Love, Lies and Lemon Cake

by Jayne Bartholomew

  “Are you OK?” he asked, and then kicked himself for such a stupid conversation opener. After over five years was that really the best he could come up with?

  “I found a dog on the road when I was going to see Laura; someone had hit him and left him to die there. I don’t understand how someone could just drive away. There weren’t any skid marks in the road; the car hadn’t even tried to stop.”

  “That’s terrible. Good job you were passing then. Here…” He pulled his jumper off, revealing a slightly dated T-shirt. “Put this on, you look like you’re freezing.”

  Kate took the jumper gratefully and nipped into the bathroom to swap her wet top for his slightly starchy jumper. If her hair had been any drier it would’ve been standing on end from static.

  “Don’t you use fabric conditioner?”

  “I’m a bachelor; you’re supposed to be impressed that I can use the washing machine at all!”

  “Good point. It’s very clean, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  The years dropped away as they stood together in an easy silence and to James it was as though she had never left at all. Kate opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the vet who had finished with his last patient. He was a slight man, close to retirement and had seen more road accident victims than he wished to remember.

  “Are you the young lady that brought him in?”

  “Yes, how is he?” Kate slipped her hand into James’ for support.

  “Well, he’s got a couple of broken ribs, a fractured leg and a dislocated jaw. He was lucky, it could have been worse. He’s not micro-chipped or wearing a collar so I’ll have to contact the police and a dog shelter. The jaw will need surgery though and to be honest, at this stage, if the dog’s not yours I’d probably recommend that it’s put down. It’s going to be very expensive otherwise.”

  Kate blanched and James put his arm around her. “Actually, as long as no one comes forward to claim him we’d love to adopt.”

  She stared at him. “I don’t have the money to pay for an operation! I’d love him but these types of bills can run into the thousands. James, this is crazy!”

  “Don’t worry, I was saving for a rainy day and it’s been pouring down for hours. He can live with you but I want visiting rights.” To the vet he said, “I’ll leave my details with the receptionist and then if you need us for picking up or anything please give me a call.”

  The vet smiled. “Fine. Don’t worry, the bill won’t be excessive and he should be ready for you to pick up in three to four days. I’ll be in touch.” He shook hands with the couple before returning to the examination room.

  James peered out of the window at the still heavy rain. “I only live around the corner, fancy coming in to dry off?”

  “Yes, please. Look, I’ll try and find some way of paying you back for this. It’s not fair on you otherwise. I mean, I don’t see you for years and suddenly I’m a pain in the neck.”

  “Well, there is something you could do for me rather than the money, if you’re going to be here for a while? My Clerk to the Governing Body resigned last month and I need someone to take notes at the meetings. It’s a proper part-time job with a contract but there’s some evenings involved so we’ve been finding it hard to recruit. What do you say?”

  “A pet and a job in the same day, yes, please!” She hugged him again. “You’re such a good friend.”

  James pretended to smile at her throwaway comment and tried to be cheerful at being reunited with her but inside his heart was sinking. The feelings he had towards Kate were definitely more than friendly.

  It was quite normal for people, usually women, to come up to Penny and ask her if she’d heard about poor Mr So-and-so who was house bound or Mrs You-know-the-one who had been spotted with suspicious bruising. The unspoken understanding would be that she would, within the next couple of days, turn up spontaneously at that person’s door for a friendly chat.

  She didn’t offer religious advice or spiritual comfort but she excelled at listening and while Edward was good too, she knew that it was a lot less intimidating to have her turning up uninvited than someone wearing black with a dog collar.

  Today she had been casually directed to see Mrs Tonder. Penny didn’t really know her, just the odd glimpse in town occasionally but she’d found her quite intimidating in the past. She wondered if Mrs Tonder’s friends had taken the opportunity that her lack of mobility afforded them, to run away. Certainly, if what she’d heard was true, it seemed that no one had visited her since she came out of hospital.

