Jenny shrugged. ‘Today is huge for him. You’ve seen how much he’s drinking so I know you realise that.’
‘What happens next? Does it end today?’
She shook her head. ‘Not if I have anything to do with it. No. Ed’s a stubborn man—’
‘Really? I’d never have guessed that about him.’
She laughed. ‘He hides it well, doesn’t he? He’s a stubborn man, but that means that when he makes a decision to do something, he sees it right through. The reason this is so huge for him is that it was never about finding out answers or getting an apology. It was always about building a relationship and, after fifty-four years without one, he needed to be sure that’s what he really wanted before meeting Ruby.’
The door opened and a couple of women came in, gushing about the profiteroles. They smiled politely before disappearing into cubicles.
Jenny took my hands in hers. ‘Our family has been broken but you’ve started to fix it. He’s started with Ruby but I know that Rhys is next. Honestly, Callie, you’re like a gift from heaven.’ She drew me into a hug. ‘Thank you for coming into our lives.’
53
It seemed that Ed was a happy drunk, which was unexpected as he’d seemed on edge and melancholy when we left the table. When Jenny and I returned from the ladies, he’d challenged Rhys to a scone-eating contest. Both had to smother a scone in jam and cream then eat it as fast as they could. If they licked their lips at any point, they incurred a five-second penalty. I’d done something similar with sugar doughnuts before but had never tried it with cream scones. Hilarious.
To further my surprise, Ruby decided to challenge the winner – Ed – and blow me if she didn’t win! He demanded a rematch and ended up laughing so much that he snorted cream up his nose and had to retreat to the gents to sort himself out.
When he’d gone, I turned to Ruby. ‘An unexpected start to the New Year, eh? How are you feeling?’
‘I’m still a little stunned, darling. When Ian told me that my son was in reception, I thought someone was… what’s that word you young people use these days? Planking?’
‘Pranking?’
‘That’s it, darling. I thought somebody was pranking me, but there he was. Oh my goodness, Callie, he’s the spitting image of Teddy. It was like stepping back in time.’
‘And are you still annoyed with me for getting in touch with Teddy? Because it was an accident.’
She shook her head. ‘Right now, my son is back in my life. He understands why I gave him up and he’s not angry about it anymore. I’m not expecting it will be easy or perfect, but the main thing is that we’re in contact. That’s all I ever wanted and I’m led to understand that you made that happen too. You’ll have to tell me more about this lecture you gave him.’
I smiled. ‘Another day, perhaps. It was awful.’
Ed returned to the table, his face clear of jam and cream. ‘I can’t believe we just did that in a five-star establishment.’
‘Darling,’ Ruby said, ‘I tend to find that the higher class the establishment, the more outrageous the japes. I was once staying at The Savoy and you wouldn’t believe what Lord Harrington Pemberley and his brother did in the fountain…’
Sitting back in my chair, a feeling of contentment settled on me. Ruby was finally with her family, Ed was going to make amends with Rhys, Megan was in my life and Izzy had hopefully stopped playing silly buggers. Maria and I were friends again and Tony was out of the picture. And I had a wedding to plan. After a difficult four months or so, things were finally looking up. All I needed now was for Teddy to appear, fulfilling my Christmas wish, and for Nick to find love. I didn’t understand why he was unlucky in love when idiots like Tony seemed to have the pick of whomever they wanted, but I was sure he’d find the right woman soon.
Sipping on my champagne, I tuned back into Ruby’s story. I sometimes wondered if she made them up, but so what if she did? They were funny and she was a gifted storyteller. Mid-sentence, Ruby stopped and frowned.
‘What’s up?’ Rhys asked.
‘That music.’
We all fell silent and listened.
‘It’s your song,’ I exclaimed. ‘The one in the teddy.’
Ruby nodded, her head cocked to one side.
‘Didn’t you say it was in a film?’ I asked. ‘She’s been playing music from films all afternoon.’
Ruby turned to me. ‘Has she? Oh. That would explain it, then. For a moment, I thought… Never mind.’
