Watch for Me by Twilight

by Kirsty Ferry

  He put it back on the table and looked up at Cassie, whose face had fallen. ‘The Dordogne. Yes. My mother’s address. I’d hidden it away, but then I got it back out. Silly me. Nothing like poking your tongue into where you’ve got toothache, is there?’

  ‘Oh – I’m sorry.’ Aidan pulled a face. ‘Really, I am. I didn’t mean to bring her up.’

  ‘No, it’s fine.’ Cassie knelt down on the floor opposite the coffee table and laid her little collection out with rather more care than was necessary for three items. She didn’t meet Aidan’s eyes. ‘I tried to memorise it from the letter and wrote it down. I originally had some crazy idea of writing back to her. But then I wondered what I’d actually say.’ She shuffled the books and papers around on the table. ‘And Alex would hate me forevermore, despite how lovely he’s being to Elodie again. So I don’t think I’ll do it.’ She picked up the scrap of paper and sighed. Then she crumpled it up and tossed it into the waste paper bin with a well-aimed shot.

  ‘Netball team?’ Aidan smiled.

  ‘Football. Alex always made me be in goal. I got used to throwing the ball back out. I was a useless goalie. Anyway.’ She looked up and half-smiled back. ‘Have you got that photo handy?’

  ‘Yes, I’ll get it. Oh – was that the kettle switching off?’ Aidan looked towards the door.

  ‘I think it was.’ Cassie jumped up. ‘I won’t be a moment. It’s not as fancy as Delilah’s, but it’s passable. White, yes?’

  Aidan nodded. ‘Yes. No sugar. Thanks.’

  Cassie nodded and headed off to the kitchen.

  She came back in after a couple of minutes, a mug in each hand. ‘What do you think then? Does that engraving scream Rob Edwards?’ She handed Aidan a cup. ‘There are some coasters just there – that’s right. Pop it on the floor, if you want.’

  Aidan had put his phone down beside the sketchbook, the letter and Stella’s list book, the photograph showing on the screen. Together they bent towards the table, inspecting the handwriting.

  ‘I think it’s definitely him.’ Aidan flicked through the sketchbook. ‘See, the “o” is similar here to that one, and that one. And we have a matching “s” there.’ He was silent, looking at a few more words. ‘Yes. I’m quite certain. What a collection. You’ve done awfully well, Lady Cassandra.’

  Cassie laughed and looked up at him. Her face was deliciously close to his, and they must have had the same thought at the very same moment, because Cassie’s face changed slightly. Her eyes widened, and the smile was replaced by a mouth that suddenly looked more than ready to be kissed. He knew that look was reflected in his own expression.

  ‘It wouldn’t be deemed unprofessional, would it?’ he asked.

  ‘I won’t tell if you don’t.’ Her eyes sparked with mischief.

  They leaned closer, the mementoes of Stella and Rob’s wild affair between them on the little coffee table, and Aidan’s lips met hers with that little thrill he was beginning to recognise and love.

  ‘Being unprofessional is quite fun, isn’t it?’ Cassie smiled and leaned into him again. Aidan wondered if her mind was travelling along the same road his was, and again that little thrill caught him unawares …

  Then, from the kitchen, came the shrill ringing of a mobile phone, and Cassie jumped. ‘Dammit. That’s mine. I won’t answer it. If it’s important, they’ll leave a message.’

  Aidan laughed, and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. ‘Great attitude. Come here.’

  No sooner had her arms reached up and were on his shoulders, her lips so close they were almost brushing his again, than the landline rang, the noise startling them both.

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake!’ said Cassie. ‘I’m so sorry. This never happens. I—’

  Then the answerphone clicked in.

  ‘Cassie? Cass? Where are you?’ It was Alex. ‘God, never mind. I tried your mobile first. Look, it’s Elodie. She’s gone into labour. I’m taking her straight to hospital. They’ve deemed her high risk or something stupid like that. Call me when you get this, okay?’ There was a fumbling, panicked sort of noise, and the call cut off.

