Seven Days Beyond

by Ruth Hay

  Early in the day, while the rest were still asleep, Valerie made a quick sortie into town to fetch some fresh-baked granary buns, marmalade, newspapers, cream for coffee, orange juice and two kinds of cheese and a dozen eggs. She drove there and back as she could not face another climb up the lane. The backs of her legs were still aching from Sunday.

  When she returned, it was to find Zoe was the only one awake. They had another whispered conference in the kitchen while water boiled for coffee.

  “I am aching to tell them about our wedding plans but I have made up my mind where I want to do this.

  It has to be in the garden area outside Blackwell where we ate lunch together on the first day. I’ve been dreaming about it with the bees buzzing in the flowers and vines draped over those stone wall buttresses.

  Such a divine spot for good news, don’t you think?”

  Valerie was thinking many things including how to get there, the weather conditions, what might happen when the rest heard about the dresses she had bought for them and where Zoe’s wedding attire was now waiting, not to mention her groom. The latter item was probably part of Zoe’s secret and should not be revealed too soon.

  Valerie thought she could not contain too much more secret stuff without exploding.

  “I have ordered a taxi,” continued Zoe, unaware of the inner turmoil beside her. “I want to get to Blackwell quickly without any fuss. Do you think everyone will be ready by ten? We can start breakfast for them and we won’t need much. I am planning a luxurious lunch for us to celebrate.”

  It seemed Zoe Morton had taken over the day in her accustomed executive style. Valerie was relieved. She was glad to hand over responsibility to someone, especially for this special event.

  Corinne Carstairs had different memories of Blackwell from those of her companions. She had never actually gone inside the house, preferring to wander outside in the spacious grounds, breathing the moist lake air with the hint of green and growing things. This time, she was determined to find out what the others had been raving about so she followed along with Zoe’s plan to revisit rooms inside that they remembered. The three women scattered to different areas leaving Corinne to explore on her own.

  She bypassed the busy lower floor with its huge, woody-looking main room that she considered much too big for a family home and climbed up the shallow steps to the upper level where she soon found several bedrooms and a display area telling the history of some of the servants who had worked for the original family. There were few people up here and she could wander along without interruption visualizing how people lived early in the last century. The bedrooms were decorated with tiles and painted walls but the beds were not looking comfortable, to her eyes. She thought how lucky she was to live in an age when comfort was more important than fancy details, at least to sensible Northerners like herself and Arthur.

  Still, it was Zoe they had to thank for the comforts now in their home. That infusion of cash she had given them access to, had made all the difference in their lives. The Mother and Daughter publicity photos were not in demand nowadays but Corinne sometimes got royalties from the use of her image.

  As for Carla…… well, she owed everything to Zoe’s encouragement and mentorship. Corinne wondered if the girl was thinking about that in her film location in Vancouver where she was starring in another of the science fiction epic series produced in huge stage sets there. On the other hand, Carla could hardly forget about Zoe for one minute when she was home in London, living in Zoe’s loft apartment. The girl had been incredibly lucky, of course, but her mother had to give credit, also, to her innate talents.

  “There you are! I’ve been wandering around looking for you. Zoe says it’s lunchtime and she has already ordered some fabulous spread for us. The weather is holding for now although I am afraid of those clouds on the horizon. We’d better start soon.”

  Corinne followed Valerie outside again and they found the others seated at what might have been the same round picnic table with the umbrella they had used ten years before. She was happy to see the wine was there then she noticed it was in a bucket normally reserved for champagne. Someone was really pushing the boat out today, she thought, as she took her place at the table.

  Zoe seemed to be in charge. She lifted out the champagne and poured each of them a glass before raising hers in a toast. Sandra and Corinne guessed this was to be a salute to their hostess, Valerie, but they guessed wrong.

  “Dear friends, in this lovely setting which has always held a special place in my heart, I want to announce my wedding.”

  There were gasps of surprise around the table and a million questions began until Zoe stated she would explain everything after the toast.

  “Wesley and I are getting married in The Daffodil Hotel on Wednesday and you are all invited! Please drink to our future happiness.”

  They did so with delight then they were permitted to pepper the bride-to-be with questions. Valerie was glad to know the details at last, such as that Suzanne was matron of honour and Zoe’s father would walk her into the private dining room where the event was to be held. It was to be a small affair with only present company as guests on the bride’s side. Wesley, his best men and her father would arrive on Tuesday and he and Suzanne between them had made all the arrangements, including the safe storage of the bridal outfit in the hotel ahead of time.

  The mention of the bride’s outfit alarmed two of the four women, just as Valerie had predicted. She saw a shadow pass across their faces and knew she would have to assure them they were covered, literally and metaphorically. At least she hoped so. There was still the tricky business of selecting a style and size.

  When Valerie spoke up she saw instant relief and also astonishment that she had spent this kind of money on their behalf. Protests were made and sincere promises to reimburse her.

