She shrugs. ‘Then just think of me as your fairy godmother. Okay?’
‘Okay.’
Fen smiles. ‘Brilliant! Right, you two have a good explore. No rush. And I’ll see you at the car when you’re ready.’
I stand there, blinking away the tears. I haven’t cried so much in my whole life. But the difference is that these are happy tears! And now to explore this lovely house…
I wander into the other two bedrooms, trying not to get too excited. This would be perfect for us, but can we really afford it? Fen has already offered me more shifts at the café, now that we’re busier, and she’s said that during the busy summer season, I can basically have as many shifts as I want. But I’ll have to do some careful calculations before I get carried away and sign on the dotted line!
I hear Eva going downstairs. I take a last look out of the main bedroom window, which also has a lovely garden view, and I follow her down. She runs into the kitchen and puts her hands flat on the French windows to look out at the garden, and I try not to think about her sticky finger marks on the glass, from when she was eating sweets in the car on the way here. Marks that Rachel will probably have to wipe away for other house viewers.
And then a wild thought pops into my head: Do finger marks really matter? If we’re living here, I’ll be the one to wipe them away!
‘Can we live in this home, Mummy?’ asks Eva, looking up at me with a solemn expression.
I smile at her. ‘Maybe. I’ll have to do my sums.’
‘I’m good at sums. I’ll help you.’
‘Thank you.’
‘So can we?’ She jumps up and down. ‘Please. I’ll be really good for a very long time if you say yes.’
I start to laugh, as happiness ripples through me. ‘Well, in that case, how can I possibly say no.’
‘Yay!’ she shouts, and heads for the front door.
‘Where are you going?’
‘I need to tell Edward Bear where he’s going to be living! He doesn’t like the flat very much. He thinks it’s horrible and smelly.’
A lump appears in my throat at her declaration. She’s never said anything like that before. Edward Bear clearly has his head screwed on properly.
Eva’s excitement is infectious and I’m smiling as we go out to join Fen and Rachel.
‘What do you think?’ asks Rachel.
‘What do I think?’ I say slowly, smiling down at Eva. ‘I think…it’s absolutely perfect.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
It’s three days later, a Saturday in April, and I’m walking along Sunnybrook High Street with Eva, Mum and Fen. Having officially signed on the dotted line to rent our lovely new house, much to Eva’s huge excitement (and mine), we’ve been on a trawl of the charity shops, searching for quirky bits and pieces to enhance our new home on a budget.
Mum is carrying two bunches of pink tulips, I’m hugging a lamp which I know will look wonderful in the living room, and Fen’s boot is already full of crockery, cushions and a framed print of some ducks for Eva’s bedroom wall. (Ducks are her favourite.)
A car slows beside us and comes to a halt, and I recognise Bertha’s little red Fiesta. She winds down her window. ‘I’m on my way to Lottie’s. Chloe and little Joe are moving in with her today and I’m just on my way to pick up Iris and take her over there.’
I smile. ‘Oh, that’s fabulous, Bertha. And to think, it was you who made it all happen!’
‘Well, I don’t know about that.’
‘It’s true,’ says Fen, bending to chat. ‘If you hadn’t started giving lifts to Iris, this would never have happened.’
I nod. ‘That’s true. Chloe and Joe would still be living miles from Iris, and Lottie would still be rattling around, alone in her big house. You’ve changed the lives of four people for the better.’
Mum smiles. ‘How’s that for the power of kindness?’
‘Everyone should be kind,’ puts in Eva, and I wrap my arm around her.
‘That’s absolutely right, Eva,’ smiles Fen. ‘I wish people had been kinder on social media when I was on the baking show. Did I tell you I was trolled by a few horrors who thought I was really boring and not entertaining enough?’
My mouth falls open. ‘That’s terrible. You were brilliant on that show.’
She winces. ‘Thanks, but I don’t think so. I probably was a bit boring compared to some of the other big personalities, but why go on social media and slag me off for being shy? It really upset me at the time.’ She shrugs. ‘People said just ignore it, but it’s actually really hard and you end up sort of believing all the rubbish being said about you.’
I squeeze her arm. ‘Well, that’s all in the past, thank goodness. Today is a good day.’ I take one of my bunches of tulips from Mum and hand them over to Bertha. ‘For Lottie’s house party!’
We watch Bertha drive away, and Fen says, ‘You know, I’ve realised that sometimes it’s a lot easier pledging kindnesses for others than it is being kind to yourself. I really beat myself up when I was being trolled.’
‘People should definitely be kinder to themselves,’ says Mum firmly. ‘We really are our own worst enemies sometimes. Anyway, I need cake. How about we pop over to Ellie’s café?’
As we walk across the village green to the Little Duck Pond Café, I fall silent, thinking about what Mum just said about being kinder to ourselves. She’s so right. We sabotage our own lives sometimes by not believing in ourselves. I’ve been beating myself up for ages, punishing myself, thinking I don’t deserve to be loved…
At the door of the café, I touch Mum’s arm. ‘Listen, would you mind if I disappeared for an hour or so?’
‘No, of course not. Eva will babysit me, won’t you, poppet?’
‘Are you okay?’ Fen asks.
I smile. ‘Yes. I’ve just thought of a pledge I need to put on the board. Two, actually. But one of them in particular is long overdue.’
‘Ooh, mysterious. I’ll run you over there. I’ve got to get back anyway. Apparently the café has been full from first thing this morning, and Carrie and Krystle are baking lemon drizzle cake as if it’s going out of fashion.’
‘We can get the bus over later,’ says Mum. ‘It’s such a lovely spring day.’
We part company and Fen drives me over to the café. My heart is in my mouth as we draw near but I’m determined to see it through, whatever happens.
The café is indeed packed, but I slip inside and grab two cards and a pen.
I write out my two pledges, then instead of pinning them on the board, I slip them in my pocket and duck out of the café. Matt is often at his workshop on a Saturday morning.
I search the packed car park, but there’s no sign of his car.
Just my luck if he isn’t there today!
I try the door, and yes! It’s open.
When I go in, Matt is sitting at his laptop and he turns in surprise.
‘Molly? You’re not working today, are you?’ He gets up. ‘Things okay?’ His face is unsure.
I smile. It’s now or never! ‘Things are very okay.’