Chapter 41
Vee sat in front of glowing flames, toasting her toes and reflecting on what a brilliant investment the log burner had been.
Finn had been determined there should be a real fire in Dragonfly Cottage, and the buying and installing of it was a very generous gift from Cassie and Marissa.
In Vee’s opinion, it was a present given in relief and gratitude that Finn was still living with them in Boston, although since his first visit to see Vee, he’d been in constant touch by email and the occasional long phone call.
‘You must have known I’d never try to take your boy away from you,’ Vee said, when she’d phoned to thank them for their generosity.
Cassie hadn’t given her a straight answer to that question, so Vee had to assume that her sister had been more than a little anxious when Finn had come back from his trip to Britain waxing lyrical about the cute village, the awesome people he’d met there and, of course, his amazing birth mother.
Christmas had been a subdued affair for Vee.
Finn had elected to stay in Boston, whereas the Saga Louts, plus their trio of male attendants, had been in Tenerife, ‘catching some winter rays’, as Maurice put it.
Rick decided he really should accept his ex’s invitation to spend the festive period with his boys in Germany.
Apparently, her latest relationship had gone pear-shaped, and she needed the support of the only man she could truly trust.
Vee seethed at this remark when Rick had reported it to her.
‘Shame she didn’t trust you enough to stay here then,’ she said.
Rick hadn’t answered, and ever since he’d left, Vee had wished she’d never made that remark.
Their friendship was still on slightly icy ground, it seemed.
Neither of them wanted to discuss their joint past but equally, nor could they seem to move on without at least trying to clear the air.
Matters hadn’t been helped by Rick being offered a month’s work in Cornwall, helping to make a friend’s holiday cottage into a dream home by the sea.
This had extended to an even longer period, in the nature of most such jobs.
Rick had hardly been in Willowbrook since the day of Beryl’s fuddle and Vee missed him more than she cared to admit.
She was convinced that Stacey wanted to get her claws back into her ex and persuade him to relocate to Germany.
The thought of this was unbelievably depressing.
Vee made her mind up when everyone departed for their various Christmases that she wouldn’t let herself be gloomy but was nevertheless relieved to be invited to spend the day with Sam and Elsie.
In the event, the two of them had come to Dragonfly Cottage early on Christmas morning and between them they’d created a day that suited them all.
‘This has been brilliant,’ Sam said as he persuaded Elsie that it was finally time to go home.
‘I’m glad you talked us into having Christmas here instead of you spending the day at our flat, Vee.
Having a roaring log fire’s great at this time of year and Elsie’s loved having a bit more space to play.
Not to mention a TV that doesn’t go on the blink every five minutes. ’
‘Yes, I promised you The Grinch was the best film ever, and I was right,’ said Elsie. ‘And I also told you that all that chocolate wouldn’t make me sick. Actually, now I do feel a bit… um…’
‘I think we’d better go,’ said Sam hastily. ‘Thanks so much, Vee. This was the best day ever. Keep me posted about what’s going on with Benjamin Gale and the big reunion. Can’t wait to find out how it all goes.’
Of course, even before Christmas had happened, easily the most dramatic event of recent times had been the arrival of Ben at Beryl’s house.
When Vee had brought him inside and given him a much-needed whisky, he’d told them all that he’d seen a small ad in the Guardian, asking if anyone knew the whereabouts of a baby boy who’d been adopted in the area of Meadowthorpe.
It had given Ben’s exact date of birth, and he knew he’d come from roughly that area.
‘The timing was critical,’ Ben said. ‘My adoptive father died some time ago, but my mum only passed away last month. Until now I’ve had no desire to trace my birth mother because I was grateful for a good life, but the ad triggered something in me, and I couldn’t get it out of my head.’
‘But how did you end up at Beryl’s house?’ Vee asked, mystified. ‘Yolanda – that’s your real mum – never lived here and she was only next door at mine for part of her life.’
‘Ah, now that was where I had a stroke of luck,’ said Ben. ‘Whoever it was who placed the appeal gave this address, so I came straight here before I could have a chance to talk myself out of it. So which one of you lovely ladies is my mother?’
‘It’s just like that film,’ whispered Winnie. ‘The one with Pierce Brosnan in it.’
‘GoldenEye?’ said Frank. ‘I do love a good James Bond story.’
‘No, not that one. The one with Julie Walters too.’
‘Educating Rita?’ suggested Anthea. ‘An excellent movie.’
‘No. You know; the Meryl Streep one.’
‘Kramer vs Kramer?’
Vee’s head was spinning by this time. ‘I think Winnie means Mamma Mia,’ she said. ‘And I’m sorry to disappoint you, Ben, but your mother isn’t any of the women here. Let me explain.’
It had taken a while for all the details to be revealed, but it finally transpired that Beryl was the one who’d contacted the Guardian.
Tallulah had taken her neighbour into her confidence about the adoption of Yolanda’s baby years ago, and once back from France, after having seen Yolanda and with her memory well and truly jogged, Beryl had decided to do her very best to get the estranged parties back together.
If Finn and Vee could do it, so could Yolanda and her mystery son.
