Chapter 6 Jennifer #2
“I’m sure they were pleased. They love a tree, don’t they? Was everything okay?”
“Yes, although I think my dad was hoping you might help him.”
“With what?”
“His book.”
Finally Martin looked at her. “He’s been talking about this book forever. Are you telling me he has actually written something down?”
“I’m not sure he’s actually written anything, but he’s on the verge of it.
” She saw Martin smile and that small win felt like a triumph.
“He wants to talk to you about what he has in mind. He’s worried he has been retired for too long, and he wants to make sure what he is planning is current and relevant. ”
The smile disappeared and his gaze shifted back to the TV. “How would I know? I’m retired too, remember?”
She managed to rein in her frustration. “It’s a matter of months since you were the busiest doctor in the area. I don’t think you’ve lost all your knowledge in such a short time.”
“Maybe not, but I don’t feel up to writing a book.”
“My father is the one writing the book.” Or not. “You’re just going to help him untangle his thoughts. I know he’d appreciate it, Martin.”
He sighed. “Fine. I’ll talk about it with him when he’s here for Christmas, but I don’t really see what I can contribute.” He reached for the remote control and changed the channels. “He did the same job I did.”
“But he has been retired for decades. Everything has changed. Priorities change.” She paused. “I’d appreciate help unloading the car, and decorating the trees.”
“Trees?” He flicked to a nature series. “We already have a tree.”
“I bought a few more. To make the house extra Christmassy for Hayley.”
“Hayley?”
“Jamie’s girlfriend! We’re having a party tomorrow night. They have something to tell us. Please tell me you haven’t forgotten all this.”
“No, of course I haven’t forgotten. I just forgot her name was Hayley, that’s all. And you can’t blame me for that. It’s not as if we’ve ever met her. He has only been with her five minutes.”
“It has been a couple of months.”
“Exactly. A couple of months. I’ve had colds that have lasted longer.”
“Oh Martin!” She shook her head in despair. “If you’re going to be this grumpy when the children arrive then you’ll worry them.” And ruin Christmas.
“I promise to pull myself together and be my usual jolly self.”
“Good.” She leaned in to give him a kiss. “And you should be pleased Jamie is serious about someone. After that disastrous relationship with Poppy I wasn’t sure he’d trust anyone again. I’m relieved he’s happy.”
“Early days.”
“True, but maybe it only took a short time for them to know they were in love. I fell in love with you that very first day I saw you on the ward.”
“You did not.” He switched the TV off and looked at her. There was a hint of laughter in his eyes. A hint of the old Martin. “I seem to recall you shouted at me for taking bloods from one of your patients without checking with you first. You terrified me.”
“If I remember correctly that patient was due for an X-ray at the same time. And I most certainly did not shout. I may have spoken to you firmly.” She shifted closer to him. “It feels like yesterday. How has time passed so quickly?”
“I don’t know.” He rubbed his hand across his jaw and she noticed that he hadn’t shaved.
He always shaved.
She took his hand. “You’re my best friend. You’ve always been my best friend. You do know that?”
He hesitated. “Yes.”
“Then tell me what’s in your head. Tell me what you’re thinking. You were looking forward to retirement but it’s clear you’re not enjoying it so far. You’re not yourself. Are you missing it?”
“No. The pressure over the past couple of years have been enormous as you know. It’s hard to please anyone these days.”
And yet he had pleased them, she knew that, and she hadn’t needed to have that conversation with Roy’s wife to remind herself of that fact.
His patients had loved him. During his last few weeks at work he’d been showered with gifts and cards.
They had more scented candles than they would ever use, and if they’d eaten all the chocolates he’d been given and drunk all the wine they would have needed medical help themselves.
But she knew how touched he’d been by the outpouring of affection.
Had that made him question his decision to retire?
“You were very busy. Although in one way it must be a relief to no longer have the pressure, it’s a big adjustment not going to work every day.
” She was stabbing in the dark but he wasn’t offering up any clues so she didn’t know what else to do but make some guesses. “Do you wish you were back there?”
“No. Definitely not.” He said it so emphatically she knew he was telling the truth.
So it wasn’t that he was missing work.
“Martin—”
“I’ll be all right. Don’t fuss.”
Frustration mingled with sympathy. “I can’t help if I don’t understand.”
“There’s nothing you can do, Jen.”
“I can listen.”
“That won’t change anything.”
“Try.”
He paused and then looked at her. “I feel old, that’s all.”
“Martin, you’re not old!”
“I’m retired, Jenny. Put out to pasture.” His voice was dry. “Of course I’m old. And the thing about not being busy is that you have plenty of time to think about it. I’m noticing aches and pains that I never would have paid attention to in my working day. I feel as if it’s all downhill from now.”
She felt a flash of alarm. She’d never heard him talk like this before. “It’s a new phase of life, that’s all. It will take some adjustment, just like the first day of school or your first day of medical school.”
“Not really like that. In both those examples I had a purpose. And the future was exciting. Now the future is—” He paused. “I don’t know.”
And now she saw the problem. His work had been so demanding, so all-consuming, that there had never been any question of how he was going to spend his day.
He went where he was needed and did what needed to be done.
He had no time to think. But now whole days stretched ahead and he had no idea how to fill his time.
The problem, she decided, was that he’d let many of his interests and passions slide because he’d been too busy to pursue them.
Maybe what was needed wasn’t sympathy, but some frank talking.
“Then we need to explore projects and hobbies that you’ll enjoy and find rewarding, but in the meantime your purpose is to stop me being overwhelmed by all the Christmas preparations. By the way, I spoke to Roy’s wife. Roy is coming here this afternoon.”
“Roy the roofer?” Martin looked alarmed. “Why? Is the roof leaking again?”
