Return to Oban

by Ruth Hay

  And, Anna suggests Alina and Philip will give you space in their baggage allowance so you can take more of your personal belongings over to Scotland.

  We get a nice overnight stop, meet Alina and Philip, he’s Anna’s half-brother by the way, and then set out fresh the next day, by limousine, to Toronto for the last leg of the flight. A car will collect us in Glasgow. What’s not to like?”

  Jean, whose plans had been set for the last four months, as she thought, took some time to adjust to this new, more complicated journey.

  “But, my luggage was going via Air Canada all the way to Glasgow so I don’t have to handle it.”

  “We won’t change that. I’ll take an extra case for you and we’ll attach Alina’s tags in London.

  We were going to say goodbye at the Vancouver airport and travel separately, Jean dear. You, to Glasgow, and me home to London, Ontario. This way we travel together and also help Alina. Anna has invited me to come to the celebration in Oban so we’ll be together much longer than we thought.”

  “Oh, I’m being an old stick-in-the-mud. I was quite worried about flying such a great distance on my own and I didn’t want to confess it. Now it will be much easier for me. When does Anna want us to arrive?”

  “That’s the best part. We can leave whenever we want in the next two weeks. We will both stay with Jeanette in your new spacious bedroom, and the other couple will stay with Anna. I just have to coordinate our flights with Philip. Doesn’t it sound like a good idea?”

  “I guess so. None of us is getting any younger. There’s something to be said for safety in numbers at our age!”

  “Michelle, it’s Anna. How is Simon?”

  “Oh you know your brother, Anna. He’s like a bear with a sore head, complaining about every little thing and anxious to get fully active again.”

  “Sorry to hear that, Michelle. I know what a monster he can be when he’s confined to the house. Is his hip giving him trouble still?”

  “Not really. I think he just got used to complaining while he waited for the operation and now he doesn’t know how to stop!”

  Anna couldn’t help laughing out loud at this description of her brother. It was her considered opinion no one, other than the long-suffering Michelle, could have put up with him for so long.

  “Anyway, tell me how our Ashley is getting on with the book. She hasn’t called in an age and I haven’t wanted to interrupt her. Donna says she is working feverishly to a deadline.”

  “Hmm ..…quite an apt choice of words, Michelle. It’s Ashley I’m calling about, actually.”

  “Ah, she’s finally tired of Scotland and anxious to get back to Prince Edward Island?”

  “Not really. She’s happy here for now. Did she mention her beau?”

  “Now there’s an old-fashioned word! Does she have a boyfriend?”

  “Edmund Jansen is a doctor and not exactly in the boy category. Perhaps I shouldn’t be saying anything about him at all.”

  “Well it could explain her long absence. What else did you want to say about Ash?”

  “She has worked very hard this fall and should have her book published very soon. I want to celebrate her accomplishment and I was wondering if you and Simon would be able to come to spend New Year’s over here in Scotland. It would be a bit of a party. She deserves it.”

  “Anna, that’s a wonderful idea. We have the usual chaos over Christmas with Ken and his kids. Donna’s spending the holidays with her latest ‘friend.’ It would really perk up Simon to have something to look forward to.”

  “Good! Come a day or two early. There’s someone I want you to meet.”

  “Please include the dashing doctor as well. Donna will want to know all about her daughter’s beau. It’s been a long time since she had any serious romance in her life.”

  “I’ll be sure to do that! Meantime, get your flights booked before the seats are all gone.”

  “Absolutely! Thanks, Anna. It will be good to see you again.”

  “Hello, this Is Anna Drake calling. I want to invite Ross and Joyce to a New Year’s party in Oban. I’ll give you my contact information and …………..”

  “Is that really you, Anna? I thought I recognized your voice on the answer phone message. Thank goodness I got here in time. Joyce is always saying I should let the machine take messages so we don’t get interrupted all the day long, but I am so glad to hear from you.”

  “Ross! It’s great to hear your voice again. It’s been too long. You sound hale and hearty. Your retirement must be going well.”

  “Huh! What retirement is that? Joyce had a list of things for me to do that’s miles long. I think I’m nowhere near the end of it yet. Visiting the children and the grandbairns abroad is the only break I get these days.”

  “I’ll bet you love it all, Ross, but I have an idea for both of you to get a break over New Year’s if you can come to the Oban house.”

  “What’s the occasion, Anna? I know you’ve been keeping to yourself for a while now since Lawren died. Joyce and me have been giving you your privacy but that does not mean we have forgotten about you, or Simon for that matter.”

  “I appreciate your consideration, Ross. I am doing much better lately and I want you and Joyce to help me celebrate a new start with Simon and Michelle and our other friends, if you are free.”

  “Free! I would make every effort to come even if we had special plans this year. I can’t wait to tell Joyce when she comes home.”

  “Oh, that’s excellent news, Ross. I would invite you two to stay at the McCaig Estate house like you did before, but there will be a couple there already when you arrive. My half-brother Philip and his wife Alina will be staying with me from Canada.”

