by Lilac Mills
‘You couldn’t have cared less when I told you about the door being sold,’ she said, ‘and now you’re bringing me a chest of drawers and expecting me to perform miracles on it.’
‘I was pleased, honest! It’s just the line went dead before I was able to say anything.’
He took a step towards her and Lottie took a corresponding step backwards. He halted, with a puzzled and slightly hurt look on his face, and Lottie bit her lip. What if she’d got all this wrong? What if she was reading too much into things, like Delia said? Was she making a mountain out of a molehill?
Perhaps she might be, but her instincts were still telling her that something was dreadfully wrong. And Lottie knew damn well it wasn’t her.
‘I’ve got an idea what you can do with it…’ he began.
Lottie was seriously tempted to tell him she had a good idea what she could do with it too, but Henry wouldn’t like her suggestion and he might find it rather painful.
‘Go on.’ She sighed.
‘I originally thought you could make some new drawers, and just have it as a chest of drawers again, but what would be the fun in that?’ he said.
Lottie folded her arms. ‘The wood would be different, but that probably wouldn’t matter if I painted it. But just giving a piece of furniture a simple paint job is old hat.’
‘I’m sure it isn’t – not everyone is as clever as you,’ he carried on.
Lottie pulled a face. He was behaving really weirdly, buttering her up and giving her compliments. ‘What was your idea?’
‘Could you make a seat out of it?’
Lottie was about to tell him to get lost, when something the lady who’d bought the door said popped into her head. Jo had wanted a simple seat underneath the coat rack. Could the chest of drawers become a seat?
Lottie was pretty sure it could. She’d have to take the top off of course, and remove all except for the two drawers at the bottom. In fact, they’d come in handy for popping gloves, umbrellas, hats and scarves in.
With most of the sides and the back exposed, she could reinforce the plank above the two drawers by reusing the wood from the top, and turn it into a seat. With a pair of new handles on the remaining drawers, and some plump cushions, it would look absolutely fabulous. It wouldn’t take very long, either. The biggest issue she had was her lack of sewing skills, and she’d want the cushions to fit snugly on the seat. She knew where she could get some foam cut to size, but she wasn’t all that good with a sewing machine. That she didn’t own a sewing machine was another problem. But she knew a woman who did, and she wondered how much Gracie would charge, and hoped she’d be able to find some suitable fabric. She was thinking of something chintzy, something a bit cottagey but not over the top, in bright colours. She would paint the seat in the same colour as the coat rack, with complementary fabric, then she’d upload a photo and ping it off to Jo. If Jo didn’t want it, Lottie would put it on Etsy and see what happened. After her sale today, Lottie was feeling a little more confident about her abilities.
Filled with excitement, she couldn’t wait to start. Henry must have seen something in her face, because he smiled at her. ‘You can envision it too, can’t you?’ he said.
‘Oh, yes!’ Lottie said. ‘Don’t just stand there, give me a hand getting it into the shed. Then you can cook tea, while I get started on it.’
To her surprise, Henry didn’t murmur. He willingly helped her carry it into the shed, and then he left her to it.
* * *
Eager to begin, Lottie swiftly changed into her work clothes, which consisted of stuffing herself into a set of overalls and rolling the sleeves up. She was absolutely thrilled to have something to work on, and she was even more thrilled Henry had given her the idea of what to do with the chest of drawers.
This was what she really liked doing. Also, she had come to realise that she thoroughly enjoyed imparting her knowledge to Eleri – Lottie had gained a great deal of satisfaction from teaching her, which had come as a surprise. Obviously she taught her own children all manner of things, from telling the time with a proper analogue clock, to tying their shoelaces, although Robin still struggled with his and it would be a while yet before Morgan could do either of those things. She’d taught them loads of things over the years, and she’d enjoyed it, so it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise to discover she’d loved showing Eleri how to transform the ugly old TV cabinet into something new.
