Will goes to stand at Johnnie’s elbow to look at the cards with him. It’s true there aren’t many cards and he feels sorry for Grando. He smiles up at him and his grandfather smiles back at him.
‘Presents at tea-time,’ says Will encouragingly.
* * *
‘I’ll shovel the snow off the grass around the summerhouse and make a path of sorts across to the back door,’ Oliver offers. ‘Have you got a good shovel?’
‘We’ll still have to wear our wellies to the party,’ says Sophie. ‘We must’ve had another three inches in the night. I hope Louisa manages to get home. They’ve given up on a flight and are catching the Eurostar. They’ve got snow tyres on their car, she says, so she’s hoping they’ll get down safely.’
‘I feel slightly daunted at the prospect of meeting them all,’ says Oliver.
‘Jess will distract them,’ Sophie tells him. ‘I’ve explained as best I can to Louisa. Will simply thinks that Jess’s father was related to Fred. I haven’t gone into details but I think that’s enough for now, don’t you?’
‘More than enough.’ Oliver pulls on someone’s warm coat. ‘Thank goodness you have all these spare clothes and boots.’
‘Well, it’s crazy carrying heavy clothes half across the world each time they all come to and fro. There’s always something to put on and enough boots to fit most feet. Put this hat on. You lose most of your body-heat through your head. Did you know that? Don’t look at it like that.’
‘This is a beanie,’ Oliver says. ‘You realize if Will sees me in this thing I shall lose all my street cred?’
‘Oh, stop fussing and put it on. Come on, I’ll show you where the shovel lives.’
‘I think I love you,’ Oliver says, following her out into the winter sunshine, easing on the tight-fitting hat.
‘Mmm,’ she says, taking his arm. ‘Me, too. But don’t let it go to your head.’
‘Wearing this thing,’ he says, ‘there wouldn’t be room for it.’
* * *
By four o’clock the sun is setting behind the hills and long blue shadows stretch across the whitened grass. Already the sea garden is en fête: the lights twinkle in the frosty air and Circe wears a necklace of holly and ivy. The summerhouse, lit by oil lamps, glows invitingly and on one end of the table Sophie has put the jug of Buck’s Fizz within a circle of delicate, fluted glasses.
Johnnie stands beside Circe, sampling the Buck’s Fizz. The tide is rising and, as he watches the long-legged avocets scooping and probing for food on the mudflats, he sees a small motorboat set out from beneath the walls of Cargreen: Freddy on his way to the birthday party. Leaning with his back to the balustrade, Johnnie is aware of other shadowy figures in the sea garden: Al and Mike standing together, sharing a wicked joke, Juliet moving gracefully in her long chiffon dress, and Rowena, half-hidden by the corner of the summerhouse, watching them.
Suddenly, from the house, a procession emerges, led by Popps. Sophie comes next, carrying a tray laden with the tea things, followed by Jess and Will, entrusted with plates and forks, and lastly by Oliver carrying the cake. They are all wearing fleeces and gumboots and woolly hats.
Johnnie smiles at the sight of them, and the ghosts slip back into the shadows. Now Sophie has begun to sing ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ and the others are joining in. Raising his glass in a salute to the past, he sets out across the snow to meet them.
Also by Marcia Willett
FORGOTTEN LAUGHTER
A WEEK IN WINTER
WINNING THROUGH
HOLDING ON
LOOKING FORWARD
SECOND TIME AROUND
STARTING OVER
HATTIE’S MILL
THE COURTYARD
THEA’S PARROT
THOSE WHO SERVE
THE DIPPER
THE CHILDREN’S HOUR
THE BIRDCAGE
THE GOLDEN CUP
ECHOES OF THE DANCE
MEMORIES OF THE STORM
THE WAY WE WERE
THE PRODIGAL WIFE
THE SUMMER HOUSE
CHRISTMAS IN CORNWALL
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
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THE SEA GARDEN. Copyright © 2012 by Marcia Willett. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
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First published in Great Britain by Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers
First U.S. Edition: August 2014
eISBN 9781466846524
First eBook edition: July 2014
The Sea Garden Page 26