  “Now, that’s another incentive you’re giving me. I feel badly that I’ve never met Philip in all these years. It’s high time to make up for that. We are none of us getting any younger. Don’t give accommodations another thought. Joyce and I will book the Highland Hotel for a few days. We’ll drive up if the weather holds and we can make a holiday out of it. It’s just what we need. It’s going to be a grand New Year with all of us together.”

  “I’m so glad, Ross. You are right about time marching on. We can’t afford to waste an opportunity to be together.

  Have a lovely Christmas with your big family and give everyone my love.

  See you soon!”

  * * *

  Anna sighed with relief and made a note on her writing pad where she had been keeping track of her elaborate plans for the holidays. So far, everything and everyone was falling into place. It would be a very busy couple of weeks but the house would be full of people and there would be plenty to celebrate with good friends and family.

  There were still a few things to put in place for the Christmas celebration but the major decisions about who, where and how, had been checked off her list.

  She thought it was fortunate that Ashley was spending so much time closeted in the office working on the book. She had no idea what was planned. Anna was quite pleased that she had accomplished it all by herself. It was high time to open up the house and open up her heart again as she had not been willing to do for so long. She had Ashley to thank for much of that willingness and soon her niece would know of her gratitude.

  She looked back at the list. There was just one more thing to set in place. Call Edmund Jansen.

  “Could I speak to Dr. Jansen please? It’s Anna Drake calling.”

  “What’s the medical issue, Mrs. Drake?”

  “No medical issue, I’m happy to say. It’s more of a personal matter.”

  “I see. I’ll tell the doctor you called and he’ll get back to you when he can.”

  “Thank you.”

  She thought this delay was inevitable so she referred to the list again and decided to make a call to the caterers to ensure everything was as she had requested. She imagined Edmund would return the call quite quickly as he had not had an opportunity to see Ashley for some time. When he saw the phon
e number he would think it was from Ashley.

  This turned out to be the case.

  “Hello. Dr. Jansen. Ashley?”

  “No. This is Anna Drake.”

  “Is Ashley all right?”

  “Oh, she’s fine, Edmund. She’s still very busy with her writing but I need to talk to you about a plan I have for Christmas Day. It involves Ashley.”

  “Mrs. Drake, I’m afraid I will be going home to spend the day with my mother. It’s all arranged and I don’t want to disappoint her.”

  “I understand.” She revised speedily and found another option.

  “Would it be possible for you to return to Oban in the evening for a very special occasion?”

  There was a silence during which Anna’s heart speeded up. Edmund must be there for Ashley.

  “I suppose I could leave here on Christmas Eve and return later on Christmas Day, if you feel it’s important enough for me to drive across country?”

  “Yes, I do! I am sure Ashley would want you to be there for this, but for now it’s a big surprise so don’t say anything about it to her.”

  “Not much chance of that, Mrs. Drake. I haven’t seen Ashley for weeks. I don’t even know what the book is about. It’s certainly taking all of her time these days.”

  “Ah, I don’t think she would mind me telling you about the book. You see it’s a biography, or memoir, of my life with Lawren Drake and the book is to be released for sale by Christmas, so Ashley has a responsibility to her publisher in Canada. It’s a big opportunity for a journalist, Edmund, as I think you would agree.”

  “Absolutely! But she should have told me.”

  He sounded both aggrieved and disappointed. Anna jumped in to try to calm the waters.

  “Edmund, it’s mostly my fault. At the start of the writing project, we did not tell anyone in case it didn’t work out. I think the secrecy became a habit. You deserve to know what is happening on the evening of Christmas Day. I have arranged a Christmas feast at Glenmorie Castle for close friends and family to celebrate Ashley’s achievement.”

  “My goodness! And you really want to include me?”

  “Of course! Ashley is very fond of you, Edmund.”

  It’s been hard for me to tell that lately. I thought she had gone off me, big time. I gave up on the idea of taking her home to meet my mother. I guess we might do it for New Year’s instead, if the celebration goes as well as Anna expects.

  “In that case, count me in!”

  “Great! I’ll be in touch with the final arrangements. Please apologize to your mother for me, Edmund.”

  “Somehow, I feel she won’t mind too much. Thank you for including me and thank you for suggesting Fiona Campbell’s cottage. Living there has made a huge difference.”

  “You are most welcome.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Occasionally she looked up and saw wind or rain or even snow blowing by the office window, but she was not really conscious of the amount of time that had passed since she began this regimen of work, eat, work, sleep and repeat.

  By now she was inured to it and could keep going for longer writing sessions. Kate had not been too demanding about corrections or changes and yet, inevitably, several minor items escaped the author’s attention, mainly because of the speed at which she was working. Those aside, Kate had agreed to leave the main thrust of the book as Ashley had wanted. If it had been necessary to revamp the entire document, Ashley felt she would have given up. Perhaps Kate sensed that too.

  Warren Brady had been on the phone once to assure her she need not be concerned about the art book. Its release had been scheduled for spring in the new year. The originals had arrived safely in Halifax and been couriered immediately to Ottawa where the reaction of the arts community gave Warren every indication of an immense publication coup. Orders had already begun to flood in.

