Once Upon a Winter: All Four Parts in One - Plus an Exclusive Extra Short Story...

by Tilly Tennant

  ‘I doubt it,’ Briony said as she pulled a handful of carrots from the fridge. ‘They usually take sandwiches and stay out on the fields all day. They’ll eat late, but it’ll be a huge meal to make up for it.’

  ‘That seems like a long time to wait when they’re doing all that manual work.’

  ‘Ross pops in sometimes and steals a cake or two if he knows I’m baking.’ She gave a fond smile. ‘Little boys never really grow out of that, do they?’

  Hannah couldn’t imagine anyone still seeing Ross as a little boy, but then, she wasn’t his mother. Briony would probably always see him as that cherubic little child who raced around her kitchen, stole her cakes and got under her feet. It also made her realise just how Gina had her work cut out persuading Briony, above everyone else, that she was the right woman to make that little boy happy. Hannah wanted to try and lend a helping hand – lay the groundwork however she could. She had promised Gina she would, but it was difficult to know how to introduce the topic.

  ‘I was talking to my sister about your calendar,’ she said.

  Briony turned from where she was washing carrots at the sink. ‘Were you?’

  ‘She says she’d love to do it if you still need people. She’s always happy to support a good cause.’

  ‘She’s certainly very pretty. I remember saying as much to Paul at the salsa evening. Even Ross agreed.’

  Hannah wondered just what Ross had said, but knew better than to ask at this stage.

  ‘She’d make a good November, I think,’ Briony continued thoughtfully. She had allocated a month to Hannah off the top of her head when she had first mentioned it to her too, and Hannah wondered what bizarre criteria she used to do this.

  ‘I could give you her number and you could have a chat with her about it some time.’

  ‘Better still, bring her over one day. It’d be lovely to get to know her properly and if she’s as lovely as you then I’m sure I’d enjoy the company. We didn’t get that much chance to chat at the Salsa evening.’

  Hannah beamed. It was the result she’d been hoping for and had been much easier to achieve than she had anticipated. Now, all Gina had to do was work her usual charm and Briony would love her – half the battle was won already. ‘That would be really nice. I’ll do that next time she’s over from Birmingham.’

  ‘Good. Now, would you like peas or green beans?’

  ‘I really don’t mind.’

  ‘Then I’ll do both.’ Briony went over to her freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen peas. Hannah smiled to herself – even super domestic goddesses like Briony still fell back on convenience foods from time to time. The revelation made her feel slightly less incapable.

  Briony hummed softly as she filled a pan with water, almost as if she’d forgotten Hannah was there. Depositing the pan on the stove, she turned around with a pensive expression.

  ‘You chat to Ross quite often now, don’t you?’

  ‘Yes…’ Hannah said, wondering where the conversation was headed. She had a slight sinking feeling though.

  ‘He hasn’t said anything to you about a lady friend?’

  ‘No.’

  Briony was silent again. ‘Well,’ she said finally, ‘something is going on with him.’

  ‘What makes you say that?’

  ‘There’s a lot of sneaking around for a start – phone calls that end when I walk into the room, he’s missing early or goes off and doesn’t say where he’s been – that sort of thing.’

  Hannah knew all about this, of course, but she wasn’t so clear on how Briony knew so much. For the most part Ross inhabited his own little annexe away from the main house and, surely, if he was going to speak to Gina he’d do it from there. And grown men didn’t have to tell their mothers about their every move. Either he was in the main house so often that he might as well not have an annexe of his own to live in, or Briony had been spying on him. Knowing Briony as she did now, it was probably the latter.

  ‘You’re not worried, are you?’ Hannah asked.

  ‘Oh no! He seems just like his normal self – perfectly happy. Happier, if anything. That’s why I’m almost certain it’s a lady.’

  Hannah bit back a wry smile. ‘Presumably it wouldn’t be his first?’

