by Minna Howard
‘Siding with the enemy, Mum, how could you?’ Sophie half joked.
‘Oh, Soph, it’s not like that.’ Rufus laughed at her remark. ‘You saw how bad it was, you were as shocked as I was. Jules had to do it though I’m sorry I didn’t get there sooner when I might have been able to do something, stopped things getting so bad.’
‘Some of the cages would have done, just over Christmas, and it was fully booked. People wouldn’t have done that if it was so dangerous,’ she went on. ‘If Mum hadn’t taken some in, it would have ruined people’s holidays.’
‘There’s no point going over it again and again, Sophie.’ Amelia heard the edge to her voice, but she was getting rather tired of her daughter’s zeal.
‘If you had known Dodi and Jim a few years back you’d have been amazed at their energy,’ Rufus said. ‘They built it from scratch themselves, not that I really appreciated it then, but when I last saw them… um,’ he frowned, ‘about two summers ago, I suppose. Things seemed to be working then, but, as you know I was in Europe for a while, so I hadn’t seen what was going on there, realised that Jim was becoming so forgetful.
‘Anyway,’ he went on, ‘I need to make some money to live on, and I think there’s a need for a good place for people to leave their animals when they go away. I’m happy to have the house to live in too. I’ll get in some lodgers to help out.’
Amelia said nothing, leaving the kitchen and going to the living room to sit down and catch up with her messages on her laptop. She didn’t need supper as she’d had so much tea but there was plenty of food in the fridge, if Sophie and Rufus wanted something.
In the end, and a little to her relief, Sophie and Rufus went out and then David rang.
‘I’m so sorry about that evening, or rather for dumping you at home. I was just thrown by that call,’ he said.
‘I’m sad for you that it worked out like that.’ She referred to the call he’d had ending his long affair though realising almost at once that he thought she meant what might have happened between them after their evening together after the concert.
‘I wondered if you’d like to come out again, there’s a new restaurant I’d like to try.’ He went on to explain. ‘It’s having a grand opening in a couple of weeks. February 14th.’
‘Oh, Valentine’s Day,’ she said, involuntarily imagining the restaurant full of red roses and romantic corners for bona fide lovers.
‘Is it? Sorry not really up to speed with dates. But anyway, would you like to come? It has a great chef, so it should be a good evening.’
‘As good friends,’ she said firmly. ‘I don’t want more than friendship, David, it’s so much easier and more lasting,’ she added quickly. ‘So, is that okay with you? We understand each other?’
‘Fine. So, I’ll pick you up around 7.30?’ He sounded relieved.
Her diary was empty for that week. ‘Yes, would be lovely,’ she agreed, glad she’d got her bit in about being friends.
‘Good, we’ll take it from there then. See you.’
He rang off leaving her wishing now that she’d thought of an excuse to turn him down. Why was friendship between the sexes so difficult? The phone rang again, and she hoped it was David changing the date, but it was Vero.
‘What a relief it is you,’ she said, explaining about David.
‘Poor David, you could do worse, he’s a decent man. But I get it that you don’t want a romance with him, though Valentine’s Day,’ she joked. ‘You might get tempted. He’s an attractive man, though, I guess, quite needy, poor love. Well, you can always put on your head mistressy look and keep him at bay.’ She laughed. ‘I rang to ask you to supper next weekend. My cousin Callum and his wife are staying, and I’ve asked Giles and Leonora, if they are still together, and Jules. I do hope you’re free.’
‘All these treats at once,’ Amelia joked. ‘Yes, I’d love to. How are things, bookshop going well?’ Vero had a children’s book shop in Bury.
‘Good clear out over Christmas, now getting in the Easter stock, all bunnies, chicks and eggs.’ She laughed. ‘So, how’s school? I heard Dickon is there, is he in your class?’
‘No, the one above.’ Amelia told her about Cynthia forgetting to collect him from school and how she’d taken him home herself and stayed for tea.
‘No one knows if she just works at the surgery or is also his girlfriend,’ Vero said. ‘I’m sure he’s not short of lady friends and somehow, his predicament, a young, widowed father, appeals to a lot of women. It must be so difficult for him though, he can’t just shack up with anyone, they’ll have to be a good mother to Dickon too.’
