‘I’ll see what I can do,’ Laurie said, resolving to bring it up with Rachel the next time they met. Rachel had always been the last person to realise her own talents.
‘And in the meantime,’ Laurie said, getting up, ‘I think it’s time for dessert.’ Diana nodded in agreement and Laurie got a tub of caramel pecan ice cream out of the freezer. She cleared away the supper plates and then brought the tub over along with some bowls and spoons.
‘So that guy today,’ Laurie said, nonchalantly, as she tried to ease a spoon into the rock-hard ice cream. ‘Patrick. Are you … er …’
‘Am I interested?’ Diana said. ‘Well, I won’t deny he’s attractive …’ A slight blush crept on to her face, ‘but he’s far too young for me. I’m in good nick, I know –’ she swooshed her hair playfully and smiled – ‘but I’m not deluded. I’m forty-six.’ She shrugged. ‘Patrick’s just a bit of eye-candy, that’s all.’
Diana leaned towards Laurie conspiratorially. ‘I did do a little research, though, I have to confess,’ she said, in a stage whisper. ‘And I happen to know he’s single. So the path’s clear.’
‘Oh no,’ Laurie said, shaking her head, ‘I wasn’t asking for me.’ But then again, she thought, Skipley had become just a fraction more interesting.
‘It’s none of my business,’ Laurie said, looking critically at the baggy outfit Diana was wearing. ‘But have you lost weight recently?’
‘Oh, yes, I did a bit. The divorce diet, after Richard left,’ Diana said, looking down at her body and then back up with a shrug.
As Diana helped Laurie load the dishwasher, Laurie noticed how the white blouse and loose navy slacks she was wearing swamped her.
‘It’s just,’ Laurie said, standing back and tilting her head, ‘it strikes me that your clothes are too big for you. Come with me,’ Laurie said, putting the cutlery she was holding down and leading Diana over to the hallway mirror. ‘Look at this,’ she said, starting to pull back the fabric so it hugged Diana’s figure more closely. She peeked over Diana’s shoulder so that the two of them could see the difference.
‘Oh God, you’re doing that Gok-thing, aren’t you?’ Diana said, laughing.
‘I might be,’ Laurie replied. ‘But, seriously, Diana, look at all this extra fabric. Let me take these in for you. I’m sure I saw a sewing machine up in Milly’s room.’
Diana looked at her suspiciously, and then, as she saw that Laurie wasn’t going to take no for an answer, her defences gradually dropped. ‘OK,’ she said, with a smile. ‘Do your worst.’
‘Anything else back at yours?’ Laurie asked.
‘Ah,’ Diana said. ‘Are you sure you’re up for the challenge?’
CHAPTER 16
Thursday 7th December
‘Fionn wasn’t like the other lions,’ Milly read out loud, from a hardback book. ‘From the moment she separated herself from the pride and approached me across the plains of the Masai Mara, I felt a connection – she wasn’t aggressive, she was trusting of me, and I instinctively trusted her. I knew that I was putting my life at risk, just by standing there, but as Fionn nudged my hand gently with her head, with that first contact, I felt sure we were going to be very good friends.’
Rachel looked over at Bea as she lay in the hospital bed. For a moment you could believe that she was just sleeping. As always, she had her gold locket on around her neck, the photo of her late husband David close to her chest. As she breathed the locket gently rose and fell.
But Bea hadn’t woken up since the operation yesterday. Aiden was sitting in a chair by her side, holding her hand in his. Dr Patel had told them that it might help to talk to Bea, that it was possible she’d be able to hear their voices. But she hadn’t been able to tell them anything more. She said it was impossible to predict if, and when, Bea’s condition would improve.
‘Do you really think she can hear me?’ Milly said, closing the book.
‘I’m sure of it,’ Rachel replied, putting her arm around her daughter’s shoulders. ‘And that book was a good choice, she’s always liked reading about Africa.’
Silence fell around the bedside. Even Zak was quiet, staring up at his grandma with a sad look in his eyes.