  ‘Oh, you couldn’t keep them away from him at school, but at agricultural college he lost interest, he was so wrapped up in his studies. And over the last few years he’s only been interested in the farm. Paul and I are glad that he takes it so seriously and that he wants to make it his future, but…’ she shrugged slightly. ‘Whoever she is, she must have really turned his head.’

  ‘Have you asked him?’

  ‘He says there’s nothing to tell and the moment there is I’ll be the first to know. He probably thinks I’m going to embarrass him or something if he brings her home.’

  Or that you won’t approve of her, Hannah thought.

  ‘So he’s told you nothing at all?’

  ‘No, the little so and so. He knows it will drive me mad too. But I’ll find out. I have my suspicions already.’

  ‘You do?’

  ‘I think it’s someone he met at the auctions. He went out early last week and came back with a great big daft grin all over his face half the day later, then he was in an almighty rush because he hadn’t seen to his sheep. The only place I can think he’d been to was the livestock auctions, and I happen to know that there is a sweet little thing who works in the office there – Lydia, I think her name is. Paul says she’s always giving Ross the eye. Don’t you worry,’ she concluded cheerfully, ‘I’ll get to the bottom of it.’

  ‘So you’re not upset?’

  ‘Why on earth would I be upset? I’ve been hoping he’d settle with a nice girl for the past couple of years now. It’s not right for him to roam this place week after week and go nowhere else. Other men his age are already settling down or off out to pubs and clubs looking for a wife. Paul said I was overreacting, but I was almost ready to ask Ross if he was gay. I mean, it wouldn’t have mattered to me one bit, but I just wanted to know whether I could ever expect any grandchildren.’

  Hannah took a great slug of the tea Briony had just put in front of her. She silently wondered whether Briony would be quite so keen on grandchildren once she met Jess. Hannah loved her niece dearly, of course, and found her intelligent and witty company, but she could be something of an acquired taste, especially for someone as entrenched in the old country ways as Briony was.

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  ‘About Ross?’

  Hannah nodded.

  ‘Paul says I should leave him be. He says Ross will tell us in his own sweet time and I expect he’s right.’

  ‘I expect so too,’ Hannah agreed.

  ‘So he’s never mentioned a thing to you?’ Briony asked again.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ she replied carefully, not wanting to lie but not being able to tell the truth. ‘Nothing that I recall.’

  ‘Pity…’ Briony turned back to the stove and began to hum again. Hannah’s gaze turned to the window. She was beginning to wish she hadn’t agreed to stay for lunch, so it was almost a relief when Briony turned around again with a new question that didn’t involve lying about Ross. ‘I don’t suppose you’ve seen anything more of your mystery car?’

  ‘No, actually everything has been quiet. I hope it was all a silly false alarm and it stays that way. I played last night’s footage on the camera and didn’t see anything at all.’

  ‘That’s good. But you must keep it running a while longer. You can’t be too careful these days.’

  ‘I know, and I will. With a bit of luck it will all remain very boring.’

  Briony smiled. She almost looked disappointed as she brought cutlery to the table. ‘That’s usually how it ends around here.’

  *

  The train pulled into New Street station, and Hannah gathered up her belongings. As she shrugged her jacket on, she almost slammed into a man who was trying get down the aisle.

>   ‘Oh, I am so sorry!’ Hannah stammered.

  The man turned and smiled. He was dark eyed, a sexy dimple in his chin. There was a startling resemblance to Mitchell. ‘Bump into me any time you like.’

  Hannah blushed furiously and he grinned as he continued on his way. She couldn’t help a secret smile, though. A good-looking stranger casually flirting with her in passing – that hadn’t happened for a long time and there was nothing like a bit of flattery to boost a tired ego. A year ago she might have been chasing him down the station to see where he went. But then, why did she need to, now that she had a good looking stranger of her own?

  She stepped off the train and looked up the platform. She didn’t have to search for long. There was Gina, a vision in her powder blue coat, hurrying towards Hannah’s train. Hannah gave a broad smile and ran to hug her.

  ‘It’s about time you graced Brum with your presence,’ Gina said.

  ‘It does feel like ages since I was here. I’m looking forward to hitting the Bullring for some serious shopping.’

