‘Make sure you get this number from my mother and if you have any concerns, just call me. I’ve dealt with lots of cases over the years. Families are complicated and there are lots in far worse situations than this, I promise you. You’re providing a stable, loving home. As long as you do that, you’ll be fine.’
‘Thank you,’ I said meekly.
‘No trouble… How is my mother? Still hanging out at your place?’
‘Yes,’ I said carefully.
‘Don’t worry. I know the old bat will be earwigging. You might as well be as blunt as she would be.’
‘Okay,’ I said, amused but not surprised. He was definitely of the same mould as his mother. ‘She’s thriving… now.’
Hilda shot me a puzzled look.
‘Not lonely then.’ There was a definite touch of concern in his voice.
I paused and looked pointedly at the older woman beside me. With a huff and a roll of her eyes that Poppy would have been proud of, she walked out of the room.
‘If you have to talk about me, make sure you say nice things. I’m a wonderful woman really.’ And with that she shut the door with a loud sniff.
I laughed. ‘Your mother has just left the room. She’s not impressed that we’re talking about her.’
‘I just care about her wellbeing. I realise that perhaps the nursing home was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction but… the house…’
‘I agree, it’s far too big for her. Perhaps a smaller one nearby might be a solution. She’s very fit and active. I think she was very lonely at the home at first but… since she’s adopted us, I’d say that’s not the case anymore. We see quite a lot of her. She babysits and quite often spends the weekend with us.’
‘Well she must be fond of the children if she phoned me. It’s not like she has grandchildren of her own. Ought to get that sorted really. Might make her think of me a bit more fondly.’ There was an almost wistful sigh.
‘Perhaps if you came to see her a bit more often, that might help.’
‘I’m busy. Just like she was when I was a child.’
‘Maybe you can understand now why she was busy,’ I suggested gently, hearing the petulance of a child in his tone. ‘I think she regrets that. But there’s still time for you. Why don’t you come for tea on Saturday? Hilda loves an excuse to bake.’
‘She used to make a mean Victoria sponge.’
‘She still does. I’m sure she’d love to see you.’
‘Hmm, not so sure about that. She’ll wonder what I’m doing there.’
‘That’s easy. You can come and check that we’re not half-inching the family silver.’
‘Are you?’ he asked with a quick bark of a laugh.
‘No. The market for second-hand silver has sunk, although the Baccarat crystal she has in the house would go for a fortune.’
This time Farquhar’s laugh was deep and hearty. ‘I think you’ve been spending too much time with my mother. That’s the sort of thing she would say. Get her to give you my number. Keep me posted.’
‘Was he helpful?’ asked Hilda as I went back into the kitchen. Ash had taken the girls into the garden and they were all playing with Bill, throwing a tennis ball up and down the lawn.
‘Yes, and very reassuring.’
‘He’s quite good, I believe,’ she said with practiced nonchalance that didn’t fool me for a second.
‘Proud of him?’ I asked with a wry smile.
She gave a non-comital lift of her shoulders. ‘He was one of the youngest to be called to the bar.’
‘So you’re proud of him.’
‘Might be.’ She sat back, an unrepentant grin crinkling her face with laughter that spread like cracks across her papery skin. ‘Of course I am.’
‘You. Are. Incorrigible.’
‘I know,’ she said with a beatific, prim smile that had me laughing again.
‘I do love you, Hilda,’ I said, the words spilling out and surprising me. ‘There’s never a dull moment.’ The rush of emotion flooded over me and I leaned forward and gave her a hug. ‘I don’t know what I’d have done without you over these last few months,’ I muttered into her rose-scented silk blouse as she embraced me.
‘You would have been fine,’ she said, rubbing soothing little circles on my shoulder blades. I pulled back a little.
‘I don’t think I would. Thank you. For being such a support.’
‘Don’t be silly, dear. That’s what friends are for.’ Despite her brusque dismissal, there was a faint shimmer in her eyes.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
‘Okay,’ I called over the chatter, ‘down to business. Tonight we need to agree where we’re going to need marshals and the sort of briefing pack they’ll need. And a big thank you to Neil for coming to join us.’ The councillor was going to advise on the route, emergency access, and let us know if we could have keys to some of the vehicular access points alongside the usual footpath gates which were normally closed so that we could widen the access.
When I’d started this, I’d had no idea so much would be involved but now, as I gazed around my overcrowded kitchen, I still would have done it. My life was so much better for it, despite the long hours we were now putting in.
There were a few polite claps from everyone. Over the last three weeks, a parkrun sub group had sort of formed itself as everyone stepped up to help arrange the final details. It consisted of me, Ash, Hilda, Penny, Janie, Charles, Elaine, and Marsha. This was our fourth meeting and the designated day was looming fast. We’d agreed to have a trial run on the following Saturday with all of our volunteers and twenty members of the Harriers so we could test the route and iron out any problems that arose. What they might be, my brain was too discombobulated to think about. Thank goodness for Ash who, in the last few days before he started his new job, had been considering all the probable catastrophes that could strike.
‘So, Neil, we’re thinking of having four marshals on the route positioned at approximately each kilometre, but obviously where they’re placed will depend on terrain and emergency access if there is an accident.’ Ash peeled back the front sheet of the flip chart to reveal an enlarged map of the proposed area. I grinned at the sight of it – another team effort, and so what if it might be dotted with a few crumbs of Hilda’s chocolate cake. The route itself was marked in thick, dark red marker pen and I could picture Poppy, her tongue between her lips, meticulously colouring in the line. Keen to join in, Ava had drawn a few scrubby trees to illustrate Beacon Knoll and with considerable and unexpected skill, Hilda, having delegated flapjack making to me, had abandoned her apron and inked, in painstaking detail, some of the landmarks in the park. The route map was now beautifully embellished with the bandstand, the folly in the woods, and with somewhat of a flourish, the finish line, which was decorated with colourful bunting. ‘We would suggest one here, one here, another one there and one here.’
Neil stood up and peered at the map. ‘If you have one here, you’re closer to the road, so if you needed emergency vehicle access, they could drive right into the park at this point. It would make sense to put one of your marshals here. I can let a responsible person have the key for that gate.’