‘I’ve got cold everything else.’ Amy laughed, steering the car carefully through the blizzard. ‘Who shall we start with?’
‘It had better be your mum and dad. After all, they gave us the business in the first place, and they’re probably going to be hurt most by this. We’ll have to be tactful.’
‘If it’s tact we’re aiming for, you’d better leave it to me, then,’ Amy retorted. ‘You’ve never been noted for it.’
They laughed like children as they headed back toward Lavender Lane.
‘I don’t believe it.’ Stella Foster leaned back in her chair and looked across at her husband. ‘Well, come on, Jim. Say something.’
Amy and Bob, side by side on the sofa, as they had been since their courting days, were still feeling like children. Amy’s father stretched, sighed, and tapped his pipe against the fireplace.
‘I can understand what you’re saying,’ he said slowly. ‘I can even understand your reasons. And don’t think we won’t miss you, because we will. But I don’t think you’ve given it enough thought.’
‘We know that.’ Amy clutched Bob’s hand. ‘We’re being very impulsive. We haven’t even been down to Starpoint to see if there’s a suitable property or anything. But I don’t see –’
‘No.’ Jim Foster held up his hand. ‘I don’t think you quite understand, my love. I assume you don’t want Lavender Cabs to go to Paul and Judith?’
‘Definitely not!’ Amy shuddered. ‘That’s why we thought of Mitch and Megan.’
‘Exactly.’ Jim’s face was expressionless. ‘And to be able to buy a little place in Starpoint and live comfortably in retirement, you’ll need to sell your shares and your home, won’t you?’
‘Yes.’ Bob nodded. ‘We’ve got some savings, but nowhere near enough to finance this, so –’
‘And where exactly do you think Megan and Mitchell will be able to find the money to buy you out?’
Bob and Amy looked at each other in dismay. It was so obvious, and they’d never even seen it. Were their dreams destined to come to nothing?
‘I don’t want to see you go, either, but I also know why you want to.’ Stella clasped her hands. ‘And I agree that in your position I’d want to do the same thing.’ She smiled fondly at them. ‘Getting away from the stresses and strains of Lavender, spending precious time together, it’s all so important. If we could help you, you know we would, but we simply don’t have that sort of money.
‘Face it, Amy my dear, if you’re really serious about this venture, I think you’ll have to consider selling Lavender Cabs to your sister.’
Chapter Ten
Hatching The Plan
The snow fell relentlessly for three days and nights. Appleford was practically cut off from the outside world, and Lavender Cabs had almost ground to an uncharacteristic halt. The garage was deserted.
Jacey Brennan sat on the reception desk, swinging her long legs.
‘Spit it out, Meg. What’s going on with your family? Everyone has the grumps – even Mitch. Is it the weather or what?’
‘I don’t think we respond well to enforced inactivity.’ Megan doodled on the pad in front of her. ‘But there’s more to it than that. Mum and Dad want to move away.’
‘No!’ Jacey’s blue eyes were like saucers. ‘What, sell up? All of you? To go where?’
‘That’s just it.’ Megan sighed. ‘They’re going to Starpoint – it’s a little village in Devon – or so they say. To retire. We’re not.’
‘Oh.’ Jacey sighed enviously. ‘Aren’t you lucky? I wish my lot would up sticks and give me some space!’
Despite her misery, Megan giggled. ‘You’re terrible!’
‘No, I’m not, merely truthful. So where’s the problem? I’d’ve thought you didn’t have any problems at all – what with Peter going off with Lauren and –’ Jacey stopped. ‘Sorry, that was insensitive, even for me. I suppose after all these years, you miss him, don’t you?’
Megan shook her head. ‘Funnily enough, no. It was – oh, more of a relief than anything. It’s like getting better when you’ve been ill for a long time. You never realise just how awful you felt until afterwards. I’m just glad we parted on friendly terms.’
‘Oh, good.’ Jacey was grinning again. ‘What does Luke have to say about it?’
‘I haven’t told him.’
‘Meg! You’re impossible!’
‘And what was I supposed to say? ‘Hi, Luke. Peter and I are finished, so that leaves the way clear for you’?’
