Chapter 42
Later, in the church hall, with the service over and the tea urn bubbling away merrily, Vee looked around at the assembled throng.
It seemed incredible that only a short time ago she’d felt lost and vulnerable, adrift in this friendly place where everyone knew their neighbours and mostly liked them.
Now, they were all familiar to her and she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, but there were still a few very important issues to address.
She started with what seemed like the most straightforward, heading for Ben and Yolanda who had just arrived, all smiles and with Yolanda holding on to her son’s arm with a proprietorial air.
‘All okay?’ she whispered, as Yolanda stopped to greet her niece.
‘More than okay,’ Yolanda replied, beaming.
‘Benjamin is marvellous. We have so much to talk about, but I wanted to show him the village first. We’re only staying for five minutes, and then we’ll go for a tour.
The turkey smells wonderful, and I saw you’d done all the preparation for dinner later, but I can help later when we get back, or failing that, do the washing up. ’
Finn had joined them to hear the last part of this sentence. ‘You mean we’re really going to have a proper Christmas dinner?’ he said, beaming. ‘I can’t believe you’re doing all that again for me.’
‘Mothers and sons,’ said Yolanda, blinking away sudden tears. ‘How many festive meals have we missed together? At least we can catch up on one of them tonight, thanks to Beryl, in my case.’
She waved to Beryl who was busy distributing cake to all and sundry. The other woman waved back, but appeared unsettled. She came over to stand by Vee and whispered in her ear, ‘Could I have a word with you later? In private?’
‘Of course. Is something wrong?’ Vee felt a pang of alarm at the serious look on Beryl’s usually cheerful face, but her neighbour only shook her head and carried on circulating with the cake.
As Yolanda and Ben moved away, Finn was joined by a tall, elegant lady and a rather gorgeous man. ‘This is Ingrid and her partner, Joel,’ Finn said. ‘I don’t think you’ve met them yet?’
‘No, but I’ve heard a lot about you,’ said Vee, shaking hands with the pair. ‘You’re the person behind the idea of exchanging treasures at the shop, aren’t you, Ingrid?’
The other woman nodded. ‘I am indeed. I loved having the shop and it’s good that the swap’s still going on, but I’ve come over to introduce you to Joel, really.’
Vee looked at her son, who was jigging from one foot to another. ‘Joel’s a carpenter,’ he burst out, as soon as Ingrid had finished speaking. ‘He’s got a proposition for me. Tell her, Joel.’
The man, who was handsome, dark-haired and lean, and reminded Vee strongly of David Tennant in his Doctor Who era, said, ‘I don’t know if you’ve heard about the memorial benches on the country park, Vee, but I’ve designed and made most of them and I also produce bespoke furniture.
To cut a long story short, thanks to Ingrid taking charge of my publicity – I was rubbish at that part, to be honest – the business has really taken off and I need to take on someone suitably qualified to share the load. ’
There was a silence as all three gazed at Vee as if waiting for her to make some profound remark. She frowned. ‘I… erm… that’s great, but why are you telling me this?’
Finn took her by the shoulders. ‘Because I’d already made the decision to try living on this side of the pond for a year and now Sam has put me in touch with Joel, and he’s offered me a job. Isn’t that fantastic?’
‘Sam made this happen?’ Vee’s eyes searched the room and found that Sam was rooted to the spot, watching this conversation unfold.
‘Yes, we’ve been emailing and speaking to each other whenever we could since I went back to Boston.
After Christmas he realised… well, we both did, to be fair…
that we might have a very good thing going if we were both in the same place for long enough to try.
So here I am. Can I stay with you for a while… Mum?’
That last word finished Vee off completely, especially as he’d said it in the British way, and she began to cry, hugging first Finn and then Ingrid and Joel. Sam was by her side in no time for his own hug and the four of them stood together, unsure where to go from there.
‘But what about Cassie and Marissa?’ Vee said eventually. ‘They’ll be devastated.’
‘No, they won’t, they both said they’d seen this coming for a while,’ said Finn. ‘I’ve talked it through with them. They think it’s a good opportunity for me to get experience in my trade. They’re pretty sure I’ll be back in Boston eventually, of course.’
He looked at Sam as he said this, and Vee smiled. ‘Ah, the epiphany,’ she said.
‘Yes, and I’m not the only one who’s had one of those,’ Sam said, then stopped talking abruptly. His eyes slid over to where Rick was standing, arms folded, watching them all thoughtfully.
