At that moment, the adverts ended and the jovial male host back in the studio said, ‘Hello again, welcome back, and we’re taking you straight over to rejoin Carol and Rosa, the recipient of this week’s Lovely Person award!’
‘The woman who couldn’t afford the doll for her granddaughter,’ Benny explained. ‘The one we said was a con artist. Turns out she wasn’t.’
Red tut-tutted. ‘Damn, I hate it when I’m wrong and other people are right.’
Benny sat up and peered out of the bedroom window. ‘They’re bringing someone else up the path.’
On the TV screen, the doorbell rang and Carol answered it, ushering in a tiny woman in a droopy peach cardigan and a flower-patterned dress. ‘And here she is, this is Pamela, come to thank you in person for being so lovely!’
Benny winced as Pamela gave Rosa an awkward hug and blurted out, ‘I’ll never forget your kindness, you’re an angel from heaven,’ then promptly burst into tears.
‘Ah bless ya, my darling! I know, it’s emotional! Here, you have a cuddle of your granddaughter’s doll and I’ll tell Rosa what we’ve got for her!’
‘God, this is embarrassing,’ said Benny.
‘Right, first off, we have some lovely flowers for you.’ Carol collected them from an assistant and presented them to Rosa. ‘And a big bottle of champers, my favourite! And best of all, we’re sending you and a friend on an all-expenses-paid three-night break in Paris!’
‘Gosh.’ Rosa was wide-eyed.
‘You could take that handsome chap you’ve got tucked away upstairs!’ Carol gave another parrot screech of laughter.
In the bedroom, Red looked at Benny. ‘If only she knew there were two of us up here.’
‘So that’s it from me and from this week’s lovely Lovely Person,’ shouted Carol, ‘and now it’s back to you lot in the studio!’ Grabbing Rosa’s hand, she forced her to wave into the camera. ‘Bye-eeee!’
Within five minutes the TV crew had departed and it was as if they’d never been there at all, apart from the ostentatious bouquet, the champagne, and the phone ringing with messages from Rosa’s friends exclaiming that they’d just seen her on the telly.
‘Sorry.’ Turning off her phone, Rosa looked at Benny and Red as they came downstairs. Her cheeks were pink. She was gorgeous.
Benny said, ‘It’s all fine. We watched you on Red’s TV.’
‘I might have known you’d make that doll,’ said Red.
She grinned. ‘What can I tell you? I’m a sucker for a sob story.’
‘And it paid off. You’re officially wonderful. Except we already knew that.’ He coughed, clutched his ribcage and sat down on the sofa.
‘You should be resting,’ Rosa told him. ‘What can I get you? Cup of tea? Glass of Scotch?’
‘Nothing, thanks. I might have a doze. You two carry on without me.’
Benny hid a smile, because Red was teasing and Rosa was looking flustered. He held a hand out to her. ‘I told him about us dancing in the kitchen. Now I think we need to leave him in peace and have a dance over at mine.’
‘Oh.’ Rosa looked relieved.
‘And with luck, this time we won’t be interrupted.’ Benny clasped her soft hand in his, inwardly marvelling at how wonderful it felt; it was as if they were a perfect fit. ‘Shall we go?’
‘To your house?’ Rosa glanced at their intertwined fingers. ‘What if people see us?’
Red gave a croaky bark of laughter. ‘You’re single. He’s single. Who cares if they do? Besides,’ he added, ‘plenty of people are going to see you when you take him with you to Paris.’
Chapter 36
Hillcrest was ready. For the last week, Shay had been working all hours of the day and night in order to make the house perfect. And now it was done.
Watching from the doorway, Didi bit the inside of her lip and concentrated on the pain. Mustn’t cry, mustn’t cry.
‘Amazing.’ Red finished gazing around the immaculate kitchen, decorated in the shades of cobalt blue and cream he’d chosen himself. Addressing his audience, he said with characteristic candour, ‘I was worried I might kick the bucket before it was finished. But I didn’t. I’m still here, back where I wanted to be. And my boy’s done a brilliant job. As I knew he would.’
‘Thanks, Dad. But you didn’t have to make a speech.’ Shay shook his head, his expression wry.
‘I know I don’t have to. But I want to. You didn’t have any intention of coming back to Elliscombe, I know that. You certainly didn’t want to spend your summer slogging your guts out rebuilding the old family home. But you knew it was what I wanted, so you did it. You’re the best son any father could wish for, let alone a terrible old reprobate like me. And you’ll never understand how much this means.’ He suppressed a cough and waved his free hand in the air by way of an apology. ‘Anyway, I’ll shut up now, but you get the gist. It’s been wonderful staying with Rosa and we’ve had a great time, but this is my home now. For the rest of my life.’
It hadn’t been planned, but the twenty or so people gathered in the kitchen broke into applause. As Didi worked hard to maintain her composure, someone in the doorway directly behind her gave a huge gulping sob like a honking goose.
‘Oh God.’ Caz clutched her arm. ‘I haven’t even got any tissues on me and I’m a total wreck.’
Didi dug a pack of Kleenex out of her shoulder bag and handed them to her. ‘I didn’t know you were here.’
‘Just arrived, flew in from Toronto and got my driver to drop me outside. Managed to wangle a couple of days off. How’s everything with you?’ She nodded at the diamond ring glittering on Didi’s left hand. ‘All good?’
It wasn’t wrong to lie, was it, when you were doing it for the right reason? ‘Great, thanks. Does Shay know you’re back?’
‘Nope! But when I heard all this was happening today, I couldn’t resist putting in a surprise appearance. Except I didn’t expect it to be this emotional, and now I look like a melted clown.’
‘Here, let me help.’ Out of sight of the rest of the gathering, Didi took a clean tissue and carefully wiped away the non-waterproof mascara sliding down Caz’s cheeks. ‘There, all done.’
‘Sure? Am I presentable?’
‘You look gorgeous.’
‘Thanks, darling. What would I do without you?’ Caz gave a little showbiz shimmy, then made her big entrance through the doorway, exclaiming, ‘Well this was worth flying back for – looks like I got here just in time!’
Heads turned. Everyone was clearly delighted to see her. Including Shay, Didi observed with a pang of envy. Red said, ‘Cazzy!’ and with a squeal of joy Caz raced into his open arms.
Of course people couldn’t help going Aaahh and taking photos of the happy reunion as Caz gave Red a gentle yet heartfelt hug.
‘We weren’t expecting to see you,’ he said.
‘Oh babe, this is your big day. How could I stay away? Look at you, in your dream home! I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.’ She embraced him again and stroked his thin face. ‘How are you feeling?’