Kitty

Chapter 15Moving Home

15

2018

Tizz nursed her crowded glass of Pimm’s and stared at Kitty across the table in her back garden. Ruraigh was at work on the patio, his tongue poking from the side of his mouth as he tried to assemble the bedside cabinets they’d bought from Ikea. ‘There must be bits missing!’ he yelled, scratching his head. ‘These instructions make no bloody sense.’

‘Ignore him.’ Tizz waved in his direction. ‘He’s busy and we can chat – and we do need to chat.’

‘Why do I feel like I’m about to get grilled or told off?’ Kitty sat with her hands clasped between her thighs.

‘Because you are. Now, just to get this straight, you’re telling me that you and Theo, Sophie’s Theo…’

‘My Theo, technically,’ she whispered.

Tizz ignored her. ‘… you and Theo have been snogging the face off each other for the last six months, since that night at the Crown and Sceptre, and you are only telling me now?’

‘Yes. We didn’t want to tell anyone in case it was just a thing and not a proper thing.’

Tizz curled her top lip. ‘So it’s a proper thing now?’

‘Uh-huh.’ Kitty felt the swirl of teenage angst in her gut.

‘And you’re doing proper grown-up sex and everything?’

‘Yep.’ She nodded. ‘And it’s wonderful. When I’m with him, I feel like everything is okay. And I like how that feels. This relationship is like a gift that I had no right to expect. It’s companionship, friendship… it’s love! I didn’t know it was waiting for me and I didn’t know I was capable.’ She looked up at her friend. ‘As you know, I’d sort of assumed that I had this flaw when it came to giving and receiving love, and I figured that was why Angus picked me. Turns out I’m not flawed. I’m good at loving and being loved – in fact I’m great at it!’

Tizz gave her a long, hard stare. ‘Oh, that’ll wear off. Do the kids know?’

‘Not yet.’ She sighed. ‘Please don’t tell anyone. I don’t want anyone to know until they do. Although I have told my dad,’ she smiled recalling his joyful reaction, ‘and he is absolutely over the moon. But with the kids, I can’t seem to find the right time to tell them, but I know I need to. It’s getting ridiculous. The other day, Olly called to see if I wanted to go to a fundraiser at the hospital with him and Victoria and I was reading on the sofa next to Theo. I ended the call and Theo’s phone rang and it was Olly to ask him the exact same thing. I felt guilty he was having to pay for two calls.’ She sipped her Pimm’s.

‘Yes, because that is what you need to feel guilty about, the cost of your son’s mobile phone bill and not the fact that you are shagging his sister’s dad, someone he knows and loves, and you are doing so in secret!’ Tizz banged the table.

‘Who’s shagging who?’ Ruraigh called from the patio.

‘No one. Are those cabinets finished yet?’ Tizz hollered back.

‘No! I told you, I think there are bits missing. Bloody things.’ He sounded quite exasperated.

‘Useless.’ Tizz tutted. ‘So, you are going to tell the kids?’

‘Yes, of course!’ Kitty ran her fingers through her hair. ‘And I need to tell them soon. Theo is thinking of selling his house in Barnes—’

‘And moving in with you?’ Tizz said loudly.

‘Who’s moving in with who?’ Ruraigh called out.

Tizz rolled her eyes. ‘Ignore him.’

‘Yes. I mean, we’re only talking about it, but we aren’t getting any younger and the fact we’re talking about it means I need to tell the kids.’

‘Oh, you think? Or you could just make him hide in the wardrobe every time they come home. Leave a bottle of pop in there and some crisps so he is comfy. Christmas might be a bit of an issue though – the kids tend to stay for days and he can only sit in the dark for so long.’

‘You are not funny!’ Kitty laughed.

‘You look great. You look happy.’

‘I am.’ She beamed at the admission. ‘Properly happy.’

‘I am glad for you, for you both. You deserve it.’ Tizz squeezed her arm.

‘Who deserves what?’ Ruraigh came over to the table.