‘Mum,’ Aiden said finally, ‘we brought you a little radio. A digital one, you know how I keep saying you should have one. Well, here it is.’ He reached down to get it from the floor and put it up on her side table, plugging it in but not switching it on. ‘You can listen to Radio 4 now, I know you wouldn’t want to miss The Archers just because you’re not well.’
Rachel had a lump in her throat as she heard the strain in Aiden’s voice. She reached over to take his hand, but he turned away.
‘How about we all go over to Brockwell Park and get some fresh air,’ Rachel said to Milly and Zak when they got home. ‘Maybe check out the playground?’
‘Yes!’ Zak said, his eyes lighting up. He dashed out into the hall to put his trainers on.
‘How can he be like that,’ Milly said, ‘with Granny so ill?’
‘He cares. You know that, Milly. But we can’t just sit around worrying about Granny – she wouldn’t want that. We’ll go and see her when we can, and the rest of the time she’ll know we’re thinking of her. But we need to keep ourselves strong for her.’
Milly shrugged sadly.
‘Come on, Mills,’ Rachel said, picking up her plate and putting it on the side. ‘Jay said there’s a girl your age downstairs, in the basement flat, called Nikki. What do you say, shall we call on her?’
‘OK,’ Milly said, a little reluctantly. ‘Let’s do that.’
‘I’m just taking the kids out,’ Rachel said, putting her head into the living room, where Aiden was sitting. ‘Hopefully it’ll give you a bit of space to think.’
‘Thanks,’ Aiden said, bent over his laptop on the sofa. ‘That would be good. We’re having a nightmare with the carpenters we brought in.’
‘Good luck, sweetheart,’ Rachel said, touching his arm reassuringly.
With winter coats, hats and scarves on, Rachel, Zak and Milly trooped down the stairs. The stairway continued on down to the basement, and Rachel started to lead the way. She bent to look down at the floor below; it was darker down there and there was a faint smell of damp.
‘Mum,’ Milly said, from her position in the entrance hall. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Flat number 1, Jay said.’
‘Yes,’ Milly replied. ‘But what, are you going to call on her yourself? Don’t be embarrassing. I’m fifteen, not Zak’s age.’
‘Oops,’ Rachel said, coming back up. ‘You’re right. Sorry.’ She held her hands up in surrender. ‘How about Zak and I wait here and then you can just nip up and tell us what your plans are.’
‘Better,’ Milly said, and went downstairs. Rachel tilted her head slightly towards the stairwell. After the door opened she could hear teenage giggles. It sounded positive.
Milly came up the stairs a moment later. ‘Me and Nikki are going to go to TopShop,’ she said. Rachel leaned over the banister and saw a girl with cropped blonde hair with a pink streak. She gave a little wave.
‘I’ll see you and Zak back at the flat later,’ Milly said.
Rachel tried to shrug off the feeling of rejection. ‘OK. Be back in time for dinner. Have you got your—’
‘Yes, I’ve got my mobile, and my wallet,’ Milly sighed.
‘Right then,’ Rachel said, pulling on her mittens. ‘Nice to meet you, Nikki,’ she called down the stairs.
Milly gave her a glare. ‘See you later.’
Rachel sat on a low wall and watched Zak scale the climbing frame. He’d made a couple of friends already, and was pointing out to them the best way to get to the top. Rachel took a sip from her takeaway coffee, and then held it with both her gloved hands to warm them. Zak looked over at his mother and gave her a wide smile, and Rachel waved back. In an instant she saw that Zak, her little boy, was growing up quickly.
Would there come a day when Zak, like Mill
y, would be longing to get away from his family? Rachel sighed wistfully at the inevitability of it. After all, Milly had once shared everything with her mum and dad – from hopes and dreams to schoolyard jealousies and squabbles, but these days her moody silences were becoming more and more frequent. Rachel drank her coffee slowly, looking around at the other parents and children in the busy playground – did other mothers find it this hard to let go?
As she drained the cup, she called out to Zak that it was home time.
Milly came home just before six with a new striped scarf, and some thin bronze hoop earrings.
‘Wow,’ Rachel said. ‘I like those. Hold them up.’ Milly pushed her hair back and held one up to her ear. ‘They suit you,’ Rachel said. ‘So you got on with Nikki then?’