  Cassie fell back on her heels, the moment well and truly lost. ‘Aidan, I’m so sorry.’ She scrambled to her feet. ‘I need to go and see them. Her parents are in France and they’re coming back next week. She thought that would be soon enough …’ She was rushing around the room, pushing her feet into some canvas shoes. ‘I want to see her before she goes in. I need to hug them and wish them luck.’

  ‘Here.’ Aidan stood up. ‘You call your brother back straight away, I’ll get your mobile. Do it.’

  Cassie nodded, her face white and pinched as she grabbed the phone and punched in the numbers. ‘Thanks. I know people have babies every day but – Alex? Alex! Thank God. I got your message. I’m coming over. I’m just at home. I want to wish you luck. Literally leaving right now. See you. Love you.’

  Aidan had covered the distance between the lounge and the kitchen and back again by the time she hung up, her voice getting more frantic by the minute.

  He handed her the mobile and steered her out of the door. ‘Go on, get on the back of the bike. I’ll run you across to the Hall. Don’t worry about me,’ He held up his hands as she started to protest. ‘I’ll catch you whenever. Look, let’s shut the door. That’s right. Okay, let me past. Thanks. Now, hop on.’

  ‘Thank you!’ Cassie climbed on behind Aidan and he kicked the bike into gear and sped off across to the Hall. They were there within moments, and Cassie slithered off the back and ran away towards a car where Aidan could see a man leaning into the back.

  Alex straightened up, and gave Cassie a quick, apparently surprised hug. Then he ran around to the driver’s side, and Cassie popped her head into the back. There seemed to be some sort of discussion, and Cassie stood up.

  ‘Aidan – Elodie wants me there for moral support, just until they get settled in. I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it.’ He grinned. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow. Tell her good luck.’

  The door slammed, the engine roared, and Aidan waved a little regretfully as the vehicle shot past him, Cassie’s face peering out of the open window, still apparently apologising.

  Aidan smiled, wondering what sort of discussion that might generate between Cassie and her family once things had calmed down.

  Why did you turn up on the civil engineer’s bike? Were you working on the project?

  Maybe. Well, actually, no. We’d just been kissing, to be honest, and things were getting quite interesting, but we have discovered lots of exciting things about Rob Edwards and Stella Aldrich …

  Seriously, though, he could see how Cassie contacting their mother might not be the ideal thing to do at the moment. But babies changed things, didn’t they? Maybe, once things had calmed down, Cassie would want that address after all.

  He was quite glad he’d rescued it from the bin when she’d made the coffee. You just never knew.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  February 1942

  It was a girl; a little baby girl with fair hair and the deepest blue eyes that Stella had ever seen – well, if you didn’t count Rob’s, of course.

  Quite surprisingly, Mary had been the most competent of the lot of them. ‘Just breathe, darling. Women have been doing this since forever. It’ll hurt like buggery now, but you’ll soon forget.’ The midwife hadn’t been impressed at the fact Mary had organised everyone and everything, but Stella was jolly glad she’d been there.

  Throughout the ordeal, Stella had sworn and cried and screamed, but Mary was right. Once the child was in her arms, the pain was all but forgotten.

  ‘What are you going to call her?’ Helen was almost whispering for fear of disturbing the tiny little thing as she slept next to Stella.

  ‘I think she’s a Catherine.’ Stella’s voice was equally quiet. ‘Don’t you agree?’

  ‘Catherine suits her.’

  ‘Do you think Rob would have loved her?’

  ‘Oh, darli
ng. Of course he would have done.’

  Tears sprang into Stella’s eyes and she wiped them quickly away. ‘She’s all I’ve got left of him. Take care of her, won’t you? And one day, when she’s old enough, I’m going to tell her everything.’

  Helen took one of Stella’s hands and squeezed it. ‘She deserves to know. Her papa was a hero. That’s something to be very proud of.’

  ‘It is.’ Stella ran her finger down the soft little cheek and touched the perfect, rosebud mouth. ‘And I can only pray that one day he comes back and sees her.’

  Helen didn’t reply. She simply squeezed her hand even more. Stella knew it might take a hell of a lot of prayers, but she determined, somewhere deep inside of her, that she would never give up hope of seeing Rob alive again.

