Stirred with Love (31 page)

Kate shook her head. ‘I think you’ve been very grown up about the situation.’

Chloe frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, you could have acted like an immature eighteen year old and screamed and shouted at him. You could have gone around to his house and damaged his belongings. You could have done all that, and much more. But, instead you handled it like a grown up.’

‘Kate,’ Chloe smiled, pleased to realise that she was right. She
had
handled it in a mature way. ‘I think you might have taken over my agony aunt position!’

‘Hey, I made you smile!’ Kate grinned. ‘Although maybe I should be taking my own advice. I could have been more grown up about things lately. Look, I’m sorry too. I should have been there for you and I wasn’t.’

‘But you would have given out to me if I had mentioned Jack’s age, wouldn’t you?’

‘Yes, I probably would.’ Kate paused for a moment. ‘But it was wrong that you felt you couldn’t tell me about him. I thought we had a special bond and –’

‘We do have a special bond! That’s probably why I didn’t tell you. I just wanted it all to work out right. But it didn’t.’

Kate hugged her again when she saw fresh tears forming.

“Bloody men!’ she said softly as she kissed the top of Chloe’s head.

Lily woke later with a jolt to find she’d fallen asleep in the armchair again. Even before she’d pulled herself up straight, she knew her back would be aching. That would mean another day of painkillers and smelly muscle rubs. She groaned loudly.

Still dark outside, the clock read ten to three. Rosie caught her eye as she dramatically turned around in a circle before flopping back down again in exactly the same place.

Perhaps she ought to head back to her own bed, she surmised. She had a long day ahead of her tomorrow – no, today, she corrected herself. She couldn’t put things off. Time wasn’t on her side any longer.

Lily still felt nervous about telling the girls. No matter how she looked at it, it was going to be tough. The guilt trip she’d taken over the past few days was enormous. She hadn’t intended on having to bring forward the date of everything. Did she have the right to inflict her plan on two women whom she had known for so little time? Surely she was expecting too much from them now?

She’d cook them a meal. Prepare their favourite food and have a bit of a laugh with them first. Then she’d tell them.

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

The next evening, Lily shooed Kate and Chloe out of the kitchen on the stroke of five-thirty.

‘Isn’t there anything we can do to help?’ Kate wanted to know as she locked up for the night. The vertical blinds whooshed across the windows of the coffee shop, hiding the view of the stormy night. Outside, the rain coursed rowdily down the windows. For once, she was glad to stay in.

‘No.’ Lily gently pushed her out of the door that led upstairs. ‘Leave me be. Come back at seven, I’ll be ready then.’

Once they were gone, Lily pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and began. First on the menu was a prawn cocktail starter, a simple choice but a firm favourite of Chloe’s. This would be followed by spaghetti bolognaise with slices of garlic bread, easily Kate’s most loved dish. Dessert would be Angel Heaven, originally concocted by Lily, but loved by them all. Ice cream, cake, a little fresh cream, all layered together with different flavoured sauces and sprinkled with flakes of chocolate. Perfect.

At ten to seven, Lily popped two more strong painkillers from their wrapping. Feeling queasy again, she didn’t want either Kate or Chloe to spot her discomfort. But they noticed immediately.

‘Lily, you look dreadful,’ stated Chloe.

Lily smiled up at her. ‘I look that welcoming?’

‘Why don’t you go and sit down?’ said Kate. She led her through to the front. ‘We can finish off in here.’

‘That would be good,’ Lily nodded. She flinched when her legs bent, her knees almost buckling as she took her weight whilst trying to sit down in the chair.    

‘Is that better?’

Lily faked a smile and nodded again as she tried to compose herself. She had to be strong and get through the meal without them sensing that anything was wrong.

‘I can still remember the first time that you tried to make a cappuccino,’ Kate said to Chloe as she made them coffee to finish off.

Chloe hid her face in her hands. ‘Oh, I know. Trust me to put the milk in the wrong place. And then there was Alex and Tom to deal with. Tom was a sweetie but, with all his cheap compliments, Alex needed locking up for sexual harassment.’

Kate sighed as she remembered back to the earlier days. ‘Oh, I do miss those two, even now.’

‘And,’ shouted Chloe excitedly, as the rain pouring down the bay window reminded her of something, ‘remember when we were working outside and that summer storm came over?’