‘Yeah,’ Milly said. ‘Nikki’s really cool. She was telling me about this art workshop that Siobhan from next door runs – she’s a teacher at Nikki’s school. It’s after school on Fridays, and she thinks it would be OK for me to go too. Can I?’ Milly’s face was bright; she looked happier than she had done in days.
‘I don’t see why not,’ Rachel said. ‘So long as Siobhan doesn’t mind an extra heap of trouble turning up.’
Milly gave her a look.
‘I’m teasing,’ Rachel laughed. ‘A very talented heap of trouble, I meant.’
‘And, Mum,’ Milly said, ‘there was one other thing. Nikki asked me if I wanted to go to Camden with her at the weekend. Is that OK?’
Camden. There was a market, wasn’t there? She didn’t know much about it really.
‘Let me check with your dad,’ Rachel said.
‘Pleeaase, Mum,’ Milly whined, putting on a winning smile.
Rachel put her hands up, laughing. It was good to see a flash of the happy daughter she knew. ‘OK, OK, you can go.’
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sorry I haven’t been in touch. It’s been kind of busy here, and my grandma has got really sick. Anyway, we’re all trying to keep going as normal. I made a new friend, a girl who lives downstairs. She lives with her dad and he’s pretty relaxed about letting her do things. I’m kind of jealous about that.
It’s a bit weird being down here right now as it’s getting Christmassy and we normally decorate the house around now. But my gran’s really ill, so we don’t know when we’re coming back at the moment.
I’m going to go now, supper’s ready. I hope everything is good with you.
Milly x
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
There you are! Hello.
Am I imagining it, or are you kind of hot and cold with me, Milly? Do you not want me to call you? What’s going on? I mean I know you said your gran’s ill, but I don’t understand why you’ve changed so much. Can you send me your number?
Cx
CHAPTER 17
Friday 8th December
‘How do I look?’ Diana said, emerging from the toilets and swirling around in her newly tailored red dress. Laurie had taken in the waist and lowered the neckline a little, then brought the existing straps together, turning the dated style into an elegant halterneck.
‘Wow,’ Laurie said, bringing her hands together. Diana was beaming. The other women smiled appreciatively.
As Diana went to get changed again, Laurie settled down next to Joyce and began bagging up more winter coats. Joyce turned towards her.
‘Lovely job you did on Diana’s dress,’ she said. ‘You couldn’t do something with this old blouse of mine, could you? I mean, if you’re not too busy?’ She held the fabric of the blouse away from her body and sat back slightly so that Laurie could get a proper look at it. The shape was flattering, but it had lost its colour – and something about it was stuck in a mid-80s rut. ‘I hardly ever buy new things, you see,’ Joyce said. ‘Not on my pension.’
‘Sure,’ Laurie said. ‘I can have a go. But don’t kill me if you hate it.’
Joyce gave her a wink. ‘With this old thing?’ she said. ‘The only way is up.’
‘Dreadful news about the Christmas dinner,’ Pam said, across the table. ‘First time in years they’ve had to cancel it.’
The other women chorused their agreement. ‘Such a shame,’ Diana said.
Joyce turned to Laurie to explain. ‘It’s at one of the homeless shelters in Leeds,’ she said, ‘each year they put on a Christmas dinner, but this year, what with the cuts, they can’t afford it.’
‘Andy, the manager, is absolutely crushed,’ Diana said. ‘I spoke to him this week, he called to say thanks for the latest delivery – he works so hard for that place. Year on year he’s put his own time into making Christmas Day at the shelter special. I don’t think he’s spent it with his own family since he joined. But he says seeing what a difference it makes for the homeless people there has always made it worthwhile. He’s still trying to think of a way to raise money, find a way to put it on, but they’ve got more of their day-today costs to cover now, too. He can’t see how they’ll be able to do it.’
‘All we can really contribute is the rag money,’ Joyce said, ‘but that’s never much, is it?’
The women slowly returned to their work. The germ of an idea started to form in Laurie’s mind.
‘Hey,’ Laurie said to Diana, ‘how about this for a plan?’