  April 1942

  Helen and Leo took Catherine to Hartsford at the beginning of April. Stella watched them leave, staring after the car through her tears as it disappeared down the road.

  ‘It’ll be all right.’ Helen had tried to reassure her. ‘You’ll be back with us in no time, and it’ll be as if she’s never been away from you.’

  ‘When? When can I come home?’ Stella hadn’t taken her eyes off the baby. ‘I don’t want her to forget me.’

  ‘Just give us a few weeks, and then we’ll let you know. We have to be at Hartsford long enough to be established with her, and you have to get your strength back and look like your usual pretty self.’ Helen grinned, clearly hoping that she would make Stella laugh. She’d been, for the last few weeks, a typical, sleep-deprived new mother and it showed.

  Stella gave a watery smile. ‘Yes. We have to perpetuate the myth. Take care of her, darling. I can’t ever thank you enough for what you’re doing for me.’

  ‘We love you, Stella. And we love Rob. We’ll do whatever we can.’

  Stella believed her, but it didn’t make the separation any easier.

  Mary and Lois, their newly blonde hair neatly parted and twisted back in matching rolls, had been there, waiting discreetly in the back garden until she came through to find them after the car left.

  Lois offered Stella a cigarette, but Stella shook her head and sat down on a low wall. ‘No, thank you. I’ve gone right off them.’

  Lois shrugged and offered it to Mary who, in an age-old gesture that reminded Stella of their carefree days, lit it from her sister’s. The girls sat with her, flanking her either side and they put their arms around her at the very same moment.

  Stella was grateful to them for shoring her up, and she snaked one arm around each twin and squeezed them lovingly. ‘Thank you. You are perhaps the best chums a person could ever hope for. All of you.’

  ‘It’s the least we can do,’ said Lois. ‘But do you know something? You’ve inspired us. We’ve decided to definitely become nurses. We’re going into Princess Mary’s RAF Nursing Service. We want to help other people.’

  ‘I loved it when you had Catherine,’ added Mary with a grin. ‘I’m hoping that after the war I can train to be a midwife.’

  ‘We, darling. We can train to be midwives.’

  ‘Of course. We.’

  Stella couldn’t help but laugh. ‘I’m forever grateful to you – to you both – for helping me. It was quite possibly one of the worst experiences of my life.’

  ‘But look at the reward you got at the end,’ added Mary comfortably. ‘Surely that little baby is worth it all?’

  ‘She is. She is.’

  ‘And also, another reason, is that the boys in the USAAF, as well as our boys, are just so brave – we want to give something back. You know?’

  Stella nodded. ‘Yes.’ She stared out at the garden waking up for springtime. ‘So brave.’

  Her heart broke just a little more for Rob – and for their baby – although she knew little Catherine could never be in better hands than Leo and Helen’s.

  She knew, also, that it was time for her to consider her future. She didn’t know if she’d be very good as a nurse, but she wondered if she should give it a damn good go at least? And if she didn’t do that, then there must be something that Lady Stella Aldrich could do when she returned to Hartsford.

  Present Day

  Cassie waited for more hours than she thought it possible to wait, for two new little humans to enter the world.

  Once she was there, she found she didn’t want to leave the hospital. She was quite pleased to suddenly discover she had a practical side that had nothing to do with planning a weekend-long event, but more to do with keeping family and friends informed. She joked that she was Alex’s PA at one point, which only she seemed to find amusing. But never mind. She did the phone calls and haunted the corridors and waiting rooms and waited some more. Aidan had been lovely when she called him to tell him she definitely wouldn’t be home any time soon, and said not to worry, he’d see her when she got back.

  Eventually, she found herself gazing at her tiny niece and nephew. She thought the names Lady Freya and Lord Alfred were far too big and far too grand for such small babies – but couldn’t help wanting to smother them with kisses and cuddles regardless.

  ‘Sorry for all the drama,’ Elodie told her when Alex had gone to find coffee and make more calls to everyone he could. ‘I can’t do anything by halves, can I?’

  ‘No. Most people would just have one baby. You had to have two. And like you say, with such drama! Bloody hell. Only you.’