‘Kitty and Theo are in love, they are doing sex and everything, and he is thinking of moving in with her.’

‘I told you not to tell anyone!’ Kitty shouted.

‘I won’t! But Ruraigh doesn’t count!’ Tizz flapped her hand.

‘Thanks a bunch!’ Ruraigh swigged from the beer bottle on the tabletop. ‘I am not surprised, Kitty, and for what it’s worth, I really like Theo, and so does Uncle Stephen, we all do.’

‘Thank you, Ruraigh. That means a lot. And it will to him too.’

‘So what do the kids think?’ he asked casually.

She pulled a face. ‘I haven’t told them yet.’

‘That’s what we were talking about before you interrupted us,’ Tizz said. ‘And we need those cabinets, Ruraigh!’ She banged the table top. ‘You can’t be out here building them in the dark!’

He lumbered back to the job in hand, scratching his head and turning the instruction sheet this way and that.

‘I think he’s struggling.’ Kitty nodded in his direction.

‘Well, he will without these.’ Tizz pulled four large bolts from her pocket and placed them on the table.

‘You are a terrible person!’ Kitty chuckled.

‘Who’s a terrible person?’ Ruraigh called, just out of earshot.

‘No one!’ they yelled in unison.

*

It was the following weekend and Kitty and Theo had made a plan of sorts. She was going to tell the kids and he would arrive a bit later to mop up any emotional spills, provide support and help navigate the aftermath. It had all felt perfectly reasonable when they were discussing it; now, however, as Kitty sat at the dining room table with the double doors thrown open, she felt more than a little nauseous, and it was nothing to do with the prospect of Greg cooking her supper.

She chuckled at the sound of squabbling coming from her small courtyard garden. Sophie, who looked beautiful with her enormous bump, was barking instructions at Greg and Olly, who seemed to be taking an age to light the barbecue.

‘Let me do it. I’m training to be a doctor!’

‘Really? You’re training to be a doctor? Gosh, Olly, thank God you said that, because I hadn’t heard you mention for five minutes the fact that you are studying medicine – and I had almost forgotten!’ Sophie clicked her tongue. ‘And yes, you are training to be a doctor , not a chef or a barbecue-pit master, so sod off! Greg can do it.’

‘Greg’s not a chef or a pit master either, he’s a lecturer, in modern languages!’ Olly yelled.

‘Again, thank you for your valuable insight. Dork.’

Olly pulled a face and mimicked her stance.

Kitty always found it quite remarkable that no matter how old her kids got, how impressive their achievements or even the fact that one was about to become a parent, after mere minutes of trying to complete any chore together, they reverted to being toddlers.

Greg grabbed the matches but appeared to be quite clueless as to how to get the flames to jump and light the coals. Sophie now looked bored by the intense, almost scientific discussion about the best point at which to start cooking, should they ever get that far, and had started to pull tiny weeds from the crevices in the wall.

Kitty smiled at them from the dining table as she sat back and sipped her chilled glass of white wine, admiring the honeysuckle around the French windows, its slender tendrils taking the opportunity to snake into the room like a nosy creature. Her pulse quickened as Sophie came inside.

‘Don’t sit in here all on your own, come outside! We have sunshine, I ordered it especially for you.’ Sophie stood behind her and placed her hands on her shoulders.

Kitty turned her head to the left and kissed the back of her daughter’s hand. ‘Thank you, Soph, that was kind. If you could summon up some rain for later on, it’ll save me having to water my tubs.’

‘I’m on it!’ She laughed. ‘You look miles away. Plus you’ve got your booze glow on.’

‘Have I?’ She touched her cheek and felt the warmth.

‘Yep.’

Kitty smiled at her girl. ‘Well, touché, and you have your baby glow on, as Tizz would say. I’m quite happy here, having a good old think.’

Sophie pulled out a chair and sat down. ‘What are you thinking about?’

She noted the crease of concern above her daughter’s nose and felt a spike of love for her.

Now, Kitty! This is the time. This is the moment…

‘I’m thinking about your dad, actually.’