‘No!’ Jacey laughed. ‘But surely you could drop subtle hints?’
‘I haven’t really seen him. I’m beginning to think I dreamed Warwick.’
‘You didn’t,’ Jacey assured her. ‘I was there, and Luke was deadly serious. Oh – I wish there would be a thaw and we could start racing again. We need to get you away from here so that you and Luke can sort yourselves out!’
‘I’ve got a feeling I’ll be away from here for good before too long,’ Megan said mournfully. ‘Because if Mum and Dad do move away, it’ll mean Judith and Paul will be in charge – and I’m sure they’ll give Mitch and me our marching orders.’
‘But you own shares …’
‘Not enough. To think that I once imagined if I could sort out Peter I’d be completely happy. I never expected Mum and Dad to do this!’
Suddenly overcome, she jumped to her feet and ran out of the office, nearly colliding with her younger brother, making his way carefully across the frozen snow from the garage.
He looked puzzled as he came into the office. ‘Was Meg crying?’ He kissed the tip of Jacey’s nose. ‘What’s going on?’
‘It’s this business with your mum and dad.’ She snuggled into his arms. ‘She doesn’t want to leave Lavender.’
‘Neither do I.’ He stroked her long blonde hair. ‘I wish I’d never given my shares back to Gran and Granddad Foster. And I wish Matt hadn’t sold his shares to Paul and Judith. Oh, I wish we could win the lottery – then we’d be able to buy Mum and Dad out and start up on our own.’
‘Yeah.’ Jacey’s eyes sparkled. ‘Wouldn’t it be great? We could keep the taxis and the garage going like now, and have a proper racing team. Oh, well.’ She sighed. ‘How do you feel about a bank robbery?’
Megan ploughed her way across to the bungalow. Life had been turned upside down. Matt and Sally had their own home and the shop, her parents wanted to leave Appleford, Peter had fallen in love with someone else, and Cicely was starry-eyed about some American stranger and didn’t seem to have time for any of them.
And, she thought bitterly, Paul and Judith were poised to step into her parents’ shoes.
‘Meg!’ Amy was brushing snow from the doorstep. ‘Come in for a minute, love. I’ve just made a pot of tea.’
They sat at the kitchen table. Bob was snoring gently in the rocking-chair beside the stove as Megan looked around the kitchen, her heart sinking.
She couldn’t leave here! It had been her home since she was born. Every inch of the bungalow held memories. She simply had to stay.
She looked at her mother over her tea cup. ‘I don’t know how you can bear to leave this place. It has even more memories for you than it has for me. How can you even think of leaving it?’
‘Because your dad is more important to me than any house – any business anything,’ Amy told her simply. ‘The only other things that matter are you all the family. And you’re grown up. You and Mitchell will soon be ploughing your own furrows, like Matt and his family. It’s the way it should be. Look forward, Meg – never back.’ She sighed and stared at the blanketing white wilderness outside the kitchen window. ‘Anyway, I think our dreams have ground to a halt.’
‘Why?’ Megan felt guilty. Her parents loved each other so very much. It was unfair of her to put her own dreams first. ‘I thought –’
‘We were being foolish,’ Amy said shortly. ‘We hadn’t thought about raising the money. We just wanted to pass Lavender onto you and Mitch the bungalow would
divide up nicely into two homes – and you’re both involved in the business. We never thought we’d actually have to sell it. And as I refuse to let Paul and Judith get their hands on it, or sell it to outsiders, that looks like the end of Starpoint. But it was a lovely dream while it lasted.’
Megan reached out and took her mother’s hand. ‘“Don’t give up on your dreams”, that’s what you and Dad have always told me, and I haven’t. Not that my dreams were very wild or anything. I just wanted to live here, drive, run the business, fall in love and get married and have a family. Fairly old-fashioned, really.’
‘They’re wonderful dreams, Meg. They’re the dreams that I had years ago and mine all came true.’ Amy glanced at her husband, her eyes gentle. ‘I don’t want to lose him. I want us to grow old and grey together, like Gran and Granddad Foster, or Cicely and her Sam.
