‘But we wanted to see Yolanda and her son meet up,’ protested Anthea, when Vee ran the plan past the Saga Louts. ‘We haven’t had this much action in Willowbrook for years. First young Finn and now not-so-young Benjamin. I must say, both of them are extremely handsome in their own right. Good job I’m taken.’
Maurice didn’t look at all impressed by this train of thought but forbore to say anything. He was beginning to know his fiancée very well. ‘I can’t believe they’ve waited this long to meet,’ he said. ‘Ben and Yolanda, I mean. Why didn’t they do this as soon as he turned up at Beryl’s house?’
‘Well, for one thing, Yolanda didn’t have a passport so she couldn’t just hop on a plane,’ said Winnie. ‘Simone’s helped her to fill all the forms in and get herself sorted out to come over here, and then there was her brood of livestock to make provision for. Ben was intending to fly over to France in the meantime but then the poor soul got shingles and he’s only just on the mend, apparently. Anyway, it’s happening now, so fingers crossed it all goes well. Must be very strange to find your mother or son after so many years.’
Beryl opened her mouth as if to comment but apparently decided against it. Vee gave her a crafty hug when nobody was looking. To be able to see her son again was something her neighbour could only dream of. At least now she seemed to have reconciled herself to the fact that Patrick, though a troubled soul, should be remembered with love rather than vengeful thoughts about how he’d been treated by his peers. Those days were long gone, and it was time to focus on her son’s happier moments. It was best that Beryl didn’t know the full extent of Patrick’s darker side. Sometimes ignorance really can be bliss.
As Vee waited for the new arrivals to land, she became more and more on edge. Finn’s emails over December had been sparse, to say the least, and although they’d FaceTimed on Christmas Day, she’d felt as if there was something he wasn’t telling her. And as for the Yolanda/Ben situation, the whole thing was going to be nerve-racking for them both. She heard a knock at the door and hurried to see if it was Finn or Yolanda, but there on the doorstep were Elsie and Sam.
‘Hello, Vee,’ said Elsie, flinging her arms around Vee’s waist and hugging her tightly. ‘We’re just going along to the church because it’s Piffinnee today. My teacher let me and Sophie and Cameron out five minutes early so we could get there on time cos we’re carrying the magic men up to the front for Rev Bev.’
‘Magic men?’ Vee was bewildered. Her mind was full of her visitors, and she was puzzled to think that Bev was going to perform some sort of conjuring trick for them all.
‘The Magi,’ explained Sam. ‘Elsie and her friends are going to take the statues of the Three Wise Men up to the altar. It’s going to be a short service to celebrate the Epiphany on the actual day and then?—’
‘Cake!’ shouted Elsie. ‘Come on, Dad. We haven’t got much time. We just came to see if we could borrow that fancy box you’ve got. Dad’s going to be dressing up as a magic man and he’s the one carrying the Frankenstein. He hasn’t got anything to use for it.’
Vee remembered Elsie being enraptured by thefancy boxas she explored the cottage on Christmas Day. It was a small casket Vee had inherited from her grandma. It contained a few pieces of costume jewellery and was studded with glass beads. In Elsie’s eyes, it was a treasure chest, covered with dazzling gemstones that winked when they caught the light.
‘Of course you can borrow it. It’ll make a perfect container for the frankincense. You know where it is, don’t you? Help yourself,’ said Vee.
‘I just looked up the word Epiphany to make sure Elsie knows what it means,’ said Sam quietly, as his daughter rushed upstairs. ‘The dictionary definition, apart from the Wise Men bit, isa moment of great revelation or realisation.’
Sam paused and Vee looked at him more closely. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes were very bright.
‘I had one of those, just after Christmas Day,’ he said. ‘I’ll tell you about it later. Oh, here she is, and she’s found the box. Come on, sweetheart, we’ll need to run. I’m going to have to fight Rick for the next-best Wise Man outfit from Bev’s collection. Frank’s already bagged the golden cloak. See you later, Vee.’
The two of them had gone before Vee had time to press Sam for more details. She stood at the door and watched them hurry away down Fiddler’s Row.A revelation or realisation,eh? Hmmm.
42
Later, in the church hall, with the service over and the tea urn bubbling away merrily, Vee looked around at the assembled throng. It seemed incredible that only a short time ago she’d felt lost and vulnerable, adrift in this friendly place where everyone knew their neighbours and mostly liked them. Now, they were all familiar to her and she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, but there were still a few very important issues to address. She started with what seemed like the most straightforward, heading for Ben and Yolanda who had just arrived, all smiles and with Yolanda holding on to her son’s arm with a proprietorial air.
‘All okay?’ she whispered, as Yolanda stopped to greet her niece.
‘More than okay,’ Yolanda replied, beaming. ‘Benjamin is marvellous. We have so much to talk about, but I wanted to show him the village first. We’re only staying for five minutes, and then we’ll go for a tour. The turkey smells wonderful, and I saw you’d done all the preparation for dinner later, but I can help later when we get back, or failing that, do the washing up.’
Finn had joined them to hear the last part of this sentence. ‘You mean we’re really going to have a proper Christmas dinner?’ he said, beaming. ‘I can’t believe you’re doing all that again for me.’
‘Mothers and sons,’ said Yolanda, blinking away sudden tears. ‘How many festive meals have we missed together? At least we can catch up on one of them tonight, thanks to Beryl, in my case.’
She waved to Beryl who was busy distributing cake to all and sundry. The other woman waved back, but appeared unsettled. She came over to stand by Vee and whispered in her ear, ‘Could I have a word with you later? In private?’
‘Of course. Is something wrong?’ Vee felt a pang of alarm at the serious look on Beryl’s usually cheerful face, but her neighbour only shook her head and carried on circulating with the cake.
As Yolanda and Ben moved away, Finn was joined by a tall, elegant lady and a rather gorgeous man. ‘This is Ingrid and her partner, Joel,’ Finn said. ‘I don’t think you’ve met them yet?’
‘No, but I’ve heard a lot about you,’ said Vee, shaking hands with the pair. ‘You’re the person behind the idea of exchanging treasures at the shop, aren’t you, Ingrid?’
The other woman nodded. ‘I am indeed. I loved having the shop and it’s good that the swap’s still going on, but I’ve come over to introduce you to Joel, really.’
Vee looked at her son, who was jigging from one foot to another. ‘Joel’s a carpenter,’ he burst out, as soon as Ingrid had finished speaking. ‘He’s got a proposition for me. Tell her, Joel.’
The man, who was handsome, dark-haired and lean, and reminded Vee strongly of David Tennant in hisDoctor Whoera, said, ‘I don’t know if you’ve heard about the memorial benches on the country park, Vee, but I’ve designed and made most of them and I also produce bespoke furniture. To cut a long story short, thanks to Ingrid taking charge of my publicity – I was rubbish at that part, to be honest – the business has really taken off and I need to take on someone suitably qualified to share the load.’
There was a silence as all three gazed at Vee as if waiting for her to make some profound remark. She frowned. ‘I… erm… that’s great, but why are you telling me this?’
Finn took her by the shoulders. ‘Because I’d already made the decision to try living on this side of the pond for a year and now Sam has put me in touch with Joel, and he’s offered me a job. Isn’t that fantastic?’