  Penny rang the doorbell and took a step back. While she was waiting she took out the iPhone she’d won the week before and checked her emails. There was no point in getting impatient because someone with a broken bone couldn’t get to the door immediately.

  There was one email that had “congratulations” in the subject line – oh, but she loved those ones! She quickly opened up the mail to find that she’d won dinner for two at a nice restaurant in town; unfortunately the date they were offering was one that Edward couldn’t make because he had a weekend conference to attend. As she stood staring at her phone with a huge smile, Penny became aware that she was not alone. Mrs Tonder was watching her with a raised eyebrow; Penny quickly put the phone away in her bag.

  “Hello, Mrs Tonder. I’m Penny, Edward’s wife from the vicarage. I was just passing and I thought that as I hadn’t seen you around for a while, I’d see if you were in and how you were doing.”

  “Oh, that’s kind of you. Please come in.” Ruth shuffled the Zimmer frame to one side. “Lead the way, the kitchen’s just over there, you’ll be faster than me.”

  Penny made her way into the tidy apartment, complimenting the décor and generally trying to find pleasant things to say. While it was clean and neat, the rooms lacked personality and the warmth found in areas that are truly lived in was missing; it was so empty it looked unoccupied. On a coffee table was a collection of get well cards that were starting to fade.

  “Would you like a cup of tea?”

  “That would be lovely, but how about you sit down and I’ll make one for both of us? I have two slices of cake from Babs’ Tea Room too, if you’d like some. I can’t resist that shop, every time I walk by there’s always something lovely on the menu and I’m a very loyal customer!” Without waiting for the other woman to respond, Penny opened up cupboards and pulled out what was needed.

  “It doesn’t seem right that you visit someone and then have to make your own drink.” said Ruth, but Penny noticed that she sat down without an argument. The older woman seemed smaller than she remembered.

  “Not a bit of it. I didn’t call first so I’m the one imposing. How have you been, Mrs Tonder?”

  “Please call me Ruth. It’s nice to see someone. The district nurse comes out occasionally to see if I’m still alive and Geoff stops by once or twice a week. He does my shopping and the other things that I can’t.” Her voice trembled. “I can’t complain really, there’s nothing I want for. When I was mobile I never realised how slowly time could go by and I can’t stand day-time television. It feels like such a waste of time.”

  Penny put out the cups and saucers, poured the tea and found plates and forks for the cake. “When was the last time any of your friends were able to visit?”

  Ruth shook her head and looked down at her tea, her hands clenched tightly as though holding back an emotion.

  “That sounds awfully lonely?” murmured Penny sympathetically, cutting into her slice of cake and letting the aroma of warm baking fill the kitchen.

  “I don’t want to be a burden to anyone.”

  Penny had heard that same line more times so many times and yet she still didn’t know what the correct response was.

  “Oh, I’m sure you’re not at all. How about hobbies? Do you have anything to help pass the time until you’re up and running again?

  “Not ones that can be done inside, I used to love gardening and long walks. Geoff bou
ght me a laptop to take my mind off things but I don’t see the point to it. I don’t know what to look for and it feels very impersonal.”

  “You know, I think I might just have an idea on what your new hobby could be.” Penny took a sip of tea.

  “What?”

  “Well, I started entering competitions a few months ago and it’s so much fun!” gushed Penny. “There are websites full of links to absolutely free competitions and all they want is your email address and phone number. Mostly no one calls you but if you do get a sales pitch just ask them to take your number off their list. Where’s the laptop and I’ll help you get set up?”

  “It’s over there, by the window.” Ruth didn’t look convinced. “People don’t actually win though, do they?”

  Penny found the laptop and opened it up. “They really do - I know, I was surprised too! But I won a laptop on the first comp I did, then I just couldn’t stop entering. Oh dear, please don’t tell anyone, Edward doesn’t know and I’m worried he’ll think it’s gambling if he finds out – promise me you won’t breathe a word?”

  “Not a word.” Ruth was beginning to be swept along by the younger woman’s enthusiasm.

