Coming Home to Jasmine Cottage

by Zara Stoneley

  ‘You can give that cranberry sauce a stir if you want love.’ Trish gave her a hug, then pointed at the pan. ‘Now isn’t this lovely, us cooking Christmas lunch together?’

  ‘Well I’ve not made much contribution yet.’ Lucy grinned.

  ‘Well you know what I mean. You used to stand on a chair next to me and help stir things when you were little.’ A brief cloud seemed to pass over her face, then she blinked it away. ‘Having Maisie with me making mince pies the other day took me right back, pass the salt will you, Lucy?’ She tasted the gravy, then shot Lucy a sideways look. ‘I’m going to do everything with my grandchildren that I wanted to do with you.’

  ‘Don’t give me that look.’ Lucy shook her head in exasperation, but still couldn’t quite keep the hint of a smile off her face even though she was trying her hardest. ‘I’m not even married.’

  ‘And since when did that stop anybody? Cranberry, love,’ she pointed, whilst still managing to stir the gravy and check the pigs in blankets, ‘it’s bubbling.’

  Lucy turned the heat down and stirred, wishing she could cool her cheeks down as easily.

  ‘Elsie loves entertaining children so I can be granny for you and still do my job here.’ She was sure a pfft noise escaped from her lips, but her mother was undeterred. ‘It’s not like she needs a carer or anything really, just a hand with the shopping and cleaning, and a bit of company. And once Jim is back on his feet properly he’ll be around a lot as well. Be a love and get the plates out of the warming drawer before they get too hot.’

  Lucy was fast realising that there was absolutely no point in objecting, or trying to reason with her mother that she was loving her job, and hadn’t even had the slightest urge to have a baby. Diversion tactics were probably the best way to play this. ‘You do like it here with Elsie, don’t you?’

  ‘It’s wonderful. It’s a lovely place to bring up kids.’ Lucy squished a cranberry with unnecessary force against the side of the pan. ‘This is just the type of place I imagined when me and your dad moved to the country. It’s a shame it didn’t work out, but things happen for a reason.’

  ‘Mum, how can you say that? You would have had a much better life if—’

  ‘Well, if I hadn’t met Dad I wouldn’t have you, and,’ she stirred the gravy a bit too vigorously, ‘if things hadn’t gone wrong we wouldn’t be here now, would we?’

  She couldn’t fault the logic, but Lucy was sure her mum hadn’t deserved the hard life she’d had.

  ‘You didn’t mind uprooting, moving here to work for Elsie?’ The one thing that had bothered her about her mum’s move was the fact that she’d always been so totally selfless, had done everything for Lucy. And Lucy really didn’t want to think that she’d dragged herself away from her job and friends because she still felt her little girl needed her.

  ‘Tosh and nonsense. I wouldn’t have accepted her offer if I had, would I?’ Trish put the spoon down, the first time she’d taken her concentration away from the cooking, and turned so she could look at Lucy. ‘I didn’t have any roots, darling.’ The words were soft. ‘Elsie hasn’t offered me a job, she’s offered me a whole new life.’ She patted Lucy’s hand, then went back to stirring. ‘She’s a very clever lady. I could never have afforded to rent a house here, or give up that job, even though it’s been getting a bit much for me. Now I know if anything happened I’d be out of house and home, but you can’t think that way can you? Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and go with your heart.’

  ‘You do.’ Lucy knew that all too well. As she watched her mum drain the sprouts, and take the perfect crunchy roast potatoes out of the oven it hit her. This was how her mum had wanted things to be, how she’d thought their lives should be. They’d taken several wrong turnings but they were here now. They’d both come home.

  ‘Now, I think that’s everything.’ The normal ‘get on with it’ tone was back. ‘If you’d like to take the turkey through, Jim’s been sharpening the knife on and off for the past hour. I was tempted to take it off him earlier because that click-click was a bit unnerving. I don’t know whether it’s because he’s excited, or he knows we’ve been sold a tough old bird.’

  Lucy laughed. ‘Nobody would dare sell Elsie anything but the best.’ She kissed her mother on her cheek, then lifted the tray, hoped she didn’t trip over a dog on the way, and headed for the dining room.