‘Dad-Angus or Dad-Theo?’

Kitty laughed at the somewhat ridiculous need to clarify. ‘Dad-Theo.’ She took another glug of the cold, dry wine whose citrussy tang was just what she needed on this hot day to help ease the words from their hiding place.

‘Theo is one of those people who has always just been there,’ she began.

‘Because you met at school.’

‘Yes, but more than that. The day I met him, I felt…’ She exhaled, trying to find the right words. ‘I felt connected to him. I must have met dozens of people on that first day at Vaizey, but there was something about him and me… As I say, a connection.’

‘It’s good to be such old friends, nice to have that shared history. It’s lovely for me. And it will be lovely for this little one too.’ She cradled her bump. ‘You will both be its grandparents, after all.’

‘Yes, we will. And that’s the thing – I love him, Sophie,’ she whispered.

‘Aww, bless you, Mum! I know you do. He loves you too.’ She smiled.

Kitty shook her head. ‘No, Soph. I love him love him. Like proper love.’

The smile slipped from Sophie’s face and she laid her hands flat on the tabletop. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean things have changed for me. For us. You know that moment when you cross the line in your mind and someone goes from being just a friend to the possibility of something more? It happened to me.’

Sophie’s breath quickened. ‘Did it happen for Dad?’

‘It did.’

Sophie ran her fingers over her mouth. ‘So I’m not sure what you’re saying – do you, like, want to have a relationship with him?’ She said this with a chuckle that carried the faint echo of disbelief.

‘I am having a relationship with him.’ She levelled with her girl and felt relief and fear in equal measure.

‘Shit, Mum!’

‘Is that “Shit, Mum, good!” or “Shit, Mum, bad!”?’

Sophie shook her head. ‘I’m not really sure.’

Kitty stared at her, waiting for the words that would give her a clue as to how this was going.

‘How?long?has?it…?have?you…’?She?rolled?her?hand?in?the?air.

‘Erm, about six months, since the night of your engagement and baby announcement at the pub. But if I’m being honest…’ She ignored the little humph noise her daughter made, suggesting she had been anything but. ‘… I think it was probably in the background for a lot longer than that.’

Sophie exhaled. ‘This is… it’s weird for me.’

‘What, the fact that your mum might have fallen for your dad?’ She tried to lighten the mood.

‘Yes! Because you have always been Dad-Angus’s wife, ex-wife, despite everything, and you and Theo were friends. I know I was made in love, I get that, but it was hardly from a stable, long-term thing, and Theo and I are really close and it feels strange for me that you and he might—’

‘Might what?’

‘I don’t know… It sounds ridiculous even to me, but I feel a bit odd about you going behind my back.’

Kitty let out a small burst of nervous laughter.

‘I told you it sounded ridiculous.’ Sophie looked down.

‘No, it doesn’t, darling. I understand. I think it might be a case of old-fashioned jealousy and I understand that completely, more than you know, but I can absolutely assure you that no matter what happens between Theo and me, you are our focus, you and Olly and Greg and the new baby. Nothing changes.’ She looked out into the garden at her boy, who was now fanning the barbecue coals with the lip torn from a cardboard box.

‘But that’s not possible. It changes everything! It changes the whole dynamic of how we function as a family, and if it all goes tits up, it changes it even more!’

‘I am hoping it doesn’t all go tits up.’

‘Well, of course, as I am sure you did with Dad-Angus, and he did with Nikolai, and every couple does with every other bloody relationship that hits the rocks and disintegrates! No one plans for failure, but we kind of have to, because we’re all linked.’

Kitty considered this. ‘I don’t think that’s any different from any family the world over. If things go wrong, the ripples are felt far and wide, of course. But we’re not entering into this to fail and we are not doing it lightly.’

‘I don’t want you or Theo to get hurt. And it would be doubly hard if it was the both of you hurting each other. How would we deal with that?’