‘I remember!’ Kate laughed as she joined them again. ‘I nearly went down the street with the menu board, the wind was so strong. Then two of the chairs and a table blew over and slid across the cobbles!’

‘But ten minutes later,’ Chloe recalled, ‘the storm passed and the sun came out again. It was as if nothing had happened.’

‘Well, apart from the state of our hair.’

‘And we never did find out who stole that sign, the one that caused us so much trouble.’

‘The one that caused
me
so much trouble.’ Kate pointedly looked at Lily as Chloe giggled. She reached across for Chloe’s hand. ‘It’s good to hear us laughing again, Chloe.’

Lily gulped. What she had to say was no laughing matter. It was now or never.

‘Kate, Chloe,’ said Lily. ‘I need to tell you something.’

As they both speculated about what she was going to say, Lily’s courage deserted her and she held down her head.

‘What is it, Lily?’ said Chloe, suddenly starting to feel uneasy.

She looked up again, tears in her eyes. ‘I had a phone call, late yesterday afternoon. It was the results of some tests that I’d had, just over a week ago.’

Tests, thought Kate? What tests? Lily hadn’t mentioned anything to her.

‘And?’ she questioned as Lily went quiet.

‘I…’ Lily stuttered. ‘I had cancer a few years ago. I managed to fight it that time but…it’s come back again.’

‘How long –,’ Chloe started.

Kate threw her a look that said ‘not yet’ so Chloe moved around to Lily’s side of the table and pulled a chair near.

‘Five years ago, I had an operation to remove a growth from my stomach but now it’s returned,’ said Lily. ‘It’s spread rapidly over the past few months. That, plus my angina and arthritis, and the odd cold here and there, has made me weak and irritable – as I know you’ve both noticed.’

‘Why didn’t you tell us sooner?’

If Lily thought Kate sounded sharp, she never mentioned it. ‘I’d only just met you. I had no right to burden you with this. But I’d already been to the hospital. When I started to vomit and lose weight, I knew the cancer had returned.

‘I felt such a fraud,’ Lily went on, her voice breaking with emotion, ‘lying to you, but I couldn’t tell you where I was going. But then I had the phone call yesterday.’

‘How long, Lily?’ said Kate, knowing that was the only unanswered question between them now. ‘And, please be honest with us.’

Lily glanced at Chloe. Tears formed in her young eyes. She looked at Kate, whose supple hands were wrapped around her aged ones.

Could she do it? Could she say the last few words?

She had to tell them.

‘Just a matter of weeks.’

‘No!’ said Chloe.

‘It’s true,’ whispered Lily.

‘But that could mean days!’ Chloe looked directly at Kate for confirmation. ‘Couldn’t it? It could mean days!’

Lily attempted to comfort her with a smile. ‘I’m not ready to go yet, child.’

‘What can we do?’ Kate found her voice, if a little shaky.

‘You can’t die!’ Chloe blurted out between sobs. ‘We’ve only just got to know you. What will we do without you?’

‘Chloe, we have to think of Lily,’ Kate said gently. ‘We need to find out how we can help.’

‘But it’s
so
unfair. I don’t want her to die.’

‘Sometimes life doesn’t work out as planned, but my time on earth has been good,’ Lily tried to appease her. ‘I was married to a wonderful man and have so many fond memories of him. And, as morbid as it seems, I believe in God and the after life. I’ll be with Bernard soon.’

‘How can you talk like that?’ Chloe sobbed.

Lily couldn’t stand to see their pain any longer. She pushed herself up and walked, painfully and slowly, towards the kitchen. Kate stopped her long before she reached the door and placed an arm around her shoulders.

‘We’ll look after you,’ she wept.

At the sound of Kate’s anguish, Chloe ran across to join them. ‘Lily, we
can
do it…if you want us to.’

It was so good to hear those words that Lily burst into tears again.

No one moved. No one spoke. They stood together. Three women united in the still of the room. Silent except for the cries of grief, the tears of unhappiness.

‘I can’t stand for much longer,’ Lily spoke finally. Kate and Chloe moved away. ‘I’m going to lie down. Do you think you could load up the dishwasher? I’m sorry that I have to leave it to you.’

