it again that night with Mum and Dad It was the last time they had gone out on the boat together before Grandma got sick and it was just too hard And eventually Grandad moved here to the little house with the tiny backyard and no room at all for a boat Ah well Grandad said softly and Bella wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or to himself What’s gone is gone He leaned over and took his hand in hers squeezing it gently And Bella squeezed back But her thoughts were swirling wildly Because maybe just maybe she had a completely and unexpectedly brilliant idea