But, as Henry shouted down the garden to tell her their evening meal was ready, she once again realised she had totally immersed herself in what she was doing, and hadn’t once given Henry’s (alleged) infidelity or her marriage a second thought. Which yet again made her question his motive for bringing these things home for her to work on.
Chapter 25
Henry
Bringing the chest of drawers home had been the right decision, Henry decided; Lottie had been in a much better mood when she came in from the shed yesterday evening, and he guessed it had probably helped that he’d cooked tea as well.
So he’d got up on Saturday morning in a much better frame of mind with regards to his home life – he ignored the work problem – and he vowed to make the most of the weekend. With his newfound enlightenment when it came to what was important in life, he wanted to do something fun with the kids today. Something that didn’t involve spending any money, of course.
It looked like it was going to be a chilly and crisp December day he saw, when he peered out of the window. There was a layer of frost on the lawn and a robin was perched on the fence, proudly showing off its red breast.
He quickly got dressed and trotted downstairs. The two older children were eating breakfast and Lottie was trying to persuade Morgan that putting marmalade into his porridge wasn’t a good idea when Henry appeared.
‘How about we go and choose the Christmas tree today?’ Lottie said, when she saw him. ‘If we leave it too late, all the best ones will be gone. We can have hot chocolate and marshmallows in the little cafe there.’
‘Yay!’ Robin waved his spoon in the air and even Sabrina looked enthused. Morgan shouted ‘Yay’, too, but Henry suspected the little boy didn’t know what was being suggested; he’d been a tad too young last year to fully understand what Christmas was about.
With a sinking feeling, Henry realised Lottie was suggesting a visit to the farm where they usually bought their tree from. And why wouldn’t she? It had become a bit of a tradition, but he was reluctant to spend the money. However, the tree was an expense he was going to have to suck up if he wanted to avoid telling Lottie about his job situation – or lack of one. But hot chocolate for everyone would set them back the best part of twenty quid.
‘I was thinking of going to the beach,’ he said, improvising frantically. ‘We could take a couple of flasks of hot chocolate with us, and some marshmallows. If we build a fire we could toast them on it, and maybe have some hot dogs, too?’
‘I want to put up the tree,’ Sabrina said. ‘Mum, tell him.’
Lottie stared at him dubiously. ‘It’ll be freezing, and we’ll still need to get a tree at some point.’
‘How about we buy one from Pins to Elephants? I noticed Tony has got quite a few outside the shop this year, and we’ll be supporting a local business.’ As well as not making a twenty-mile round trip and using petrol he didn’t want to use now he no longer had a company to claim the mileage from. ‘What do you say kids? We can toast marshmallows on the beach and pick up a tree on the way home? Or would you prefer a couple of hours in the car?’ Two hours was an exaggeration, but all’s fair in love and saving money.
‘Beach! Beach!’ Robin was bouncing in his chair with excitement. ‘Can I help you build a fire?’
‘Me! Me! I wanna build a fire!’ Morgan scrambled down from the table and raced to the front door.
‘Are we allowed?’ Lottie was looking doubtful.
‘People camp there in the summer and build fires.’
‘I’m not so sure…’
‘It’ll be fun,’ Henry insisted. ‘And why drive all the way to the Christmas tree farm when we can buy one from Tony and spend the rest of the day on the beach? The kids will only whine in the car – they always do. Are we there yet?’ he cried in a high-pitched voice, laughing as he dodged a thump from his daughter.
Lottie nodded. ‘OK. If you make the hot chocolate, and get the kids dressed – old clothes, mind – and make sure they’ve got their hats and gloves, I’ll pop into the village for some rolls and marshmallows.’
Henry watched her grab her purse and make a dash for the door before any of the children realised where she was going. Sabrina wouldn’t want to accompany her, but Robin and Morgan might. A trip to the shops, any shop, was usually an excuse to ask for sweets.
