Chapter 4
THREE AND A HALF MONTHS LATER
‘Oh, my goodness, Yvonne!’ Veronica placed the cake box lid on the table. ‘This is a masterpiece.’
I wouldn’t go as far as calling it a masterpiece but it was by far the most ambitious design I’d attempted and I was very pleased with the result.
As soon as I’d seen my name on the cake rota for the final meeting of Cake just not a symmetrical one.
While I enjoyed making clothes, I could get lost in patchwork quilting for hours.
There was something so soothing and rewarding about the patchwork part – taking hundreds of small pieces of fabric which weren’t anything special on their own and joining them together to create something incredibly beautiful.
I equally loved the quilting aspect – the process of stitching together the three layers of patchwork, wadding (or batting in the USA – the cosy layer in the middle) and the backing fabric.
It required concentration and precision, keeping my mind focused on the task instead of drifting off into the past where there were too many difficult memories.
With Christmas Day being a week tomorrow, the conversation inevitably turned to Christmas plans. Veronica’s eldest daughter, Rebecca, was flying over from Germany with her family, Germany being where Veronica’s husband had previously been stationed.
‘They’re arriving on Tuesday and flying back the day after Boxing Day,’ Veronica said. ‘Not quite as long as I’d hoped for but any time with family is precious.’
‘Will you see Felicity too?’ I asked. Veronica’s youngest daughter had met a Scot not long after she’d returned to the UK with her parents and had settled in St Andrews with him.
‘Not this time, but I’ll see her for my birthday in February.’
Both girls had children – twin twelve-year-old boys for Rebecca and two girls and a boy under ten for Felicity.
Veronica had joked that being so far away from her daughters meant escaping five more rounds of dirty nappies and toilet training but I couldn’t help thinking the humour was a cover and she was really sad about the limited time with them.
When Carson died, Rebecca and Felicity had both offered for Veronica to move in with them.
She told me she’d stayed with each of her girls for a while but accepting either of their offers was out of the question.
Choosing one over the other would cause friction between the girls and the move wasn’t right for her anyway.
She’d made Willowdale her home and had a large circle of friends and an active social life.
She’d started over several times when moving to different bases with the army and, in her mid-fifties at the time of Carson’s passing, the last thing she’d wanted to do was start over again somewhere new.
‘What about you, Milly?’ Veronica asked. ‘Did you say Coral’s working over Christmas?’
Milly nodded. ‘Yes – another season in Finnish Lapland. She flew out as soon as term ended.’