Amelia Grey's Fireside Dream (26 page)

I picked up my mobile and called her.

‘Hi, Amelia. How are things?’

‘Good, thanks.’

‘Is your sister OK?’

‘Mirabel’s fine, yes. She’s not up yet, but I’m going to drop her in Canterbury later – she wants to go shopping.’

‘There’s plenty to keep her busy there. You could take her to—’

‘Listen, Mum,’ I interrupted her. There was one way I could start to put things right again between us. ‘I was actually calling about something else.’

‘Oh yes?’

‘I was hoping I might be able to meet him.’

‘Who, love?’

‘David. The man who’s put the smile back on your face. What do you say?’

‘I think that could be arranged,’ she said, and I could hear the bubble of excitement in her voice.

*

On the way to Mum’s house I dropped in at a shop in the next village – the Better Hearth. I’d seen a fireplace in the
window and once inside the shop I saw that it was even more stunning up close – it would look perfect in the dining room. Then I looked at the price. It would put us into the red for sure.
Perhaps
– then I stopped myself. I remembered Jack – what he’d said before was right. We didn’t have the money. We could work with the fireplace that was already there.

I drove on and pulled up outside Mum’s house. As I waited for her to answer the doorbell, I straightened my skirt. She smiled as she greeted me. In the hall behind her was a man, average height, with wire-framed glasses and a full head of grey hair. He smiled at me cautiously as I stepped inside.

‘This is David,’ Mum said, pointing to him. ‘David, this is Amelia.’

‘Your mother’s told me a lot about you,’ he said, shaking my hand. ‘It’s nice to finally meet.’

Here he was – Mum’s lover, Callum’s dad, and the most ordinary-looking man I’d ever seen.

‘You too,’ I said, hanging up my coat.

‘Well, I’ll put the kettle on,’ Mum said, scurrying off to the kitchen and leaving David and me standing in the hallway.

‘This is strange,’ I said. ‘Me living in your mother’s house, and you and Mum going out together.’

‘Oh, you get used to coincidences here in Hazelton,’ he said with a smile. ‘It might not look that small at first, but believe me, it really is.’

‘Shall we sit down?’ I said, leading the way through to the living room. ‘Callum told me your mum’s finally settled in the new house. Is that right?

‘Yes. As settled as she can be,’ David said, with a weary shrug of his shoulders.

‘I’m sorry. It must be hard.’

‘This is going to sound unkind,’ David said, ‘and we’ve only just met, but there’s something to be said for people going quickly. Watching one of the people you love most in the world fade away is a akin to heartbreak.’

‘I can imagine. From what Callum’s told me, it sounds like she was a wonderful mother and grandmother. Is, I mean,’ I corrected myself awkwardly.

‘That part of her is still there. We catch glimpses of it now and then, when something triggers her memory.’

‘Did Callum show you the things we found in the attic? He thought they might be useful for that.’

‘He did, and I have most of them at home with me now. Thank you for that. Fragments of the past can really help to bring back the woman we all love,’ David said with a smile. ‘The attic – I used to be terrified of going up there when we were kids. Not that I was afraid of a few spiders, mind you – it was just always too dark to see. Even if you
took a torch there were more dark corners than you could light up.’

‘One of my more adventurous moments. There are squirrels up there too – I’ve caught one already. Callum recommended a few things and they seem to have worked.’

‘I’m still embarrassed the cottage was left in such a mess for you.’

‘Oh, don’t worry about it,’ I said, waving away his concern. ‘It seems like a long time ago really – we’ve created plenty of our own chaos since then.’

My mum came in with a tray of tea and cake. ‘Tea’s up,’ she said. ‘So, what have I missed?’

‘We were just talking about how strange it is, the cottage going from David’s family to ours.’

‘At least you know it’s in safe hands now,’ Mum said, touching David’s arm gently. ‘Well, I’m assuming that.’ She looked at me questioningly. ‘That’s if Mirabel hasn’t done any damage?’

‘Believe it or not, she’s actually made some home improvements,’ I said. ‘My wayward teenage half-sister,’ I explained, turning to David. ‘Dad sent her over here to straighten her out a bit and give him and my stepmum a proper break.’

