Chapter 31
‘I’ll be glad when I can see the back of this wretched thing!’ said Marjorie. ‘It makes me feel so bloody elderly! And the way people talk to you. They clearly think I’m simple in the head as well as having dodgy legs.’
‘Well, hopefully it won’t be for much longer, but until then, simply make the most of it and enjoy the scenery. You do know it’s knackering pushing this thing? We could always swap places if you really wanted to.’
‘You know I would if I could,’ she told her daughter.
Marjorie was continuing to improve with each passing day.
Her mobility was slowly getting better too with the help of some physiotherapy and a walker and she was quite capable of navigating her way around the home, and Hollyhocks, but she was still a long way off attempting a Sunday afternoon stroll around Lower Leaping, so they’d borrowed a wheelchair for the afternoon.
Knowing her mum’s strength of spirit and determination, Tess could certainly see her returning to that level of fitness one day.
Spotting an ice cream van parked up by the side of the river, Marjorie exclaimed, ‘Oh, let me treat you to a 99, darling! It’s been ages since I’ve had one of those.’
They joined the queue, each of them plumping for a cone of swirly delight, covered in raspberry sauce, sprinkles and adorned with a flake, finding a bench where they could sit and eat their ice creams, watching the world go by.
‘It’s the simple pleasures, isn’t it?’ said Marjorie, her face lighting up in a childish grin as she tucked into her cone.
‘Stop! Let me take a photo. We can send it to Hannah to show her what she’s missing.’
‘Good idea. I think that darling girl must have forgotten about her grandmother. I haven’t heard from her in days!’
‘Don’t worry. You’re not the only one. I think she’s far too smitten with Billy and having too much of a good time to think about us back home. Never mind, she’ll be home in a few weeks anyway.’
Tess’s reply seemed to relieve Marjorie’s concerns, but that wasn’t to say that she wasn’t unsettled herself about Hannah’s lack of contact.
She’d always been so reliable about phoning at the pre-arranged time on a Sunday morning and keeping Tess updated with regular texts and WhatsApp messages, but recently, the messages had been few and far between and were far less chatty than usual.
This morning, Tess hadn’t even heard from Hannah and Tess’s follow-up message asking where she was had gone unanswered.
Tess settled herself on the end of the bench, next to Marjorie in her wheelchair and lifted her phone to the air to capture the image of them holding up their ice-cream cones.
With the honey-coloured stone cottages behind them, lifted by the golden warmth of the summer’s afternoon, it was a beautiful picture of mum and daughter that Tess felt sure Hannah would appreciate.
Immediately, Tess sent it on its way with a cheery message, hoping it might elicit a response from Hannah.
Hey, greetings from Lower Leaping! We love you dearly and miss you madly. Call me when you can! Lots of love! xxx
Tess put her phone away. There would be a perfectly logical explanation as to why Hannah hadn’t been in touch, although Tess was annoyed that she couldn’t have dropped her a message to let her know she was okay.
Perhaps she was in an area where she didn’t get reception, or maybe her battery had run out of charge or she could even have lost her phone.
That would explain it. Tess turned her attention back to her ice cream before it melted in the sun.
She didn’t need to be overly concerned just yet.
She was sure she would hear from Hannah soon enough.
‘Hello, you two. Isn’t it a beautiful day? Do you mind if I join you?’
Tess squinted against the sun to see Dilly standing there looking as glamorous as usual in a long-flowing dress, straw sun hat and sunglasses.
‘Of course. You’ll remember my mum, won’t you? Marjorie.’
Tess wasn’t sure that Dilly would ever have met her mum because she’d always kept her neighbour at arm’s distance until recently, but fortunately, Dilly didn’t dwell on that and went straight into chatting to Marjorie as if they were old friends.
Dilly had clearly remembered what Tess had told her about Marjorie’s recent health issues and showed a real and genuine interest in the older woman’s welfare, which endeared Dilly to Tess even more, especially when Dilly gestured for Tess to move along the bench so that she could position herself between mother and daughter.
When Dilly had exhausted all of Marjorie’s ailments, the beautiful weather that day and how lucky they were to live in such a picturesque village, she turned to Tess.
‘Oh, I noticed that Rob left this morning with all his gear. Has he actually moved out now then?’
Tess suppressed a sigh. She hadn’t seen him leave, but the first thing she had done when she came downstairs this morning was to look across at the annexe and she could immediately tell that Rob had vacated the property, the key just visible in the lock.
She hadn’t felt able to go across yet. That would be a job for later this evening.
‘Yes. He’s found a new job and a new place to live which is really good news.’
‘Do you think?’ asked Dilly, looking doubtful. ‘I think it’s really bad news.’ Dilly sighed, pushing out her bottom lip. ‘Did you ever meet Rob?’ she asked Marjorie, who shook her head, looking bemused by the whole conversation. ‘The guy who was staying with Tess in the garden annexe?’
Marjorie shook her head again, unsurprisingly as Tess had elected to tell her very little about her house guest, knowing that she might get the wrong idea. Still, she might have known that she could always rely on Dilly to fill her in on the details.
‘Oh, he’s an absolute sweetheart! Very much the practical type, he came to my rescue when I had a water leak and then when I needed some help with a fence panel.
