The Angel Tree (47 page)

‘Really, David. Six months isn’t that long, you know. And it will be so interesting to hear all about it when you get back. Just don’t catch some nasty foreign bug or fall off
a mountain, will you?’

‘I’ll do my best, I promise.’

After that, they sat and made small talk about LJ, and Ava’s plans to go to veterinary college, both of them feeling uncomfortable and upset.

Finally, Greta found the courage to ask the question that had been burning on her tongue ever since David had mentioned his ‘friend’. ‘Are you and this lady – Tor –
an item these days?’

‘Well, I suppose you could say we were,’ said David, realising that honesty really was the best policy. ‘We’ve been seeing a lot of each other recently. She’s very
nice. I think you’d like her.’

‘I’m sure I would.’

‘Anyway’ – he looked at his watch – ‘I’m afraid I’ll have to make a move. I’ve got a meeting at the BBC in half an hour.’

‘Of course.’

David stood, and Greta followed suit. They walked in silence to the front door.

‘I’ll try and pop in before I leave,’ he said, kissing her on both cheeks. ‘Take care, won’t you?’

‘Yes. Goodbye, David.’

The door closed behind him and Greta walked slowly back into the sitting room. Mechanically, she put the cups and plates onto a tray and took them into the kitchen to wash them up. She looked at
the cake, untouched, and threw it in the bin. Having done the washing up and put it all away, she went back to the sitting room and sat down on the sofa. She stared into the distance and wondered
how on earth she could continue her life while David was gone.

Even though LJ had done her best to persuade Ava to throw a party for her eighteenth birthday, Ava had staunchly refused.

‘Really, I’d much prefer a family dinner at home,’ she’d entreated.

LJ had raised her eyebrows. ‘Surely, dear girl, it should be the other way round? You having a big bash and me having the dinner. I hope I haven’t stolen your thunder. We could have
used the marquee for both events and got twice the use out of it.’

‘No, LJ, from what everyone tells me, uni will be one long party. A dinner is what I’d prefer, honestly.’

So, on a beautiful night in July, David, Tor, Mary and LJ sat on the terrace for dinner and toasted Ava’s health and happiness. They had all chipped in to buy her a beautiful sapphire
pendant that matched her eyes. Ava had gone to bed that night feeling very loved indeed.

Ava smiled as she drew back her curtains a month later and the August sun streamed in. It was going to be a hot day. The house was already awake and she could hear the faint
sound of footsteps downstairs. She scowled at her dress, which was hanging on the wardrobe door, and padded along the corridor to take a shower.

Twenty minutes later, she was downstairs making tea for LJ. Mary was cutting an enormous salmon into slices, her hair in tight curlers and her language robust.

‘I know your aunt said this would be easy, but has she ever tried preparing enough for over fifty people?! I’ll still be stinking of fish when the guests arrive.’

‘Relax,’ Ava soothed her. ‘You’re nearly done.’

‘I just want everything to be perfect, see. I only hope those two nieces of mine don’t drop the peas over the guests when they serve them.’

‘Of course they won’t, Mary. Here, have a cup of tea and sit down for a second.’ Ava pulled out a chair and put a mug on the table. ‘I’m taking this one up to
LJ.’

Later that morning, Ava stood in front of the mirror in her dress. She studied her reflection and supposed she didn’t look too bad. The dress was made of cornflower-blue
chiffon and hung in soft folds to just below her knees. Tor, David’s girlfriend, had said the colour would match her eyes, which, at the moment, were red and itchy as she had just put in her
contact lenses. She picked up her shoes and went along the corridor to knock on Tor’s bedroom door.

‘Hello, it’s only me,’ she said, as she entered. ‘God, I feel ridiculous!’ She sat down on Tor’s bed and watched her putting on her make-up in the mirror.

‘Enough of that rubbish, Ava!’ chided Tor. ‘I simply don’t understand why you put yourself down all the time. You’re lovely and slim, you’ve got beautiful
blonde hair and the most exquisite blue eyes. It’s a pity you don’t wear your contact lenses more often.’

‘But they’re so uncomfortable. Do you like wearing all that stuff on your face?’ Ava asked as she watched Tor apply her lipstick. ‘I don’t think LJ’s ever
worn make-up in her life.’

‘Well, I see nothing wrong in giving nature a little help, Ava, as long as you’re not hiding behind it, as some women do. Come here,’ Tor beckoned her over, stood up from the
stool in front of the mirror and pushed Ava gently down onto it. ‘Let me show you.’

