‘I hope you’re not in too much pain?’
‘Can’t feel a thing. I took an extra dose of morphine and some other stuff, just to be on the safe side. What you might call a cocktail of drugs,’ she said cheerfully. ‘Though I am a bit woozy now. I could do with a sit-down.’
‘Why don’t you get into one of the cars? We’ll be going shortly.’
‘I’ll look after her,’ Jim said, appearing and leading her away.
Tom had closed the shop for the morning so he and Yvonne could both be at the funeral. He hugged Claire and told her to take as much time off work as she needed. Yvonne’s eyes kept darting to Luca. She was obviously dying to ask questions, but aware that now was not the time.
Catherine was delighted to have finally encountered the infamous Michelle first-hand. ‘I wouldn’t have missed your sister-in-law’s eulogy for the world,’ she told Claire. ‘Comedy gold.’
‘I know. I wish Mum could have heard it – it would have given her such a laugh.’
‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard a eulogy before that eulogised the person giving it. Pure genius!’
Ali hugged her fiercely, while Luca’s parents greeted her with more restraint.
‘It was good of you to come,’ she said, as she shook their hands.
‘I hope we’ll see you at the house again soon,’ Jonathan said.
‘Yes, get Luca to bring you some Sunday for lunch,’ Jacqueline said, her eyes drifting to Luca, who was chatting with Jim and Michael. ‘We’d love to see you.’
Claire was glad it was a smaller core group of family and friends who came back to the house after the crematorium. Her energy was dwindling after the strain of the last couple of days and she just wanted to be with people who didn’t require her to make any effort. Some people had come a long way, and she was glad to see her mother’s old friends reunited, chatting about old times and remembering Espie, as long as she didn’t have to do anything. She made sure there was plenty of food and drink, and let them get on with it. The party went on late into the evening and, much as she appreciated their support and friendship, Claire was relieved when people started to leave. She felt completely drained, tired to her bones: she wanted to get into bed and sleep for a week.
‘I’d love to stay and help you with the clearing up,’ Michelle said, ‘but we need to get the kids to bed. It’s been a very long couple of days for them.’
‘That’s fine.’
‘But you have all the time in the world now anyway. There’s no rush. You should leave it all until tomorrow.’
Claire nodded, wishing her sister-in-law would go. That was what she really needed right now –adviceabout tidying up. So helpful.
When the last guest had left, she surveyed the mess in the living room. While she was glad to be alone again, it also brought home to her how alone she was now. When the house had been full of people, she had had something else to focus on, and the business of the funeral had carried her through for the past few days. There had been so much to plan and so many people around all the time. But now it was over and there was nothing left to do, nothing else to think about. She felt overwhelmed by the emptiness of the room and hugged herself as tears sprang into her eyes.
Suddenly she felt arms wrap around her from behind and she jumped.
‘Hey,’ Luca said softly in her ear, pulling her closer. ‘Sorry, did I give you a fright?’
‘I thought everyone was gone.’
‘Everyone else has. The caterers are packing up in the kitchen. They, um… they need to be paid.’
‘Oh! Of course.’ She wriggled out of his arms and picked up her bag from the floor, pulling out the envelope with the caterers’ money. They wanted to be paid in cash and she had the exact amount ready. She went into the kitchen and found them packing up the last of the glasses.
‘Thanks.’ She smiled at Mike, handing him the envelope. ‘You did a great job.’
‘Thank you,’ he said, pocketing the envelope. ‘Okay, we’re all done here.’ He swung up the box of glasses and nodded to his partner. Luca came into the kitchen as they left.
‘Thanks for sticking around,’ she said to him. ‘You’re a good friend.’ Her voice broke.
Luca rushed to her, pulling her into his arms. ‘You’re exhausted,’ he said, brushing her hair off her face as he looked down at her. ‘Why don’t you go to bed and I’ll start clearing up this lot?’
‘You don’t have to?—’
He put a finger on her lips, silencing her. ‘I know I don’t have to. Now, go on.’ He bent and kissed her forehead, and she turned to go. She was too tired and the thought of her bed was too tempting to resist. ‘I’ll be up shortly,’ he said, as he turned to the sink, rolling up his sleeves.
‘You’re staying?’ She turned in the doorway.
