For Liza it had been an awkward moment, but both men had been surprisingly relaxed. Finn had given her a good natured wink, and he and Sean had discussed the architectural design of the house while they had drinks on the lawn.
The other painting she’d done during her visit, the more personal one, was leaning against the wall in her mother’s bedroom. There had been no end of possible subjects for the canvas, but she’d known right from the beginning what she wanted to do and when she’d finally shown it to Sean she’d been reassured by his response.
“Oakwood,” he’d breathed, gazing at the painting of the sun setting over the cottage. “It’s perfect.”
Liza hoped her mother would think so too.
And now they were heading back to London.
Sean took her hand. “Are you sad to be leaving?”
Liza glanced back at Oakwood Cottage. It had provided her with a sanctuary when she’d needed it the most. “We’ll be back very soon. I’ve missed the girls.”
They’d had a long chat the day before, and Liza had been honest about the way she felt. It hadn’t been an easy conversation for her, but the girls were obviously so shaken by that article they’d found, and by the thought that their parents’ marriage might be in trouble, that they were reflective and apologetic.
“You do so much,” Caitlin had said in a subdued tone, “and I’m sorry I didn’t notice or say thank you more. I’m going to do better.”
“A thank-you would be appreciated,” Liza had replied, “but mostly I need you to start taking more responsibility.”
“I will. We will.”
Alice had agreed, and Liza had to admit that on the whole the conversation had gone better than she’d hoped. Whether or not it would last remained to be seen.
“If we’re home late afternoon, I’ll be able to call my mother before they set off for the day.” Liza fastened her seat belt. “It’s weird, isn’t it? You don’t expect your relationship with a parent to change this late in life. I assumed that we’d never be close.” But she and her mother had talked about everything and anything. All the barriers that had kept them separate had vanished.
“I’m pleased for you. Funny to think Kathleen had so much going on in her past. What a life she has led.”
Liza waved a mental goodbye to Oakwood as Sean pulled out of the drive. “I’ve been wondering what her life would have looked like if she’d married Adam.”
“We can all play that game. If I hadn’t met you on the beach that summer, where would I be now? If you hadn’t left and woken us all up, what would have happened to our family?”
“I didn’t leave, Sean.”
“Sorry—you came to ‘feed the cat’.” He glanced at her and smiled. “You do know that from now on all you have to do is threaten to go and ‘feed the cat’ and I’ll be booking dinner tables and buying you elaborate gifts.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“I should probably warn you that the kitchen wall is now home to a giant spreadsheet. Alice allocates tasks for people.”
Liza winced. “That doesn’t sound like a particularly tasteful design feature.”
“It isn’t, but if it reminds them to do their share then it’s worth the visual pain.” He pulled over suddenly and parked in the gateway to a field. In the distance the sea was a streak of blue against the cloudy sky.
“Why are you stopping?”
“Because these last few days have been special and leaving here makes me nervous.” He turned in his seat. “I’m terrible at remembering anniversaries. There’s no excuse for that, and I’m going to do better. It’s one of my flaws, I know that. I can focus on work, but not have a clue where my blue shirt is. I try and approach everything calmly which I know drives you crazy because you work at a pace that would shame a racing driver, but here’s the thing, Liza—I love you.” He took her face in his hands. “I love you, and I have loved you for every one of the years we’ve spent together, even if I sometimes forget to mark the moment. And part of the reason I forget to mark the moment is because I feel lucky every day I’m with you and picking one day a year to celebrate is almost like saying the rest of it isn’t special. It’s all special.” There was no doubting the sincerity in his voice.
“Sean—”
“Let me finish—” He smoothed her hair away from her face. “Yes we’re swamped by things to do. My job is busy, having twins has always given us more than enough to do and you bear the brunt of it, and we both have constant demands on our time and we have to prioritize, but since when has our relationship come bottom of the list? It should be top priority, not bottom. It should be the first thing we pay attention to, not the last.”
“I know. And we’re going to do that.”
How had she ever prioritized washing Caitlin’s strap top over a conversation with Sean? How had they stopped prioritizing themselves? She made lists of all the things she had to do, but spending time with Sean where they did nothing but focus on each other wasn’t on that list.
Sean kissed her gently and then steered the car back onto the road and headed for home.
As they pulled into their road, Liza felt a flicker of nerves. It felt strange, being home, as if she’d been away for a lifetime even though it was only a matter of weeks.
But then the front door opened and Caitlin and Alice raced out to greet them, as they’d done when they were very young.
“Mum!” Caitlin grabbed Liza so tightly she couldn’t breathe, and Alice did the same.
“We missed you.”
“And not because we can’t find anything when you’re not here.” Caitlin finally released her. “You look amazing. That dress is cute on you. Is it new? Come inside, we’ve made a surprise for you both.” She and Alice glanced at each other and then ushered their parents through to the kitchen.
The house was sparkling, and the kitchen table was loaded with plates of food. Tiny finger sandwiches, scones, cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies—
Liza put her bag down. “You did all this?”
“We thought you’d be hungry after your journey. Alice did most of the cooking. I did the cleaning.” Caitlin looked nervous. “I did the mirrors and even cleaned behind the bed in your room. And we’re going to help get ready for France. Alice and I are going to do everything, so you can relax.”
“Ah—” Liza looked at Sean. “We need to talk to you about that.”
Caitlin’s face fell. “We’re not going to France?”