Chapter 19 Cherry
Cherry
‘This is where you grew up?’ Cherry stared up at the handsome house with its historic stonework, spotless Georgian windows and rainbow of neat window boxes on the outer sills.
There must be at least ten bedrooms inside.
It was a far cry from the small colonies house that she’d grown up in.
The place her mum had always said there wasn’t room to swing a cat. ‘It’s stunning, Sean.’
‘Aye. I can’t complain about growing up here. And down that way are the old barrel store and the distillery.’ He gestured to a path that led down to a smaller, lower stone building, the Buddhist-temple-style pagoda roof of the distillery rising up dramatically in the distance.
‘I’d love to have grown up somewhere like this.’ Cherry was still marvelling at the house and grounds. ‘It’s like something out of a soap opera about a Scottish distilling family. Kintyre’s answer to one of those glossy American shows.’
Sean chuckled. ‘Sign me up to play the evil heartbreaker.’
Evil wasn’t in Sean’s playbook, but heartbreaker could easily be. He scrubbed up exceptionally well in jeans and a light blue button-down shirt, stubble trimmed neatly for a respectable, casual look.
Cherry’s express order of ‘impress your mother-in-law’ clothes had arrived that morning.
She sported a deep-red sundress offset with a cream cardigan, soft nude nail polish, red wedge sandals and the same nude polish on her toes.
It was strange being dressed up in Kinshore, but surely it was better to overdo than under-do things on an occasion such as this.
‘You look absolutely beautiful.’ Sean allayed her fears, not for the first time that evening.
‘Come on.’ He reached for her hand – all part of the marriage sham, of course, but reassuringly strong and steady around her own.
With his other hand, he pushed open the solid front door of the Butler family home.
Inside the house, the temperature was several degrees cooler than out, but warmth enveloped them.
This was a home. Dependable and safe. Was it the smell of statement wooden furniture?
The cushions upholstered in durable luxurious fabrics?
Or could it be the shift in her husband’s demeanour, the confidence in his gait, as he walked through the hall of a place he undoubtedly felt most comfortable?
A place he was raised with love to be the incredible man he was today.
Cherry cast a sideways glance at Sean. To think she’d married him.
And into this amazing family with its history and achievements.
She could be part of this forever if she knew how to stop feeling every day like she didn’t belong here, believing that she was too different.
A factory second, standing on the outskirts as the other wives and girlfriends lived up to ideals.
As if reading her thoughts, Sean smiled. ‘Don’t worry, it’s just my mum, and she’s going to love you.’
‘It’s so calm in here.’ Like the calm before the storm?
‘Aye, weirdly so.’ Sean upped the pace a little. ‘Normally, there’s a radio on or something.’ He dipped his head into a room that Cherry could see was the kitchen, called out to his mum, but no response came. ‘Place looks like a bomb’s hit it, but no one is here.’
‘Could she be in the garden? It’s a lovely evening.’
‘Maybe… Come on.’ Sean led Cherry further down the corridor and into a large drawing room with Georgian French doors. Closed blinds masked the view, and he reached for the cord. ‘Why has she got the blinds down?’
‘To stop the furniture from getting faded?’
‘Hmm.’ He yanked up the blind, simultaneously pulling at one door.
As it swung open, it brought into view the most vibrant and riotously coloured garden Cherry had ever seen. Trellises of exotic white jasmine, beds of yellow and purple pansies, as well as trails of pink honeysuckle, to name but a few, bordered a perfectly manicured lawn.
It also spilled with nearly every single member of Sean’s immediate family and their respective partners, each one of them beaming radiantly and holding aloft a filled champagne flute, the chime of their ‘congratulations’ bouncing off the garden walls.
And Amanda Butler was in the middle, looking the happiest of them all.
Oh my God!
‘Oh fuck!’ Sean’s utterance would only be audible to Cherry. ‘Sorry, Cher. She said it was just the three of us.’
A quick glance at his stunned face, and Cherry knew Sean was telling the truth. He wouldn’t put her or himself in this position on purpose, meeting all the family who wouldn’t be her family in a few months. He appeared more devastated than she felt. And she was monumentally terrified.
‘It’s okay.’ She massaged his knuckles with her fingers, wishing she had someone to massage her own. ‘I’m a big girl. Come on, take me to meet the clan.’
‘You sure?’ He glanced down at their hands together as if the answer lay there.
‘Yes, of course. Let’s go.’ Somehow, placating Sean diverted her attention from her own worries. Who knew this would have bothered him?
‘Thank you. They’re all harmless, really.’
