‘Not yet,’ he said quickly. ‘Elodie wants to get everything sorted, financially, properly, you know… before I… before we tell her.’
Rita gave a small, tight smile. ‘I bet she does.’
Jago looked like a little lost boy himself. ‘Can I hug you?’
She lifted his hand and kissed it sensually. Every inch of her body ached to pull him close, to let the warmth and tension spill over, but she couldn’t.
‘Not yet,’ she whispered, looking up at him. ‘… but soon, perhaps. You just have to promise me you’ll be careful with her, and with yourself.’
He swallowed, nodding, a flicker of relief passing over his face.
‘And Jago… don’t forget.’ Her voice was soft but certain. ‘I am on your side. Always.’
As she waved him off with a heavy sigh, she noticed Hilda beckoning from the annexe window, two fingers crooking impatiently. Thinking she could do without a lecture, right now, Rita headed inside to find her mother-in-law lying back on her reclinable chair, covered in a thick blanket.
‘Hilda! You look awful; why didn’t you call me?’
‘It’s nothing. Just a pesky chest infection.’ She cleared her throat noisily. ‘Haven’t been to see Dr Elliot for years but I’ve had to agree on some antibiotics for this beast.’
‘Oh, Hilda…’
‘Eric insisted I stay at home; so much for being pushed around in a diamond-encrusted wheelchair by a handsome toyboy in my dotage.’ She sniffed. ‘Said he doesn’t want an invalid under his feet. Bloody men! I’d rather be in my own home when I’m feeling like this anyway, to be honest.’ Hilda then launched into a coughing fit so violent Rita half expected the windows to rattle. When it finally subsided, the old lady waved a dismissive hand. ‘It’s not the coughin’ that carries you off,’ she rasped. ‘It’s the coffin they carry you off in.’
Rita burst out laughing despite herself. ‘What are you like?’
‘Practical, that’s what I’m like,’ Hilda croaked. ‘I’ve planned my own funeral down to the last earth throw. Every single detail. It’s all written out and tucked in my bedside drawer. Saves timefor everyone later. The amount I’ve been to, I’m not having anyone, and I meananyonesaying one terrible thing about Hilda Jory’s send-off.’
Rita felt a rush of fear. ‘Are you really that ill?’
‘I want lilies, just white lilies,’ Hilda continued. ‘Andeveryonein black, none of this pastel nonsense. Tea afterwards, proper tea, not that herbal rubbish you drink. And I want to be buried in the rose bed in the courtyard.’
Rita stared. ‘Buried? What? Where? Here at the farm?’
‘Yes, dear. With my head sticking out,’ Hilda clarified, before Rita could interrupt. ‘So I don’t miss anything. You know what a nosy bugger I am.’ Hilda managed a wry smile.
‘And the music?’ Rita asked cautiously.
Hilda smirked. ‘Ah yes, something no one would ever expect. On the way in, “I Will Survive”, Rita. Full volume. And if everyone is not wailing before the coffin is set down on the stand, poke some of them, will you?’
‘And on the way out?’ Rita was now fully invested with the theatrics of it all.
‘“Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien”, of course,’ Hilda said, eyes sparkling with mischief. ‘I met Édith Piaf in Paris back in 1960, just after she recorded it. If that doesn’t cause a further state of maudlin and maybe faint amusement as everyone files out, I don’t know what will.’
Rita had no idea if her sick mother-in-law was joking about all this or not. Hilda dissolved into another hacking cough, clutching the side of the chair for support. Rita passed her a glass of water.
‘I’m really worried about you, Hilda. Do you want anything to eat?’
‘God no. I’m not even fancying a ciggie, so I know I must be bad. If you could just fill me a jug of water, put it in my bedroomwith a clean glass, I’ll take myself in there soon and hopefully nod off.’
Rita did that right away, came back into the open-plan lounge and neatened Hilda’s blanket. ‘I will keep my phone on and if you need me, you must call, OK? Can’t be having you dying on me. I’d miss you too much.’
‘You’ll have me dying of bollocking shock if you carry on like that, you softie.’ Hilda blew her nose loudly.
Rita smirked. Hilda then looked her daughter-in-law up and down, ‘Which reminds me, since we’re having such a frank conversation… are you pregnant, Rita?’
Rita froze.
At that exact moment, the annexe door flew open.