‘A handful, is she?’ David asked, the warmth in his expression showing that he’d had experience and come out the other side.

‘You could say that,’ I replied. ‘But actually Mirabel’s been
working hard to make up for it. She’s decorated the spare bedroom.’

‘Well, I am impressed,’ Mum said.

‘I was too. She’s done a terrific job, actually. It’s now a lovely, relaxing haven that guests won’t want to leave. Which was always the plan, although given this week …’

‘Are you thinking you don’t want it to be
too
inviting now?’ She laughed warmly.

‘I’m not sure how long I can keep her under control.’

‘It’s a tricky age, isn’t it? Sixteen.’

‘I guess so,’ I said. ‘Although I don’t remember rebelling that much.’

‘I think your memory’s a little selective there,’ Mum said tenderly. ‘Anyway, what have you got planned for her this week? Another room to paint?’

‘No,’ I said. ‘I’ve got something different in mind, actually. You know your friend Rachel?’

‘Yes. What about her?’

‘Could I have her phone number? Sally mentioned that her parents have been struggling to stay on top of the day-to-day running of the farm since she left to start her cake shop. So I was wondering if they might appreciate another pair of hands.’

‘You’re not suggesting … ?’ Mum said.

‘It’ll be good for her, don’t you think? Just a couple of
days of getting her hands dirty. I don’t think she’s even been on a farm before.’

‘How are you going to persuade her to go there?’

‘I’m not going to give her any choice.’

‘Sounds like a great idea,’ David said. ‘Me and my brother used to love spending time with animals when we were teenagers. Kept us out of trouble.’

‘That’s what I’m hoping. Did your sister go too?’ I asked, thinking of the photo I’d seen.

‘My sister?’

‘Sarah.’

‘I don’t have a sister,’ David said, shaking his head. ‘Just me and Ewan. Poor Mum, I think she would have liked a girl really, but we muddled on OK.’

I tried to think of a way to change the subject. It had been silly of me to make assumptions. ‘So, David, do you still work or are you retired now?’

‘I’m retired, supposedly. I do like to be busy though, so I’m still doing the odd bit of work at the opticians when they need me.’

‘He’s a workaholic even now,’ Mum joked.

‘I’m much better than I was. Rosie was a godsend. A reminder that there’s something better out there that’s worth finishing work for. I haven’t had that, not since Callum and Alice’s mother died.’

I thought of the long years that Mum had been single
and felt bad that I’d never encouraged her to find happiness.

‘How did you meet?’ I asked.

‘A mutual friend,’ David said with a cheeky smile. I saw his resemblance to Callum then, the sparkle in his eyes. ‘Emma who runs the local art class. When we both popped along to see the end-of-term exhibition she introduced us. I think she had an inkling we might get along.’

‘She got that one right,’ Mum said. She sounded younger, flirtatious almost. It would have bothered me a month ago, but it didn’t now.

‘I’d seen your mother about a couple of times, as it happens. I would have loved to have had the courage to talk to her then.’

She looked in my direction. ‘It gets a bit harder as you get older, working out who’s already taken, and you don’t want to tread on any toes in a place like Hazelton.’

‘You wouldn’t hear the end of it,’ David said, ‘if you chatted up a married man in the newsagent’s. You’re happily settled, aren’t you, Amelia?’

I paused for a moment. ‘Jack and I are married, yes.’ I thought of the happy memories we had together – the times we had shared as a couple over the years, things we’d supported each other through. I didn’t know how things had gone so wrong, so quickly. ‘It can take its toll on you as a couple, doing up a house,’ I continued. ‘The truth is, we’re
working a few things out at the moment. He’s moved in with a friend in London for a while.’

Mum looked concerned. ‘I’m sorry to hear that, love.’

‘I hope things get better soon,’ David said. ‘It can’t be ups all the time, can it?’

David, like Callum, had a way of making you feel that everything would be OK.

‘I’d better be getting on my way,’ David said, getting slowly to his feet. ‘It’s about time I went to Mum’s for tea. But it was a real pleasure to meet you, Amelia. And I hope I’ll see you again soon.’

