EPILOGUE
We were booked into a rather grand hotel, Jensen and I.
It was a very special hotel. A hotel where dogs were welcome.
And they weren’t merely welcomed. They were treated like the little stars that they were, with ample fun play areas, balls of all different sizes, a doggy paddling pool and treats on tap (at the discretion of the owners, of course!)
‘I’m not convinced we’ll get any sleep,’ I smiled, gazing around the light and airy room with its stylish contents and big windows overlooking an expanse of grass containing a doggy agility course.
Jensen gave me a mischievous smile and caught me around my waist, pulling me against him. ‘What are you suggesting?’ he murmured close to my ear, making me laugh and shiver with longing at the same time.
I snuggled closer and pointed at the luxurious dog bed that looked like it belonged in a royal palace. ‘I’m talking about that dog bed. Do you really think Barley is going to sleep in it tonight? What with all this excitement?’
‘Hmm. Fair point.’ Jensen grinned, his arms still wrapped around my waist. ‘We’ll just have to walk his legs off this afternoon then he won’t be able to do anything except crash out on that amazingly fluffy bed.’
‘It does look gorgeous. Shame Barley’s not showing the slightest bit of interest in it.’
‘We’ll see about that.’ He winked at me and glanced at Barley, who was currently crunching happily on some chunks of raw carrot. ‘I’m rather tempted to sleep on that bed myself.’ Wandering over, Jensen sat down on it, then stretched out and pretended to yawn – at which point Barley’s ears twitched up with interest and he ran over and launched himself on top of Jensen.
The two of them started play fighting, and watching them, I couldn’t stop laughing. Barley was barking with excitement, as if he was telling Jensen, ‘Get off! That’s my bed.’
At last, Jensen extricated himself and stood up. And Barley stretched out on the bed and lay there contentedly, tired after his recent scuffle.
I chuckled. ‘Hey, well done!’
Jensen shrugged as if to say, nothing to it!
‘I do like a bit of reverse psychology,’ I murmured, looking at Barley, who was now flat out on the bed. ‘Time for a walk into the village?’
‘Yes. Come on. We can do the other thing on the way. I think the church is this side of the village.’
I nodded, feeling suddenly strangely nervous.
We’d booked this hotel for two very special reasons – the first because Barley could come with us, and the second because it was situated in countryside close to the village of Lower Haycroft in Somerset, which was the home turf of Millicent Edgeworth and family. And in one of those strange coincidences in life, it wasn’t until after we’d booked the hotel that I noticed the date and realised something. It was little Susan Edgeworth’s birthday! Not that she’d be so little now...
It seemed like a good omen.
I’d felt for a while that I wanted to see the village. I wasn’t expecting any answers to my questions about the family. In fact, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. It was just something I felt I had to do. Loli and I had often said how wonderful it would be to deliver Millicent’s little blue notebook into the hands of her descendants. But maybe that was a hope too far. The family might not even be living around here any longer. They could have moved anywhere in the intervening years...
Whatever happened, I knew that Loli – while not able to come with us on this trip – would definitely be cheering me on back at home. I’d taken Jensen into the hospital so he could meet Loli and they’d thoroughly approved of each other. (Loli had told me next time I saw her that she’d had a feeling in her water all along, that it was all going to work out for us. And I’d smiled happily because her instincts, it had to be said, were more often than not correct.)
In other news, Sasha at The Flour Mill had been in touch to say that Vintage Puddings had made it through to the next stage of the competition. No one could have been more shocked than me, after the salty-puddings disaster Sasha had witnessed on Pudding Club night. But Loli smiled and said she wasn’t surprised at all, and in fact, she was looking forward to us being announced the eventual winners!
But the best news of all was that I’d been tested to see if I’d be a good donor match – and I actually was! I wasn’t even nervous at the prospect of the operation, which would be happening very soon. I was just so excited to think that Loli would finally be getting another chance at life.
It was quite a hike into the village, but finally we arrived, and my heart was beating a little faster as we entered the churchyard. Jensen took Barley’s lead so I could walk ahead. And I marched eagerly along the rows of gravestones, looking for the Edgeworth name, determined to find some evidence that they had lived here and maybe still did...
But after a while, I was growing despondent.
Maybe there was another Lower Haycroft and we’d come to the wrong place altogether!
And then Jensen called out to me. ‘Annalise? I’ve found an Edgeworth!’
Excited, I hurried over. He was standing solemnly by a gravestone, Barley sniffing the grass at his feet. Then he turned. ‘It’s Sidney Edgeworth.’
‘Oh. They must have brought his body home.’
Jensen nodded. ‘And look. There’s Millicent.’
‘Yes?’ I took a sharp intake of breath. And sure enough, it was her. Millicent Edgeworth.
Part of me felt really sad, reading the words on her gravestone.
She’d been born in 1915, so it wasn’t as if I’d been expecting her to still be alive. She’d have been well over a century if she was. I suppose I felt such a strong link to her – despite the many years that separated us – that in my mind at least, it was as if she was still alive somewhere... still living and loving her children and making puddings in her kitchen...
And then... I gasped out loud. ‘Oh, Jensen, look!’
He came and read it, too, and I watched his eyebrows rise in astonishment.