‘You thought it was Teddy?’
‘Just an old woman being foolish.’ She smiled a little too brightly as she looked round the table. ‘Where was I? Oh yes, I was—’
A man’s voice cut across her. ‘You were in a theatre in Paris on my twenty-first birthday, looking as astonishingly beautiful as you do today.’
I swear that everyone at the table held their breath at that very same moment, watching as Ruby turned and rose, her fingers pressed to her lips. Oh my goodness. The distinguished-looking gentleman with the posh voice standing by our table had to be…
‘Teddy,’ Ruby whispered.
54
It was like watching a scene out of a classic movie unfolding before our eyes. Ruby and Teddy stood face to face with their song playing in the background. They didn’t speak. No words were needed because the expression on both of their faces said it all: love, regret, forgiveness. Teddy reached out and took both of Ruby’s hands in his, drew them slowly to his lips for a gentle kiss, then they embraced. I felt like an intruder in an incredibly intimate moment, yet I wasn’t able to look away because I was completely drawn into a love story that had spanned nearly seventy years.
Somebody on a table nearby dropped some cutlery onto the floor with a clatter and the spell between Ruby and Teddy was momentarily broken, both of them seeming to realise they weren’t alone. They pulled apart but kept one hand firmly clasped as though they were both afraid to ever let go again.
Ruby turned to face the sea of expectant faces. ‘This is Teddy.’ She turned back to him. ‘Teddy, this is… erm… this is my family.’
Teddy smiled at us all. ‘Please forgive me for interrupting your meal. As soon as I heard Ruby was here, I had to come. Too many years have separated us already.’ He turned to Ruby. ‘Do they know who I am?’
‘A couple of them do. Perhaps I’d better fully introduce you.’ She indicated me first. ‘This is Callie and, although I don’t yet know how you found me here, I think she may be the reason you’re in Whitsborough Bay today.’
I stood up, unsure whether to shake Teddy’s hand, curtsy, or hug him. What was the protocol for a Lord? He saved me the decision, momentarily releasing Ruby’s hand, pulling me into his embrace and whispering, ‘thank you’ over and over.
Ruby looked round the rest of the table when Teddy had taken her by the hand again. ‘And this is my immediate family. My son, Edward, and my daughter-in-law, Jenny.’ She took a deep breath and I guessed she was trying to decide whether the full truth should come now or later. ‘My granddaughter, Debbie, and my grandson, Rhys, who is also Callie’s fiancé. Rhys knows.’ She paused and looked at me. I nodded encouragingly, hoping she’d find the strength to just blurt it out.
‘I say my family,’ Ruby said, ‘but what I really mean is our family. Edward is your son, Teddy. Our son. Edward, this is your father, Teddy Latimer.’
Ed looked completely astonished. His eyes were wide and he kept opening and closing his mouth, but no words came out.
‘Our son?’ Teddy looked from Ruby to Ed then back to Ruby, mouth also agape. ‘Was that why you disappeared?’
She nodded. ‘Oh, Teddy. There is so much to tell you. So much. And Edward too…’ She looked at Ed, shrugging. ‘I wasn’t expecting this today. I wasn’t expecting any of this.’
Teddy kissed her hand again and smiled. ‘And we have all the time in the world because I am never, ever letting you go again.’
After that, there were tears, hugs, handshakes. Teddy’s grandd
aughter, Amelia, had been loitering behind him, waiting for the right moment to step forward. I’d been so entranced by the reunion that I hadn’t even noticed her. Teddy introduced her and she was clearly as astonished as Teddy to discover she had a whole new family. Two more chairs seemed to appear out of nowhere, followed by more champagne. This time, I didn’t frown as Ed’s glass was filled. If anyone needed a drink, he did. Not only had he decided to acquaint himself with his birth mother that day, but he’d unexpectedly met his birth father too. That was a lot to take in at once.
Seeing Ed and Teddy in such close proximity, it was obvious they were father and son. I wasn’t normally good at spotting family resemblances but it was like someone had taken Ed and aged him thirty years, like they do on those missing person photos you sometimes see on the news.
