Chapter 8 #2
I raised my eyebrows and was glad not to have to reply when a knock came at the door and it was pushed open.
‘Is it all right to come in?’ asked the doctor.
‘Perfect timing,’ I said, standing up. ‘We’ve just finished breakfast.’ I turned to Marilise. ‘I’ll see you for our swim at eleven, then? I might get started on that advent calendar.’
‘Marvellous,’ she replied. ‘I’ll see you then and we can continue plotting to get some Christmas cheer into this house.’
As I carried the tray downstairs to the kitchen, I reflected on the irony that it was I, who had avoided Christmas for three years now, who was the one bringing it to Lyonscroft.
I sorted out the breakfast things and drove into Taunton where I knew there to be the most beautiful toy shop.
I could have stayed for hours but restrained myself to buying just one furry friend for the first day’s advent calendar.
I didn’t know Sofia, of course, but the lady in the shop agreed with me that it was a toy any eight-year-old girl would love.
Goodness knows I’m nearly thirty years older and I was tempted myself.
I returned to the house a little later than I had aimed to, so was relieved to be greeted by India, whose imagination had clearly been caught by the whole ‘advent calendar’ idea.
‘I know you have to take Marilise swimming, but come and see what I’ve done.’
She led me into a room I hadn’t seen before, a light, bright sitting room with peach walls, a rust-coloured carpet and a soft grey sofa and armchairs.
A table stood under the window, and she led me to it to show me a large sheet of paper with a beautifully painted ‘1’, decorated with festive flourishes of bright green holly leaves with red berries.
‘I thought we could go up from one, rather than put the dates, that way it won’t matter if we miss a few.’
‘It’s perfect,’ I said. ‘You understood what I meant, and I agree about the numbering. Look what I’ve bought Sofia as the first present – do you think she’ll like it?’
I opened the bag to show her.
‘Aw, it’s adorable! I’ll have it if she doesn’t want it!’
I laughed.
‘Well, you’ll be behind me! Right, I’d better go and put this away; I’ll wrap it later. Do you want to pick the first window? You know the house much better than I do.’
She agreed and I ran upstairs to find my swimming costume and collect Marilise.
Our swim was delightful. The pool was beautifully warm and, as well as helping her with the exercises she had been given by her physiotherapist, I sat and allowed the fountain to cascade over my shoulders as Marilise paddled about on her own.
When I could see her starting to tire, I suggested going into the steam room for a few minutes and then, after a cooling shower, we went to lunch.
‘How was your swim this morning?’ asked Angela as we sat down.
‘Very good,’ replied Marilise. ‘Although Laura here is a harder taskmaster than you when it comes to my exercises.’
‘Which is exactly why we need her!’ replied Angela. ‘Somebody needs to be strict with you.’
The light-hearted conversation continued until the subject came around to the charity concert.
‘Bridget Montgomery rang earlier,’ said Astrid. ‘She pretended to be interested in a recipe I told her about not long ago, but she wanted to know if you were going to that concert, Nick.’
He groaned.
‘The formal invitation only came yesterday – give me a break.’
‘You might as well accept,’ said India. ‘You know you’re going to in the end. But I had a brilliant idea yesterday!’
I looked over at her sharply. Surely she wasn’t going to…
‘I think that you should take Laura with you as your plus one,’ she continued. ‘It might put Mrs Montgomery off the matchmaking, for a while at least, and Minty would be pleased.’ She turned to me. ‘You know her, don’t you?’
I nodded.
‘Yes, she’s one of my sister’s bridesmaids, about as eager for the job as I am, but it’s her brother she’s marrying.’
‘Your sister’s marrying Hugo?’ asked Nick.
‘That’s right,’ I said. ‘Have you been invited to the wedding?’
‘No,’ he replied. ‘Minty and I were great friends, but I never really… gelled with her brothers.’
‘I don’t blame you,’ I said indiscreetly. ‘Hugo’s nice enough but so proper and old-fashioned in his outlook. He pities me more because I have a career than because I’m a widow. I haven’t met Giles, the eldest brother, but he’s married to Steph’s best friend, Dorothea.’