  ‘Now then little ’un, what are you doing with those sprouts?’ Jim chuckled, and gave Maisie a nudge. She giggled.

  ‘They’re for Treacle.’ It was a stage whisper that everybody heard. ‘My guinea pig.’

  ‘I think he’d prefer them raw.’ Charlie was fighting a losing battle to keep the smile off his face. ‘We will give him some when we get home.’

  ‘O-kay.’ Maisie wasn’t convinced.

  ‘And in the meantime maybe you could put them back on your plate and eat those?’

  Maisie grinned, and opened her hands wide. ‘They were on my knee but they’ve disappeared!’

  Lucy laughed as Roo and Piper, who’d been keeping a vigil under the table by Maisie’s feet, both slunk out. Piper dropped a sprout, then nudged it with her nose, looking at it with suspicion. Roo, who was less fussy, had his head tilted to one side and was munching and screwing his face up at the same time.

  ‘That was fabulous.’ Charlie patted his stomach. ‘I’m totally stuffed.’

  ‘It’s so lovely to be cooking for a family again.’ Trish blushed as she took his empty plate. ‘There’s Christmas pud next though, so you better have left some room.’

  ‘Of course he has.’ Elsie smiled, looking much more relaxed than she had for a long time, her eyes twinkling mischievously. ‘Or he’ll be first up for charades and that will clear some space in his stomach.’

  Charlie groaned. ‘Not charades, please tell me she’s kidding.’

  ‘Charades, charades.’ Maisie jumped up, clapping her hands, and the last sprout catapulted off her skirt, flying across the room like a missile and landed on Piper’s back. Before she could react, Roo had leapt over her grabbing it on the way. Maisie paused. ‘What’s charades, Uncle Jim?’

  Jim, basking in his new roles of uncle, son and turkey carver pushed his chair back, and gestured for Maisie to sit on his knee.

  Lucy stood up to help clear the table, and followed her mother through to the kitchen. ‘I’m glad you’re happy, Mum.’

  She’d always been a wonderful mother, and it had never occurred to Lucy that she must have missed it. Looking after others. Elsie seemed to know though, and offering her a job had brought the old ‘mum’ back. The one from when she was a toddler, before their home life went wrong, and before it had been just the two of them – and all of Trish’s energy had to go into making both ends meet.

  Elsie had seen what Lucy had missed, had, with the simplest of gestures, offered her the role she’d always wanted, made her happy.

  ‘I am, love, very happy, and I’m glad you are.’ She brushed a lock of hair back from Lucy’s face. ‘We’ve done okay, haven’t we?’

  ‘Always. Happy Christmas, Mum.’

  ‘Happy Christmas, love. And you know I’m here if you want a hand smartening up that house of yours, don’t you? Not that I’ll stick my nose in if it’s not wanted.’

  ‘Of course I want you to help, as long as you promise not to talk about babies!’

  Trish smiled. ‘Good. Now, can we trust Jim to light this brandy for the pudding, or would it be safer to give it to Charlie?’

  The Christmas lights were twinkling in the square when Charlie, Lucy and Maisie waved goodbye to Trish, Elsie and Jim and headed home.

  When Lucy had accepted the permanent job at Langtry Meadows she’d started the new school year with a stirring of hope in her heart that she’d found a place she loved, a man she loved, a new beginning. But now, she couldn’t believe quite how much had changed in the last few months.

  It was so lovely to have a proper family Christmas, in Elsie’s gorgeous period home that was j
ust made for events like this. Even Maisie had stared open mouthed at the enormous Christmas tree which Jill and Matt had decorated, under Jim’s supervision.

  Elsie and Jim seemed to have easily adjusted to their new relationship, without it being awkward and Lucy was pleased for both of them. They deserved to be happy.

  She tightened her grip on Charlie’s hand, then glanced up, met that deep dark gaze full on and smiled.

  Things had to go right for him and Maisie, didn’t they?

  Chapter 25

  Lucy leant on the work surface, her coffee cup warming her hands, and studied the snow covered garden. In two days’ time she’d be back at school and, she smiled to herself, she’d be starting a new adventure.