Ten minutes later, Ava gazed at her reflection. Tor had put a little mascara on her lashes, blusher on her cheeks and added a pale pink colour to her lips.

‘Wow! Is that me?’ She put her face close to the mirror and studied it disbelievingly.

‘Yes, dear. It is you. So, from now on, let’s have no more nonsense about being a plain Jane.’

‘It’s the thought of all those poor animals used for testing cosmetics, just because of women’s vanity,’ remarked Ava, still staring at her reflection. ‘I look like
. . . I look like—’

‘Yes, Ava, you look like your mother, widely regarded as one of the most beautiful women in the world. Shall we go and see if LJ needs any help?’

Ava smiled. ‘Yes, let’s.’

Contrary to her expectations, Ava enjoyed the party. It was a glorious day and the guests drank champagne on the terrace, before entering the marquee on the lawn for lunch. Ava
was seated next to LJ – with David on the other side of her – and revelled in her great-aunt’s joy at seeing all her old friends gathered from far and wide.

‘It may be the last chance I get to see many of them outside their coffin,’ LJ had muttered at one point. ‘Good God! Most of them look half dead already. Can I really be that
old?’

After lunch, as everyone gathered back on the terrace, a bright-eyed, elderly gentleman with a deep tan and a walking stick made his way towards LJ.

‘Laura-Jane! Goodness, can it really be over sixty years since we last saw each other? I believe it was at young David’s christening.’

‘Lawrence!’ LJ blushed in pleasure as he kissed her on the cheek. ‘You’ve been in Africa ever since, so it’s hardly surprising.’

‘I’m home now, though. Didn’t want my bones resting abroad.’

‘No, I’m sure. Now, let me introduce you to my great-niece, Ava.’

‘A pleasure,’ said Lawrence, taking Ava’s hand and kissing it. ‘And this is my grandson, Simon.’

Ava stared at the tall young man who stepped forward from behind his grandfather to be introduced. She’d noticed him earlier, mostly because he was one of the few members of the lunch
party under seventy. He was broad-shouldered with thick blond hair and brown eyes fringed by dark lashes.

She glanced up at him shyly. ‘Hello,’ she said. It was her turn to blush.

‘Ava dear, would you mind if Lawrence took your place so we can sit in comfort and catch up?’ requested LJ.

‘Of course not,’ Ava said, as she stood back to let Lawrence manoeuvre himself into the chair, which left Ava standing awkwardly and tongue-tied with Simon.

‘Do you fancy a cold drink?’ he asked her. ‘I’m absolutely boiling in this suit. Grandpa made me wear it,’ he confided.

‘My great-aunt insisted I wore this,’ Ava said, indicating her dress.

‘Well, she made a good choice with the colour. It matches your eyes. Now, where can we get some water?’

Searching the terrace for Megan and Martha, Mary’s nieces – who were meant to be on hand with jugs of elder-flower water and juice – and not finding them, Ava led Simon through
the house and into the kitchen. Whilst she filled two glasses with ice and the pure, clean spring water that flowed from the tap, Simon sat down at the table in relief.

‘It’s lovely and cool in here. Thank you,’ he added, as Ava placed the water in front of him.

‘Yes, so cool in the winter that Mary, our housekeeper, calls it our freezer.’

‘Would you mind if I took off my tie and jacket? I feel like a trussed turkey.’

‘Please, feel free.’ Ava sipped her water, not sure whether she should sit down opposite him or not. Even though she often worked alongside the men on the farm, they were all years
older than she was, and she attended an all-girls school, so she couldn’t remember ever having been alone with a younger man.

‘Are you needed elsewhere?’ he asked her.

‘No. Not for the moment anyway.’

‘Well then, can we stay in here and talk for a while before we go back outside and I have to put my tie on again?’

‘Of course,’ she said, glad he had taken the initiative.

‘Where do you live?’

‘Here at Marchmont, with my Aunt LJ.’

‘So you’re a country girl through and through.’

‘Yes.’

‘You’re so lucky. I was born and bred in London but I’ve spent the past twenty-three years wanting to live in the country. I suppose we always want what we can’t
have.’

‘Well, I’m very happy here. I don’t think I could bear to live permanently in a city.’

‘It’s pretty insufferable, I agree. Waking up here and opening the curtains must be like getting a present every morning. It’s so beautiful.’

‘It rains a lot, though.’