  Zoe interrupted to state that she had brought with her a box of make-up supplies and also a hat box full of fashionable, frothy confections to be worn instead of hats. “Please forgive me for not thinking about what clothes ladies would wear to such an occasion. Once more it’s Valerie to the rescue! Another toast please!”

  The two women exchanged a private glance across the table to commemorate another rescue on a mountainside that had led to a breakthrough for Zoe.

  All this excitement had aroused massive appetites, as excitement will do. Zoe had ordered to accommodate this and food soon arrived in profusion until no one could manage one more bite of dessert or sip of wine from the second bottle. Valerie was happy she did not have to drive back to Ambleside in this slightly inebriated condition. There was still the fashion show to be endured before she would be completely at ease.

  Perhaps the alcohol was a help. Sandra and Corinne found lovely dresses from the selection Valerie had chosen. She had allowed her own choice to be included in the pile but neither woman picked the delicate, pale pink chiffon number, preferring a blue floral for Corinne and a yellowy-green, swirling graphic for Sandra. To Valerie’s relief she had chosen the correct range of dress sizes. A belt was produced for Corinne’s dress to cinch it in a little but other than that small adjustment, all was well. Zoe’s hats were produced from one of her cases and received with great delight. Each was an individual creation in white or pastels, blooming with feathers or small leaf effects perfectly matched to a wedding in summer. The women had fun trying on the dresses with various hats until Zoe declared the perfect match had been made for each one.

  Zoe had one more announcement before they all collapsed from overeating and overexcitement.

  “I have a request for tomorrow,” she began solemnly. “Before we go on our honeymoon travels, Wesley and I want to take my father to visit the churchyard in Grasmere. I haven’t had the chance to see the stone we chose ten years ago for my mother and all of you should visit David’s stone as well. Could we all go together?”

  There were nods all around. It was a touching thing for Zoe to do for her father on such an auspicious day.

&nb
sp; “Afterwards, we should all have tea together, or a meal, then I will return to the apartment to spend my last night as a single woman with my dear friends. I expect to get excellent marital advice from all of you!”

  That statement produced a wave of laughter and when it had died away, a very pleasant lassitude enveloped the group. There were such good things to look forward to, with such good company.

  They drifted out to the balcony to watch the sun sink behind the mountains. Each had her own thoughts and memories of the last time they all stood here like this. The changes they had created in their own lives owed a debt to the heartfelt truths and confessions shared in this place.

  One after the other approached Valerie and gave her a warm hug before retiring. No words were spoken but much gratitude was understood.

  Tuesday.

  Wesley Philips awoke to the faint sound of the bleating of sheep and for a moment he was disoriented. He turned his head expecting to find his wife by his side but the bed was empty.

  “This is what comes of spending the night alone in the Bridal Suite,” he murmured. His dreams had been a confusing mix of pleasure and pain. Pleasure, that at long last, Zoe had set a date and place for their wedding; and pain, that he had to wait yet one more night before they were truly man and wife.

  He rolled over and gazed out of the window, through the small balcony, to the lake and hills beyond. She had chosen an exquisite location. It almost made the extra wait worthwhile.

  Their original plan was to have a small, private ceremony in Dunstan’s Close with only a very few people present. Both of them were anxious to avoid publicity. For years they had been careful not to be seen together at public occasions. For him, it was advisable not to draw attention to his professional association with Zoe Morton. Rumours of any psychological help she had required would be detrimental to her reputation. For Zoe, a private life free of the wild speculations that followed celebrities everywhere, had been her modus operandi from the beginning. She had never wanted to invite inquiries into her background. As far as the business community knew, she had been born in London, educated at the best schools and had risen through the ranks by virtue of her own outstanding abilities. She took pains to keep these illusions by never contradicting them. No one dared question her fitness as a business leader.

  Wesley respected both her reasons and her privacy but in the matter of their marriage he had more than once come to the point of losing his patience. Her rules were firm and unyielding. They could never sleep in the same room at either of their establishments for fear of prying eyes. They could travel together to places where they were not likely to be known and they could sleep in one bed at that time only.

  At first, he had agreed with these rules imposed upon him. He knew well the fragility of her psyche, but as years went by, he chafed at having to leave Dunstan’s Close in the late hours and make his way across London to his lonely bed. It was then he had begun to advocate for marriage, thinking a formal relationship would provide the security she craved. It was not until he had provided his greatest service to Zoe and brought about her reunion with her father that she finally conceded and planned the wedding.

  He could understand how this reunion and his part in it proved his worth. She had a deep-seated distrust of men from her teenage experience. Bringing her father into the fold again resolved her fears of betrayal.

  A lesser man would have balked at this wait and the time lost, but Wesley Philips was no lesser man and he knew the value of this amazing, beautiful, smart woman who would very soon be his forever. From the first moment she appeared in his office he knew she was unusual of mind and body. No event since that day had diminished his high opinion.