‘Whether he wants to be or not,’ said Nick.
‘She’s a very determined woman, by all accounts.
Now, we’re all taking bets on how long it will be before she turfs out the Montgomerys senior and has the run of that amazing house.
’ I giggled. It was kind of malicious of us to talk like this, but a relief to find out I had allies.
‘And I think India might be onto something,’ he continued.
‘If you can be spared, and if you could bear an evening at the Montgomerys—’
‘Which will actually be fun,’ interrupted Astrid. ‘They’ve got some super musicians coming and they’re excellent hosts, never stint on the food and wine.’
‘Maybe I will go instead,’ said Marilise, her eyes twinkling, and everyone laughed.
‘I’d be honoured to have you on my arm,’ said Nick. ‘But I don’t think you’d be a very good decoy in these particular circumstances.’
‘No, no,’ she replied, smiling. ‘You take young Laura, we can spare her for one evening, can’t we, Angela?’
‘Absolutely,’ said Angela warmly. ‘You and I can catch up on that gin rummy tournament, although I’m losing so badly, I’m not sure there’s much point.’
‘Looks like a done deal,’ said India, smirking.
I hesitated.
‘Well, I suppose I could, but it sounds very smart. I’m not sure I have the right clothes.’
‘Now, now, none of that,’ said Marilise.
‘I have wardrobes full of frocks that never get worn, we can find something for you. I will gladly lend it if, in exchange, you will promise to tell me all about the evening. It would be too much for me, but I would love to hear who was there, what they wore, what music was played.’
I looked around the table. Although I was unsure about spending the evening with Nick, I had to admit that it did sound like fun – something that had been lacking in my life for a long time.
‘Okay, I’ll come,’ I said, and was met with a ripple of approval. ‘Maybe you should come as my plus one to Steph and Hugo’s wedding, in return.’
I was only joking, but Nick stuck his hand over the table for me to shake.
‘Done!’ he said. ‘One good turn deserves another. Now, we’d better make sure we swap notes so we make a convincing couple.’
I couldn’t think of a less convincing couple: the handsome tech whiz with his royal blood and playboy lifestyle going out with a boring nurse who had one foot in the past and whose idea of excitement was discovering a new bedpan disinfectant.
But I nodded and smiled; after all, if I could be helpful, then I would be.
‘What time does Sofia arrive?’ I asked, changing the subject.
‘Around three,’ replied Astrid, the familiar look of worry suffusing her face. ‘Greg’s picking her up at the airport. Oh dear, I do hope she’ll be all right here.’
‘Airport?’ I asked, confused. ‘Isn’t her mum dropping her off?’
‘Oh no,’ replied Astrid. ‘They’ve been for a very quick visit to Switzerland from the USA – where they live, you know – and they’ve put poor Sofia on a flight here while they head to the Caribbean.’
‘Are you allowed to do that?’
‘Apparently so.’ Astrid pursed her lips, her disapproval evident. ‘You pay for an “Unaccompanied Minors” service, then wave them off. Poor child, I hope she’s not too overwhelmed when she finally arrives.’
‘Oh! We haven’t told you about Laura’s idea,’ said India, then quickly outlined our plan for turning the house into an advent calendar. ‘Marilise is in on it as well, but we were hoping everyone might like to do a day or two.’
Amongst the excited agreement from Astrid, Angela and Greg, I sneaked a glance at Nick. The expression on his face was completely neutral, and I was glad that at least he didn’t seem annoyed. Suddenly, his eyes flicked towards me, and I flushed and looked away, caught in the act of staring.
‘I think it’s a great idea,’ he said, and when I glanced up, I saw that he was still looking directly at me. ‘Looks like we’ve been sent a Christmas angel this year.’
The heat rose again in my face; I couldn’t tell whether he was being sarcastic or serious.
‘I agree,’ said Marilise, putting her hand over mine and smiling. I smiled back, gratefully. ‘I think that Laura is exactly what we all need at Lyonscroft.’