  Penny impulsively gave her a hug and started to create an email address. “It’s just so exciting! I have an iPhone now, I was saving for a cheap thing but now I have a proper phone that I’m not embarrassed to take calls on. And satellite TV channels! Sometimes I wait until I’m sure Edward’s asleep and then I creep downstairs to do more comping. It’s all free, so it’s not like a problem, is it?”

  “Hard to argue with if it doesn’t cost you anything. But what would I win?” Ruth bit into her cake and savoured the butterscotch icing.

  “Potentially anything you enter a competition for. Aha, right, you now have an email address, let me write it down for you then I’ll show you some of the sites for comping and set them up in your favourites.”

  “Well, this is an education. Is it hard to do?”

  “Not in the slightest. Here’s an idea, before you opened the door I had an email saying I’d won dinner for two, Edward can’t make it so how would you like to join me? We can discuss strategies and swap notes.”

  “Are you sure? Well, thank you, yes, that would be very pleasant.”

  “Great. Oh dear, I forgot that Edward needs me to pick up his dry cleaning. I must dash! Here’s my email address – any time you fancy a quick chat just drop me a note. Lovely to see you, Ruth, we’ll plan transport for the dinner and I’ll see you there!”

  Penny was halfway down the hallway when she heard a voice call after her.

  “Feel free to pop in any time?”

  “Will do. Bye, Ruth!”

  Ruth sat in the kitchen with her laptop in front of her and wondered why she had avoided technology for so long. She clicked on the first link from the comping website, tapped in her details and entered her first competition. And then she entered another.

  And then she kept going.

  Edward secretly hated hospital visits. The tea was always foul, the chairs uncomfortable and the moment you thought the visit was winding down, invariably there would be the discussion of whatever illness it was, in great detail. Ministering to the sick was one thing but did they have to be so vocal?

  The ward where Laura was placed looked like every other ward with only the occasional flash of personality left by a well-meaning relative to distinguish between the unmoving patients.

  Sadly he had been a visitor to coma wards before, many times when he was training for his vocation, and he could chart how long a patient had been unconscious by the decorations.

  In the far corner there were no cards or personal effects, clearly long term care. Opposite there were strings of get well cards but all slightly faded and starting to curl; long term care with at least one visitor. One empty bed and then Laura’s. Her hair neatly combed, fresh flowers on the bedside locker and a box of chocolates next to them with a sign saying “Thanks for dropping by, help yourself!” Pictures of her baby had been copied onto fabric and made into a blanket, which hung on the visitor chair.

  Gently moving the blanket onto the bed Edward sat down and put his tea on the locker. With a wry smile he realised that this was one hospital visit where he might be able to get a word in edgeways. He didn’t know if she could hear him or what, if anything, she was thinking but it never hurt to play safe and treat patients that couldn’t answer back as though they might.

  “Hello, Laura. It’s the vicar here, Edward. Just thought I’d drop in and see how you’re getting on.” The monitor continued a low hum. “I also wanted to congratulate you again on your beautiful daughter. Your husband brought her into church on Sunday and she really does have your eyes. Andy was very much the proud father.”

  The peace of the ward started to work its way into Edward’s psyche and he leaned back in the chair. He cast a speculative eye over the chocolates. “Would you mind if I had the strawberry swirl? Thank you. Penny’s trying to improve my diet at the moment and it’s not that I don’t appreciate her efforts but a little of what you fancy and all that.” He paused as the illicit morsel was savoured.

  “I need to talk to you about the annual summer fete. I know it’s a long way off but I do believe you can never over-plan these things and I was hoping that I could persuade you to take charge of the hoopla again? With a more waterproof marquee, last year could have been such a success and we’re hoping that this year we can finally raise enough to have the church roof fixed; sadly it’s still leaking from that lead theft a few years back.” He reached into his bag for a clipboard. “Well, I’ll take that as a yes,” he made a small mark on a list, “and thank you again for your participation.