Kitty stared at her daughter. ‘So do you think it’s safer not to try? Do you think we should nip this happiness in the bud and go back to being lonely and alone? That can’t be right, can it?’

‘We need help out here, Soph!’ Greg called through the French windows.

Sophie stood slowly and spoke softly. ‘No, but I have hated being in the middle of you and Angus, and Angus and Nikolai, and you and Angus and Richard. Even though you all kind of get on, it’s not been easy, for me or Olly, and the relationship I have with Theo, despite the rather odd beginning, is one of the most straightforward. I can talk to him, just talk without first having to filter my words in case I say the wrong thing, mention the wrong event, pick off a scab of hurt about something that might have happened a long time ago. He and I can just chat and I like how easy it is.’ She sighed. ‘I’m scared of losing that.’

‘You won’t lose that. What you and Theo have is very special. He’s your Theo,’ she admitted, and smiled.

‘I don’t want things to become difficult or complicated. I’ve had enough of that – we all have.’

Haven’t we just.

‘I want you both to be happy, Mum, I do, but there’s something else…’

‘What, darling?’

‘I don’t know if I should say.’

‘Go on, Soph, you know you can say anything to me.’

Sophie looked skywards, as if mentally selecting the right words. ‘I can only think of Theo and Anna. Anna and Theo. They were a great love story, and they worked.’ She shrugged. ‘And I don’t want you to be a poor second. That’s not fair on either of you.’

Kitty felt the force of her daughter’s words like a punch to the chest, hitting her precisely where she was most vulnerable. ‘A poor second… The great love story…. Theo and Anna. Anna and Theo.’ It left her winded. She could only nod at Sophie, who headed back outside.

Kitty stood and made her way on wobbly legs up the stairs to her bedroom. She slipped onto the bed and turned her face into the soft down pillow. You fool, Kitty. You bloody fool. How could you be so blind? Blind all over again. Her tears were muffled and her heart ached. Sophie’s right, of course she is. Anna and Theo – two people, one love…

*

She must have fallen asleep, because when she woke, the sky had darkened and the smell of barbecued meat permeated the air. She sat up and looked at the clock: an hour had passed. She heard the sound of conversation in the courtyard and then the boom of Theo’s laugh. Shit! She had quite forgotten that he was coming over. And he would already have spent time with Sophie, whom she’d told, and she would surely have mentioned it to the boys… Kitty buried her face in her hands. The situation was already a knotty mess. She lay back on the pillow and wished again for the sweet oblivion of sleep. She closed her eyes for a few minutes.

‘There you are, sleepy head!’ Theo burst in and sat down hard on the side of the bed where his cufflinks, cologne and Classic Cars magazine nestled secretly in the bedside drawer. ‘I came up earlier, but you were dead to the world.’ He leant over and kissed her. ‘Sophie and the guys are happy! I’m happy!’ He lay down next to her. ‘I’m giving you fair warning, but act surprised – they’ve put a bottle of bubbly on ice and are planning a bit of a toast.’

Kitty couldn’t stifle the sob that left her throat.

‘Oh no!’ He propped himself up on one elbow and looked at her face. ‘Why are you crying? It went well – we can relax! The cat is out of the bag and we can relax, finally! It’s a good, good day.’

Kitty shook her head, sat up against the pillows and grabbed a tissue from the box on her night stand, which she balled and dabbed at her eyes and under her nose.

‘What on earth’s the matter?’ He held her hand.

‘I didn’t plan on having these feelings for you, Theo.’

‘I don’t think feelings like this can be planned,’ he replied, clearly confused about where this might be heading.

‘There has always been a strong link, a friendship…’

‘Yes, always.’ He squeezed her hand inside his.

Sitting up even straighter, she rested against the headboard and shrugged her hand free of his grip before wrapping her cotton cardigan around her middle. ‘I love you, Theo. I do.’

‘I know. And I love you.’ He kissed her hand.

Kitty recalled the way Angus could never comfortably say those words to her, and this made her sob even harder.