‘It rains a lot in London, too. What do you do here?’ Simon asked.

‘I’ve just finished my final year of school. I’m hoping to get into the Royal Veterinary College in London, so, if I do, I’ll be in the city, too,’ Ava replied with
an ironic smile. ‘You?’

‘I’m in my last year at the Royal College of Music. Then I’ll be turfed out into the great unwashed world of wannabe musicians.’

‘What do you play?’

‘The piano and the guitar but, really, I want to be a songwriter. More Paul Weller than Wagner. But, as my family says, a good, solid grounding in classical music is important. And even if
I have yawned my way through most of my lectures, they’re probably right.’

‘Well, I admire you – I don’t have a musical bone in my body.’

‘I’m sure you do, Ava. I haven’t met a person yet that doesn’t, even if it’s just humming along to the radio. Have you always lived here?’

‘Yes.’

‘Your parents, too?’

‘I . . . it’s a bit of a complicated story, but I regard LJ as my mum.’

‘Right. Sorry to ask.’ Simon gave her an apologetic smile.

‘That’s okay.’

‘If you’re just finishing school, you must be eighteen. I thought you were older. You seem very mature.’

Ava felt his eyes upon her, appraising her, and shifted in her seat.

‘God, that must have sounded patronising coming from someone of the lofty age of twenty-three!’ He chuckled. ‘It was meant as a compliment, by the way.’

Ava smiled at him. ‘Thank you. But I’d better be getting back to LJ now. The day must have worn her out.’

‘Of course. It’s been very nice to meet and talk to you, Ava. And if you do come to London, I’d be happy to show you around.’

‘Thanks, Simon.’

Ava walked from the kitchen, feeling light-headed. She wondered if it was the champagne she had drunk earlier, or talking to Simon, who was without a doubt the most handsome young man
she’d ever met.

The guests had begun to depart and Ava saw LJ looked grey with exhaustion.

‘Do you want to go up and have a rest, darling?’ Ava asked her.

‘Absolutely not. Today I will be the last man standing. Metaphorically, at least,’ she answered stoically.

Ava left her in the capable hands of David and Tor and went off into the kitchen to help Mary begin the huge task of washing up.

‘Did you have a good day,
fach
?’

‘Lovely,’ said Ava, rolling up her sleeves. ‘And the salmon and Eton Mess went down a treat.’

‘It did my heart good to see your aunt surrounded by so many of her friends. And who was that young man you were talking to earlier? I saw him giving you the eye during the
speeches,’ Mary said, nudging her and winking as they stood together over the sink.

‘He’s called Simon, and he’s the grandson of Lawrence somebody, one of LJ’s friends. He’s a music student, but he’s far older than me.’

‘How much older?’

‘Five years.’

‘Look you, that’s perfect! You, of all young women, couldn’t be doing with a young-un, having grown up the way you have.’

‘Honestly, Mary, he was just being polite. It was nothing like . . . that.’

‘And what is “that”?’ Mary nudged her again.

‘You know.
That
. Anyway, stop teasing me. I’m never going to see him again.’

‘Where does he live?’

‘London.’

‘Where you’re about to go to college.’

‘If I get
in—
’

‘We all know you will. Mark my words’ – Mary nodded, her hands submerged in the suds – ‘you’ll see him again.’

Later, as the sun set spectacularly over the valley below Marchmont, Ava joined LJ, David and Tor on the terrace. The last guests had left and they were chatting about the
day.

‘I can’t thank you all enough for making this possible.’ LJ put a hand out towards her son. ‘Now I feel I can die in peace.’

‘For goodness’ sake, do shut up, Ma,’ said David. ‘You’ve got a lot of life left in you yet.’

‘Let’s hope I shall be here to see the two of you return from your trip,’ she said, unusually maudlin.

‘Of course you will,’ said Tor, ‘we’re only going for six months. I’m sure nothing untoward will happen in that time.’

‘And I’ll be here for the first few weeks of it,’ commented Ava, seeing the look of concern on David’s face.

‘You’ll have our itinerary anyway, Ma. You can always leave a message at the hotels we’ll be staying at from time to time,’ he said.

‘David, I’m sure there’ll be no need. I’m just being a silly old woman. Must be all the champagne. Right, bed for me. I may be past my sell-by date, but it really has
been the most wonderful day.’

‘I’ll take you up,’ said Tor firmly, as the three of them rose. ‘David, darling, you stay here and relax with Ava.’