Once Lottie had left, Henry sent the children upstairs to get ready, giving Sabrina strict instructions that she was to supervise the boys and make sure they wore their warmest clothes. As he listened to them charging about overhead, he measured out enough milk to fill two large flasks and put the liquid in a pan to heat up. Then he grated some chocolate and added it to the milk, along with cocoa powder, a dash of vanilla extract and his secret ingredient – maple syrup. Not much, but just enough to give the drink a touch of added sweetness.
After stirring continually for a few minutes, the mixture was good and hot, and he poured it into the pair of pre-warmed flasks and screwed the lids on tightly, but not before he’d added yet another secret ingredient to the flask meant for him and Lottie. Brandy. Yum.
By the time Lottie returned, Henry had made sure all the children were dressed and in the right clothes for the occasion, he’d unearthed the rucksack from under the stairs and had packed it with a change of clothes for each child – no doubt one or more of them would be certain to get wet. He’d also packed the flasks and a bottle of water, plus the ancient toasting forks from out of the shed, and he was just adding paper plates, plastic mugs, a bottle of ketchup and the all-important box of matches to the bag.
Lottie raised her eyebrows and smiled her approval, handing him a pack of sausages, some fresh bread rolls, and a large bag of squishy marshmallows.
Then they were on their way, Lottie holding Robin’s hand and Henry carrying Morgan, with Sabrina trailing slightly behind as though she didn’t want to be seen with her siblings. Or her parents, for that matter.
But when the family arrived at the cove, Sabrina was as excited as the other two, and they charged off down the beach, making patterns in the soft wet sand with their wellington boots.
Henry made sure to pick a spot well above the high tide mark, on dry fluffy sand, to pitch their camp. Immediately behind was a bank of pebbles, driftwood and dried seaweed, and he put the rucksack down and proceeded to gather everything needed to make a fire.
Lottie flopped down onto the blanket she’d been carrying and sighed.
‘Are you OK?’ he asked her, hoping she wasn’t too disappointed at not going to the Christmas tree farm.
But then she smiled, and he realised his idea of coming to the beach was a good one.
Her eyes never leaving the children who were careening up and down the sand with great energy, she said, ‘This should wear the little blighters out – much better than having them fidgeting and grizzling in the back of the car.’
Eventually, though, the youngsters ran out of steam and settled down to various tasks, involving sand art (Sabrina), building sandcastles (Robin), and kicking them over (Morgan). As usual Robin didn’t mind having his sandcastles destroyed the minute he constructed them, and the three children played happily for a good long while despite the cold, their breath clouding above their heads.
Henry and Lottie snuggled into their coats in front of the fire, and watched their offspring play.
Every so often Henry glanced at Lottie, and he’d smile. His problems hadn’t gone away, and they would still be there on Monday, probably ten times worse, but for now he was simply grateful he had his family around him and they were all happy and healthy.
He still didn’t intend to tell Lottie just yet, but he would soon, and he had a feeling she would be OK with it. She looked so content right now, though, that he had no intention of disturbing her equilibrium until it was strictly necessary. If he could get away with not telling her until after Christmas, that’s what he would do.
She seemed to have recovered from her disapproval of him, and Henry put that down to him making more of an effort. Although spending time with his family, seeing to the children and helping Lottie wasn’t an effort, was it? He was thoroughly enjoying himself. With him in a better mood, no wonder his wife seemed more relaxed. They’d get over this, of course they would. They would come out of the other side, and when he looked back on it, Henry would think of it as nothing more than just a bump in the road.
Gradually the chill got to the youngsters and they gravitated back to their parents and the promise of a crackling fire and some food.