‘I love you very much,’ he repeated, ‘which is why I am finding it hard to fathom the tears!’ He stared at her and it was difficult to read his expression.

Kitty swallowed, dry mouthed, hating the feeling of vulnerability and something approaching shame that pulsed through her. Her cheeks flushed. ‘Sophie said something that has made me think. It made sense.’

He looked concerned. ‘What did she say?’

‘She said that you and Anna were the great love story – Theo and Anna, Anna and Theo – and she’s right! Anna was your one, and you had something perfect.’ Her tone was purposefully neutral, to deflect her embarrassment. ‘And I don’t know why I thought there could be anything between us other than the friendship we have shared for all these years – and Sophie, of course. But we need to forget everything, we need to go back to how it was because I don’t want to be anyone’s poor second choice.’

‘What on earth are you talking about? Where has this come from?’

‘I told you, it was something Sophie said and she’s right. It’s Anna and Theo, that’s the way the universe intended it, not Kitty and Theo!’ She let her tears fall.

Theo took her into his arms and the two sat in silence until her breathing had found its natural rhythm and her tears had ceased.

‘We shouldn’t waste this life, Kitty. This one short blip of a life, it goes so fast.’

‘It does.’ She pictured her once lively mum ensconced in the prison of her choosing with one eye on the window and her fingers clutching the sheet, white-knuckled with fear.

‘We shouldn’t waste us,’ he said. ‘That would be a tragedy.’

‘Do you think so?’ she whispered.

‘I know so.’ He kissed her scalp. ‘I did love Anna. I do love Anna, and I always will. I do feel that sometimes we don’t mention her when it would be appropriate to do so and that’s a shame as she was a big part of my life and a part of yours. She loved your daughter, very, very much.’

‘Yes, she did. But I want to be honest, Theo.’

‘I need you to be.’ He held her tight.

She hesitated. ‘The thing is, and I am just shooting from the hip here, so please feel free to pick out the bits that resonate, and I’m nervous, so it might be garbled.’

‘Okay.’

She had his attention. ‘I have never been anyone’s first choice.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Quite rightly my dad adored my mum first and foremost and I slotted in where I could, happily, and then with Angus, I was his consolation, his alternative, but Thomas was his number one. Sophie has found her wonderful Greg, and Olly has Victoria, and for you it’s Anna. Anna is and will always be your great love, and that makes me the runner-up again.’

Theo looked up, seeming to consider this. ‘Life doesn’t work that way.’ He pulled her even closer. ‘You are right, Anna and I were the greatest love story and I will always treasure that, but that doesn’t mean that’s it! My life doesn’t end because hers did. I get to go on, and believe me, I didn’t want to for a while, but you are not and never have been my consolation prize. You are my now, my present. And I love you now, right now, with all my heart, like I love no other. Anna taught me that was possible. She gave me the foundations of how to love and I loved her and I love you. I do, Kitty. I love you!’ His voice caught.

‘I guess I’m worried that I can’t compete with someone who’s no longer here.’

‘Don’t go there – you’ll drive yourself nuts. Anna is forever forty-eight. You, God willing, will get old, wrinkly and cranky and I will love you just as much then as I do now. It’s not second place, not for either of us; it’s the world settling so that everyone is in their rightful place right now! And our rightful place right now is together. What we share can’t diminish what Anna and I shared, and if anything happened to me and you went on to find someone else, it wouldn’t diminish what we have. It’s all we can work with – today, the present, this moment! And I’m not prepared to waste a second of it lamenting the past. I have done that for far too long and for too much of my youth. Okay, Montrose?’

‘Okay, Montgomery.’ She reached up and kissed the mouth of the man she loved and who loved her right now, this very moment, in the present.

‘We should get married.’

‘What?’ She stared at him, open-mouthed, as happiness filled her up. ‘Is that a proposal?’

‘Yes. If Olly and Soph are okay with it.’

She held his gaze. ‘I think we should keep it to ourselves for the time being. It might be more than anyone can cope with! I love you, Theo.’

‘I love you too.’

