We collapsed against each other with relief.
‘I think that must mean that he’s out of danger, rather than being actually dangerous,’ Evie said with a wobbly smile. ‘Unless he’s had a personality transplant when he hit his head.’
We shared a slightly hysterical laugh.
‘Thank heavens,’ I said, a sob catching in my throat.
‘So,’ said Evie determinedly, ‘much as Dad would love to see you, I’m going to Germany on my own. I don’t know how long I’ll be staying and you need to be there at that scan on Friday.’
I opened my mouth to argue but Evie took my phone out of my hand and changed the number of tickets from two to one. ‘I’m the eldest, so no arguments.’
‘Yes, boss.’ My stomach swooped as it hit me just how much I wanted to find out my due date so I could start to make some plans. ‘But promise me you’ll text me as soon as you get there.’
She hugged me. ‘Promise. And don’t worry about money or where you’ll live. We can sort that out over the coming months. Everything will be okay; I’m here for you from now on.’
‘Thank you.’ I kissed her and she stroked my hair and I felt flooded with relief that, despite the awfulness of the event that had brought her here, I had my sister back in my life and, for that at least, I had reason to be happy.
As if she was reading my mind, she pulled back and smiled. ‘I was going to come and see you today, even before I had that call from Agnes.’
‘Snap! I was going to come to see you.’
‘When I woke up this morning I gave myself a firm talking-to. I thought about you and then I asked myself what Paddington would do.’
‘And what would he do?’ I grinned at her.
‘The kind thing, of course.’
We both laughed at that and she got up to go home and pack. She looped her arm through mine as I walked her to her car.
‘You’re showing, you know,’ she said, looking at my stomach. ‘Can I?’
I nodded and I felt a well of love and sadness as my sister gently pressed her hand to my tummy and whispered hello to her niece or nephew.
She got in her car and wound down the window. ‘It’s a boy,’ she declared.
‘How do you know?’ I looked down at my barely-there bump.
She snorted. ‘Your bum’s already massive. Sure sign.’
I gasped with indignation. ‘I take it back; I haven’t missed you at all. Now go.’
She blew me a kiss. ‘I’m going. Love you.’
‘Auf Wiedersehen, pet.’
‘Ha.’
I watched her car disappear down the drive and ran back inside. Evie didn’t want to go to Germany alone and perhaps there was a way she wouldn’t have to. I scrolled through the numbers on the phone until I found the one I wanted. He answered straight away.
‘Darren? Are you busy?’
‘No, why?’
‘Get yourself to Manchester airport; Evie needs you and you’ve got a plane to catch.’
‘What’s going on?’
I quickly brought him up to speed. Darren had always got on well with Dad and without hesitation he said there was nowhere else he’d rather be than by his wife’s side.
‘And it’s a two-hour flight, Darren; that should be long enough for you to tell each other how you really feel.’
‘Oh God. I hope she feels the same as I do. Wish me luck.’
As soon as he’d rung off, I sank down on to the sofa and let out a weary sigh of satisfaction. Just one message to send.
You’ll be surprised to know I’m being sensible. If the offer still stands, will you come with me on Friday? L x
A reply pinged straight back.
Best offer I’ve had all day. J xxxx
Four kisses, plus the one from earlier! Today hadn’t been quite so bad after all. Now all I needed was to wait for Evie to check up on Dad …
I was getting ready for bed later that evening when Evie called; I grabbed my phone on the first ring, eager for news.
‘How is he? Have you seen him?’ I demanded.
‘He’s conscious, I’ve spoken to him, he looks like he’s been hit in the face with a bag of spanners, and his right arm and shoulder are strapped up and plastered but he’ll live.’ Her voice sounded shaky.
‘Thank goodness.’ I flopped on to my bed, weak with relief. ‘Give him a kiss from me and send him all my love.’
‘I will. He asked about you and I said you wanted to come but your passport had expired. “Classic Lottie,” he said.’
‘Evie!’ I rolled my eyes. ‘What if I wanted to go and see him next week?’
‘You’ll have to say you got an emergency one. Sorry, but I was doing my best not to mention the baby and I panicked. Anyway, at least it made him smile.’
‘Poor old Dad.’ I so wanted to be there and hug him myself. ‘So what happens now?’