‘True and I don’t think Cynthia is that maternal, do you?’
Vero knew her too well. ‘She’s not the slightest bit maternal, Amelia, in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if, for some reason, she had to have a child, she’d make some other woman carry it for her.’
‘Oh Vero, what nonsense,’ she said with a laugh. If Cynthia didn’t like children why was she hanging round Jules?
37
Rufus moved into Birchwood the following weekend.
Sophie seemed to spend a lot of time there with him, working on their plans to reopen it. Sometimes she stayed over, saying they’d worked so late she felt too tired to drive home safely, and she didn’t feel that confident in Grania, her sister’s clapped-out car, which might dump her in the middle of nowhere in the night.
Amelia being out teaching most of the day was tired when she got back, so she did not ask Sophie if she’d had any news from Dom, or whether he might come down for a weekend soon. Though, when she noticed that Sophie had taken off her engagement ring, she asked, hoping she sounded laidback and not showing much interest, if it was somewhere safe.
‘There’s so much dirt at Birchwood I don’t want to spoil it, or worse, lose it there. I put it away in my jewellery box.’ She eyed her mother firmly as if to forbid more interrogation.
‘Good thing to do. I must say that house was pretty depressing,’ Amelia said.
‘I don’t know how they could live like that.’ Sophie shivered in disgust. ‘They obviously only lived in a couple of rooms and just left the rest to get dirty and damp.’
‘They were getting old, and no doubt it all got too much. Their generation had pride, don’t like moaning when things get difficult,’ she said.
‘Well, it is sad, I’m sorry for them. I hope you don’t get like that, Mum.’ She eyed her nervously.
‘So do I, love, but I hope I’ve quite a few good years left, yet,’ Amelia said. ‘Anyway, I’m sure you’ll soon get it clean again and don’t they want a lot of the furniture and stuff anyway?
‘Rufus is sorting that now; it will look better when it’s not so stuffed with things.’
The phone rang and Sophie jumped to answer it. ‘Oh, hi sis, having a good time?’
Amelia’s heart leapt. It was Grania, she hadn’t heard from her for a while.
‘Oh, so you’re coming home the weekend after next, Mum will be pleased,’ Sophie said, then went on to tell her about the kennels, making Amelia sigh with boredom, longing to talk to her daughter herself.’ She took the phone from her.
‘So, you’re coming home, that’s wonderful. I thought you’d be there another few months,’ Amelia said, hoping nothing had gone wrong.
‘Yes… well I’ve met someone rather special and he’s coming home so I thought I would too.’
‘That’s exciting,’ Amelia said, ‘tell me all about him.’
‘Gus, I sort of knew him before, from uni. We ran into each other here and so now, well we’re together and though I love it out here, I don’t want to stay here without him.’
When she finally rang off, Amelia felt happy for her, both her girls settled or perhaps Sophie was not, but she wouldn’t ask her now.
‘Do you know this Gus?’ she asked Sophie.
‘No, never heard of him, can’t wait to meet him,’ Sophie said. ‘You know how secretive she is, he must be someone very special.’<
br />
‘I’m glad.’ Amelia smiled, then said carelessly, ‘If he’s as special as Dom I shall be very happy for you both.’
‘Yes, but he’ll be with her, they are going to share a flat together and Dom’s probably going to the US and he’ll probably meet some American woman.’ Sophie’s voice wobbled, near tears.
Amelia put out her hand and held hers. ‘Why should he? He loves you and you can visit. True love, which I think you have between you, is very strong.’
She wondered if Sophie was feeling vulnerable and would be seduced by Rufus. She sensed she mustn’t say anything.
Sophie said, ‘I hope so. Now I must go and wash my hair, I’m sure it’s full of spiders and goodness knows what else.’
It was icy in the mornings when Amelia set off to the school. She kept a special eye out for Dickon who seemed to have got over his upset at Cynthia forgetting to pick him up.
Giles came for him some days or Janey and once Jules. He greeted her warmly as Dickon thrust his bag at him, asking if they could buy an ice cream on the way home.
