by Penny Parkes
‘I kno-ow,’ agreed Grace. ‘And normally I’d agree. But it’s a question of what we can afford. A doer-upper is our best shot at creating a lovely family home.’
‘But—’ Elsie began, before Holly leaned in and tactfully updated her on Keira’s second request: a family home of their own.
Elsie clasped her hand to her throat. ‘Oh my Lord! You mean, you need to get everything sorted that quickly?’
Grace nodded. ‘It’s a shame about next door really, because it would have been lovely. And, Elsie, you’re quite right, a building site would have been stressful, but that’s why we could have afforded it. But you know what it’s like with sealed bids. So, we missed out. Que será, será and all that.’
Elsie seemed to pale for a moment, almost spilling her champagne. Holly reached out to steady her. ‘I think you might need a little something to eat,’ she said, settling her onto one of the kitchen bar stools a little precariously, wondering why she was still so intent on keeping her property purchase a secret. Surely enough people knew by now?
‘I’m fine, don’t fuss,’ snapped Elsie, rather uncharacteristically humourless. She distractedly sipped the water that Grace had the presence of mind to pour out, even if half of it had missed the glass entirely.
‘So,’ Holly asked, intrigued and recognising a prime opportunity to get Grace to spill the beans. ‘Marriage, a home . . . What else did Keira ask you to do?’
‘Ah, well, that’s the tricky one, actually. She doesn’t want Keira to grow up as an only child. She doesn’t want history repeating itself and for her to have no family to call on as she gets older. It makes sense. It does. It just opens rather a large can of worms.’ She hiccuped slightly. ‘I mean, I never thought Dan would agree to adoption in the first place . . . Let alone twice.’ She sighed. ‘I guess that’s why Keira thought of you, Holly. A ready-made family. Not a flat-pack quick assemble like me and Dan.’ She’d reached that slightly maudlin stage of tipsiness now, and Holly felt a lurch of guilt that the same thought had even flickered on the edges of her own subconscious.
Surely, it actually meant more that Dan and Grace were prepared to go to such lengths to comply with Keira’s last requests.
‘I have a confession, Grace!’ blurted Elsie suddenly, just loud enough for Grace and Holly to hear, even as the rest of the party ramped up around them. ‘The thoughtless, noisy neighbour next door? It’s been me.’ She glanced up worriedly. ‘I bought it for me. I certainly didn’t mean to outbid anyone like you and Dan. I just wanted to be close to this little lot. In fact, I rather fancied knocking a little door through just there . . .’ She waved a hand towards the kitchen wall and looked incredibly sheepish. ‘I had a plan, you see . . .’
‘Oh my God!’ Grace laughed. ‘All these weeks and you never said a word! But why?’
Elsie fidgeted so uncomfortably on the bar stool that she nearly went flying. ‘Oh Lord, well it’s all going to come out one day. I made a mistake, Grace – a cautionary tale of making a big decision in a hurry. Sarandon Hall was a bad fit right from the start. I may have rather misjudged how much I would enjoy it there. Awful people. The kind that cut the nose off the brie without a second thought.’ She shuddered. ‘Awful. So, well, I had to get thrown out.’
Elsie shrugged at Grace’s shocked expression. ‘It was rather fun actually, in the end. It’s still quite shocking to me, what they were prepared to let me get away with before they gave me my marching orders.’
‘What did you do?’ breathed Grace, entranced.
‘Oh, a lady never tells tales,’ Elsie said primly, with a smile.
‘I want to be like you, Elsie,’ Grace slurred, wrapping her arm around Elsie’s shoulders and making them both wobble. ‘I want to just grab life with both hands and think “fuck it” – but I care too much what other people will think. Like now – I should be dancing with my new husband, but I’ve had a little teeny-tiny drink and I’m worried that he won’t approve.’
Having ‘a little drink’ seemed to have opened up a side to Grace that Holly, for one, could never have predicted – because in Holly’s eyes, Grace already was the together, motivated, confident person she was apparently aspiring to be.
‘Do you know what, Grace? You should buy my house. I only bought it to be closer to this little lot without getting under their feet. And well, it was a little project of mine . . .’ She took a deep breath. ‘The décor won’t be to your taste at all but . . .’ She steadied herself on Holly’s shoulder and Holly’s concern was evident on her face.