It was as they kissed that they heard the light tap on the bedroom door. Sophie walked in with two glasses, Greg held the bottle of bubbly and Olly was bearing a cupcake with a candle in it.

‘This was all we could find – consider it a congratulations cake!’ Olly walked towards the bed and Kitty and Theo blew out the tiny candle.

‘Yes, congratulations!’ Greg fiddled with the cork until it fired from the bottle and hit the ceiling.

‘Jesus, Greg!’ Sophie yelled. ‘I would like to propose a toast.’ She lifted her glass of orange juice. ‘I would like to officially say how wonderful it is to know that two of the people I love most in the whole wide world…’

‘None taken.’ Greg high-fived Olly.

Sophie continued. ‘… are in love. I wish you both all the happiness in the whole wide world!’

Greg passed around the glasses and everyone sipped. Kitty felt a flutter of joy in her heart, knowing she would never forget this night or her daughter’s beautiful words.

‘Thank you, darling.’ Theo spoke for them both.

‘Okay, my turn!’ Olly cleared his throat.

‘Can I just—’ Sophie tried to interrupt.

‘No, Soph, this is my turn.’ Olly shot her down. ‘I would like to say—’

‘Olly, please!’ Sophie tried again.

‘Christ, you’ve had your five minutes – you always do this. It’s my turn now! I just want to say how absolutely—’

‘Olly, for God’s sake, I need you to stop talking!’ Sophie shouted. ‘I need everyone to stop talking.’ She placed her hand on her stomach and her glass of orange juice on the windowsill. ‘My waters have broken! This is it – the baby is coming!’

‘Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh God, Soph! Oh my God, no!’ Olly walked in a circle, seemingly unable to decide where to put the cupcake and with a look close to panic on his face.

Greg looked at his soon-to-be brother-in-law and spoke calmly. ‘That’s it, Olly, you turn around in circles. I’ve got this. Me, a lecturer in modern languages.’

*

The kirk was packed to the rafters. It felt like the whole of the Highlands had turned out and it made Kitty smile. It was proof of her dad’s kindness. It was still unreal to her that he had gone.

Patrick, resting on the arm of his son, stopped at the end of the pew and held Kitty’s hand. ‘Stephen was a fine man. My dearest friend. And I shall miss him greatly.’

‘Thank you, Patrick. I know he loved you.’

The old man walked away with tears in his eyes.

Theo reached for her hand. It was the show of support she needed on this sad day. All stood in silence as the single piper slowly made his way down the centre of the kirk; the sweet sound of the pipes filled the space and reverberated in their chests. Ruraigh and Hamish wept loudly, tears cried in earnest for the man who’d been like a father to them. Kitty wiped her eyes and looked up. The piper played louder, as if to ensure the sound would break through the roof, glance off the water in the burn and twist away along the glen like mist on the morn. Heaven would be in no doubt that today they were receiving the soul of a proud son of Scotland. She pictured Marjorie and her mum and smiled at the thought of them putting the kettle on.

It was good to see the house busy. The rooms, usually empty and a little flat, were alive with the dance of fires in the grates and the echo of chatter. A drink or two was taken and Isla and her daughter Rhona, who now ran the village pub, had done them proud with the catering.

Tizz came and stood by Kitty’s side with the sleeping Roseanna in her arms. ‘I am stealing your granddaughter,’ she whispered. ‘I love her. I can’t give her back, and you can’t make me.’

‘I think her mum might have something to say about that.’ Kitty ran her fingertip over the sweet, rounded cheek of the six-month-old baby who had brought them all so much joy.

‘I love the photos of your dad holding her.’ Tizz closed her eyes briefly. ‘I am glad he knew and loved her.’

‘Me too.’ Kitty swiped at her tears that were never very far away.

Ruraigh, Hamish and Theo had taken root on the sofa in the library.

‘What are you three plotting?’ She sat on the chair by the fire and pushed off her shoes with her heel and then her toes.

‘We were just talking about Darraghfield, wondering what will happen to it.’ Hamish took a sip of his whisky.