He’s extremely good-looking too: tall, dark and handsome, isn’t he, Tess?
’ Dilly’s face took on a dreamy quality.
‘I shall miss seeing him about the place.’
‘He’s a nice guy.’ Tess agreed wholeheartedly with everything Dilly said, but she wasn’t about to admit to that. ‘I was pleased to be able to offer him somewhere to stay while he was between homes.’
‘Well, at first, I thought Tess was mad inviting a stranger into her home, especially one who had such a colourful past, but I made sure to keep a very close eye on what was going on next door; I would never have allowed anything to happen to my lovely friend and neighbour, and in the end, it all worked out terribly well, didn’t it, Tess? ’
‘Good grief, I’m rather glad I didn’t know what was going on at Hollyhocks.’
Tess nodded and smiled, her gaze drifting across to the meandering river and its resident swans, ducks and geese, purposely avoiding her mother’s questioning expression.
When Dilly told the story like that, it might have seemed a reckless thing to do, but from the moment Tess had met Rob, she’d never had any doubts about his true nature.
She’d never felt uncomfortable having him around.
Quite the opposite in fact. She’d felt a sense of security knowing that he was next door and gained pleasure from spotting him as he went about his business.
‘Everyone makes mistakes; everyone deserves a second chance,’ she said aloud.
‘I’m only glad that Rob has been given that opportunity. ’
‘Well, I clearly missed out an all the important details about your house guest,’ said Marjorie wryly.
‘It’s not important now,’ said Tess matter-of-factly.
‘He’s gone. Should we make a move?’ Tess glanced at her watch.
They had enough time to get home to Hollyhocks Cottage, have a pot of tea and a slice of cake before Tess would take Marjorie back home.
Not that her mum seemed to be flagging in the slightest. It was Tess who was running out of energy, the exertions of pushing the wheelchair around the village and the overhang of the booze, food and emotional fallout from last night clearly catching up with her.
‘Yes, I should get home too. Let me push your chair, Marjorie,’ Dilly offered, and Tess was only too pleased to relinquish that responsibility.
‘What a lovely lady,’ said Marjorie when they were back at the cottage and they’d said their goodbyes to Dilly. ‘I can’t really remember meeting her before.’
‘That’s probably because you haven’t. I feel really bad about Dilly because it’s only been since Charles left that I’ve properly got to know her.
We were always a bit mean about her, the pair of us.
Obviously, not to her face, but we both saw her as a bit of a busybody and I certainly didn’t encourage her friendship, but she’s been so supportive to me in recent weeks.
She pops rounds, bringing her own particular ray of sunshine, and generally makes sure that I’m doing okay. ’
‘Well don’t feel bad about it. I’m sure Dilly doesn’t, although it’s good that you can now rely on her friendship. It’s interesting the people we become when we’re free to make our own decisions and are not influenced unduly by the other strong characters in our life.’
‘Like Charles, you mean?’
They were sitting in the orangery enjoying a pot of tea and a slice of Victoria sponge. Normally, Tess would make do with a teabag in a mug, but if her mum was visiting then she liked to make it something of an occasion, bringing out the best china and using a teapot and the posh cups and saucers.
‘Yes. I think often you probably went his way for the sake of an easy life.’
‘Definitely. Does that make me a doormat?’
‘No, just sensible. Anyway, I’m glad that your lovely neighbour has been keeping an eye out for you since Charles’s departure, especially with a new man on the scene.’ Marjorie widened her eyes at Tess.
‘Oh, I didn’t tell you because I thought you might worry. Sometimes, you have to follow your instincts and in this case, I was proved right.’
Marjorie raised her teacup to her lips, looking over the top at Tess.
‘Are you sleeping with Rob?’
‘Mother! What kind of a question is that? And no, I’m not sleeping with him. What do you take me for? Rob is just a friend. Besides, he’s a lot younger than me,’ she said as an aside.
‘So you considered it then,’ said Marjorie, her infectious laughter ringing out. ‘Don’t let the age gap put you off, if that’s where your mind was going. At the home, the younger men are very much in demand, you know.’
‘Wait. Please don’t tell me…’ Tess shook her head, taking a moment to think about what Marjorie was telling her. ‘Do you mean people at the home are hooking up together?’
‘Not all of them, but some of them, yes! Just because you get to a certain age, it doesn’t mean that you stop feeling affection and desire for people. That you don’t crave the closeness that comes from an intimate personal relationship.’
‘Oh, good grief. I’m not sure how I feel about that. You’re not… seeing anyone, are you?’ Tess ventured, unable to hide her dismay.
‘No, I’m not, but never say never, and would it be such a terrible thing, if I was? You’ve always been a bit of a prude, darling,’ said Marjorie, entirely without malice.
Tess laughed, wondering if that was true. Perhaps she needed to take her mother’s advice and lighten up – wasn’t that the modern expression?
‘You’ll discover that there’s a whole exciting new world waiting out there for you – new friends like Dilly, new experiences to sample, even new lovers, if you wanted. It would be a shame to miss out on everything that’s on offer because you’re clinging on to outdated ideals.’