  ‘There’s a fab new shoe shop opened up in there. You’ll just die when you see their stuff.’ Gina slipped an arm through Hannah’s as they began to walk.

  ‘Will I die when I see the prices?’

  ‘Probably. But at least you’ll die wearing fabulous shoes.’

  Hannah laughed. ‘What a way to go.’

  ‘Do you want to do lunch first or shopping? I’m easy either way.’

  ‘Lunch, then you can tell me what’s going on with Howard.’

  Gina let out a groan. ‘You haven’t been worrying about it, have you? I knew I should have kept it until I saw you.’

  ‘You can’t send me half a tale by text and then not expect me to worry about it. You’re not going to take him back, are you?’

  Gina was silent for a moment.

  ‘Gina… please tell me he hasn’t got to you.’

  ‘You didn’t see him, Hannah. He looked so pathetic and sorry.’

  ‘What about Ross!’ Hannah squeaked. ‘What about what Howard did to you?’

  Gina glanced around. Nobody could possibly hear the subject of their conversation in the noise and hustle of Birmingham New Street Station on a Saturday, but she looked vaguely unsettled. ‘This is not the time,’ she said. ‘Let’s grab something to eat and I’ll tell you about it properly. ’

  *

  After negotiating a Bullring made even busier than usual by a demonstration about new government taxes, Hannah and Gina found themselves in a cosy restaurant on the main road down to the flea market and nestled in the shadow of the iconic Selfridges Building, its silver armour glinting in the winter sun. The air was fragrant with herbs and filled with the murmur of conversations all around them. Hannah sipped her glass of wine. It would be the only one, in order to avoid making rash, drunken purchases when she finally got out to do some shopping. She frowned at Gina.

  ‘Who did the leaving?’

  Gina paused. ‘Howard says he left her. He realised that she was young and silly and that he still loved me after all; he’d had his head turned by a younger woman wanting him.’

  ‘And you believe him?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘You know what I think? I think she left him and he’s turning it around to save face and to improve his chances of you taking him back so that he doesn’t have to cook his own bacon on a Sunday morning.’

  Gina snapped a breadstick in half. ‘That had crossed my mind too.’

  ‘Does Jess know?’

  ‘Oh, he made sure he told her all about it before he told me. Extra pressure on me then, isn’t it? I’m now the wicked witch who is keeping the family apart if I say no. Despite what Jess says about him and what he did with that slapper, I know that all she really wants is for all of us to be back together in our old house again, the way it used to be.’

  ‘But you don’t?’

  ‘I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. But how can I? The trust has gone now, and I don’t think we can ever get past that. Besides…’ she gave a sly smile.

  Hannah nudged her. ‘Go on…’

  ‘Why would I want a clapped-out old model – an unreliable one at that – when I can have a sexy young one who is as sweet and loyal as the day is long?’

  ‘Why indeed?’ Hannah mused, smiling to herself. ‘Have you told Howard any of this?’

  ‘I haven’t told him about Ross, but I’ve a feeling Jess will have done, and if she hasn’t already she will when I tell Howard that a reconciliation is not on the cards.’

  ‘So you haven’t straight out told him there’s no reconciliation to be had?’

  ‘I did. But he wouldn’t accept my answer and said I should think about it. He said if I still felt the same way after a month he’d accept it and move on.’

  ‘He won’t, you know.’

  ‘Of course he won’t. But he’ll have to start realising that he can’t have everything he wants. A nice pay packet and lots of gifts will only take a man so far, but there are other things necessary to make a marriage work, like keeping your penis away from random passing women. He’s had it all his own way too long now.’

  Hannah smiled. ‘Good for you. I’m glad to hear that you’re sticking to your guns. You’re far better off with someone like Ross.’

  ‘With someone exactly like Ross.’

  The waiter came over to their table and they quickly gave their order.

  ‘I popped over to see Briony the other day,’ Hannah said.

  Gina was reaching for another breadstick, and her hand hovered over the glass as she stopped and gave her full attention to her sister. ‘How was she?’