  “The fete isn’t until July so you should be up on your feet and running around by then. I know you’re doing your level best to heal and I’ll be saying prayers for you and with you.” He put the clipboard back into his bag. “I can’t begin to imagine how Andy’s feeling because I know I’d be useless without my wife. Honestly, I’m sure if the Diocese knew how much she does for the community they’d replace me with her in a heartbeat. I should probably tell her how much I appreciate her more. Once you’ve found your soul mate it’s so easy to get into a comfortable routine and take someone for granted. I know, I’ll buy her some flowers on my way home.” He chuckled softly. “Listen to me going on… well, thank you for listening!”

  Edward ran his hands over the brushed cotton material of the baby blanket and focussed on the job in hand. “Now then, shall we say a prayer?”

  Edward couldn’t remember the last time he’d bought Penny flowers for no reason. Probably when they were first dating and he was trying to impress her. Not an easy task for a young man with too little money and too many morals.

  As he was leaving the hospital after visiting Laura, he’d picked out the nicest bunch from the shop outside and was feeling ridiculously proud of himself. They just about fitted into the basket on his bike and as he travelled home it occurred to him that he ought to nip into the church to make sure it was locked for the evening.

  The large doors were firmly secured and when he turned to leave, he almost ran over Janet who had been in earlier for a floral society meeting. The flowers had fallen out of the basket when he swerved to avoid her; he bent over to pick them up.

  “Oh, you naughty man, you remembered!” Janet, an elderly widow, eagerly held out her hands for the bouquet. Stunned and in the face of few alternatives that wouldn’t make him look like a complete git, Edward handed them over. Her face lit up and she buried her nose amongst the expensive blooms. “Well, doesn’t this just make my birthday!”

  “Ah… just a little token of thanks really. The displays have been looking extra smashing recently and this is the least I could do.”

  “You really shouldn’t have, not with that lovely box of fudge your wife gave me earlier, and that thoughtful card.” She gave him a playful pat on his cheek. “You really are lovely.”

  Edward just smiled
and felt deeply ashamed. His wife was the lovely one and now, yet again, he’d missed an opportunity to tell her that. He raised his eyes heavenward and he wondered whether he was being tested.

  Hilary stood over the crib and looked down at little Suzie. The baby, half asleep, looked up at her and yawned, blue eyes crusty from sleep. Hilary reached for a wet wipe from the changing table and delicately cleaned her face. She slipped the brushed cotton anti-scratch mittens onto Suzie’s tiny hands before easing herself, quietly, onto the pine rocking chair in the corner of the room.

  She wished she could turn her thoughts off. They weren’t leading to a good place. A blue teddy bear from the shelf opposite her had his head bowed as though pretending not to intrude into her quiet time.

  Hilary loved her daughter, Laura, with an almost animalistic fierceness, and had done ever since she was born. Without an iota of doubt she knew that, if it came to it, she would devote the same energy into raising her granddaughter, as she had done with Laura. She would give her everything to ensure that Suzie was nurtured, protected and knew how much she was loved.

  But… but in these quiet moments when the baby was asleep and the house was empty and she was all alone, she could risk being honest with herself.

  She had hated the day-to-day drudgery that mothering involved. There it was, she’d dared to think it again, the stark and unwelcome truth. Having your child hug you for the first time was incredibly special but did it compensate for the years of dirty nappies, feelings of isolation or sleep deprivation?

  And now, coming up to her late-fifties, was she really ready to go through all that again?

  When Laura was first born, she and her husband had been able to afford a nanny, something that Hilary had never revealed to her daughter. Charles’ military career had been well paid but highly pressured and while he had wanted a child, or possibly children, he had neither the time nor energy to spend with one. A nanny had provided company for Hilary while her husband spent longer at work. When Charles had decided to spend more time when he wasn’t working with his secretary she had divorced him without much regret and he’d been very generous in the settlement. The nanny was dispatched before Laura reached her second birthday and after potty training.