  Piper nudged her leg, then jumped up, both paws on the edge of the work surface to see what she was missing. ‘You’re a nosy one, aren’t you?’ The dog wagged her tail, and smiled her happy-dog smile, tongue lolling out of her mouth, before jumping down and barking. ‘Yes, yes, we’re going out in a minute.’

  The puppy ran over to the door, poised. She could swear that dog understood nearly everything she said to her.

  Seconds later there was a rap on the door, followed be a cheery shout as Charlie opened the door and Piper abandoned her post by the back door and went hurtling through the cottage to greet him. He strode into the kitchen, bringing a waft of cold air with him and shaking snow from his jacket.

  Lucy laughed. ‘You look like you’ve been rolling in it!’

  ‘Not far off.’ He gave a wry grin. ‘Snowball fight with Maisie, but she cheated and called in reinforcements.’

  ‘Isn’t she with you?’ She glanced round, half expecting the little girl to come bounding in.

  ‘No, she’s building snowmen with your mum.’ He stepped closer, ignoring the fact that Piper was doing her best to trip him up. ‘So we could do something to warm us up?’ He wrapped her in a hug, and when she met his gaze he gave her that look of his that could have melted an avalanche of snow.

  Lucy giggled. ‘Thinking of hot chocolate were you?’

  ‘Hotter!’

  ‘Later,’ inviting as a heat-warming afternoon with Charlie was, she just had to share her surprise with him. Before she burst. ‘I want to show you something first.’ Since the phone call an hour before she’d not been able to sit still, and waiting for Charlie to arrive had felt like a lifetime.

  ‘Spoilsport.’ He grinned good-naturedly, but relaxed his hold slightly. ‘Come on then, what’s this surprise you text me about?’

  ‘It involves putting your boots back on.’ She wriggled her way out of his grasp, before she was tempted to give in.

  ‘No clues?’

  ‘Nope.’ She pulled her jacket on and grabbed his hand.

  Luckily most of the snow and ice had melted, and the footpaths were slushy but not too slippery as they made their way across the village square. Much as Lucy loved to see the countryside blanketed in white snow, she wasn’t that keen on the slush, and hated ice. If anybody was going to go flying and land on their bottom it was her. She was the one who always looked like an old lady as she edged her way along, putting one foot carefully in front of the other. Going slowly today was not an option, so she was relieved that in her boots she actually felt quite stable.

  Charlie laughed as she did her best to chivvy him along. ‘Are we going far?’

  ‘Nearly there.’

  ‘Thank goodness for that, you’d give Piper a run for her money!’ He was totally perplexed though when they got to the village green and she led him across it.

  Lucy stopped, she was actually quite out of breath, but she’d been far too excited to even think about slowing the pace. If she had done she’d have ended up telling him. ‘Close your eyes.’ She was rubbish at keeping people in suspense, at hiding things.

  Charlie pulled a funny face but did as he was told.

  Lucy fished about in her pockets, having a moment of panic when she couldn’t find what she was looking for, then her fingers closed round it and she let out a sigh of relief. Her heart was pounding as she held it up. ‘Open.’

  Charlie opened his eyes and stared at her. Not registering what it was she was holding up in front of him. Then all of a sudden his face cracked into a smile. ‘You’ve got it?’

  She nodded. Not trusting herself to speak.

  ‘You’ve got the key! Jasmine Cottage is yours?’

  When she’d got the key to her first house, Lucy had wanted to savour the moment on her own. Open the front door knowing it was hers. Take that first step in and act as madly excited as she wanted in private. It had been her moment, her triumph. But this time was different. This time she wanted to share the moment with the most important person in her life. She felt like she’d come home, that she belonged. But it wasn’t just the place, this cottage – it was Charlie who made this place special.

  ‘It’s mine. It’s really mine!’

  Her words were lost as he swept her off the ground, and spun them both round, before putting her gently down, cradling her face in his large warm hands and kissing her.

  She grinned, made to move away so that they could go in, so that she could open her front door for the first time. But he held her back.

  ‘I’ve got a bit of an announcement of my own actually.’ He pulled her back to him, and all of a sudden he looked unsure of himself.

  ‘Really?’ She searched his face, wondering what on earth could be so important that he had to say it right now.

  ‘Eric has asked if I’ll be a partner in the firm.’