  ‘She thinks Ross has a secret girlfriend.’

  ‘Does she?’

  ‘She thinks it might be a girl he’s met at the livestock auctions.’

  ‘Only slightly wide of the mark then – but she should be thinking mutton and not lamb.’ Gina gave a wide grin, but it was too bright and too wide, and Hannah detected a hint of regret there. Gina was under no illusions about what she and Ross would be up against once their relationship was out in the open – if it even got that far.

  ‘Don’t talk yourself down like that. It doesn’t matter if you are a little older; if you make him happy that’s all they should care about.’

  ‘I can’t give him children, though.’

  ‘You don’t know that for sure. You haven’t been sterilised, have you?’

  ‘I’m too old.’

  Hannah shook her head, though she couldn’t help but recall Briony’s comments about grandchildren. ‘Lots of women still have babies in their forties. You might have to be more careful but it’s not impossible.’

  Gina took a gulp of her wine. ‘We’d have to be bloody quick, that’s for sure. I can just imagine what his parents would think about the possibility of no grandchildren. I know how I would feel in their place, and I think that’s what makes it so hard.’

  ‘You have to see past that.’

  ‘To what? To the point some years down the line where Ross leaves me because he does want children and I can’t give them to him?’ She shrugged. ‘Perhaps I am fighting for nothing.’

  ‘Where the hell did this suddenly come from? A minute ago you were all loved up and now you’ve decided the relationship is doomed before it’s begun!’

  ‘A minute ago I hadn’t thought about his parents and all the implications of his situation. I mean, I had, sort of, but I’d tried to ignore them. You mentioning a girl from the market just made it all real, I suppose. Do you honestly think this is folly?’

  Hannah let out a long breath. ‘You’re asking the wrong person I’m afraid. I can’t talk about ropey relationships, can I?’

  ‘I suppose not. But at least Mitchell is more suited to you. He only has a wife to get rid of and you’re at the same point in life.’

  ‘I think Mitchell does want children. You should have seen his face when he told me about the abortion. He was obviously devastated and I
can’t be sure I’m more capable than you in that regard; I’m only a couple of years younger.’

  ‘But he’s your age, at least. He can see it more sympathetically and he’s probably accepted that he may never have any now. Martine would have been an older mother too so he was prepared for the risks of that.’

  Hannah was quiet for a moment. Her gaze drifted to the window where shoppers rushed by, jostling for space, bumping into each other, squeezing past – tiny worlds colliding for a second and gone again. Was that her and Mitchell? Stolen moments that wouldn’t last? Their worlds colliding – fantastic and explosive at first – but the fall-out eventually knocking their orbits off course and driving them apart?

  ‘You’ve got a better chance than I have,’ Gina said softly, reaching for her arm.

  Hannah blinked as she looked back at her. ‘Do you think? I’m not so sure. It’s all passion now, but what about when that’s gone? I’m not like Martine. I’m not strong and capable and independent.’

  ‘Yes you are! Besides, he doesn’t want another Martine. He wants you. Martine is a total bitch from hell.’

  ‘Maybe he won’t want me when he knows me better.’

  ‘He’ll want you more when he knows you better. You’re a gorgeous human being and he’d be mad not to.’

  Hannah turned back to the window. If only she could be as certain of that.

  *

  It didn’t take long for Hannah’s mood to lighten. It was impossible to spend time in Gina’s company and not be affected by her quick humour. After lunch, they set about fitting as many shops as they could into their schedule before, finally, with aching feet and tired eyes, Hannah had to admit defeat and head back to the station for her train home.

  Gina pulled her into a warm hug as they waited on the platform, the smell of diesel in their nostrils. ‘I’ve had a wonderful day. Thank you so much for coming over.’

  ‘I should be thanking you! It’s always you who comes to Holly Way and I don’t make this trip nearly as often as I should. I always have a brilliant time when I do.’

  ‘Soon we’ll be making the journey up from Millrise together for our shopping fix,’ Gina said. ‘Just think about that.’