Chapter 42 Stephanie #2
I’d painted trees, like the ones that had given Tall Trees its name, on each side, framing the space.
There were silhouettes of soldiers and airmen, and planes in the sky, and I’d included some poppies and nurses and doctors.
I’d added an NHS rainbow as a nod to the difficulties of the last couple of years, too.
And then right in the middle, I’d painted Elsie in her nurse’s uniform, holding the book in her arms. Slightly behind her, I’d added Harry.
Handsome and proud in his RAF garb. Above them the sun shone and I’d twisted the words “You Are My Sunshine” into its rays.
In fact, if you looked closer you could see there were words all over the mural. In the blades of grass beneath the soldiers’ feet, in the petals of the poppies and on the leaves of the trees. There were hundreds of messages taken from Elsie’s book.
And finally, on the trunk of one of the trees, so it looked like an old-fashioned etching in the bark, I’d painted my own special message.
I’d copied Finn’s small fish with the arrow pointing to its fin, drawn my little TV with the letter S on the screen, and then beneath them both I’d painted: “Sorry.”
Of course, none of that meant anything at all if Finn didn’t see it. But I still held out the hope that perhaps he’d go past one day on the bus or walk by and glance over and perhaps read the message I’d left for him. I would just have to wait.
‘I don’t know where she’s gone,’ a voice said on the other side of the curtain. It was Blessing. I froze, hoping she wouldn’t look behind the material. ‘She’s probably just in the loo or something. I will go and find her for you.’
I stayed very still and quiet as I heard her footsteps fade away. She was probably talking to one of the councillors, I thought. I’d have to go and do the networking bit in a minute. I couldn’t hide out here much longer. I’d wait a couple of minutes to make sure they’d gone inside and then follow.
But suddenly there was a tugging at the curtain and there was Finn.
‘Stevie!’ he said with genuine surprise. ‘I erm, I didn’t know you were here.’
‘I was just looking at the mural.’ I felt my cheeks flame. ‘Before the big unveiling.’
Finn looked up at the painting in awe. ‘It’s absolutely wonderful,’ he said. ‘You’ve done such a good job.’
He put his hand out and touched Elsie. ‘Here she is,’ he said. ‘Our girl.’
‘She moved to Ireland,’ I told him in a hurry, desperately wanting him to know everything. ‘She went to find her best friend’s family and pass on her dying message. And she stayed. Harry followed and they got married.’ Finn’s eyes widened and so did his smile.
‘They had a happy ending,’ he said.
‘Better than that.’ I bounced on my feet, glad I’d worn the trainers. ‘Grumpy Helen is Elsie’s daughter!’
Finn’s jaw dropped. ‘What on earth?’
‘She didn’t want us to read some of the messages,’ I said vaguely with a wave of my hand. ‘But it’s all sorted now. Her brothers are here too. They’re so proud of their mum.’
‘And rightly so.’ Finn looked up at Elsie’s portrait and then he turned back to me with a smile. ‘You are my sunshine,’ he said. ‘That was Elsie and Harry’s message.’
‘It was.’
We stood side by side for a moment, gazing up at the pictures. I felt my knuckles graze his.
‘I’ve really missed you,’ I blurted, keeping my eyes fixed on the mural. ‘I was so scared when you had your accident. I thought everything had gone wrong, like it did with my exhibition and with Max.’
Finn turned to look at me. ‘I know,’ he said. ‘I realise that now. I was hurt when you didn’t come to the hospital. Hurt and embarrassed, I think. I assumed I’d misread it all and there was nothing between us.’
I snorted. ‘There was definitely something between us.’
He smiled. ‘I should have thought more about all the stuff that had happened to you.’
‘I was pretty brutal, though,’ I admitted. ‘I could have been nicer.’
He sighed. ‘Ironically, we could have communicated better. Perhaps we should have written messages like Harry and Elsie.’ He looked back at the painting and I heard him breathe in sharply as he spotted the little fish. He reached up and touched it with his fingertips.
‘You did this?’ he said.
I nodded. Finn trailed his hand across the arrow pointing to the fish’s fin, and then the television and finally he traced the word “sorry”.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said.
He turned to me. ‘It’s beautiful.’ Then he grinned. ‘Much nicer than my effort.’
He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a stack of Post-it Notes.
One by one he peeled them off and stuck them on to the mural.
On the first one he’d made a pretty rubbish effort at drawing the telly.
Then he’d drawn his own version of his fish.
And finally, he’d written: “You are my sunshine”.
I was so thrilled I could hardly speak. ‘Really?’ I squeaked. ‘Really and truly?’
Finn took me in his arms. ‘I’ve been miserable without you, Stevie.’
‘I’ve been miserable without you.’
‘You are my sunshine,’ he said. And then he kissed me.
I melted into him, thinking this was really the best message of all.
‘We should probably go inside,’ Finn said eventually.
‘I know,’ I groaned. ‘They’ll be wanting to do the unveiling. Can’t we stay here a bit longer?’ We kissed again and somewhere far away I could hear voices, chattering and laughing … and counting?
‘Three, two, one …’ someone shouted. The curtain dropped and there stood the mayor and the councillors, all the residents of Tall Trees, my nan in her wheelchair, Tara, Micah, and the photographer from the local paper, all clapping and cheering.
Sheepishly, Finn and I broke apart as Val spoke up, a note of triumph in her voice. ‘I told you he liked you,’ she said.