Cherry knew that Sean’s family would be charming. Jamie and Alicia were lovely when acting as wedding witnesses, as were the others whom she’d met briefly in the blur of her first encounter with Sean.
But the first and most important person to meet was his mum. Elegant, graceful and as friendly as her garden was colourful.
Guilt wracked Cherry as Amanda Butler embraced her then chatted away with genuine delight and curiosity. She had recently lost her own beloved husband but had the mettle to hold a surprise party like this. To put effort and energy into meeting her new, soon to be ex, daughter in law.
It felt cruel. Wrong. Ungrateful.
‘Welcome to the family, Cherry. I believe it’s been quite a baptism by fire. I hope being married to my son is a good experience so far.’
‘Of course it’s a good experience, Mum.’ Arm cinched around her waist, Sean pulled Cherry in tight. ‘Right, Cher?’
‘Nothing quite like it, Seany.’ Nothing quite like the heat of this man’s body conducting to her own.
Nothing quite like being parachuted into the heart of his family, where warmth and love spilled as freely as the evening’s champagne.
Nothing quite like the alluringly addictive rollercoaster that was their marriage. ‘Wouldn’t swap it for the world.’
Sean’s hold on her waist shifted, and she caught mild bemusement on his face.
‘I admire your optimism, but has he cooked you a steak or run you a bath yet?’ Sean’s sister, Cara, drifted into the conversation. ‘You’ll get underdone on both counts.’
‘When did I ever run you a bath?’ Sean asked. ‘And what’s an underdone bath? Don’t listen to her, Cherry. This is coming from the woman who once tried to boil a steak.’
Cara laughed. ‘Okay, hands up. I did that.’
‘Anyway,’ Jamie cut in. ‘We don’t want to put you off Sean when you’ve only just joined us. Welcome to the Butler family, Cherry. It’s fantastic to have you as a sister-in-law.’ He raised his glass and proposed a toast to the married couple.
Everyone lifted their drinks and echoed his words, and Cherry flushed crimson at the focus being on her. Sean’s family were lovely, and they were so curious, asking all sorts of questions as the evening went on – about her life, her work, her background.
‘And what about your family?’ Amanda asked. ‘Sean says your mum lives in Fife. What does she do to keep herself busy?’
Oh, the ‘What does your mum do?’ question. Not that Cherry minded, but it was never as straightforward as ‘She’s a teacher’ or ‘She likes to bake scones and knit sock puppets for the grandkids’.
‘She was a nurse, but now she’s a self-employed psychic, etcetera.’
A hush descended across the garden, enough to amplify the tweeting of the birds in the trees, as if she’d admitted her mother was an assassin or a gangland leader.
‘That’s fascinating.’ Amanda’s voice rung with genuine curiosity. ‘And what, may I ask, is the etcetera?’
‘Things like aura reading, astrology charts, colour matching stuff. You know, where you find out which colours suit you best and what season you are. She loves it, and it keeps her out of trouble.’ Cherry laughed nervously.
Amanda laughed too, but with conviction. ‘I’d love to meet her one day. Have her over to stay, even. I know a lot of people who would pay for some of her advice. And some who might need it.’
‘Aye, I’m sure she’d love that.’ Cherry focused on the sweet scent from the plants, trying to separate the notes of honeysuckle from the sweet pea and the jasmine. ‘Amanda, this garden is wonderful. The sweet pea is gorgeous, and the broom is like plantable sunshine.’
Mirroring the gold of the broom, a brightness lit Amanda’s face. ‘You sound like you might know a little about plants, Cherry.’
‘I do. I love gardening. My dad taught me when I was younger, and it’s stuck with me, but I’m on the road so much, and I miss it. Virtual garden apps don’t cut it.’
Amanda glanced at Sean, who was now chatting to Jamie and Nate.
‘I know of a garden that might need a bit of an overhaul. He’s done so much to that house, but he wanted to spend as much time with Jimmy in his last months.
And now he’s working and training all hours.
He bends time as much as he can, but the garden’s one thing too many. ’
‘Ah, well.’ Cherry smiled warmly at her mother-in-law, wanting to make her – and her son – happy. ‘I could take some of that load off. Leave it with me.’
A short time later, with drinks and conversation still flowing, Sean’s sister, Cara, was swinging on the two-person garden swing.
‘Hey, you honeymooners should sit on this love swing,’ she called to Sean.
‘It’s okay, Car. I think you’re having too much fun to interrupt.’
‘Nope.’ Cara jumped off the swing, almost falling onto the grass as she did so. ‘Please be my guest. It’s a family tradition.’
Sean laughed. ‘Mum bought that swing last summer.’