‘There’s so much to do.’
Morgan harrumphed. ‘You’re telling me. Every time I open another cupboard or drawer, I’m reminded of how little Mum ever threw away.’ She took out the quiche and the sausage rolls and when Tegan asked whether she’d been cooking, shook her head. ‘They may look homemade and they kind of are, but courtesy of Betty’s bakery, where everything is fresh and tastes like it’s from a cosy cottage rather than a business.’
‘Mum always loved going in there.’
‘You haven’t seen what else I got for us,’ Morgan grinned, tilting her head in the direction of the fridge.
Tegan was right on it and checked each shelf, finding the treat on the bottom one. ‘Is that Mum’s favourite cheesecake? I didn’t spot it when I used the milk for a second cup of tea earlier. If I had, you might not have come back to a full cheesecake.’
‘Leave it in there for now or it’ll get hoovered up.’
Tegan laughed. ‘Yes… by us.’
They laid out the rest of the food between them. They made up sandwiches, adding cucumber minus the peel that both kids would be happy with, they cut the slices of quiche and kept the dessert out of sight.
‘There’s another two boxes of those French fancies in the cupboard,’ Morgan told her sister.
‘I hate those.’
Morgan cut the last of the sandwiches she’d made into four triangles. ‘Me too. But they were in the cupboard, got to be used up. It wouldn’t feel right to throw them out. And the kids will love them.’ Their mum had insisted on buying French fancies when either of her girls visited, thinking that somehow the bright colours made them delicious. And neither of them had ever told her the truth. They’d simply extolled the virtues of Betty’s cheesecakes every time so that Elaina would be more likely to serve one of those.
As they finished getting the lunch ready, Tegan asked about Morgan’s trips to Scotland. ‘You’ve been up a few times now, is it feeling like somewhere you might soon be able to call home?’
Morgan thought about it. Home. She didn’t feel that way yet, but then she and Ronan didn’t have a place of their own in Edinburgh so maybe that was a part of it. He was renting and keeping an eye on the market for the time being.
Morgan told her sister about the hilly capital, the long walks she’d taken, the rain that had hammered down on some days, the stunning architecture and the winding streets. ‘It’s a beautiful place,’ she said.
‘I’ll have to go some day.’
‘You’ll visit?’
‘Try and stop me,’ Tegan smiled, although it didn’t quite reach her eyes. ‘Have you guys looked at anywhere to buy?’
She shook her head. ‘Not yet, but I’m sure the right thing will come up soon. We don’t want to leave it too long.’
Tegan put some crisps into a bowl on the table but only added half a packet so the kids didn’t go mad. Morgan picked up the pork pie she’d got from Betty’s and cut it into portions.
‘I like being back in Little Woodville.’ Tegan’s words took Morgan by surprise.
Morgan turned to her sister. ‘Do you miss it?’
‘Kind of.’ She wiped crumbs into her palm and tipped them into the sink. ‘But I think it’s more Mum that I miss.’
‘Me too. And you love where you live now, don’t you?’
‘I really do. It’s so peaceful, well, maybe not on the farm, but at the end of the day when our work is done and we’re tired, the kids are in bed, the wood burner is on. There’s nothing like it.’
Morgan wondered if she’d feel like that about Edinburgh some day. Would she and Ronan be content of an evening sitting in front of a fireplace, sipping wine and sharing a cheese board, happy in one another’s company in a big city where they both worked and wanted to stay for good?
‘Ronan is very patient.’ Tegan filled up a kid’s sippy cup with water ready for Lily when she woke. ‘He’s waited a while for you to join him. He’s very understanding.’
‘He is.’ But Morgan had never thought they’d be apart for this long when she’d told him of course he should go. And she’d never predicted or admitted to him just how much she felt a part of this village now. Maybe she always had been and had simply forgotten. And maybe she was getting anxious about going to somewhere different. Was it always the way? she wondered. Was it inevitable that new jobs, new places to live, a move away from the familiar came with a ton of giant butterflies that stopped you in your tracks? Perhaps this was how she was supposed to feel. How everyone felt in the same situation.
And yes, Ronan was understanding, but his patience was starting to wane. Morgan had felt it on her most recent visit. They’d bickered about the fact she wasn’t there with him on a permanent basis yet and even to her, it had sounded a bit like she was dragging her feet when she listed all the things that still had to be done. And she couldn’t be annoyed at him for wanting her there. It had been their plan for a long time.
They were engaged to be married and had promised one another a future.
4
