Chapter 25 #2
‘One wedding a week,’ Marian said.
‘One a week would be plenty,’ Susan agreed. ‘I’d say Cathy would jump at it.’
‘Gareth could do a website,’ Marian said. ‘Spread the word.’
‘Weddings at Chance House,’ Susan said.
‘Weddings by the sea,’ Marian said. ‘Tom would do the accounting.’
A short silence fell. They weren’t dismissing it. They weren’t telling her it couldn’t be done.
‘I think,’ Marian said, ‘this could really work.’
Susan nodded. ‘I do too.’
It was a new dream, not totally unrelated to the old, but different.
It was a half-formed plan with no guarantee of success, but something inside her was prodding at her to give it a go.
It would be a huge challenge, and to embark on it without Damien would be beyond sad, but she wouldn’t be doing it alone.
‘When you get home,’ Marian said, ‘we’ll get together and make a list of everything that needs to be done, and then Susan and I will go shopping. How’s your budget?’
‘I have money, but not loads.’
‘OK, we can keep that in mind. We can get Tom on board for the numbers.’
‘And while we’re shopping, you can concentrate on being a mum for a while,’ Susan said. ‘How does that sound?’
It sounded good, really good. It sounded like the best thing she’d heard in a long time.
Greta turned up later, bringing a bunch of wildflowers in an old enamel jug, and a bottle of her elderflower cordial. She hadn’t responded to the message Lydia had left the night before. She looked humbled.
‘I have come to make up,’ she said quietly. ‘I apologise for the things I said to you. I should have known you were not such a person. I have told people that man was not telling the truth about you.’
‘I’m glad to hear it.’
‘Do you forgive me?’
‘Of course I do. I’ve been in touch with Deborah. She’s returned his deposit.’
‘Very well. Let us say no more about it.’ She paused. For once, she seemed uncertain. She was ill at ease, still clutching the bottle she’d brought. ‘I must ask,’ she said, ‘if I was the cause of your baby coming early.’
Lydia looked at her in astonishment.
‘I upset you. I said very hurtful things.’
She’d had a baby who had died – and now she thought she might have caused the premature birth of another. ‘Greta, it wasn’t you. I tripped in the kitchen, and my waters broke. You upset me for sure, but you had nothing to do with the baby coming early.’
She saw the relief that washed over her friend’s face, the small drop in the shoulders.
‘Thank you,’ Greta said. ‘May I please see her?’ and at the window of the neonatal ward Lydia wondered if the sight of Naomi brought back memories of her own.
Maybe every baby did. Maybe it was something she had learnt to live with.
When they got back to her room, Lydia outlined her new plan for Chance House, and Greta approved.
‘You will have a lot of work to do, but you will also have a lot of help, and you will succeed, I think. I should be happy to help you prepare rooms and take care of guests on the day. Now I must go and feed my animals, but I will see you soon. Many congratulations on your beautiful new baby.’
Alone again, Lydia considered the wider implications of her change of heart.
Breaking the news to her parents would certainly be difficult.
It would be hard on them, living so far from their only grandchild.
She fully expected that they would try to talk her out of it, but she was resolved to give this new idea every chance, and they’d just have to try and meet up whenever they could.
Brona would be disappointed – but Lydia would have more than enough bedrooms for all the Dublin gang. Cocktail Fridays could become Cocktail Wednesdays. She might have to rejig some of the yoga classes, but that was possible too. Suddenly everything was possible.
She’d offer Brona her pick of the rooms.
Brendan and Kathleen would be happy with the change, and the two cousins would get to know one another, once Naomi was old enough to be of interest to Jack.
All assuming she pulled it off, of course. She might go bankrupt while she was still trying to get set up. She might use what money she had on furnishings and appliances, then find there wasn’t enough demand for small-scale weddings in a fairly remote location.
But the same gut feeling that had told her she was doing the right thing in letting Lorraine and Ian use the house was telling her now that this was also the right thing – and she knew, with a deep conviction, that Damien would approve and cheer her on.
She had one more thing to do before she slept. She reached for her phone.
‘Lydia,’ Tessa said, ‘lovely to hear from you.’
‘How are things?’
They hadn’t spoken since the wedding. She’d crossed Lydia’s mind more than once, but she’d felt she should give Tessa a chance to find her feet.
‘I’m doing fine. I’m still living with Delia and Robert, and I’m on the lookout for work so I can get out of their hair, but so far I’m not having any luck.’
‘What kind of work are you looking for?’
‘Shop work, I thought, but I’d consider anything.’
That sounded hopeful. ‘I’ve got something you might consider,’ Lydia said.
It had come to her while she’d been casting about for a possible nanny, the memory of a conversation on the day of Ursula’s wedding. When the children moved out, Tessa had said, I started to look after babies while their mothers were working. It was something I could do, something I loved to do.
Maybe she’d love to do it again.