“No. He’s going to put Christmas lights on the outside of the house. That family think you’re a hero, by the way.”
He ignored that comment. “Why do we need lights on the house?”
“To make it look festive. I just hope he can get it done before Hayley and Jamie arrive.”
“I don’t understand why we need to decorate the outside when our nearest neighbours are across the field. Who exactly is going to see these lights?”
“Don’t be a grump. It will look lovely. Just like the movies.”
At least she hoped it would be just like the movies.
A message pinged on her phone and she instinctively reached for it, because that was what mothers did even when their children were adults, but then she moved her hand away.
“Check it,” Martin said gruffly. “It’s snowing. One of the kids might have a problem.”
She lifted her phone and scanned the message.
“It’s Becky. On the family group chat. All flights are grounded so she is driving, but there has been a bad accident on the motorway and nothing is moving so they’re checking into a hotel tonight and they’ll join us tomorrow.
That’s a shame. There goes my big family welcome-home dinner. ”
“There will be plenty of people willing to eat Becky’s share. You said ‘they.’” Martin reached out and took the phone from her. “Who is ‘they’? Does Becky have a boyfriend? Is yet another of our offspring bringing a stranger to spend Christmas with us?”
“I wish she would.” Jenny retrieved her phone. “I worry about Becky.”
“You worry about all of them.”
“Becky the most.” She could see that Becky was typing so she waited to see what the next message said.
“Oh, she’s with Will. They’re driving up together.
That’s a relief. I’ll worry less about her if I know Will is with her.
I’ll ring Audrey and let her know, although Will has probably already called her. ”
She and Audrey had met at a mother-and-baby group when Jamie and Will were both six months old and the two families had been friends ever since.
“Why are Becky and Will together? That wasn’t planned, was it?”
“She said that they bumped into each other at the airport and Will offered to drive her.”
“That’s kind. And he’s a good driver.”
“So’s Becky. She has always been good at driving in snow.”
“True. Still, you’re probably disappointed there isn’t another romance in the air. Come on.” He levered himself off the sofa. “I’ll get dressed and help you haul the spoils of your forest trip in from the car.”
She was relieved to see him finally display some energy.
“Great. I’ll call Audrey while you’re getting dressed, just in case Will hasn’t had the chance because he’s driving.” She waited for him to leave the room and then called her friend. “It’s me! Guess what?”
“What? Why are you talking in a hushed voice? Have they arrived? Do you like her? Has Jamie confirmed he is engaged?”
“I haven’t heard from Jamie. They haven’t arrived yet, but they’re only coming from Edinburgh and I think he hoped to stop and show Hayley Holy Island and a few other places on the way as she hasn’t visited these parts before.
They should be here for dinner. No, I had a message from Becky.
” She glanced at the door, checking there was no sign of Martin.
“She and Will are driving up together from London.”
“Ooh. Hold on while I go somewhere quiet.” In other words, her husband was within earshot. There was the sound of a door closing and then footsteps as Audrey walked to a different room. “Tell me all.”
“He hasn’t messaged you?”
“Not yet. Why?”
“Because he and Becky are stuck in traffic and they are checking into a hotel for the night.” She heard Audrey’s muffled shriek of excitement.
“What do you think that means?”
Jenny checked the door again. “Well, the ever-practical Martin would say it means they need somewhere to sleep.”
“I hope it’s more than that. We’ve waited long enough, Jen.
If ever two people were made for each other it’s those two.
Let’s hope there is no room at the inn, or at least so little room that they have to share a bed.
Do you know the name of the hotel? I could call them and reserve every available room but the honeymoon suite. ”
She could just imagine how Becky would respond to that, and it wouldn’t be good.
“You’re a wicked, interfering woman, Audrey Patterson.” But she was smiling because even though she was reluctant to admit it, the same thought had crossed her mind.
“I’m not interfering. But sometimes you have to give life a nudge, that’s all. And talking of nudges, how is Martin?”
Audrey was the only person she’d confided in.
“Oh, you know—not great—” She let her voice trail off and heard Audrey sigh.
“We’re going to have a proper catch-up in the New Year. Walk on the beach. Heart-to-heart and a hot chocolate in that gorgeous new café.”
“I’ll look forward to it. You’ll be at the party tomorrow?”
“Of course, but we won’t be able to talk properly there. And we definitely shouldn’t talk about you-know-what because Paul would kill me if he knew about our plotting. Will would probably kill me too.”
“We’ve been plotting forever and they’ve never found out. We should offer our services to MI5. No one would ever suspect us of misdeeds.”
“We haven’t actually committed a misdeed yet. How are your Christmas preparations going? Are you ready?”
Jenny thought about everything waiting in her car.
All the things she still had to do. “I’d be closer to ready if I stopped talking to you.
” And as she said that, Martin appeared in the doorway with his coat on.
“I’ll talk to you later, Audrey. I need to help Martin unload the car.
Just wanted to let you know about Will.” She ended the call and Martin looked at her.
“Where are all these trees going? Do we have enough rooms in the house?”
“In the bedrooms. And if you could string some fairy lights around the room, that would be great.”
“Since when did we have trees and fairy lights in the bedrooms?”
“Since my mother gave me a list of all the key elements of Christmas movies. Lights are key. You can never have too many twinkly lights.”
“Are we hosting a film crew or something? What am I missing?”
“Jamie’s girlfriend loves Christmas movies. I’m trying to create the perfect Christmas.”
He rubbed his forehead. “The perfect Christmas? Isn’t that a bit unrealistic?”
“Nothing wrong with aiming high.” She handed him the car keys. “If you could bring everything in, that would be great.”
If he was feeling that his life had no purpose then the answer was to fill his life with purpose. And right now that purpose was Christmas.