  She twisted round so that she could study his face properly. This was good wasn’t it? He should be pleased.

  ‘He loves being back at work, but he says he’s finding it a bit too much. He’ll never be able to run the place on his own again. He says he was just looking after the place for my family, until I came to my senses,’ he smiled, the lines fanning out from his gorgeous brown eyes, ‘and was ready to take over.’

  ‘And are you?’ He had to be. Surely he was?

  ‘I am.’

  He was smiling still, just about, but Lucy could sense that there was something wrong, he didn’t look as happy as he should. Her heart fluttered, couldn’t he commit? Wasn’t Langtry Meadows the place he wanted to make his home again? ‘But?’ It came out as a croak, but she had to ask. Was he telling her he was going, telling her before they opened her new front door together?

  ‘It’s just.’ He paused. Brushed his thumb over her lips, the words hesitant. ‘It’s just I wanted to check something before I said yes.’

  ‘Oh.’ She tried not to pull back, but it was hard. Something was wrong, he wanted something more than she did, than this place could give him.

  His arms tightened round her, stopping her from getting away.

  ‘Lucy, I know you’ve bought this place and …’

  He couldn’t ask her to move away, start somewhere else. She loved this place, she loved this cottage. ‘This is where I want—’

  He put a finger on her lips to stop her saying more. ‘I know you’ve bought this place, and it’s yours and … Christ I’m rubbish at this.’ He let go with one hand, threaded his fingers through his hair, then took a deep breath, blinked hard and fixed her with a steady look. ‘What I’m trying to ask is if you’d consider sharing it, if, well … I know it’s not perfect, and it’s complicated and … oh, hell. Lucy, will you marry me?’

  It came out in a rush and she blinked, not sure she’d heard him right. Then realised, when he blushed scarlet, that she was just staring at him. Her mouth slightly open.

  ‘Can you say that again?’

  ‘I know it’s complicated, with Maisie and …’

  ‘Not that bit.’ It was her turn to blush, her heart pounding, and her voice with a definite wobble. ‘The last bit.’

  ‘Will you marry me?’

  ‘Yes please.’ She only got half the word out, his grip had tightened and his lips were over hers, and the dishiest vet she’d ever seen was kissing he
r like he was never going to stop.

  Chapter 26

  Three months later

  Charlie stared at the envelope. The letter inside would change his life. It shouldn’t do. It shouldn’t make the slightest difference, but he knew it would. And it scared him.

  He propped it up against the sugar pot in the middle of the table and felt the same twinge of anticipation that he always had when a road traffic accident was brought in. When he knew he had to get the nerves under control, switch onto auto-pilot and try to stop a life ebbing away. That first cut of the scalpel was always the worst, once he was in it was different. However bad the situation, he knew what he was dealing with.

  It was the same with this envelope. Except he had a horrible feeling he wouldn’t just be able to stitch up the gaping wound in his heart if the contents were what he was dreading.

  ‘So, that’s it.’

  He hadn’t heard Lucy come into the small kitchen behind him, and he jumped as she rested a hand lightly on his shoulder.

  ‘It is.’ He glanced up, meeting her gaze only briefly, because God knows he didn’t want her to see the fear he was sure was leeching out of his own eyes.

  She sat down opposite, so that he couldn’t avoid her.

  ‘What if …’

  ‘Charlie, you’ve been waiting for this since Malcolm gave you the go ahead.’ Her voice was gentle, not pushy.

  ‘But if it’s …’

  ‘It won’t make any difference at all, will it? Not really.’

  Charlie wasn’t so sure. He normally liked everything black and white, which was why once everything he and Josie had discussed, once the child arrangements order was in place, once he knew that Maisie couldn’t be whisked away, he’d asked his solicitor if it was safe to go ahead.

  But once you’d asked the question, there was no going back, was there? The answer was here, in front of him.

  He’d deliberated long and hard about whether he was ready to take this step. To find out if Maisie was his biological daughter.

  In the heat of the moment, when his ex, Josie had thrown a spanner in the works, shouted out that she didn’t even know if the baby he’d seen into the world, the toddler he’d watched take her first step, the little girl that he’d photographed in her first school uniform, was actually his. Then, at that moment, when she’d stormed off, it would have been easy to do.