  Elodie laughed, embarrassed. ‘Well, this is it. No more. It’s not fair on anyone.’ She watched the babies sleeping and shook her head. ‘I think it’s been worth it though. We’re all here, largely unscathed, anyway.’

  ‘But it wouldn’t have been recommended if we’d lost you in the process.’ Cassie took her hand and squeezed it.

  Elodie shuddered. ‘Let’s not go there. I just hope …’ Her voice tailed off.

  ‘You just hope what?’

  ‘That we don’t go down the same route as your mother.’ Elodie looked up at Cassie. ‘I know it’s probably the hormones talking, but despite what we’ve all gone through today, I can’t imagine walking away when these two are six months old and missing everything – missing their entire lives.’

  ‘Hmm.’ Cassie looked down. ‘I’ve been thinking about that – I don’t know either. Part of me wants to see her, but part of me doesn’t. I sort of wish the decision would be taken out of my hands. I’m … dithering.’

  ‘Dithering.’ Elodie smiled. ‘A very good word. All I can say is that I want my mum more than ever right now, and I can’t wait until she walks through those doors. But that’s me. I think it’s different for Alex. He’d rather just push Anne away and forget she ever existed.’ She sighed. ‘Not much I can do about it though. I have to concentrate on these two. God.’ She suddenly blanched, which was quite spectacular, given that she was pretty much chalky-white anyway, but at least, as Alex always said in these situations, her lips weren’t blue any more. ‘Suddenly I’m a mum. Dear Lord.’

  ‘And I’m an Aunt. Officially so. Yay!’ Cassie’s brave little attempt at a joke made them both giggle, but Cassie knew the underlying thing wasn’t going to go away. Anne wanted to be part of her and Alex’s lives again, and by doing so, would pick up an extended little family she probably never dreamed she’d have. And if the thought of suddenly having two adult children was strange to her, the idea of having twin grandchildren must be even stranger – if she ever found out about them, of course.

  The estate felt curious today; there was an excited buzz about it, along with a sense of apprehension. It had apparently been over twenty years since any babies had lived at the Hall, and the idea that two new ones were imminent – and quite possibly born by now – had the village talking excitedly.

  Aidan was working on the changing rooms, and was spending probably too much time in there than was strictly necessary, restoring them to the way he wanted. But he knew the rest of the project was happening all around him and that Petra and Iain had it all under control. Just as well. There were only a few more
weeks left, and he was determined that this would happen for Cassie. He wanted to make her happy, and smiled to himself, imagining her face lighting up as she wandered around the Spa, exclaiming in delight.

  He might also have imagined her in a bikini, diving into the pool, but he wasn’t going to admit that to anyone.

  Aidan’s phone buzzed, and he picked it up, expecting it to be the Portakabin hire company, confirming a delivery for the next day. It was almost time for his team to leave for the evening anyway.

  His heart skipped a beat as he saw Cassie’s name on the screen, and he answered it with a smile in his voice. ‘Lady Cassandra. I was just thinking of you.’

  She giggled. ‘I bet you were.’

  ‘I was. I was just thinking, I hope Lady Cassandra calls me and tells me that the heirs to Hartsford have arrived safely, because that’s a whole lot more exciting than waiting for a call from the Portakabin people.’

  ‘They have! They’re here! A girl and a boy.’ There was a smile in her voice. ‘And don’t call me Lady Cassandra. Alex rang everyone he could think of, and I thought I’d quite like to call you. I wasn’t sure if you’d be interested though.’

  ‘Of course, I’m interested! What are they called? The babies – not the people Alex called.’

  She laughed again. ‘Alfie and Freya. Alfie is two minutes older. Poor Freya – she’ll have to deal with an older brother as well.’

  ‘That’s great news. Thanks for telling me.’ He meant it. She didn’t have to, after all. It was nice to think that she’d wanted to call him.

  ‘Anyway, I’m going to head home shortly. It’s getting late. I’m sure Alex and Elodie don’t want me hanging around here, so I might as well come back to the Hall and—’

  ‘And what?’

  There was a brief, warm silence. ‘I was going to say “bother you”, but I won’t. I’ll sleep for a week, then pick things up at the Hall and field the questions. Gosh, I’m exhausted, never mind Elodie.’