Diana looked up from the linen-bound book she was logging figures in.
‘Some of the clothes we send to the rag man are actually pretty good quality. They might not be warm enough for the winter, and obviously some of them are damaged, or faded, but there are some decent fabrics in there.’
Diana stayed quiet as she waited for Laurie to continue.
‘What about if I had a go at customising them?’
‘How would that help?’ Diana asked, confused.
‘With a few original outfits we could have a fashion show here – at the community centre – and auction the pieces off.’ Laurie said. ‘Christmas Glamour’ – she waved her hand as if she were spelling it out in lights – ‘Under the Hammer!’
She waited for Diana to absorb the brilliance of her idea.
‘One-off designer pieces – with all the proceeds going towards Christmas lunch at the shelter.’
‘Sounds like a lot of work,’ Diana said, sceptically, dropping her head and going back to her note-making.
‘I could handle it,’ Laurie insisted, running with the idea now, excited at the prospect of having a new project to manage. ‘We’d want it on a weekend, say the Saturday after next … the sixteenth, so that Andy would have time to get the dinner organised afterwards. It looks like I’ll still be here then, and we’d have a week and a half to plan it. Tight, but I’ve managed worse. What do you reckon?’
‘All right,’ Diana said. ‘If it’ll keep you quiet, let’s put it to the room. Ladies,’ she said, her bold, brassy voice ringing out. ‘Laurie’s suggested a clothes auction – to raise money for the Christmas dinner. What do you think? Shall we give it a go?’
One by one, the women nodded, then chorused their approval.
‘Looks like it’s a yes,’ Diana said.
‘I was thinking of Christmas Glamour Under the Hammer as an evening event,’ Laurie said as the women listened, mugs in hand, during their tea break. ‘We could set up a catwalk …’
‘There are some big wooden blocks out the back,’ Diana suggested. ‘I think the Am Dram people used them to make stages.’
‘Great,’ Laurie said, ‘we can use those. Then we’d charge a small entrance fee to watch. And after the show, bidding on the pieces would start. So, we’ll need some models,’ Laurie smiled encouragingly. ‘Go on, who’s up for it?’
The women looked at each other hesitantly. For a moment no one said a word.
‘I’m game,’ said Joyce, raising her hand.
‘I could give it a go,’ Pam added. ‘Although I’m not sure I’ll be any good.’ With her delicate bone structure and natural grace, Pam had a tim
eless glamour; Laurie was pleased she’d volunteered.
‘I’ll step in for one,’ Diana said, and slowly another two women raised their hands too. ‘Great,’ said Laurie and made a note of all the names.
‘So,’ Laurie said, looking at her notes. ‘I’m working on the designs, a couple of you have kindly offered to help out with the sewing, set-building’s under control, the supermodels are sorted. What about publicity?’
Pam said her sister owned the local printers and could run them off some posters to put up around town. Julie, a quiet woman Laurie hadn’t spoken to before, said that her son could set up the event online and put out invites that way. ‘Ben’s a whizz at that stuff,’ she said.
‘Right,’ Laurie said. ‘It sounds like we’re well on our way, then. I guess we ought to get back to work.’ She looked over at Diana for confirmation.
‘Actually, while I have you all here,’ Diana said, ‘I wanted to invite you all to my Christmas drinks.’ She pulled some invitations out of her handbag. ‘None of that digital business for me,’ she laughed, ‘I prefer doing things the old-fashioned way.’ She passed the cards around – they were hand-illustrated, with a picture of her cottage on the front and the name of each of the women written at the bottom.
‘It’s next Friday, the 15th, so it’ll be the day before the show. We’ll probably all be ready for a drink or two by then.’
Laurie smiled to herself as she took the invitation. She never thought she’d be so pleased to be invited to something at Diana’s house.
She ripped the sacks open and sifted through the contents. Like a clothes moth she ignored the common cheap fabrics and went only for the best, laying them out on her table. Once she’d decided which materials to work with she found a large pair of scissors and cut out all the bits that were still usable, discarding any sections that were torn or frayed. There were some simple dresses and jackets that would make really good bases for the designs.
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe Page 14