‘Surely it’s far too cold for that,’ Jules said. He was about to leave the room. Amelia was still waiting for three more children to be collected and knew they were often last as their mothers had to come from work. Halfway out of the room, he stopped and turned to face her.
‘I understand that Rufus is now living in the house and with the help of your daughter, he hopes to reopen the place.’
‘Yes, that’s right, Sophie says most of the rooms are dirty and they are trying to clean it up.
‘Well, good luck to him. I’m sure everyone would like the kennels to be available again. Tell them I’d be willing to help him if need be,’ Jules said.
‘I will, thank you. Grania, my elder daughter is coming back from India I wonder if Sophie will rope her in to help get the place clean,’ she said.
‘That’s good news, you’ll be pleased to have her back,’ he said.
‘I will, and don’t worry she’s not at all like Sophie, she won’t join her to fight to open the kennels again.’
He laughed. ‘That’s a relief.’
She wanted to say more, hold him back a moment longer, but the mothers arrived for the last children, hot and bothered, apologising for being late, their children relieved to see them.
She remembered that she’d see Jules this weekend at Vero’s supper party. She wondered who else would be there.
38
Amelia drove over to Vero’s supper party. It was a bleak night and she still found it an ordeal to drive far in the pitch-dark on her own. She never thought twice about it when she lived in London. She still had not got used to the utter darkness of the country at night. The fields and woods, unbroken by lit windows. She rather wished she could stay at home, though, as her mother used to say, ‘It will be fun once you get there.’
She arrived at Vero and Ben’s house, her headlights catching the white open gate in the dark lane. It was up a long drive. Once it had been a farm though now much of the land had been sold, some to a woman with horses and a riding school, which kept the house surrounded by fields and woodland instead of being snaffled up for masses of new houses, which had been built further away.
Ben opened the door to her. ‘Amelia, as lovely as ever.’ He kissed her. He helped her off with her coat.
‘Good to see you, Ben.’ She’d known him forever and was very fond of him.
There was another couple already there. She recognised Rosalind who owned the shop where she’d bought her curtains. She’d last seen her at Christmas at Giles’s lunch party. This time her husband, Hamish, whom she’d never met, was with her. Amelia recognised his type at once, the leering sort and she saw too that Rosalind seemed uneasy.
‘How lovely to meet you, the merry widow,’ Hamish said, taking her hand and almost lifting it to his lips, his eyes sweeping over her in an insolent way.
Amelia inwardly froze. She disliked this sort of man, showing off and flirting with other women in front of their wives, making them miserable. She’d no idea they were friends of Ben and Vero. She made a quick excuse and escaped to the kitchen to greet Vero, leaving the couple with Ben.
Vero was panicking in the kitchen. ‘Something is wrong with the oven, it’s not hot enough and the meat will take ages to cook,’ she moaned after embracing her. ‘Callum you know, and this is Evie his wife.’
Amelia greeted them both. Callum was quite a few years older than her girls and his wife, whom he’d recently married, looked even older, though she was a glamourous woman, blond hair to her shoulders and a great figure. She remembered Vero telling her that Callum had fallen in love with his boss.
The meat was chicken breasts in a sauce and Evie suggested that they start them off on the hob and then put them in the oven. The doorbell went then, and she said she’d deal with it while Vero and Ben entertained their guests.
‘Evie is a cordon bleu cook,’ Callum said proudly. ‘Bad luck though, the oven conking out just when you’re having a party.’
‘That’s when it often happens, at an important time. Not as bad as Christmas I suppose when you have a whole household to feed and no chance of getting anyone in to mend it for days,’ Amelia said, following Vero out of the room.
Amelia could hear Jules talking in the hall. She wondered how he was getting on with Cynthia since that day she had forgotten to pick up Dickon, a very black mark against her if Dickon was to become her stepson.
She, Callum and Vero went into the living room. Giles came over and gave her a hug. ‘Amelia what a treat to see you. You know Leonora and Jules, what a fun party this will be.’ He smiled round at them all, delighted as a child.