  Ashley was pleased about this for her aunt’s sake, but she still worried that the arty coffee table book might overshadow her more personal work. Warren reiterated his commitment to A Private Couple Revealed: Anna and Lawren Drake and promised the publicity wheels were already turning with Indigo/Chapters planning a massive release and a newspaper campaign.

  “After all, Ashley Stanton, this is a big deal in Canada. How often does one of our own reach these heights with two, new, important publications coming forth within months of each other?”

  * * *

  Ashley frequently repeated these words to herself when she couldn’t sleep because her brain was humming with activity. It worked most nights but she knew she was approaching the limit of her endurance. She ran off a copy of the December calendar and taped it to the bottom of the window, taking great pleasure in crossing off a day each evening when she turned out the desk lamp.

  Anna hovered nearby with coffee and sweet snacks and made sure the lounge fire was fed regularly, taking over the cleaning out of the ashes each morning. She also found a pair of suede boots with sheepskin linings for Ashley’s feet. These had the effect of speeding up her output. Who knew warm feet increased blood supply to the brain?

  Anna was still fielding phone calls and keeping Sylvia at bay. During the pre-Christmas season everyone was involved with shopping and family events. Jeanette was making sure everything was prepared for her mother’s comfort and she was delighted Valerie would be her guest until Christmas Day was over after which she had a date in London at Dunstan’s Close.

  Fiona was occupied with choosing appropriate gifts for three children and Gordon, as well as being an important co-conspirator in Anna’s plans.

  No one arrived at the estate house for weeks except a grocery delivery van from Tesco. Ashley heard Bev’s voice in the distance once or twice but no one poked a head in to say hello, and she was grateful.

  One cold day, she was typing the heading on a finished chapter when she realized she had reached chapter twenty-five. This was something of a surprise. An initial outline had proposed twenty chapters as a number to be aimed for, and now she had surpassed that without really noticing. In the way of such projects, it grew substantially as different approaches presented themselves and more involved descriptions were required. She could see the conclusion of the book in her mind. The end was nigh, for sure.

  There was, however, one mighty barrier still waiting to be overcome.

  Aunt Anna had not yet given final approval of the text of her story. Yes, she had read the beginning chapters before they were sent to Canada, but it had been a long time since Ashley had made the remainder available to her. In the main body of the work were the majority of the most sensitive topics which her aunt had initially approved, but which might be too revealing when seen in print with the knowledge that friends, family and complete strangers would be privy to Anna’s own secrets.

  It was time to correct that omission. She filled the printer with paper and ran off chapters five through twenty-four. It made a rather large stack. Ashley would continue with the final chapter while her aunt approved the main section.

  It was a nervous moment when she gave the stack of pages over to Anna. There was a fierce wind blowing outside, shaking the windows occasionally. They were cozy inside the kitchen with supper dishes done and Sylvia curled up asleep in her usual position. Ashley withdrew to work for another hour or two before bed, but first she apologized to her aunt.

  “I know I have left you with most of the housework around here for a long time now, Aunt Anna.

  I hope that will not affect your feelings about the book. I admit to being selfish and single-minded and I have left your final approval for far too long. It is not fair to ask you to rush through this much reading all at once, but it’s too late now for me to amend my poor planning. I can only hope you are not disappointed in the results.

  I will be in the office. Please come and stop me if you have any concerns.”

  Ashley closed the kitchen door behind her before her aunt could respond. If she had any hope of finishing the book, she would have to put out of her mind the i
ntimidating picture of Anna Mason Drake at the kitchen table with that pile of pages in front of her. She crossed her fingers without realizing it and kept them that way until she opened up the laptop.

  * * *

  Ashley knew to stop writing when spelling mistakes began to appear on the page. It was a sure sign her brain was getting tired. She looked at the clock on the lower right side of the laptop screen and was astonished to discover it was almost midnight. She yawned mightily and then began to wonder if her aunt had gone off to bed. It was way past her usual bedtime.

  She stood up unsteadily as blood raced down to her toes again. The room was decidedly cold. The peat fire was barely smoldering. The house was completely silent. Even the wind had ceased howling.

  Panic rushed through her. Once more she had become immersed in the writing and put everything else out of her mind. What if something dreadful had happened to Anna? She remembered the time she had found Anna slumped on the chair upstairs with a high fever and the beginnings of chicken pox. That awful sinking feeling was clenching her stomach again, but this time it was related to the book pages she had given her aunt to read hours before. What if she had hated every sentence, burned the offending pages in the Aga, and stormed off to bed without saying a word? What if she could not face her niece because she was so upset and didn’t want to admit it?

  With so many alarming images in her mind, she could not wait a second longer to learn her fate. Throwing open the kitchen door, she stumbled inside and found Anna Drake alive, with the stack of pages in front of her on the table. Her aunt was gazing out of the bay window at the dark sky with such a look on her face that Ashley hesitated to disturb her. She was totally unable to interpret that look. Partly because her anxiety was running rampant, and partly because she had never seen such an expression before in her life.

  “Aunt Anna! Are you all right?” She whispered the question, afraid of breaking the silence that surrounded her aunt like a protective bubble.