Chapter 35
The next morning, I’m on pins, waiting for Erin to call with her results. When my mobile telephone finally rings, I take a deep breath before answering.
‘I did it,’ she says. ‘I got in! Nottingham.’
I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy for another person.
‘Say something, Mabel.’
‘You’re astonishing,’ I say.
‘They’re not the best results in the world,’ she says. ‘But they’re enough.’
‘Don’t downplay it, Erin. You lost your mum, and then you went in there, cool as a cucumber, and you aced it.’
I can hear the smile in her voice when she says: ‘I did, didn’t I?’
‘You absolutely did. I just wish I was there to give you a hug.’
‘Me too. But you’re not, so I’m going with plan B, which is to meet up with my friends and drink until I’m sick.’
I laugh. ‘Be careful,’ I say. ‘Get a taxi home. I’ll pay.’
And then I think that perhaps she’s crying.
‘Erin?’
‘I’m still here, Mabel. I just feel quite overwhelmed, you know? But I’m all right. Julie’s here. She picked me up and spun me in a big circle when we heard. She wants to talk to you, okay?’
And then she hands the telephone over and Julie’s squealing about how brilliant it is and how she’s going to make Erin’s favourite sandwich to line her stomach before she goes out drinking. She asks what’s going on at our end.
‘We’re just settling in,’ I say. ‘Getting used to the place. Olly and me, anyway. Dot’s quite used to it already.’
‘Good. Well, I’d better get this sandwich on the go. Erin’s bouncing around the house like a rubber ball. I think I’ll have to tie her down to get her to eat it. We’ll talk soon, Mabel, okay?’
After the call’s ended, I feel a bit lost, like I should be there and not here. But then Dot comes in the room with a tea for me, and I shake myself out of it.
Mid-morning, we walk into town. We’re meeting Hayley for a coffee. She’s chosen the place and it’s all brightly coloured cushions and bold prints, with a friendly woman behind the counter and a cabinet of outrageous-looking cakes.
‘I’m going to have a slice of Crunchie cookie pie with my tea, Mabel,’ Dot says. ‘What about you?’
‘What’s a brookie?’ I ask.
We both look to the woman serving us.
‘It’s a cross between a brownie and a cookie,’ she says. ‘They’re very good.’
‘I’ll take one of those,’ I say.
We find a table tucked away in a corner and Dot and I sink into a sofa and try one another’s cakes while we wait for Hayley to arrive. She’s a couple of minutes late and full of apologies, which we wave away.
‘It’s not like we have important business meetings to get to after this,’ Dot says, and we all laugh.
‘You’re my favourite clients,’ Hayley says. ‘Don’t tell the others.’
‘We wouldn’t dream of it,’ I say. ‘Even if we did know who they were.’
Hayley goes to order and I ask Dot if she remembers what we’re going through today. She shrugs and we laugh.
‘We don’t remember what’s on the agenda,’ Dot says when Hayley returns. ‘It’s a good job we have you to organise us, isn’t it?’
Hayley puts her tall glass of coffee and her cake down on the table.
‘Is that a brookie?’ I ask her. ‘They’re very good.’
‘It is! And today, ladies, we’re just running through absolutely everything to make sure we haven’t forgotten anything. We’re getting close to the wire now, as you know, and things sometimes fall through the cracks. Now, have you bought your rings?’
I look at Dot, because every time rings have been mentioned, she’s said to leave it with her.
‘No,’ she says. ‘But there’s a little jeweller I love just down the road from here and I was planning to nip in with Mabel after this.’
Hayley looks a bit worried. ‘You know it might be too late to get something resized now?’
Dot smiles. ‘It’s all in hand. I promise. Nothing to worry about.’
Intriguing.
‘You know, I’ve had couples who have tattoos as rings.’
I laugh slightly nervously. ‘I’m not sure that’s for us.’
‘Okay, leaving rings with you,’ Hayley says, pulling out a notepad and a ridiculous pen with a fluffy pink ball on the end of it. ‘Flowers?’
‘All sorted,’ I say. ‘There’s one florist in Broughton and we’re using him. He ran us through everything and it sounded lovely.’
‘Cake,’ Hayley says, taking a bite of the one in front of her and making an appreciative groaning noise.
‘Our friend Patty is making it,’ I say. ‘One tier carrot, one lemon, and one coffee.’
‘That sounds divine,’ Hayley says. ‘And I heard you’ve both got your dresses now? It’s all falling into place!’
We go through her checklist, item by item, and she puts a star by anything that still needs work.
