‘That’s good to hear. And… no pressure, but I wondered whether you’d want to come back to the markets at some point.’
She smiled. ‘Actually, I would. Is next Saturday too soon?’
‘Absolutely no trouble at all,’ he said buoyantly, as though she’d just made his day. ‘I have filled the stall every week, it hasn’t been an issue, but now it’s yours again. I’ll have to do some rejigging, but I’ll see you next Saturday. Great stuff. I’m glad you’re carrying it on; I know it won’t be for good, that it’s probably until all of Elaina’s stock is sold. But having you there for a while will be better than not having you there at all.’
‘Thank you, Jasper. Mum would hate it if I didn’t sell all the things she chose so carefully.’
‘She had a definite passion.’
‘She did.’ She confided, ‘I’ll admit it has gone through my mind to go for an easier option.’
‘But it wouldn’t be right,’ Jasper said before she could.
And who knew, perhaps the action of going to the markets and running the stall herself would be a nice way to say a proper goodbye to her mother, a way to honour her memory.
‘You know, your mother was always happy, always smiling, I didn’t know anything was up until she told me.’ He spoke as though he felt he should’ve been able to do more.
Always happy, always smiling.Morgan gulped. True, the Elaina at the markets was a jolly character but it hadn’t always been that way. When the girls were little, she’d been so busy with practicalities and keeping herself and her girls afloat with a roof over their heads and food on the table that Morgan had sometimes envied other girls her age whose mothers had more time for them, who took them to the movies, out clothes shopping and became more like best friends. Morgan felt selfish now that she hadn’t seen how hard it was for Elaina as a single mum, that her sister had realised it before she had. But she’d be forever grateful Elaina had asked her to come home in the end. Because it had worked. And as the months rolled on, Morgan’s relationship with her mother had come on in leaps and bounds. Morgan let her heart open once again and stopped letting the tougher years growing up interfere with the way things were now. And in the weeks before she died, aside from her disease, Elaina had become a pleasure to be with, a mum she loved spending time with and could talk with and laugh with.
‘You were always very supportive,’ she assured Jasper as he hovered on the doorstep to the cottage, ‘and Mum appreciated it. We both did.’
‘She’s at peace now.’ The leaves on the bush beside him in the front garden fluttered in the wind, flaunting the fact that they’d made their way onto the branches after another winter. ‘We should take comfort in that.’
‘I guess she went in her own way in the end.’
‘She was never one to wait around for things to happen.’ Jasper jangled his car keys. ‘I’d better go, leave you to it.’
‘It’s good to see you, Jasper.’
‘And I’ll see you again next Saturday.’
‘You’re sure it’s not too short notice for you? I don’t want to make it difficult if stalls are already allocated,’ she said as he turned to head back down the path.
‘Don’t be daft, pet.’ He had a vocabulary similar to Elaina’s, which comforted her. ‘Happy to do a bit of shuffling around – folks are used to it at the market.’
‘See you bright and early Saturday,’ Morgan called after him as he went on his way.
When she went back inside, Tegan was supervising the kids having cheesecake and she left them in Morgan’s capable hands while she went to put away the travel cot and collect together all the paraphernalia you hauled around with you when you had kids. She put some of it in the car before she came back inside and into the kitchen, where Morgan was filling the kids’ sippy cups with water.
‘We should make a move,’ Tegan said. ‘I wish I could stay longer, I really do, but I want to get home before dark.’
‘I don’t blame you. Come on, guys.’ Morgan rallied to get the kids organised. Jaimie had to put all his cars away, the last items to deal with and the mat was to be rolled up. Her sister took Lily to the toilet and told Jaimie he had to go because of the long car ride.
Morgan suggested a bag of goodies for the kids to take in the car. ‘Got to get rid of the French fancies somehow,’ she grinned, putting a couple in with some of the leftovers from yesterday. ‘Yellow for Jaimie, pink for Lily.’ She knew the kids’ favourite colours.
‘Thanks, Morgan.’ Tegan put the containers with her bags by the front door and pulled her sister into a tight hug. ‘I’m going to miss you.’
‘I’ll miss you too. But we’ll see each other soon.’
‘And we’ll talk even sooner,’ Tegan added as Jaimie did his best to reach up and open the door himself. Adult goodbyes obviously weren’t interesting enough for him. ‘And think about what I said. About the cottage, what you want to do. It’s your life too and things can change. If they don’t, then I’ll visit you in Scotland, but just make sure that whatever you decide, it’s the right thing for you.’
She didn’t know how to respond so she just hugged Tegan one more time.
‘Time to go, guys.’ Tegan lifted Lily onto her hip and picked up a couple of big bags. Morgan took the remaining bags, although Jaimie insisted he take his box of cars.
Out at the car kerbside, Morgan helped Jaimie do up his seatbelt in the back seat after he’d finally accepted that his cars, bar one, had to go in the boot, and her sister got Lily organised. Soon they’d be back in their own home, back on the farm, a life in the country with long walks, sheep baaing blissfully in the distance, the squelch of mud underfoot as you traipsed over the fields and climbed a stile.
Morgan waved her sister, niece and nephew off and stood outside Forget-Me-Not Cottage until their car had gone to the end of the street, its indicator blinking. The car turned left to head downwards towards the high street but soon came into view again as it travelled back along the main road in the village, having gone around the block, the necessary and familiar route if your car was parked facing in that direction. The street was too narrow to do a three-point turn in. And the kids had always liked it because they knew they’d go past the village green and could wave another goodbye to their grandma, who always stood outside to watch them go. Morgan wasn’t going to break the special tradition and so she would do it too. She could just about make out a little hand at the open back window and waved enthusiastically until her family went out of sight.
