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I grin at him.
‘Are you sure about that, Bertie Wooster?’ asks Lois, and I smile at the nickname.
‘You don’thaveto go on the helter skelter if you don’t want to,’ adds Irene, smoothing his hair back from his eyes.
‘I do.’ He nods his head vigorously. ‘But after my drink.’
I catch Irene’s eye and we exchange a smile, and Lois says, ‘I’ll come on with you, Bertie. You can follow me down and I’ll catch you at the bottom?’
‘Okay.’ He beams at her and drains his hot chocolate. And I smile around at everyone. I can’t get over how happy and relaxed we all are tonight. This seems the perfect time to bring out the early Christmas presents...
‘Irene, Lois... I’ve got these for you.’ I draw out the two small bags and hand them over. Each bag has a festive design on it– holly and berries for Lois (she can be prickly) and a jolly Santa for Irene.
‘Oh.’ Lois’s eyebrows rise. ‘What’s this?’
Irene looks surprised. ‘Well... thank you, Clara.’
‘You’re welcome.’ My heart is beating a little faster as they look curiously inside the bags, draw out the contents and remove the tissue paper.
Lois gasps and Irene seems lost for words. She’s just staring at me, tears in her eyes.
Irene slips her ruby-studded bracelet on her wrist and gazes at it. ‘Clara, I don’t know what to say. I’ll pay you back just as soon as I can.’
I smile at her. ‘I know you will. I wanted you both to have your jewellery back for Christmas because I know how much it means to you.’
Lois is just looking at me, with a strangely solemn expression.
I hadn’t anticipated how strong their reaction would be and how much it would affect me. I was just returning what belonged to them– but their emotion is catching. I can feel my eyes welling up again.
Feeling the need to lighten the atmosphere, I joke, ‘Hey, I couldn’t let you lose your rings, Lois. Especially Ronnie’s. How else will you pay off that eye-watering credit card bill?’
She doesn’t reply. She just gazes down at the jewellery in her hands and murmurs, ‘Did you use some of your dad’s inheritance to get these back?’
I nod. ‘It’s fine. It’s going to be a long time before I need it for my dance studio, so I thought it might as well be useful in the meantime.’
‘We’ll pay you back. With interest,’ says Lois.
I laugh. ‘Don’t be silly. I don’t want interest. You’refamily.’
She doesn’t reply. And a moment later, she gets up, saying she’s going to look at the stalls and she’ll see us over by the helter skelter. As we watch her walk out of the cafe, Irene murmurs, ‘That was such a lovely thing to do, Clara. It takes a lot to render Lois speechless, but I think you just did.’
‘Honestly, I was glad to do it.’ Turning to Bertie, I grin at the hot chocolate ring he’s sporting around his mouth. ‘Right, what about this helter skelter, then?’
By the time we join Jen, Luke and Lois over at the ride, Lois seems back to her usual chirpy self. True to her word, she takes Bertie and Luke to the top and we stand there watching, waving and cheering as they all fly down. Lois is first and she catches both boys, one after the other. And by then, of course, Bertie has quite got over his reservations, so they have to do it all over again...
*****
Later, at home, with Bertie tucked up in bed, I’m in my own room when Lois appears in the doorway.
‘Good night?’ I ask her.
She nods, looking a little awkward. ‘I just want you to know that I’m going to be better.’
‘Better? What do you mean?’
She shrugs. ‘Compared to you, I just feel... selfish. I mean, I’dneverhave done what you did, getting the jewellery back for us. But people can change. Even me.’ Her lips twist in a sheepish grin. ‘I’ve got a new motto.’
‘What’s that?’