Vee got up from her comfortable fireside chair.
It was time she had a final check around the house to make sure everything was ready for her visitors, because she was aiming to go out and leave Yolanda to her own devices as soon as she was settled.
Vee planned to take Finn with her to the church this afternoon because today was the Feast of the Epiphany, a big moment in the church calendar, and Reverend Bev was insistent that her friends should help her to celebrate this important date in style with an extra midweek service and tea and cake afterwards.
At this very moment, Rick was at the airport collecting Yolanda, who had at last managed to organise enough neighbours to look after her hens and, of course, Ferdinand.
Finn, who had requested a proper Christmas dinner during his visit, British-style, was arriving by taxi shortly too, having flown to a different airport.
The plan was to provide the opportunity for Yolanda and Ben, who even now should be on his way to Willowbrook, to meet privately at Dragonfly Cottage while the rest of the group joined Rev Bev.
‘But we wanted to see Yolanda and her son meet up,’ protested Anthea, when Vee ran the plan past the Saga Louts.
‘We haven’t had this much action in Willowbrook for years.
First young Finn and now not-so-young Benjamin.
I must say, both of them are extremely handsome in their own right. Good job I’m taken.’
Maurice didn’t look at all impressed by this train of thought but forbore to say anything. He was beginning to know his fiancée very well. ‘I can’t believe they’ve waited this long to meet,’ he said. ‘Ben and Yolanda, I mean. Why didn’t they do this as soon as he turned up at Beryl’s house?’
‘Well, for one thing, Yolanda didn’t have a passport so she couldn’t just hop on a plane,’ said Winnie.
‘Simone’s helped her to fill all the forms in and get herself sorted out to come over here, and then there was her brood of livestock to make provision for.
Ben was intending to fly over to France in the meantime but then the poor soul got shingles and he’s only just on the mend, apparently.
Anyway, it’s happening now, so fingers crossed it all goes well.
Must be very strange to find your mother or son after so many years. ’
Beryl opened her mouth as if to comment but apparently decided against it.
Vee gave her a crafty hug when nobody was looking.
To be able to see her son again was something her neighbour could only dream of.
At least now she seemed to have reconciled herself to the fact that Patrick, though a troubled soul, should be remembered with love rather than vengeful thoughts about how he’d been treated by his peers.
Those days were long gone, and it was time to focus on her son’s happier moments.
It was best that Beryl didn’t know the full extent of Patrick’s darker side.
Sometimes ignorance really can be bliss.
As Vee waited for the new arrivals to land, she became more and more on edge.
Finn’s emails over December had been sparse, to say the least, and although they’d FaceTimed on Christmas Day, she’d felt as if there was something he wasn’t telling her.
And as for the Yolanda/Ben situation, the whole thing was going to be nerve-racking for them both.
She heard a knock at the door and hurried to see if it was Finn or Yolanda, but there on the doorstep were Elsie and Sam.
‘Hello, Vee,’ said Elsie, flinging her arms around Vee’s waist and hugging her tightly.
‘We’re just going along to the church because it’s Piffinnee today.
My teacher let me and Sophie and Cameron out five minutes early so we could get there on time cos we’re carrying the magic men up to the front for Rev Bev. ’
‘Magic men?’ Vee was bewildered. Her mind was full of her visitors, and she was puzzled to think that Bev was going to perform some sort of conjuring trick for them all.
‘The Magi,’ explained Sam. ‘Elsie and her friends are going to take the statues of the Three Wise Men up to the altar. It’s going to be a short service to celebrate the Epiphany on the actual day and then—’
‘Cake!’ shouted Elsie. ‘Come on, Dad. We haven’t got much time. We just came to see if we could borrow that fancy box you’ve got. Dad’s going to be dressing up as a magic man and he’s the one carrying the Frankenstein. He hasn’t got anything to use for it.’
Vee remembered Elsie being enraptured by the fancy box as she explored the cottage on Christmas Day.
It was a small casket Vee had inherited from her grandma.
It contained a few pieces of costume jewellery and was studded with glass beads.
In Elsie’s eyes, it was a treasure chest, covered with dazzling gemstones that winked when they caught the light.
‘Of course you can borrow it. It’ll make a perfect container for the frankincense. You know where it is, don’t you? Help yourself,’ said Vee.
‘I just looked up the word Epiphany to make sure Elsie knows what it means,’ said Sam quietly, as his daughter rushed upstairs. ‘The dictionary definition, apart from the Wise Men bit, is a moment of great revelation or realisation.’
Sam paused and Vee looked at him more closely. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes were very bright.
‘I had one of those, just after Christmas Day,’ he said.
‘I’ll tell you about it later. Oh, here she is, and she’s found the box.
Come on, sweetheart, we’ll need to run. I’m going to have to fight Rick for the next-best Wise Man outfit from Bev’s collection.
Frank’s already bagged the golden cloak. See you later, Vee.’
The two of them had gone before Vee had time to press Sam for more details. She stood at the door and watched them hurry away down Fiddler’s Row. A revelation or realisation, eh? Hmmm.