‘The gifts last night were from you?’ I asked Teddy when the initial shockwaves had settled.
‘Yes, they were from me.’
‘The musical box was exquisite,’ Ruby said. ‘But how on earth did you get hold of something like that so quickly? Surely you only received Callie’s letter last week?’
‘I did, but the music box was something I commissioned over fifty years ago during our last months together. You’d gone before it was ready, but I always believed that, one day, fate would reunite us and it would be yours.’
Ruby touched her fingers to her lips and shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, Teddy. I…’
‘Not now, my darling. We’ll talk about it later.’
There was silence for a moment so, of course, I had to fill it.
‘I’m assuming it was you who delivered the gifts, Amelia?’
‘Yes, it was. Please convey my apologies to the poor woman who kept having to answer the door.’
‘She didn’t mind,’ I said. ‘I think she was enjoying the intrigue. We thought… or rather I thought, that you might put in an appearance at midnight, Teddy.’
‘That was the original plan,’ Amelia said, ‘But Grandpa wasn’t well, were you?’
A murmur of concern rippled round the table and Teddy laughed. ‘Nothing serious so please don’t panic. I’m asthmatic and I had a mild attack last night. Desperate as I was to see Ruby, I knew I’d be a wheezing mess if I went out into the cold night air so I stayed in and Amelia made the deliveries as planned. We decided we’d visit this afternoon instead but, alas, we couldn’t get in.’
‘There was an officious young man on security,’ Amelia explained. ‘Grandpa and I weren’t sure whether Ruby had asked you to get in touch, Callie, or whether you were simply putting out feelers. If it was the latter, we didn’t want to risk Grandpa being announced then turned away, but there was no getting past security without filling in the log and being announced as guests.’ I could well imagine the challenge. We employed agency staff over the bank holidays and they did tend to be super strict, but rightly so.
‘So Amelia politely enquired when he’d be finishing for the day,’ Teddy said, ‘and we returned half an hour after that only to discover that Ruby had already gone out with some visitors.’
‘That would be us,’ Debbie said. ‘How did you know we’d be here, though? I’m pretty sure we didn’t tell security where we were going.’
‘We met a lovely lady who was on her way out,’ Teddy said. ‘She asked if she could help and we explained that we were hoping to see Ruby. She told us you were here and, believe it or not, this is where Amelia and I have been staying so we must have passed you en route.’
‘I only told Iris,’ Ruby said. ‘It must have been her and I daresay she recognised you from…’ Colour pinched her cheeks. ‘I’m embarrassed to say that we looked you up online, Teddy.’
Teddy laughed. ‘There are some shocking pictures of me online. I hope you weren’t too disappointed.’
‘Nothing about you has ever disappointed me,’ Ruby said.
Aww! They had to be the cutest couple ever.
‘I think another toast is needed,’ Ed said, raising his glass. He still had the look of a startled deer in the headlights, as though not quite able to believe the start to the New Year. ‘To finding both my parents on the same day and to them finding each other. To Ruby and Teddy!’
‘To Ruby and Teddy!’
Epilogue
Nearly three months later, exactly sixty-six years since the day they’d met on Teddy’s twenty-first birthday, Ruby and Teddy finally said, ‘I do’. The bride and groom might have been eighty-five and eighty-seven respectively by then but, as I’d always proclaimed, you’re never too old to let love in and it’s never too late to try again.
After so many lost years, Ruby and Teddy wanted to marry quickly. Ruby was a radiant bride in a deep-red early twentieth-century floor-length gown. It was the replica of one she’d seen Lady Mary wear in Downton Abbey and, I have to say, the seamstress had excelled herself. My twenties-style bridesmaid dress was pale cream but accompanied by a chiffon wrap using the same red floral lace as Ruby’s dress so that I didn’t look bridal. And, of course, I had my red heart-shaped necklace from Rhys, which matched perfectly. Teddy was dressed in a traditional tuxedo with a cummerbund and bow tie made from the same material as Ruby’s dress.