‘Anyway, that’s not for me to discuss. Why don’t we all meet at the pub tomorrow night and celebrate my news?
’ Finn said. ‘We can’t do it tonight because there’s turkey and what you Brits apparently call all the trimmings to eat later.
I’m heading back to the cottage now. I’m in charge of roast potatoes. I’ve got my instructions.’
Ingrid said that a pub meeting sounded like an excellent plan and Vee left them to firm up their arrangements.
Her mind was in turmoil with so many new developments to take in.
Finn was coming to stay with her. They’d have time to really get to know each other, and not only that, it looked as if he was on the brink of a serious relationship with Sam.
She’d heard from Cassie that Finn had only toyed with female flirtations as he grew older, but even now that the reason was clear she couldn’t help worrying if her boy and Sam were heading for heartbreak if they let themselves get close and then decided they both wanted to live in different places, far apart.
And there was Elsie to think about too. She should come first, whatever happened.
Telling herself sternly that there was no point in worrying and speculating at this point but not at all convinced that she could stick to this resolution, Vee turned to find Rick by her side, but remembered Beryl’s words just as she was about to suggest that they made a move for home.
‘There’s something I need to do before we go,’ Vee said, casting her eyes around the room to look for Beryl and finding that the older woman was already making her way towards her. ‘Hopefully it won’t take long, I’ll be with you as soon as possible, okay?’
Vee took Beryl’s arm as she reached her and they moved towards the kitchen, now empty of people but full of the debris from a successful party.
‘Are you ready to tell me what the problem is?’ Vee asked. ‘You’re worrying me. I thought you and me were on an even keel now?’
Beryl looked over her shoulder to check that nobody had followed them and closed the door between the kitchen and the church hall.
‘I’ll make it quick,’ she said. ‘There’s something I need to get off my chest before I can…
before we can be proper friends. It’s about your father and the reason you all left Willowbrook so suddenly.
It wasn’t just because your folks were concerned about what new mischief you might get up to, was it? Or that he’d got a new job?’
Vee’s stomach flipped. Where was this going? ‘I… well…’ she prevaricated, but Beryl was still talking.
‘I think it was because Ivan… your dad… he wasn’t safe around the ladies, and your mum wanted a fresh start for them. He could be very…’
‘…inappropriate?’ finished Vee, blinking away the tears that always threatened to fall when she let herself think about the way they’d left Willowbrook. ‘Yes, he was, towards the time we left. I’m assuming he did something that offended you? Made a pass?’
Beryl nodded. Her cheeks were pink now and she was staring at the floor.
‘Is that why you left?’ she asked, huskily.
‘For a long time I’ve just had the strangest feeling that I got it wrong somehow.
He never seemed like that kind of man, in all the years I’d known your parents.
I think I overreacted, but it was such a shock when he did what he did. In this very kitchen.’
‘Yes, you got it wrong, Beryl, but you weren’t to know,’ said Vee, swallowing hard. ‘Dad had been showing all the signs of early-onset dementia and one of the things he did was to… to…’
‘Come on to women? Try to touch them?’ Beryl said. ‘Oh, Vee, I’m so sorry. I should have trusted my instincts and spoken to your mum but I was just so horrified.’
‘I wish you had,’ said Vee. ‘It might have helped Mum to deal with it. Anyway, we didn’t leave because Dad had a new job.
It was my mum that had been looking for work to support us all in a new place.
Dad never worked again but we did eventually get a diagnosis and some help for him. It was a tough time.’
That was the understatement of the year, Vee thought, as she watched Beryl take in this new information.
Watching her father deteriorate had been horrendous for them all but Tallulah had borne the brunt of the stress and it had eventually made her touchy and hard to live with. Now at last they were both at peace.
‘It’s okay, Beryl,’ Vee said, reaching out to give her a hug. To begin with, Beryl felt rigid in her arms but after a moment she leaned in and put her arms around Vee’s waist. They stood together until they heard voices approaching and broke apart just in time to look nonchalant as Winnie came in.
‘What are you two doing in here?’ she asked. ‘My life, what a mess. I’m ready to start the washing up, but you should be on your way home, Vee. Young Rick is chomping at the bit out there.’
‘Are you sure?’ said Vee, but Winnie was giving her a little push towards the door to the hall and Beryl reached out again to kiss Vee on both cheeks.