‘No idea. Agnes has gone to find out, but I think he’ll be in for a few days.’
‘Do you think I’ll be able to talk to him tomorrow?’
‘I’ll try to sort something out, even if I have to smuggle my phone on to the ward. It’s very hi-tech; the hospital is like a spaceship but the doctors and nurses all speak good English. It took us a while to find him and it’s half past ten here now. Agnes has offered to put us up at her house, so at least we don’t have to find a hotel. Apparently his motorhome is parked there already.’
Us. In all the excitement it had slipped my mind that Darren was with her.
‘What’s Agnes like?’ All I knew so far about her was that she was German and rode a motorbike. In my head I had a picture of a Germanic version of Joanna Lumley: long-legged and glamourous, wearing leather trousers and red lipstick.
‘She’s fab. She’s like a twinkly-eyed little koala bear: tubby, short with wiry grey hair.’ Evie giggled and lowered her voice. ‘Goodness knows how she gets her leg over a motorbike.’
I heard a low male voice in the background followed by a kissing noise.
‘And, er, how’s the other man in your life?’ I asked.
‘Darren’s right here,’ she said, and I could tell she was smiling. ‘Holding my hand and listening in.’
I let out a breath. ‘So you didn’t mind me interfering?’
‘Somebody needed to,’ I heard Darren say. ‘We were making a right pig’s ear of it by ourselves.’
‘Thank you, sis,’ said Evie. ‘We’ve talked and talked about what we each want and where we go from here.’
‘And …?’ I held my breath.
‘The most important thing is that we still love each other more than ever. And when you’ve got love, everything else will work itself out.’
‘I’m so pleased.’ I let out a breath. ‘So no divorce?’
‘Absolutely not,’ Darren confirmed. I heard them kiss and my heart squeezed for them.
With promises to keep in touch, we ended the call and before long I was in bed. The window was open and a faint breeze blew in, tickling my face, and with it came the strains of a barn owl hooting a mournful lullaby in the distance. I lay in the middle of my big double bed, my hand resting on my stomach, and Evie’s words echoed round and round in my head.
When you’ve got love, everything else will work itself out.
I exhaled wistfully; I only wished that applied to me too …
Chapter 22
The weather turned that night; the temperature dropped a few degrees and for the next few days the hills and valleys of Derbyshire were treated to some soft summer rain. But on Friday morning the blue skies returned and from eight o’clock, as the day warmed up, there was a hazy view across the vineyard and the ground steamed gently in the sunshine. It was now ten and almost time to leave for the hospital. Jensen was on his way but heavy traffic on the motorway meant he was running late, so to keep busy, I was doing a quick inspection of the grapes with Pippa. Starsky had trotted down with us but was now dozing under the bench.
‘Hopefully we’ve seen the back of that rain,’
said Pippa.
She was wearing a long hippy-style skirt, which dragged through the long grass that had grown down the centre of two rows of Pinot Noir vines. She reminded me of a modern-day Jane Austen heroine with her wide sunhat, coppery hair and freckles.
‘Hopefully,’ I agreed. ‘It’s like a jungle along here.’
It had been too wet to get the mower up here all week and the grass was bushy and dense.
Pippa sighed wistfully. ‘It would have been Ted’s birthday next week and he used to say that a sunny six weeks from then until the end of September was the best birthday present he could ever get.’
‘You still really miss him, don’t you?’
‘Terribly,’ she admitted, turning away from me so I couldn’t see her face. ‘I was painfully shy when I was young. Still am amongst strangers, really, I suppose. I had no social confidence at all when I met Ted. All I knew was books, the only friends I had were characters from books, I worked in the library where I felt at home and my only hobby was – you’ve guessed it – reading. It was Ted who introduced me to a world outside of books. And now I have friends who live in the real world. I’m still shy, and always will be, but there’s more to me than my encyclopaedic knowledge of the classics these days.’
‘Your amazing knowledge of vines, for example.’ I touched her arm reassuringly, thinking not for the first time what a legacy of good deeds Ted had left behind him. Her eyes looked as damp as the leaves on the vines but she smiled and together we bent to look at the bunches of grapes, checking for any signs of mildew.