Elsie took a breath and turned to face Holly. ‘Darling, would you mind terribly if I grow generally geriatric back in my old room?’
‘I’d be delighted,’ said Holly. ‘I’ve adored having you back these last few months. Even if it was under false pretences.’ She dropped her voice to a whisper, ‘But, Elsie, are you quite sure about this? What happened to it being your dream house? Your one chance to do something purely to your taste?’
‘So,’ said Elsie, swivelling to face Grace, her head lagging slightly, making her look like a Thunderbirds puppet for a moment, bluntly ignoring Holly’s question. ‘Would the new Dr and Mrs Carter like to set up residence at Number 44? I won’t stiff you on the price, I promise. And – ooh now there’s a thought – if you still knock that doorway through, then Lulu could come and go as she pleased, if she was in need of company. Siblings on demand, as it were. Just while you’re waiting to fall in love with another little soul. That’s the only way to build a family, really – it’s not about blood ties, it’s about the love. Every day.’ She squeezed Holly’s hand tightly, a wealth of emotions in her clasp.
‘Speaking of which,’ said Taffy, as he wandered past and caught the tail end of the conversation, ‘I need to rally the bride. It’s time for the speeches.’
*
Holly clasped hold of her side, as the laughter became almost painful, and wished she’d had the foresight to go for a wee. Taffy’s irreverent Best Man speech was somehow all the funnier and fresher for being completely off the cuff.
‘And I think, at that moment, in a flop-house in Latvia, I knew that Dan and I would be friends for life,’ he said to whoops and hollers. The groom was red-faced, but laughing too.
‘And of course, we must all remember that Grace here, wasn’t in fact the first love of Dan’s life to reside in Larkford . . .’ Taffy continued, even as his audience held their collective breath awkwardly. ‘It behoves me, of course, to mention Gerald the Goose on this auspicious occasion. I for one, am glad that the noisy bastard wasn’t invited, for there is no doubt that he would have stolen my thunder on the speech-front. Gerald, we toast your friendship and commitment, in your absence. To absent friends.’
The room as a whole cheered.
‘But really, I have to tell you, that there is a special kind of magic that happens when your best mate falls in love with someone so utterly wonderful that you don’t mind sharing them. Much.’ He grinned and turned to Grace. ‘Take care of him, Gracie. He’s just a big softie at heart.
‘It’s also, I believe, tradition for the Best Man to thank the bridesmaids. And since this wedding was clearly planned on the back of a napkin, I raise a toast to Lulu for stepping up and being quite the prettiest spontaneous bridesmaid I have ever seen. To Lulu!’ Taffy gave her a wink and Lulu blushed sweetly, hiding her face in Grace’s skirts as everyone turned to look at her.
She was, Holly realised, completely unrecognisable as the wan, mute waif who had walked into their lives and stolen all their hearts. A warm glow of achievement eclipsed any possible reluctance about letting her go.
Taffy was on a roll now, his tongue surely loosened by Teddy’s fizz and the heightened emotions in the room. ‘My own lovely wife – some of you may have met her—’ There was a ripple of laughter in the room. ‘Well, she’s always telling me that it takes a village. And on this occasion, as on so many others, I believe that she is right. Holly and I, for one thing, could not do our work without Plum and El
sie holding the fort at home.’
Holly breathed a sigh of relief. Not only because she’d wondered where her loquacious husband had been heading for a moment, but also because she’d belatedly realised that it hadn’t even occurred to her to run the Elsie situation past him before agreeing.
‘We couldn’t balance our work life, and the demands of parenthood, without Alice, and Tilly, and yes – even on occasion – Dan picking up the slack at The Practice. We are incredibly fortunate to live in such a place. It is some measure of my esteem for the lovely couple we’re celebrating today, that I have no doubt that their family life here in Larkford will enjoy the same unconditional love, willingly given support and above all, our best and most heartfelt wishes for their very happy future together. Ladies and gentlemen, charge your glasses. I give you the new Dr and Mrs Carter.’