As the happy couple took to the dance floor for the first time as husband and wife, I thought I was going to cry, but I just managed to hold on. Then the music started and Perry Como’s velvety voice filled the room. That was it. The tears that I’d somehow managed to hold back all day burst through the dam and cascaded down my cheeks. With Ruby and Teddy finally together, the words seemed to take on a greater poignancy. They really had loved each other until the end of time, despite being apart for most of their lives.
‘Should we shuffle with the oldies?’ Rhys asked, offering me his arm when the music changed to something a little faster.
Smiling through my tears, I let him lead me onto the dance floor. Iris and William were there already, along with various members of Teddy’s family. Ed and Jenny were waltzing round the room and Ed was actually laughing. Maybe the dance floor was his happy place. Well, somewhere had to be. We’d seen quite a bit of Rhys’s parents over the past few months and, although it was going to take time to fully mend Ed’s relationship with Rhys, I was impressed with the effort he was making. Rhys had shown them round the gardens at Bay View and I could tell from Ed’s surprised expression that he wasn’t just paying lip service when he said Rhys’s work was extremely impressive. About time too.
‘Happy?’ Rhys whispered in my ear.
‘I’m always happy when I’m with you.’
He pulled me closer and I rested my head on his shoulder, eyes closed.
‘You got your wish, then,’ he said.
‘For Ruby and Teddy to reunite?’
‘Yes, but also, at Iris and William’s wedding, I said that next time we danced at a wedding, it could be ours. You wished for it to be Ruby and Teddy’s instead.’
‘I did, didn’t I? And both wishes came true. I must be a fairy or a white witch.’
‘Mum says you’re a gift from heaven and I think she’s right. You’ve brought our broken family together, and I don’t just mean Ruby and Teddy, or Dad and me. I include Izzy and Megan in that too.’
‘You’re setting me off again,’ I said, wiping my eyes.
‘That wish you made for Ruby and Teddy to reunite? You didn’t let it float away like so many wishes. You made it come true. So I have a wish for you. I wish to make you as happy as you’ve made me and the rest of this family.’
I stepped back so that I could look into his eyes. ‘You already do, Rhys. You don’t have to wish it because it’s already happening.’
And it was. A year ago, I’d been seeing Tony, oblivious to the fact that he was married with four kids and had a roving eye. I’d thought I was happy and in love but, looking back, I’d been far from it. Since Rhys had come into my life, I’d known what true love was. Izzy and Tony had done their best to test us and tear us apart last year, but all they’d done was make us stronger
. Ruby once told me that she’d always known that Rhys and I were made for each other and would last forever. She’d known what she was talking about because looking across at her and Teddy gazing tenderly at each other as they made their way off the dance floor, I could see that they were made for each other and, despite the years apart, their love really had lasted forever. I remembered Ruby being adamant that there’d be no epilogue to their love story. I loved that I’d created one for them.
Izzy still had her awkward moments, but she never kicked up a fuss about me spending time with Megan, including overnight stays. She’d struggled being apart from her daughter at first but she’d started going out with her friend, Jess, and the adult company seemed to work wonders.
Maria continued to thrive, with Sofia being her world. I’d introduced Sofia to Megan and we’d taken the girls out a few times together which was lovely. Tony had pestered Maria to take him back for most of January, but we suspected he’d found someone else because, by February, the only contact she had with him was a weekly payment into her bank account. Exactly the way it should be.
Denise returned to Bay View in mid-January, a transformed woman. She would continue to face challenges with her mental health, but the harsh words and bullying behaviours at work were long gone and it was a pleasure to work with her this time round.
As for Rhys and me, we’d moved out of my flat and into a house. The flat had been far too small for Megan once she’d started walking. We’d also set a date for our wedding in early-October next year, booked the venue, and I couldn’t wait to start looking at dresses and choosing the colour scheme.
Everything was looking rosy for the people I cared about. Except one…
‘There’s one more wish I’d like to make,’ I whispered to Rhys.
Making Wishes at Bay View Page 29