‘Talking of which, I read that too much rain can alter the complexity of the finished wine,’ I said.
‘Correct,’ said Pippa with a bright smile, pulling herself together. ‘The roots transport the water to the grapes and they swell up and become fat, bursting with juice.’
I straightened up, wincing. ‘Stop talking about water, I need the loo.’
‘Again?’ She looked at me sharply. ‘Do you think you might have a bladder infection or something?’
‘No, just drunk a lot of tea this morning that’s all.’
I was so preoccupied with my hospital appointment that I must have done at least ten nervous wees this morning and it was getting harder to come up with excuses for dashing inside to the bathroom. My stomach had popped out a bit more this week too and my jeans were cutting into my waist; the sooner I could tell everyone what was going on the better. Even Godfrey had remarked yesterday when we were having a tea and biscuit break from bottling the Blanc de Noir, that he liked to see a young woman with a healthy appetite, and you didn’t have to be a genius to read the sub-text: step away from the bourbons, Chubby.
Pippa chewed her lip. ‘I don’t mean to pry, but is everything all right?’
‘Fine, fine,’ I lied. I put a hand to my neck to hide the flush. ‘Did you just hear a car?’
‘Er …’
I didn’t hang around to hear her reply.
The car I’d heard was Marjorie’s specially adapted car. She and Betsy had arrived shortly ahead of Jensen’s super whispery electric one. By the time I reached the yard, Betsy was unloading shopping from the back seat and looping bags over Jensen’s arms.
‘I’ll be two minutes,’ he said, pulling a face. ‘Gran appears to be catering for the five thousand. Ow!’
‘Got to keep my strength up,’ Betsy replied, giving him a poke in the ribs, ‘or else you’ll put me in a home.’
They began bickering light-heartedly about Meals on Wheels and Marjorie’s arm shot out of the open car window and caught my hand. She looked like she was suffering in the heat and her short frizzy hair was damp. She was wearing a faded T-shirt with the words ‘School’s out for summer’ stretched across her chest and a pair of cut-off jogging bottoms.
‘How’s Daddy Allbright?’ she asked.
‘Loads better, thank you,’ I replied. ‘Being fussed over by a lovely German lady who runs a dog sanctuary. He says he’s been treated like one of her hopeless old mutts, but I think he loves it really.’
He’d come out of hospital on Wednesday and we’d had a long chat yesterday. Agnes, he told me, as well as running a dog sanctuary, had some rough and ready camping facilities, which was how they had met when he was looking for an overnight stop-off on his way to Austria. They’d hit it off immediately and in exchange for him cutting down an overgrown fir tree that was blocking the light from her bedroom window, she’d cooked him dinner, and by the time they’d got to dessert (the best Apfelstrudel he’d ever tasted), he was smitten. According to Evie she was delightful, and a tiny part of me couldn’t help thinking that maybe this motorbike accident was a blessing in disguise. Once Evie and Darren were happy that he was all right, they’d booked themselves into a romantic break in a spa hotel in Heidelberg.
‘Good.’ Marjorie gave me a watery smile and wiped the perspiration from her forehead. ‘Bloody motorbikes.’
I nodded. ‘He was lucky.’
‘Tell him—’ She bit her lip, her voice thick. ‘Tell him, if he can bear it, to get back on the bike. “Back in the saddle”, as they say. I would have done if I could.’ We both glanced down at her legs tucked under the wheel of the car she steered with her hands alone.
‘I’ll tell him,’ I promised.
‘Careful!’ Betsy tutted from the back of the car. ‘That one’s got the eggs in it.’
‘Yes, two dozen of them,’ Jensen chuckled. ‘This is a lot of food, Gran, for someone who lives alone.’
Marjorie jerked her head towards the back of the car. ‘You’d better go and hurry her ladyship up. It’s your big day today, isn’t it?’
I nodded and my insides lurched; I was definitely going to need the loo again before we left.
‘Mind you don’t crush the bag of spinach in that one,’ Betsy instructed. She looked as cool as a cucumber in a knee-length shift dress, a row of pearls decorating her bony décolletage and her hair swept up in its habitual clip.
‘Let me guess,’ Jensen said, grinning at me as I approached offering to help. ‘Spinach omelette for lunch?’