‘Yes, I’m sure we’ll meet again,’ I said. I got to my feet and gave him a hug goodbye.

Mum led him out to the front door. When she came back, she sat down next to me.

‘David seems really nice,’ I said.

‘I’m glad you think so. What you see is what you get with him,’ Mum said. ‘He’s very caring, and he looks after me.’

‘You deserve that, Mum.’

She looked at me, as if seeing me for the first time.

‘You never gave me the whole story about Dad leaving, did you?’

She moved a little, crossing her legs. ‘The whole story?’

‘Mirabel told me about what happened back then with Caitlin. It wasn’t you who broke up our family, was it? It was him.’

A faint flush came onto my mother’s chest, just visible at the neck of her white blouse and beneath her silver moonstone pendant.

‘Nothing in love is ever straightforward, sweetheart. I’m sure I made mistakes.’

‘You never let on that he’d betrayed you – us. Your job was never the problem – him falling in love with someone else was.’

My mum took a deep breath before she spoke. ‘In terms of what your father did, well, I thought it was best to let you make up your own mind. Him leaving was to do with our marriage, it had nothing to do with his love for you, so I didn’t see the good of dragging you into all that.’

‘You kept it from me,’ I said. ‘The truth. About Caitlin, about him. You never said a word about the way he let us down.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘No,’ I said, feeling a wave of guilt for misjudging her all this time. ‘Don’t be sorry. You did the right thing. You could have driven a wedge between me and Dad, but you chose not to. You were strong enough to let me see for myself what kind of man he was. I just feel bad that it’s taken me so long.’

Mum gave a nod, and I saw some of the strain lift from her face. ‘I suppose so.’

‘All these years, I thought it was your fault that I grew
up without a dad and had to live with my grandparents most of the time. I thought you flying around the world was what had destroyed everything for us – you’d put your ambition first.’

‘No, love,’ Mum said, shaking her head. ‘It was never like that. I only took the job because it was the best-paid one I could get. I wanted you to have all the things you needed.’

‘I understand that now.’ Her eyes met mine, and I put my hand over hers. There was still time to make things right.

*

When I got back to the cottage from Mum’s, the only noise was Callum and Spencer drilling in the living room, putting up the bookshelves I’d asked for. Mirabel must still be in Canterbury, shopping. She hadn’t called yet to ask me to pick her up.

Talking to David had brought back thoughts of Jack, of how bad I’d let things get without even acknowledging it. I opened my laptop and started a new email.

I sent the email and waited for a moment. Then refreshed the page, as if it would make a reply magically appear, in a moment.

Then I closed my computer.

*

‘Fancy a tea break?’ Callum asked, putting his head around the door of the kitchen. ‘Spencer’s had to head off early today, and I could do with some company.’

‘Sure,’ I said, putting my sketchbook to one side. Callum flicked the kettle on and got us out a couple of mugs.

‘What’s that you’re working on?’ he asked.

‘It’s a mood board for the living room,’ I said. ‘Images and ideas for how I want it to look, some of the things I want to buy – like this armchair. But then the other things, like the chestnuts, are more about what I imagine us doing there, the kind of atmosphere we want in the room.’

I was still talking about us, we – Jack and me. Even though he’d barely looked at my plans for the house and, with how things stood now, there weren’t any guarantees we’d even be living here together.

He poured out the tea and milk and brought them over. ‘Do you mind if I take a look?’ he asked, nodding at the sketchbook.

‘Of course.’ I passed it to him.

Callum looked over the images with interest. ‘It’s good to see this stuff, so that I have a sense of your overall vision and can keep it in mind when we’re working. My grandma was creative like you,’ he said, turning the pages. ‘Before she got ill, I mean. There was the garden, of course, and she was always making little things for the house, clothes for me and Alice. My granddad loved it about her. He doted on her.’

‘Were you close to him, your granddad?’

‘In a way. He was a quiet man. He and my grandma didn’t always get along, but he was kind. Dad got along better with his mum from what I can work out.’