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‘But they will.’ Irene smiles. ‘You were brilliant at that job. They’d be fools not to snap you up immediately.’
‘Aw, shucks.’ Lois grins, brushing away her mum’s compliment. But I can tell she’s chuffed.
Rory phones me later to ask about the passport and to tell me he’s found some reasonably priced flights and a hotel deal that would be perfect.
My heart beating fast, I squeeze my eyes tight shut. ‘You’d better book it quickly before I change my mind.’
‘Why would you change your mind? I thought you wanted to find Freda?’
I laugh. ‘Of course I do. It’s all just a bit... exciting but scary. What if we can’t find her?’
‘Well, at least we’ll have tried.’
‘That’s true. So... will you book the flights?’
He chuckles softly. ‘I will indeed.’
When the phone call ends, I stand at the kitchen window, staring out, clutching the phone to my chest. It all seems like a dream.
I’m going to be searching for Gran’s sister in New York!
With Rory there to help me...
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
‘We’re going to the fair! We’re going to the fair!’
It’s early the following evening and Bertie is bouncing around excitedly as he and I wait for Jen and Luke to arrive. The cause of his excitement is the Christmas fair that descended a few days ago on Sunnybrook Village Green, with traditional rides and stalls.
I’m trying to write Christmas cards at the kitchen table but I’m not making great progress because Bertie keeps zooming into the room and asking questions about helter skelters and then zooming out again, leaving me smiling but feeling exhausted even before we’ve left the house. (I suspect he’s fascinated by the idea of a helter skelter and really wants to be brave enough to go on it, but isn’t entirely sure!) He keeps calling Father Christmas ‘Farmer Christmas’ and I haven’t the heart to correct him. There’s a kind of logic to it, after all, with the animals gathered around the crib in Nativity scenes. Plus, it’s just too cute.
Irene and Lois are in the living room, watching Christmas movies and sampling a non-alcoholic wine I bought when I was Christmas shopping earlier. It’s going to be a dry festive season for us– and I never thought I’d be embracing it with such enthusiasm. I’m so proud of Irene for sticking to her resolve to give up alcohol, and I can tell Lois is delighted, too.
I’m busy addressing yet another card to a person I never see from one end of the year to another, when there’s a scuffling in the hallway, then Bertie runs in, followed by Irene and Lois. To my surprise, they’re all wearing their coats.
‘We’re coming with you,’ Lois announces, peering through the window into the darkness beyond. ‘I might end up regretting it. But Bertie seems keen that we all go.’
‘Is that okay, Clara?’ asks Irene.
I smile at them. ‘Of course it’s okay. It’s high time we did something together as a family for Christmas.’
I think of the items I wrapped up in tissue paper earlier, and I feel a lurch of excitement. When we’re all out together tonight, it will be the perfect time to present Lois and Irene with my little surprise... a sort of early Christmas present for each of them...
But now, headlights are sweeping into the street, coming to a stop outside the house. Jen and Luke are here, and there’s a flurry of action, as we all pull on hats and gloves and zip up coats, ready to go out and brave the freezing night air. Bertie and I clamber into the warmth of Jen’s car, and Lois follows on behind with Irene.
On the village green, people are milling around, enjoying the colourful flashing lights, traditional fairground music and the mingled aroma of hot dogs, toffee apples and candyfloss. Childhood memories start flooding in, warming my heart and making me smile. The atmosphere is so uplifting and sparkly and festive that in spite of all my worries about Gran, I still experience that little tingle of excitement that Christmas is almost here. Bertie’s helter skelter, a thing of beauty painted red and white, dominates the scene, rising up above the traditional stalls and all the other fairground rides.
We wander around, soaking up the sights, sounds and smells, and after a hilarious session on the dodgem cars, followed by hot dogs all round, Jen and I take Bertie and Luke over to a spaceship ride they’ve been clamouring to try out, while Lois decides she wants to have a go on the waltzer. She even manages to persuade Irene to join her, and when the four of us wander back over, I stand there, watching the pair of them shrieking and laughing and clutching onto each other, and I feel tears welling up. For so long, we’ve been like ships passing in the night, living in the same house but inhabiting different spaces. But tonight, we’re a family– a ‘normal’ family who have happy times, arguments and challenges to face, but who support each other and solve those problems together...
If only Gran could have been here. She’d have really enjoyed herself, especially seeing Bertie having a whale of a time. But she’s gone down with a cold and has sensibly decided– with the operation looming– that she’d better take it easy at home.
We’ll make up for it next Christmas, Gran. I promise!
Bertie is still weighing up the helter skelter from afar, and in the meantime, we decide to warm up with hot drinks in the Little Duck Pond Café. Ellie has changed her opening hours for the duration of the fair and business is brisk tonight. But we manage to grab the one remaining table and order hot chocolates all round.
Jen is keen to go on the carousel (she loved riding on the horses when she was little) and once they’ve finished their drinks, she persuades Luke to go on it with her. She goes off, laughing and all excited, while Luke seems to be taking it in his stride, happy to humour her.
‘That’s for girls,’ comments Bertie after they’ve gone, when I ask him if he wants to join them on the carousel. ‘I’m going on the helter skelter.’