Taffy stepped down from the coffee table to whoops and cheers of celebration from some, relief from others. Taffy as a Best Man was an unknown quantity and at least some of their friends must have been worried about just how many tales were about to be told out of school.
Holly rushed forward to greet him, eyes shining. ‘I couldn’t have said any of that better myself.’ She pulled him into a ribcrushing hug. ‘It’s nice to feel appreciated,’ she murmured into his chest.
‘Well, we do all right, don’t we? You and me, muddling through,’ Taffy said.
‘Makes me think though,’ said Holly, pulling back for a moment. ‘I’m on the right track, aren’t I, with the plans for The Practice? Everyone needs their own village – at home and at work. I guess the whole thing is just interconnected.’
‘Incestuous, you mean?’ Taffy countered. ‘Some days our lives just feel like one of those domino rallies, you know? As if one small tip knocks the whole thing out of balance.’
‘Then part of our remit has to be emergency domino support, doesn’t it?’ Holly offered.
Taffy frowned. ‘Have you been at Teddy’s elderflower liqueur?’
Holly shrugged. ‘Was it in the champagne cocktails?’
Taffy shook his head and hugged his wife. ‘Domino support it is. And maybe a little separation of Church and State?’ he suggested hopefully.
Holly bit her lip guiltily. ‘So now wouldn’t be a good time to mention that Elsie’s moving back in and that Dan, Grace and Lulu will be living next door?’
Taffy paused and Holly held her breath. If he agreed to this without complaint there was every chance that he’d be on board with her plans at The Practice come Monday morning.
‘Next door?’ he queried. ‘Makes sense. And maybe they can tell their workmen to keep it down to a dull roar.’ He paused and his gaze flickered over towards the party wall. ‘You know, we could probably even knock a little doorway through, just in case Lulu wanted to pop by?’
Holly just nodded, seeing no reason to let on that the sledgehammers were poised and at the ready. ‘Sounds like a lovely idea,’ she said, just before she kissed him.
Just because it wasn’t her wedding reception, didn’t mean she couldn’t celebrate the magnificence of marriage, Holly decided with an elderflower hiccup.
Chapter 41
‘Will we never learn?’ groaned Holly, popping two paracetamol from a foil strip and downing them with a double espresso. Her bag of jelly babies lay open on the table in front of her and her trilogy of hangover and migraine repair was complete.
And yet.
Had the lighting in the doctors’ lounge always been so very bright, she wondered.
‘I genuinely think a monkey may have crapped in my brain overnight,’ said Alice eloquently, deftly guiding Coco’s kibble kisses away from her face, as she swallowed a wave of nausea. ‘I’m blaming you, Dan.’
Dan just grinned and glanced across to reception where his new wife was kicking arse and taking names – never cross a Practice Manager who’s had three hours’ sleep and no breakfast. ‘I promise never to get married on a school night ever again. Okay?’
He deftly buttered a stack of toast, trimming off the crusts with care, and made his way through to reception. Holly blinked, always a little overemotional when tired.
‘That’s love, that is,’ she said, as Grace’s face lit up at the very sight.
Taffy, who had spent the last five minutes repeatedly opening every cupboard and the fridge in the hope of finding something comforting to eat, turned to watch. ‘When Dan falls in love, he falls hard.’ He picked up the buttery, crumbly, discarded crusts and chomped thoughtfully, worry creasing his forehead. ‘They’d have got married eventually, right? Even without Keira’s provisos? They’ll be happy together?’
‘ ’Course,’ replied Holly, hoping she was right. What did it matter now anyway? The deed was done. And, for now at least, the bride and groom both looked suitably content. ‘And since they’ll be living next door, I’m guessing we’ll be the first to hear if they’re not. Quite literally.’
She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about Elsie’s incredibly generous offer. On the one hand, hadn’t she herself benefited from Elsie’s selfless largesse? Wasn’t it therefore hypocritical to be concerned about her offer to Grace and Dan?
But on the other?