‘I know how heartbroken Cicely was when Bob’s dad died. If she’s got a second chance of love and happiness, I only hope she takes it. That’s what I want to have with Bob – making the most of every minute together. And if doing that means relinquishing Lavender – then so be it. But we can’t do any of it without money …’
‘There must be some way round it, surely?’
‘Selling up lock, stock, and barrel, yes. But that wouldn’t be fair on anyone else.’ Amy again stared at the snow beneath the darkening sky, then looked back at her daughter. ‘Anyway, enough of my problems. How are your dreams coming along? I was pleased that you and Peter managed to part on such good terms, but – er – Gran Phillips said something about – Luke …?’
‘She would!’ Megan hid her blushes in pouring more tea. ‘She shouldn’t have!’
‘But you do like him?’ Amy leaned across the table. ‘He’s a nice lad, Meg. Hardworking, honest, good fun – and very handsome.’
Megan’s blushes increased. ‘I know! But he’s younger than me, and …’
‘What on earth does that matter? Listen, Megan, that’s what I’ve been saying. One thing your dad’s illness has taught me is that life is very short and very precious. If you and Luke are happy together, then for goodness sake stick with him, and to hang with what the gossips might say!’
Megan laughed. ‘I bet you wouldn’t be saying that to Mitchell about Jacey.’
‘Ouch!’ Amy laughed back. ‘Jacey’s a completely different matter. She’s so wild, so –’
‘They’re very much in love,’ Megan said quietly. ‘And you ought to give her more credit. Mum. She cares about the business, about the family, about all of us – not just Mitch. If you got to know her, you’d find out she’s a very nice girl.’
Amy’s snort of disbelief made them both giggle.
‘What have I missed?’ Bob opened one eye and stretched lazily.
‘Two cups of tea and some girl talk.’ Megan went over and kissed him on the forehead. ‘You’re looking better every day, Dad. Early retirement seems to suit you.’
‘A rest cure was all I needed.’ Bob hitched himself into a sitting position. ‘Anything else was just being foolish … The forecasters reckon we’ve seen the last of the snow and the thaw will be pretty rapid. We’ll soon be back in harness again.’
Megan bit her lip. There had to be something she could do, something they all could do. What was the point of having a huge extended family if they couldn’t pool their resources and try to come up with solutions?
Amy handed Bob a cup of tea and looked at her daughter.
‘Another one for you?’
‘No, thanks, I’m awash as it is!’ She smiled at her parents. ‘Will you do something for me?’
They nodded immediately, and Megan glowed with love. They hadn’t even asked what it was. That was how they had always been for her, and for Matt and Mitchell. Now it had to be their children’s turn to repay the favour.
‘When the thaw does start, take a few days off and drive down to Starpoint. Just have a little holiday. We’ll be fine here. You could have a look around, maybe pop into the estate agents, just to – you know …’
‘We could do with a break,’ Amy admitted, ‘but I can’t see the point of looking at places, Meg. We know we can’t afford to move. It would be foolish to think …’
‘Dreams, Mum,’ Meg said firmly as she opened the door and the ice-cold air flooded into the cosy kitchen. ‘Remember what you’ve just told me. Always hold on to your dreams …’
It wasn’t the best time to be looking at Starpoint, Amy admitted four days later as she and Bob slithered along the cobbled, hilly streets. But even beneath its messy covering of slush, the village still looked magical.
‘I’ve got enough roses in my cheeks to start a florist’s shop,’ Bob laughed, catching Amy’s hand in his own. ‘Bracing, isn’t it?’
‘Very,’ Amy agreed, as the wind whipped up from the sea and blew along the narrow alleyways between the cottages. ‘I’m sure Mrs Fountain at the guest-house thinks we’re out of our minds.’
‘She probably thinks we’re illicit lovers!’ Bob laughed. ‘After all, no normal married couple could want to be taking a holiday here in this weather!’
‘It is beautiful, though.’ Amy flicked wisps of hair away from her glowing cheeks. ‘And that last cottage we looked at …’
‘Was the stuff of dreams,’ Bob finished. ‘And easily within our price range, if –’
Neither of them finished the sentence. There was no need.
