Chapter Twenty-One
Ginny
Ginny, Fern, Daisy and Loretta headed towards Lantern Square, Loretta questioning them all the way but none of them letting her in on the secret. It would be far more powerful when she saw what they were doing, and more so when she was a part of the shenanigans.
The shops in Butterbury were all closed, the streets next to empty, and they passed Lantern Square and turnedonto a quieter street where Miriam’s haberdashery stood beyond the post office. And there they waited, Fern and Ginny linking their mum’s arms, one on each side. Daisy was keeping a look out, a big bag looped over one arm – a bag that their mother continued to try and check out but couldn’t while she was anchored to her two eldest daughters.
Ginny was still trying to get her head around the ideathat her parents had almost divorced, her dad had had an affair, and they had a half-sister as a result. In her work she’d met so many different women, plenty of single mums too, and she’d wondered about their stories. Were they women like Carrie’s mum? Where was the father and did he even know? Now, she understood all the more how easily it could happen. Relationships were difficult and eventhe sturdiest of marriages came up against hurdles. Had her and Lucas hit a very big bump in the road that at the time was insurmountable? And did that bump really have to be the end?
When Ginny confided in her sisters about her pain at never having been able to say goodbye to their dad when they’d both been at his bedside, it was like something unlocked inside of her. The tears had fallen, butmore than that the guilt had been shed like an unwelcome cloak from around her shoulders. And when Daisy had broken down about the special quilt and was honest about how she felt too, Ginny had seen that in their own way, they were all in pain. They’d all carried the weight of their father’s death alone and, sure, Fern had comforted Ginny and Daisy when they cried, but they hadn’t been there forher, and holding it together for others must’ve affected her in a way she never shared either.
When Loretta had taken Busker out for a walk earlier the sisters had really talked, mostly about their disbelief over their parents’ troubles, but also about Carrie.
‘She’s such a lovely, kind girl,’ Fern had said.
‘I suspected she was holding something back,’ Ginny admitted.
‘I always thought itwas because she was so young,’ said Fern. ‘I thought perhaps her age made her feel awkward around us.’
Daisy put the last mug into the dishwasher and started its cycle. ‘Being a teenager is tough sometimes.’
‘Mum’s right though.’ Ginny looked at both of her sisters. ‘Carrie hasn’t done anything wrong. Not really. Her intentions have been good, and, Daisy, wasn’t it Carrie who encouraged youto ask us to help with the quilt?’ When Daisy nodded, she added, ‘The way I see it, she did us a bit of a favour, pushing us together.’
‘Could’ve easily backfired.’ Fern grinned. ‘And perhaps we should see Carrie’s involvement as a good sign of things to come between us.’
‘How’s that?’ Daisy asked.
‘Carrie came back to spend time with us more than once – clearly we’re not that terrible.’
‘Good job she met us now and not a couple of years ago when we didn’t have anything very nice to say about each other,’ said Ginny.
Daisy whipped her playfully with a tea towel. ‘We weren’t that bad.’
Fern took the tea towel from Daisy and hung it up. ‘We were, but we’re good now. Aren’t we?’
Ginny put an arm around Daisy’s shoulders, her other around Fern’s. ‘We are good. But what do we donow, about Carrie?’
‘I think we just need to try to include her for a while,’ said Daisy. ‘We don’t have to go over the top, talk on a deeper level, that will come later I expect. For the moment I think we should all just try to be her friend?’
As they waited outside in the cold now, Ginny listening to Loretta persistently quizzing them about what was going on, Daisy telling her to be patient,Ginny thought about her mum’s plan to get them all back together and working on a quilting project like they’d done all those years ago. Without knowing it Loretta’s plan had done more than bring the sisters together, it had made Ginny realise how much she wanted a different future, how much she really wanted to take over the shop.
Her insides fizzed with excitement at the thought. As a littlegirl she’d imagined standing behind the counter and cutting exquisite fabrics for a customer, wrapping purchases in brown paper bags and handing them over for another project to start. She’d gone to the Butterbury Sewing Box after school on more occasions than she could count to help her mother out, but as she got older schoolwork came first. Life evolved. Ginny showed an interest in midwifery,and thinking her mother’s retirement and the shop passing down a generation was a long way off Ginny hadn’t thought a second choice of vocation would change much at all. She’d thought she had all the time in the world to make her choice. But perhaps Daisy had needed to be with Loretta in the shop as much as Ginny had needed to get away for a while. And maybe now Daisy could see she might too be ableto take her life in a different direction.
Working in the Butterbury Sewing Box to help out over the last week or so had been a pleasure for Ginny. And it had been all she’d needed to remind her of the dream she’d once had as a little girl, the dream that was still on the periphery, knocking ever so gently to remind her it was time to let it back in. When the pink sewing machine had come downfrom the loft earlier it was like time flashed before her, all the evenings she’d worked in her bedroom by lamplight until one or other of her parents had rapped on the door and told her it really was bedtime. And now the machine was ready and waiting at the house, in position for them to sew together Grandad’s Christmas quilt they’d all worked so hard to get ready in time.
Ginny looked at hersisters now, laughing and huddled together as they waited. They were a work in progress and who knew where Carrie would fit into their world.
‘Right, it’s freezing cold, girls,’ said Loretta, authority in her voice. ‘Whatever is going on?’
At that moment Daisy jumped on the spot and let out a squeal. ‘They’re here!’
A minibus trundled around the corner and came to a sedate stop before Maggiefrom Butterbury Lodge climbed out and slid open the side door.
Loretta immediately stepped forwards. ‘Dad? What on earth are you doing here?’ She meant it collectively, of course, because inside the minibus was Ivor, Mr G, Flo, Ernest, and three other elderly residents Ginny had seen in passing but couldn’t put names to.
‘So the secret is out,’ said Ivor, giving his daughter a hug, but he kepthis voice low. ‘Nobody else, OK?’ He put a finger over his lips to let Loretta, Ginny and Fern know this wasn’t to go any further. ‘Daisy and I have been planning this for almost a year, the village is in for a real treat.’
‘Daisy?’ Loretta looked at her youngest daughter, still desperate to know what was going on.