Leonora greeted her. ‘Ah, the saintly woman who took in half the country’s pets over Christmas. Jules told us all about it. Saved lots of people from cancelling their Christmas plans.’
‘It was nothing,’ Amelia muttered, annoyed with Jules who, it seemed, had entertained all sorts of people with her lack of knowledge about animals. Being caught out by two mice of the opposite sex having babies and that tortoises hibernated.
Jules looking a little sheepish said in his defence, ‘I wasn’t making fun of you, Amelia. You did marvellously. I’m afraid Dickon started it by telling Giles you didn’t know how babies were made, well, animal babies. I don’t think he’s quite grasped that it applies to humans as well.’
‘I think you were wonderful, taking them all in,’ Vero said robustly. ‘I remember those kennels with affection, my little dogs were always happy there, in fact I sometimes thought they’d rather be there than with us here.’
Ben, doing the rounds replenishing their glasses, said, ‘It’s a terrible story, sad too that no one realised what a bind the owners were in. How did you know about it, anyway, Jules? You’d barely arrived from France!’
Amelia was interested to hear his side of the story, she’d heard other versions from other people all no doubt embellished. Before Jules could tell them, Hamish pushed in.
‘Ah, so you are the fairy godmother who gave house room to the local pets.’ He eyed her up again, and Amelia was aware that Jules was watching for her reaction.
‘So how did you come to get involved in all this, Jules?’ She turned to him.
Jules shrugged and glanced round as if he thought the story would bore them.
Leonora said enthusiastically, as though she was part of it, ‘It was all so lucky, just fell into place, didn’t it, Jules? Tell them about it.’
‘Okay, well Dickon and I were coming back and Giles heard that the old vet was past it, in fact he’d had an accident – the vet, I mean, not Giles.’
‘Thankfully not me,’ Giles said.
‘Giles got me a job or two to look after some of the farms, which snowballed. Dodi called me in herself as their cat had a poisoned paw. I couldn’t help seeing the state of the place and when I heard they were going to take in animals over Christmas, I knew I had no choice but to close it down immediately.’ He paused. ‘The
rest is history, but poor Amelia bore the brunt of it, by having the pets dumped on her.
‘The saving angel.’ Hamish leered at her.
‘So, it all worked out in the end.’ Leonora beamed round at them all, as if she was the fairy godmother who had somehow arranged it all. ‘The old couple’s nephew is hoping to get it started up again.’
‘Well, that might work out,’ Ben said. ‘So does that mean Sophie wants to be a sort of zookeeper?’ He laughed. ‘I didn’t know her fiancé was Dodi’s nephew.’
‘He’s not, that’s Rufus who is going to live there. Dom works in a financial firm in London. He might be sent to the US.’
‘That will be fun for them.’ Vero had spent some time working in the States before her marriage, enthused. ‘And you can go and visit. Whereabouts might they go?’
‘Other halves are not allowed. They are so young, you see, it’s just the beginning of their career and I think the firm wants them to go on their own,’ Amelia said.
‘Oh, that’s a bit mean,’ Vero said, ‘but she’s engaged, not a random girlfriend.’ She frowned. ‘Do you think it will work out between them?’
‘True love will outlast anything,’ Leonora said cheerfully, ‘though maybe it’s not to be.’
‘They’ve been together since almost the first day at uni,’ Vero said. ‘It will be a test, but as you say, Leonora, true love conquers all.’
Amelia wondered if it did, but she didn’t say anything. Absence did not always make the heart grow fonder, and today there were so many choices, people to meet and exciting places to go. Sophie seemed so deep in this kennel thing with Rufus and she’d seen how he looked at her. She suspected that without her daughter’s energy, Rufus might not have fought so hard to reopen the kennels. He had a book he wanted to write and now a house to live in, rent-free. He could let out some of the fields to have enough money to pay any bills, but that wasn’t enough for Sophie. Her new mission in life, she’d decided, was to get the kennels up and running again.
Amelia sensed that Jules was watching her. When Hamish approached her and began flirting in rather a menacing way, Jules moved a step closer to her. She felt awful for Rosalind who watched them miserably. How demeaning for her to have such a husband as this. It was a relief when they all went into the dining room for supper.