Holly confessed that she rather liked the idea of Elsie being just next door, having her own space and her own social life and, one day, a downstairs bedroom if necessary. She adored the notion of Elsie having a space that was so uniquely, fabulously her very own for the first time in her life. No husband or children to pander to. From everything Connor had told her, the interior of Number 44 was like taking a walk through Elsie’s inner mind, even though she herself had yet to have the privilege. Apparently, she had to wait until it was completely finished for the Big Reveal – they really had been watching too many property programmes on TV.
She couldn’t deny that Elsie was generous to a fault, but that didn’t stop Holly from wondering if she’d really thought this through – or whether she was blindly waving Dan and Grace off in the very last lifeboat without a thought for herself. As indeed, she always had done.
But now?
Well, now, Holly couldn’t help worry that Dan and Grace were simply taking on too much, too quickly. Even buying travel insurance gave you a fourteen-day cooling off period. The way they were going, Dan and Grace would have cobbled together 2.4 children, a marriage licence and a mortgage by the end of next week.
She frowned. She was all for ensuring that Lulu was welcomed into a loving family environment, but she couldn’t help but feel that Keira was, perhaps quite rightly, sketching out a dream scenario, rather than what was actually realistic, or sustainable. It was all very well dictating terms, but Lulu wasn’t a commodity to be bargained over – surely knowing how Dan and Grace felt about her, the life and security they could offer her, should be enough?
Holly smothered a yawn. Maybe she really had been living with Elsie too long, but the temptation to interfere was overwhelming. And it had nothing to do with how incredibly fond she was of the little girl who had slotted into her own family like a missing jigsaw piece. Or how she felt about giving her up.
Maybe she could visit Keira, ask her to relax the provisos she’d set out for Dan and Grace, the hoops she’d carefully dictated for them to jump through?
‘Oi, earth to Holly. Calling Holly?’ Taffy said, obviously not for the first time. ‘Were you planning on seeing any patients today?’
She stood up and stretched. ‘Lead the way. I am brimful of empathy and care this morning.’ She caught sight of Cassie Holland barging into the waiting room. ‘Oh, dear God, what fresh hell is this?’
‘And she’s all yours,’ Alice said cheekily, slipping away with Coco at her heels to get the day started, noticeably brighter since Jamie’s ‘sickie’ had been extended throughout the week to keep Connor company.
*
‘Good morning, Cassie,’ said Holly brightly. Okay, maybe not brightly, per se, but with as much pep as she could muster to see off any raptor-like tendencies from her patien
t. Showing weakness was not an option.
‘Well, I’m glad you think so, Dr Graham. Since we obviously live in a town divided.’ Cassie settled herself into a chair and folded her hands primly in her hessian-clad lap. ‘The Haves and the Have-nots? Those included in town celebrations? Or supportive of madcap schemes to drag the town into ill-repute?’
‘And what can I do for you this morning, Cassie?’ Holly asked, unwilling to be drawn into Cassie’s hissy fit about missing the wedding yesterday, or indeed the plans for Connor’s festival.
‘Well,’ Cassie squirmed a little, clearly embarrassed, ‘I don’t want you to think this is something I do all the time, Dr Graham. It was only the once. But before we begin, I need your clear assurance that you won’t judge me on my lifestyle choices? Understood?’
Holly paused, the little devil on her shoulder crowing – ‘Oh my God, Cassie Holland has an STD!’ – deliberately taking a moment to compose herself. For any one of her patients, this kind of appointment would be embarrassing enough, but for do-gooder Cassie it must be excruciating. ‘Cassie, of course you have my word and any assurances you need. What you say in this room is completely confidential.’
‘I know that,’ Cassie sniped back. ‘It doesn’t stop you thinking it, though, does it?’
‘You have me there,’ Holly said gently. ‘But, Cassie, there is very little about the human body that fazes me. And judgemental is not a word I would ever apply to how I think about my patients. Come on, out with it – what’s causing you so much concern?’
Holly waited, poised for a sordid tale of Tinder and one-night stands, strange rashes and general debauchery.
‘Well, I went to the nail salon,’ said Cassie, struggling to maintain her composure. ‘It was a gift certificate, okay. Not something I would ever have spent money on myself. You know I don’t believe in that kind of thing . . .’
Holly did a small double-take, her mouth hanging open briefly in shock. This was Cassie’s mortifying secret?