Kitty looked into the fire and remembered them burning things as kids, anything they could get hold of – paper, wood, wrappers and junk. It had been a major preoccupation. She liked how every sight, every room held so many happy memories. ‘Well, either of you could come up and stay here. You know the life. Or both of you, in fact – it’s big enough!’

‘What about you two?’ Ruraigh looked at Theo. ‘I mean, it’s yours, Kitty, by rights. It’s your home.’

‘I wouldn’t do that to Theo.’

‘Do what to Theo?’ He sat forward in his chair.

‘Take you away from London and all you’ve ever known, the bright lights of the big city. I couldn’t ask you to swap that for a life of dark, icy mornings, temperamental weather, and an estate that will bleed you dry!’

Theo stood up, straightened his jacket and looked at them one by one. ‘I know you all remember Mr Porter, the groundsman at Vaizey, my friend. What you may not know is that he gave me this…’ He turned over his lapel to reveal the little gold safety pin with its fishing fly of delicate green and blue feathers and a square red bead. ‘He told me to wear it somewhere discreet and to use it as a reminder to seek out the stillness. He told me that’s where I’d find peace, and he was right. I have found peace – with you, Kitty, and here at Darraghfield.’ He fixed his gaze on her. ‘It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while now… I think we should sell our houses in London and move here. New beginnings and all that. I know it’s what Stephen wanted. I always thought it would be lovely for you to be able to swim every day, Kitty, weather permitting, and here you can. You might get your gills after all!’

Kitty stared at him; she had never loved him more.

‘Not a bad speech for a Theobald’s boy.’ Ruraigh chuckled. ‘But if you’d been in Tatum’s you’d have done it with a bit more flourish!’

‘Tatum’s!’

‘Tatum’s!’ Ruraigh and Hamish made the toast.

‘You Tatum’s boys were always the same, boasting about your bloody cricket shield!’

‘Ah, did I hear mention of the Tatum’s cricket shield?’ Angus walked into the library with Roseanna, still asleep, in his arms. He had evidently managed to wrangle her from Tizz. ‘Might I remind you that I was captain of that very team for the whole four years we were unbeaten!’

‘No one cared about your shield!’ Theo shook his head and sat down.

‘Oh Theobald’s sour grapes!’ Angus, Ruraigh and Hamish laughed.

‘Do you think Roseanna will go to Vaizey?’ Angus asked casually.

‘No!’

‘Yes!’

‘Yes!’

Theo, Ruraigh and Hamish answered in unison.

*

Sophie put Roseanna down for the night while Greg stacked the dishwasher and Olly and Victoria gathered discarded plates and glasses from around the house. Kitty and Theo finished clingfilming the leftover food before making their way back to the library. They sank down onto the sofa and gazed at the orange glow from the fire.

‘How are you feeling?’ he asked as he placed the blanket from the arm of the sofa over her lap.

‘It’s been a funny old day. Sad, of course, but so lovely too. It was great to have everyone together and it’s been good reminiscing with the boys.’

Theo gave a soft laugh; she knew he had enjoyed it too.

‘Bless you for saying that earlier.’

‘What?’

‘About moving up here. I know we never could, but it meant the world that you didn’t dismiss it immediately. This place is part of me. My heritage, my history.’

‘I wasn’t joking, Kitty. I meant every word! We should pack up, sell our houses and relocate. Let’s just do it!’

‘What would your mum say?’

‘I can still visit her, poor old thing. She loves it at Hill View, bossing everyone around.’

Kitty smiled at the image of Theo’s cantankerous mother holding court. ‘Are we really going to do it, Theo? Are we going to come up here to live?’

‘Yes. We are.’

Kitty laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She too had found peace at Darraghfield, she felt settled, sitting on the sofa with her toes curled against her man in front of the fire. And her dad was right, it was so much more than fine. She glanced down at the ancient Indian pouffe and saw herself as a little girl, looking up at her mum and dad sitting just where she was right now.