Where the Sea Lavender Grows
Chapter 1 Ruth
Ruth
There was music. A Chopin nocturne. Ruth kept her eyes closed, her thoughts drifting to her aunt’s Paris apartment.
Aunt Sabine, bent over the piano keys, her blonde head bobbing, her face twitching like a rabbit’s as she emphasised the notes.
Lilias seated so close to Ruth on the chic white sofa that Ruth could feel her body shaking with suppressed laughter.
Their mother in the armchair opposite, frowning slightly, well aware of their torment.
“Morning, Ruth.” A cheerful voice suddenly interrupted the memory, dissolving Sabine and her rabbit-twitching features, bringing Ruth back to the here and now—her room at Rose Lodge Care Home.
“You look cheerful today.” Heather, one of the care workers. Ruth’s favourite.
“The music made me think of when we went to visit my aunt in Paris before the first war.”
“Nice, isn’t it?” said Heather. “Though some people would prefer a bit of singing, I think. Vera Lynn, ‘The White Cliffs of Dover;’ that sort of thing.”
Ruth frowned. Why anyone would want to hear music from the awful, awful years of the Second World War was quite beyond her.
Heather noticed her expression. “Your hip hurting again, is it, lovely? Here, let’s give you your meds, and then we can see about getting you a bit of breakfast.”
Breakfast made Ruth think of the turquoise kitchen of Marsh House. The smell that permeated every room after Lilias had baked bread. But Marsh House was gone now. As was dear Lilias.
Heather had pulled the curtains open, but now she returned to Ruth’s bedside, frowning at her sudden tears.
“Hey, what’s all this?” she asked, taking Ruth’s gnarled hand in hers.
Ruth blinked, the tears dripping down her cheeks, and as Heather reached out to wipe them away, Ruth saw the sparkle of a diamond ring on the care worker’s finger.
“You didn’t have that yesterday,” she said, “did you?”
Heather grinned. “I didn’t. Well spotted.”
“Who’s the lucky man or woman?”
Heather laughed. “That’s one of the many things I like about you, Ruth. Your enlightenment. Not many people would think I might have got engaged to a woman.”
“Not all of us ancient clingers-on are narrow-minded bigots. There’s a lot I don’t like about these times, but this new civil-partnership thing they’ve brought in is a good thing. Though it doesn’t go far enough, of course.”
Heather smiled at her. “It’s a man, actually. Karl. We’ve been seeing each other for two years now. My daughter really likes him.”
“That’s good.”
“It is. None of this would be happening if she didn’t. My girl will always come first for me. I made sure Karl knew that straightaway. Anyway, what can I get you to eat?”
But Ruth didn’t hear her. She was thinking about another child. A child lost forever.
“Ruth?” Heather prompted her. “What’s the matter? You’re crying again.”
Ruth reached out to clutch Heather’s hand hard, the diamond ring biting into her bony fingers. “Keep hold of your little girl, d’you hear?” she said. “Don’t ever let anything happen to her.”
Heather reached out to smooth down Ruth’s hair. “I don’t intend to; don’t you worry about that. Now, how about joining the others in the dining room for that breakfast?”