‘Yes, actually,’ she said primly, with a well-timed look at me as I reached for the last bag. ‘For the iron. Lottie, take heed. And put that bag down instantly. Jensen can manage.’
‘Don’t worry,’ he murmured apologetically to me, his blue eyes crinkling in a smile. ‘I know a quick route; we won’t be late.’
‘Oh heavens,’ said Betsy crossly, jamming her hand on her hip, ‘why didn’t you remind me? It’s your hospital appointment today and here I am holding you up. I wondered to what I owed the pleasure of a visit from my grandson and heir on a weekday. Of course,’ she shot me a sly look, ‘it’s not me he’s here to see, is it? It’s you.’
‘Actually, it’s neither of you.’ He grinned. ‘It’s Lottie’s baby I can’t wait to see. I’ve always wanted to see one of those scanning machines close up. Now please hurry up, Gran, we need to get going.’
A tiny bubble of joy burst inside me and I had to turn away.
‘You’ll make someone a lovely husband,’ said Betsy, cupping a gnarled hand to his cheek, echoing my thoughts perfectly. I watched them, wishing I was brave enough to do the same to him. She sighed heavily. ‘It must be a wonderful thing to see your own child safe and sound, breathing, moving, growing … There was nothing like that in my day when I had Samantha. I wish …’ She swallowed and shook her head. ‘Well, I probably couldn’t see it now anyway, with my useless eyes.’
‘Come with us!’ I said, suddenly craving safety in numbers. ‘Marjorie too. And even if you can’t see the screen you might hear the heartbeat.’
‘Damn it. I can’t, dear girl,’ Marjorie said from the front seat. She was using the car’s vanity mirror to pull a hair out on her chin. ‘Got an important meeting with the bank.’
‘Dressed as an Alice Cooper groupie,’ said Betsy tartly. ‘That’s got success written all over it.’
Marjorie chuckled. ‘Once a rock chick always a rock chick.
’
‘But I’d be honoured, Lottie, really I would.’ Betsy made a sprightly leap towards me and pressed a kiss to my forehead.
Jensen looked doubtful. ‘Are you sure about this?’
‘Definitely,’ I confirmed. ‘You Butterworths are the nearest I’ve got to family at the moment. I’m …’ My voice went croaky for a second and I had to clear my throat. ‘I’m a bit anxious about it, to be honest.’
‘That’s settled then.’ Betsy beamed. ‘Now come along, chop, chop, child, let’s get this milk in the fridge before it turns into yogurt.’
Jensen rolled his eyes and he and Betsy disappeared inside. I blew out a breath. I started towards home to collect my things when Marjorie called me back. She smoothed the skin on the back of my hand with her thumbs.
‘You can do this, you know.’ She eyed me wisely.
‘Yeah.’ I looked down at the ground. ‘But it’s not what I’d have planned. I know it’s old-fashioned, but I thought I’d fall in love, get married and then start a family. I seem to be going about it backwards.’
‘Life doesn’t always pan out the way we want it to,’ she said, patting my hand. ‘Like when Ron decided to buy a Harley-Davidson when he turned sixty. His retirement lasted all of a few months; that didn’t go quite how we’d planned either.’
‘Sorry, Marjorie, here I am feeling miserable when what you went through was so much worse.’
‘I’m not looking for sympathy.’ She waved my apology away. ‘Shall I tell you my story while you wait for the others?’
I nodded and leaned on the front wing of her car while she told me that up until Ron splashed out on a Harley a wild night out for them was strolling into Fernfield for fish and chips and a bottle of dandelion and burdock. But buying that bike and riding it home was a dream come true for him and for the next month he was on top of the world. The night they had the accident everything changed; Ron lost his life and Marjorie lost the use of her legs and was too ill even to organize her beloved’s funeral. Very slowly her injuries began to heal, but she didn’t see the point of trying to get better: not only was Ron gone for ever, but so too was her independence because she’d never walk unaided. Eventually, she was moved to a general ward and the lady in the bed next to her had dementia and rarely remembered who she was. One day the woman’s son came to visit and Marjorie overheard her telling him that she’d once had a son but he didn’t come to see her any more. The woman’s son had sat there sobbing by her bed.
A Vintage Summer Page 24