And I’m thinking, it wouldn’t even have crossed my mind to hire a wedding planner if Sean hadn’t mentioned Hayley, but it’s made everything so easy.
Particularly as we’ve ended up pulling this together quite fast.
‘Now, where are we up to with the divorce, Dot?’ Hayley asks.
Dot pulls a face. ‘It’s all going through, but I’m not convinced it’s going to be done in time. Geoff’s doing everything he can, the sweetheart. And his lawyer friend is too. It’s just one of those things. It takes as long as it takes.’
‘Right,’ Hayley says, ‘so the registry office is booked but we’ll just cancel last minute if it’s not going to be possible.’
Dot looks a bit glum and I think I’ll talk to her about it later. How it doesn’t matter, not really. How we’re doing all the bits that mean a lot, the gathering of our people and the sharing of our love.
‘There’s one other thing,’ Hayley says, ‘and I don’t mean to pry, so tell me to keep my nose out if I am. But Sean mentioned that you’ve recently seen a son you’ve been estranged from.’
‘Yes,’ Dot says. ‘And it’s fine. I’m happy to talk about it.’
‘I just wondered whether you were planning to invite him.’
Dot looks at me, and I give her a small, encouraging nod. ‘We haven’t asked him yet, but we’re planning to. It will be him and his wife and their two sons, if they can make it. If they want to come.’
Hayley smiles, and there’s something so genuine about it that I find myself smiling too. ‘I don’t know what went on, but how wonderful that you’ve come back together.’
‘We had a bit of a troubled time,’ Dot says, but then Hayley cuts in.
‘Dot, you don’t have to tell me. You don’t have to justify yourself. I know how complicated life can be.’
I put a hand over Dot’s, and we finish our drinks, chatting about this and that.
‘Will you come?’ I ask, just before we leave.
‘To the wedding?’ Hayley asks.
‘Yes.’ I look at Dot. We’ve discussed this, but she does a series of little nods to confirm that she’s still in agreement. ‘We’d really like you to be there.’
‘I’m usually around for the ceremony, to check everything’s going to plan, but then—’
‘No,’ Dot says, a little firm. ‘We don’t want you there as the planner. Once the day arrives it will all go to plan or it won’t. We’d like you to come as our guest.’
Hayley puts a palm flat against her chest. ‘It would be an honour,’ she says. ‘I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be. And I’m pretty familiar with the seating plan, so that’s helpful for squeezing an extra one in.’
‘You can sit next to Sean,’ Dot says. ‘I don’t think he’s using his plus one.’
‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that, actually,’ Hayley says, and then she laughs at mine and Dot’s shocked faces. ‘I think it’s early days, but there’s a man on the scene. Don’t tell him you heard it from me.’
Outside the coffee shop we part in a flurry of kisses and hugs, and then Dot links my arm and leads me to the jeweller she mentioned.
It’s a tiny little place with cases of rings and earrings and necklaces scattered about.
The woman behind the counter comes out to give Dot a hug, and Dot makes the introductions.
‘Mabel, this is Ann. She was at school with John. Ann, this is my Mabel.’
‘It’s lovely to meet you, Mabel,’ Ann says. ‘It’s been a pleasure to work on your rings.’
‘Are they ready?’ Dot asks.
‘They are.’ She goes off, presumably to fetch them, and I look at Dot.
‘I thought we were going to choose something today,’ I say.
She looks down, then back up at me. ‘I hope you don’t mind, Mabel. I took the liberty of working with Ann to design something.’
Before I can respond, Ann is back with two small, black boxes. She hands them to Dot, who opens them up and beams.
‘This is yours,’ she says, handing me one box. Inside, there’s a gold band with the letter D and a sort of squiggle on it. I don’t want to put it on my wedding ring finger before the big day so I try it on the other hand, and it’s a perfect fit.
‘So mine has a D,’ I say. ‘For Dot?’
‘And mine has an M, for Mabel. And then they each have half a heart, so when they’re next to one another, the heart is whole.’ She gestures for me to take the ring off and stacks hers on top of mine to show me.
I don’t know what to say.
‘I think it’s one of the nicest designs I’ve ever been asked to do,’ Ann says.
‘What do you think, Mabel?’ Dot asks, and she looks a bit concerned, as if she thinks I might be about to tell her I don’t like it.
‘I think it’s perfect. I think it’s wonderful. Thank you.’
‘Oh, good,’ Dot says. ‘You’ve done a brilliant job, Ann.’
They go off to the counter so Dot can pay and I stand there in the middle of the empty shop, wondering how it’s possible that I am this happy.