Millicent Jane Edgeworth Hunter , he read. Widow to her brave and beloved husband, Sidney, who died in the war. And wife to Thomas (Tommy) John Hunter, who made her smile again.
Tears sprang to my eyes. ‘She fell in love again,’ I whispered. ‘And she married him!’ I gazed at Jensen.
He nodded, smiling. ‘Tommy. Wasn’t there a Tommy who lived next door to the Edgeworths?’
‘That must be him. It has to be.’ I swallowed. ‘Poor Amelia. It must have been cancer, after all. Tommy would have been devastated. And I suppose he and Millicent must have turned to each other in their grief and grown close.’ I clasped my hands over my heart. ‘Look how long they were married! Over sixty years!’
‘That’s a long life. For both of them,’ murmured Jensen. ‘And look, here’s Tommy’s grave.’
I glanced at the dates on his gravestone. ‘Oh, my goodness. Tommy outlived Millicent by only two months. I’m not sure why, but that just seems so romantic somehow.’
‘They were really happy together,’ said a voice at my side, and when I turned, an elderly woman was standing there, a younger woman behind her carrying a bunch of flowers and smiling.
‘Oh. You know the Edgeworth family?’ I asked in astonishment.
The older woman smiled wistfully. ‘We do. I’m Millicent’s daughter.’
My heart gave a giant leap. ‘You’re Susan? Little Susan ? Oh, my gosh. It’s so lovely to meet you. I’m Annalise.’
‘Pleased to meet you, Annalise,’ she said, looking understandably a little bewildered by my enthusiasm. ‘This is my daughter, Clare.’
The younger woman, who looked to be in her sixties, stepped forward and we all shook hands. Clare would be Millicent’s granddaughter.
‘This is Jensen,’ I said quickly, and there ensued another round of hand-shaking.
‘We always come here on Granny’s birthday,’ said Clare, as she placed the flowers on Millicent’s grave.
‘Today’s Millicent’s birthday? But it’s your birthday as well, isn’t it? Many Happy Returns, by the way!’
‘Thank you. Yes, my mum and I shared our special day.’ She smiled. ‘But now you’re really going to have to explain how you know it’s my birthday today.’
‘Oh, yes. Yes, of course. Well... it’s all because of a little blue notebook that my mum found in a second-hand bookshop, and which we’ve been longing to return to your family.’ I dug in my bag, brought it out and placed it into Susan’s hands. ‘It belonged to Millicent. Your mum. Look, you wrote something yourself across the cover when you were just six years old.’
Susan stared at it and I could see she was struggling to take all of this in.
‘Oh, Mum. Look. It’s that book of pudding recipes, remember?’ said Clare, peering at the notebook. ‘You’ve talked about it so often and we looked and looked but could never find it.’ Tears sparkled in Clare’s eyes.
‘My goodness,’ breathed Susan at last. ‘Well, well, well! I thought it was lost forever. I never dreamed I’d see it again... hold it in my hands. Mum’s pudding book.’
She opened it in awe, then she closed it again, pressed the notebook to her chest and looked at me, her eyes glassy with emotion. ‘I don’t know how on earth you managed to find us, my dear, but thank you for this. From the bottom of my heart.’ A tear slipped down her cheek but she was smiling as she turned to her daughter. ‘It’s a miracle. It almost feels like I’ve got Mum back again.’
‘I can tell how much it means.’ I was feeling quite choked myself. ‘I’m just so delighted I can finally return it to you.’
I meant it, too. I’d loved being the temporary guardian of those old pudding recipes.
But it made me so very happy knowing that Millicent’s little blue notebook had finally found its way home...
*****
Later, after we’d been invited back to Clare’s for a cup of tea and we’d pored over the notebook together and I’d asked all the questions I’d wanted to ask and been given explanations and lots more besides, we promised to keep in touch and went back to the hotel with Barley.
And it turned out Jensen had been right.
The long walk had worn Barley out, and once in the room, he flaked out on his bed with a big sigh and was out for the count immediately.
I looked at Jensen. And he smiled that knowing smile that made my entire body tingle with anticipation. He didn’t have to say a word. I knew what he was thinking.
Dinner would have to wait. There was that ridiculously big bed to try out first.
My knees melted as he drew me against him and kissed me thoroughly, then pulled me on top of him on the bed. I smiled down at him, vaguely aware of a soft doggy whimper as Barley chased rabbits in his sleep.
Then I started unbuttoning Jensen’s shirt, running my hands over his lovely, muscled chest, before unbuckling his belt with wicked intent in my eyes. He watched me, smiling, arms flung back behind his head. And then he reached for me and kissed me again, and all thoughts of rabbits vanished from my mind for a very long time as we gave in completely to our desires.
A long time later, exhausted and sweaty, we fell asleep wrapped in each others’ arms, only stirring when a doggy yelp filled the room.
I half-rose on my elbow. ‘Is he all right?’
‘He’s having a nightmare,’ murmured Jensen sleepily. ‘Some other dog has the ball he wanted.’
We chuckled and I snuggled back down with a sigh. ‘Do you think they do really big breakfasts at this hotel?’
‘Probably. Why?’
‘I’m not sure I want to get up and get dressed for dinner.’
Laughing softly, Jensen wrapped his arms around me again. ‘Enormous breakfast it is, then. The full works.’ He kissed my neck. ‘Come here, you.’