  Tomorrow they would be man and wife. Today they had another important ceremony to attend. It would be the final evidence of Zoe’s healing and of the cementing of her relationship to her father.

  Just knowing he would see her this day invigorated Wesley. He jumped out of bed and opened the balcony doors to the fresh air.

  Clouds had gathered when the four women and the two men met at the gate into the garden of the old churchyard of St. Oswald’s. It was too late in the year for the dazzling display of daffodils that carpeted the grass in the spring. It had to be imagined. Valerie and Zoe could reference a set of notecards they had received featuring a watercolour painting of the spring garden following their donation to the church.

  Wandering along the paths reading the inscriptions was a solemn task. Visitors from all over the world had laid stone flags in honour of loved ones. Some had only a date and name, others had a quotation or a string of names denoting the children of a family. There was no indication supplied of the location of the two stones the party had come to see so it was some time before Zoe and Michael stopped still. The stone for Grace Morton had her dates of birth and death under her name and Glasgow, Scotland for her homeland.

  It was little enough to be all that was left of a life fraught with secrets, pain and deceptions and yet, in this sacred and quiet place, it was sufficient for the father and daughter who mourned her.

  “It’s about forgiveness, Dad, isn’t it?”

  He nodded in agreement. He could not speak. Somehow this was a better last resting place for his wife’s memory. He and Zoe would have to retrieve their good memories of Grace, blend them together with this hallowed ground and start again.

  Valerie wandered to a secluded corner where the path almost reached the edge of the river below. There was a bench under the trees and it was there she found David’s stone. She sat and stared.

  David Westwood. Never forgotten by Valerie, Brian and John.

  Darling David, with your last breath you gave me the gift of freedom. I hope you are proud of the way I have used the time that was denied to you. I know you loved this spot under the trees and we sat on this bench together when you were well and the good times were before us. Often I feel you with me. Stay, my darling one. You are my only true love.

  Sandra found her there just as the rain began to fall. It was time to go. Life is for the living, they always said, and these two friends had a lot of living still to do, starting with a decision about where to have lunch in Grasmere village. A decision that required speed before the rain came down in earnest.

  As they left the churchyard the stones that had been a dull grey when they arrived, gradually took on a darker and more defined sheen. It was as if the ones left behind were weeping for them.

  Wednesday.

  The clouds and rain of the day before had washed sky and land clean. Zoe was the first to waken. She made a cup of coffee and tiptoed out to the balcony to assess the day’s weather. Light was beginning to flood into the lower levels of the mountainside before her. The valley between that held the town of Ambleside was still in darkness and few cars travelled the road immediately below.

  This was her wedding day. She cradled the words to her; Wedding Day.

  For many years she had avoided male company. She had spent all her energies on building her image as a focused, no-nonsense executive. It was her way of compensating for the family life that was gone from her.

  All that changed when Wesley came into her life. It was here, in this apartment, that she had realized her need for therapy if she was ever to overcome her mental blocks. And it was here, thanks to Valerie Westwood, an aunt in all the ways that counted, that she had awakened to real life.

  Now she was to start a new life with Wesley, the darling man who had demonstrated his devotion to her best interests in more ways over the years than could ever be calculated.

  The wedding was to begin at five in the afternoon. She still had a day to spend with these three women who each, in her own way, had been such a positive influence on her life.

  Sandra Halder had heard the sound of the patio doors closing. She checked the clock on the bedside table and saw it was still early. Valerie was asleep in the twin bed and Sandra was happy to lie still and think. What a lot had been happening in the few days since she
had arrived in the Lake District! Most of it was totally unexpected. The quiet week together had somehow disappeared with Zoe’s news and today would be another celebration. She wondered what was in the mind of the woman. She was not an inexperienced young girl as Valerie and Corinne and she had been on their respective wedding days. Zoe had years of work and living behind her. She could have no doubts in her choice of husband.

  Sandra was sorry her early contact with Zoe had not been maintained after Valerie had found her again. Life in a day care establishment had consumed her time for years and she had relied on Val to keep her up to date with Zoe’s progress. She thought it might be possible for Zoe and Wesley to come to the Mull house and spend time there so they could get to know the couple. Ian would enjoy their company, she was sure, and a remote place to relax might well suit Zoe.

  She yawned and thought about her wedding outfit. Last evening there had been a last-minute panic as the women realized they needed shoes for their new dresses. Val had a pair of silver sandals she carried everywhere on her travels and Corinne had a pair of beige shoes with a small heel that would blend in well. Sandra had nothing but flats and she knew the dress would be spoiled if she wore those. Zoe was all for setting out on a shopping expedition until Val reminded her everything was closed in town. She had checked Sandra’s size and messaged Suzanne to bring a selection with her.

  Sandra was constantly amazed at the young woman’s resourcefulness. She had the suspicion that seeing Zoe take command of situations had been what impelled her to assert herself with Ian and sort out her own life before it was too late. All three women had plenty to thank Zoe for. She was a truly spectacular person and today was her wedding day.