Kate wiped her tear stained face with the back of her hand. Trust Lily to think of them.

‘Of course we can,’ she told her. ‘Shall we help you to your room?’

‘No, thank you. I can manage the stairs for now.’

‘We’re both here for you,’ Chloe called after her. She sat back down at the table, rubbed her eyes and looked across at Kate. ‘Do you know how to care for someone who’s dying?’

‘No.’ Kate leaned heavily against the counter. ‘But we can’t let Lily see that. We’ve got to be strong. It’s not going to be easy for us, but whatever we feel it’s going to be much harder for her. She’s going to be the one in pain.’

Chloe’s face screwed up again. ‘Don’t talk like that. She’s not going to die yet.’

‘Chloe,’ Kate used a forceful tone to stop her hysteria, ‘she’s going to die soon. It doesn’t matter if it’s next week or next month. She’s going to die soon.’

Kate’s tears began to fall long before she got into bed. Although she hadn’t known Lily for long, already she’d become so attached. Not only to her, but to Chloe, and to Lucy. They were like an extended family. They had their ups and downs, just like families did, but they had been there for each other. Lily was right. They were a good team. And now it was all going to end.

What would happen to them? Kate knew she was being selfish thinking about herself after what Lily had just told them, but she’d be homeless, she’d be jobless, and she’d lose two good friends. She wouldn’t go back home. She’d have to stay in Somerley.

And what about the coffee shop? Perhaps Lily would sell it to someone else before she died! Maybe Will would get his way after all, she fumed, before thinking that was wrong to assume. Lily obviously thought a lot of her and Chloe to tell them that she was dying. Maybe she’d want them to be secure, have a job after she’d gone. The coffee shop had re-opened in Bernard’s memory, so surely Lily would want it to stay the same?

Kate would pick her moment and talk to Chloe about it. But right now, maybe for at least another few weeks, it wouldn’t be fair.

Chloe had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. It was in the early hours of the morning when she jerked awake. Ever since she’d first stepped through the creaky glass doors, she’d loved everything about the coffee shop. Here in Somerley, she’d formed friendships with Kate and Lily, and Lucy eventually. She’d looked to them when she’d needed advice. She’d teased them, laughed with them, cried with them. She enjoyed living with Kate and Lily, talking about their problems and enjoying girlie conversations, but now she was scared it was going to end. If Lily was right, she could be gone in two, maybe three weeks. She might not even last that long.

Chloe realised that she needed to be strong. Being the baby of the bunch, they’d expect her to sulk and cry. But she wouldn’t do that. She’d cry on her own at night if she had to. She’d show them that she could be strong, she owed them both that much.

Why is life so unfair? Couldn’t they all have had just another year together? Already Lily had started to deteriorate. Without her make-up, her skin was the colour of a faded-white bra. She looked like she was wearing hand-me-down clothes, two sizes too big. Chloe couldn’t even take a photograph now. She wanted to remember her how she had been. A kind woman who’d help anyone in trouble, a fair woman who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind when things needed to be said, a loving woman for the way she’d taken them into her home.

Yes, that’s how Chloe wanted to remember Lily. Not like she was now, a frail old lady without the energy to enjoy what life she had left.  

Lily closed her eyes to stop the flow of steady tears. In her heart of hearts, she knew she’d been right to tell them. She was sure that Kate and Chloe would be there for her now. It would be like having her own daughters beside her, something that she’d always longed for.

     One thing was for certain, though. She must contact her solicitor, Mr Stead first thing in the morning and finish off her funeral arrangements. She needed to do it quickly in case her body let her down.

She had to be prepared to be in great pain during her last days.

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

The rain came down slightly as Lily watched the wind playing with the leaves, tossing them around like clothes in a washing machine. Inside, she felt safe and warm. The forecast on the radio had promised snow before the week was out. She wondered if she would see it.

It was the beginning of December and, although not long to the big day, Lily knew she wouldn’t see another Christmas. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the flickering fairy lights on the tree that Kate and Chloe had set up especially for her. ‘You can be festive while we’re working,’ Kate had commented as the two of them stood dressing it. They’d even found some of her old decorations to hang, mixing her bedraggled red and blue baubles with their new glitzy gold’s and silvers. Lily had thought it such a treat.