There was something special about eating outdoors. The hot dog sausages were charred on the outside and tasted all the better for it, the rolls were fresh and the whole thing was surprisingly tasty. Henry put away three all by himself. He’d brought some fruit too, knowing that Lottie liked to try to ensure the children had a healthy diet. He peeled a banana and fed half of it to Morgan, eating the other half himself, because Morgan couldn’t manage a whole one. And once that was eaten, he helped the children spear their marshmallows and toast them, Lottie overseeing everything with an eagle eye. Henry knew he’d remember this day as long as he lived. With the sun sparkling on the water, the intense concentration on the faces of his children as they held the long metal forks over the flickering flames of the fire, the scent of burning wood, and the salty tang of the ocean filling his senses, the gentle lap of the waves on the sand in the background, he was happier than he’d been in a long time.
This was what life was all about, Henry concluded – not working himself to death, not trying to buy the biggest, or the best, or the newest; but enjoying the simple things in life – and trying not to burn your fingers or your mouth on the marshmallows.
After they’d eaten, the children wandered off to play for a little while longer, allowing him and Lottie a few more moments of precious peace, sitting together in companionable silence.
Lottie appeared to be lost in her thoughts. When she caught him staring at her, she gave him a small smile, but there was a hint of sadness in it and he wasn’t quite sure what had caused it. But when he slung his arm around her, pulling her into him, she rested her head on his shoulder and he knew without a doubt there was nowhere else he wanted to be, and no one else he wanted to be with.
Chapter 26
Lottie
The sun was dipping low in the sky by the time they’d had enough of the beach, and Lottie was becoming increasingly chilled despite tearing up and down the sand in a madcap game of tag. With the sun waning, the cold intensified, so she rounded up the children while Henry packed everything back in the rucksack, and they made their slow way up the wooded valley towards the lights and warmth of home.
‘Bye, bye,’ Morgan said, waving at the beach from his perch on his father’s shoulders.
‘Are we still getting the Christmas tree?’ Sabrina wanted to know, as the first houses came into sight.
‘Of course we are! I think it’s about time we put the tree up, what with it only being two weeks until the big man comes down the chimney,’ Henry said.
Lottie lamented the sight of Sabrina’s dubious expression. Her eldest child still believed in Father Christmas, but only barely. Lottie would be loath to place a bet this being the case next year, and she was filled with sadness at how fast the children were growing up. Making a pledge to have more days like today to forge memories as a family to sustain her and Henry in the years to come, she decided to make an event out of decorating the tree when they got home.
* * *
They were all gathered around the collection of fir trees propped up outside P
ins to Elephants and trying to make a decision, when Lottie suddenly shrank back behind the nearest one. She’d spotted a familiar and rather unwelcome figure prancing towards her. Of all the people she had to meet today, when she was covered in sand, windswept, red-faced and smelling of woodsmoke, was the immaculately dressed and impeccably made-up Natalie Sharp. The woman was trotting along on impossibly high heels and bearing down on them like an out of control truck.
‘Lottie, darling, are you thinking of buying a tree? I’m surprised you don’t whittle your own out of an old door or something.’
Lottie scowled at her. ‘You saw that, did you?’
‘Your little Instagram post? What an interesting thing you did with it. Who’d have thought a door could have been made into a… what was it again? It wasn’t clear from the photo.’
It had been very clear, and so had the description of it; Lottie had made sure of that. Natalie hadn’t liked it, but then again, Lottie hadn’t expected her to.
Henry was gazing curiously at the woman and Lottie sensed his confusion. No doubt he was aware of an undercurrent, but he wouldn’t be able to identify what it was. On the surface Natalie appeared to be quite charming and complimentary, but Lottie saw right through her.
When Lottie failed to answer, Henry said, ‘It was a coat rack, wasn’t it? You sold it, didn’t you?’
Lottie was surprised he remembered, thinking back to how unenthusiastic he’d seemed when she’d told him she’d sold it. She uttered a vague noise of agreement in the back of her throat, making sure her eyes were firmly on Morgan.
Natalie uttered a tinkling laugh. ‘Really? How odd. Still, people these days will buy anything if they think it’s rustic or handmade. The cruder, the better.’