They turned the corner away from the sea, and hurried, heads down, towards the guest-house.
Amy smiled to herself, remembering Judith’s reaction.
‘You’re going where?’ She had looked at her in astonishment. ‘But it’s the middle of winter!’
‘Bob needs to recuperate properly, and he can’t do that if we’re on top of Lavender. It’s only for a few days, Judith. I’m sure you and Paul can cope. After all, you’ve got Mitchell and Megan to help, not to mention Dean and Debbie …’
Amy almost laughed out loud, thinking about the effect her innocent words had had. Judith had sucked in her breath and glared.
‘Yes, well, your children may well be available to help out. Mine, I’m afraid, have tired of living in this backwater …’
‘Really?’ Amy had fought to keep her lips from twitching. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. They were shaping up nicely. Er – where have they gone?’
‘Dean has decided to study music, and Debbie has enrolled at art school.’ Judith had had difficulty forming the words. ‘They arranged it without even telling us! Paul and I were speechless!’
For the first time in your lives, Amy had thought gleefully, but had managed to sound solicitous.
‘Oh, but that’s lovely! You must be so proud of them! They’ re both very talented.’
‘Yes, well, of course …’ Judith had been a little mollified. ‘But it still means we’ll be short-handed at Lavender. The children were such an integral part of our plan.’
‘Maybe you should have asked them first,’ Amy had ventured innocently. ‘I find it usually works with mine. Still, you’ll be able to cope until we get back, I’m sure.’
‘Why are you grinning like a Cheshire cat?’ Bob asked as they climbed the short flight of steps to the guest-house.
‘I was thinking about Judith,’ she told him, and he hugged her against him.
‘Really? She doesn’t usually have that effect!’
Amy chuckled. ‘She does when she’s a couple of hundred miles away and miffed, and I’m here with you!’
Bob patted her cheek. ‘You say the nicest things! Come on, I’ll race you for the biggest portion of hot buttered teacakes!’
Just as their parents were indulging themselves in a gloriously rich Devon tea beside Mrs Fountain’s crackling fire, Mitch and Megan were gazing at each other with furrowed brows.
‘How much have you got in the bank?’ Mitchell asked.
Megan was scribbling notes on a pad. ‘A couple of thousand.’
‘Wow!’ Mitchell’s eyebrows rose. ‘That’s a fortune! I d
oubt if I’ve got more than a hundred. Where did you get that from?
‘Saving, little brother,’ Megan mocked. ‘After all, I was supposed to be marrying Peter at some point. He encouraged me to start a savings account – oh!’ She sat upright. ‘And I’ve still got money in the building society for the house deposit.’
Mitchell grinned. ‘How much all together? Enough to buy –?’
‘Definitely not. I doubt if we can raise five thousand between us, and we’d need a lot more than that! Even if we scraped up enough for Mum and Dad to buy a place to live, they’d still need an income.’ She subsided into gloom again, and Mitch rocked back in his chair.
‘It’s hopeless, Meg. If we want to take over Lavender between us, we’ll not only have to raise the asking price, but also buy out our dear uncle and aunt. At least if Matt had kept his shares, that would have helped. Anyway, I can’t see Paul and Judith wanting to relinquish their hold – they fought hard enough to get it.’
‘I know. I keep going round and round in circles. I was determined that if we got Mum and Dad out of the way for a few days, we’d be able to present them with some plan once they got back …’ They looked at the pad in front of them. With their modest savings, and the money they could raise from selling every possession they could think of, they were still miles away from a realistic target.
Jacey stuck her head round the door. ‘Am I interrupting a high-powered business meeting? Can I come in?’
‘Only if you’ve got a six-figure sum stashed away in your mattress!’ Mitchell laughed, then looked beyond her. ‘Oh, hi, Luke …’
Megan looked up, met Luke’s eyes and smiled. She knew she was blushing and looked quickly away again.
‘We’ve come to see if we can help.’ He pulled up a chair beside her. ‘Four heads being better than two.’
Jacey hurled herself on to Mitchell’s lap.
‘Actually, what we thought was, not only could we help you out with the thinking, we could help you out with the actual running …’
Lavender Lane Page 12
