‘Hmm, well, the night is still young, I suppose.’
‘Gran, are you okay? The nurses said you had a fall.’
‘I didn’t fall.’
‘Iris, you did, remember? About an hour ago, dearest,’ Lionel said gently.
‘Oh, well, I just wanted tea, dear. I just wanted to make tea.’
‘Gran, if you use your buzzer they will bring you tea.’
‘Nicholas.’ Nick took her hand again. ‘Tell me about you, young man. I am exceedingly pleased to see colour in Abbey’s cheeks. I don’t suppose she has spoken to you about Peter. Abbey turned herself into a brown little mouse to match him. Boring, you were, for a bit, Abbey.’
I chose to ignore the mouse jibe.
‘Now her colours are back. She is a Cavendish again. Full of spirit. And once a woman finds her spirit again in her forties, well, we become thoroughly unmanageable, but magic.’
‘I’ve always found Abbey very colourful,’ Nick said.
It made me grin and my chest swell with pride. I had thought that being ‘beige’, as Gran called it, was what the perfect mother looked like, what the perfect wife looked like. I had been kind, likeable, easygoing, falsely happy. I did not flirt and had fun moderately. I spent years gushing about how happy my life was. Ignoring the big question in my head:Is this it?
‘Yes. That is pleasing,’ Gran said knowingly. She smiled, but then she closed her eyes for a few minutes.
God, I found it hard to imagine that she might not be here forever. And when someone was this much of a person, so vibrant, so big, what kind of void did that leave in the world? I felt the sadness travel from my face into my gut. Nick reached out and tucked me into him.
We stood for a minute more.
‘Well, get out dears. I’m exhausted.’ She said this without opening her eyes and I almost laughed.
Nick moved towards the door, leaving me to say goodbye.
‘Oh, and Nicholas darling.’ Nick stopped as she spoke. ‘There is a live model art class here on Tuesdays. I don’t wish to speak for all the ladies, but I have just noticed your pleasing assets at the back there, dear. Puts me in mind of a ripe apricot. You would be welcome. They pay thirty dollars per hour for the models, dearest.’
I saw heat rise in his cheeks once more and I could not help but give him a challenging, amused smile.
‘Oh, um, well, I’ll think on that. Thank you, Mrs Cavendish.’
I snorted, unable to contain my laughter. The idea of women in their eighties and nineties painting a naked Nick was absolutely priceless.
I bent over my grandmother, kissing her head. ‘You are incorrigible.’
‘That man is lovely, but Abbey, hold on to your spirit. Guard it. Don’t let men take it, Abigail. It is too precious,’ she whispered to me. ‘You are worth it. Know that within yourself.’
I felt tears in my eyes and then got them under control. When I stood, my shoulders were set ever so slightly squarer, for – as usual – it was exactly what I had needed to hear.
***
He ordered the car and put in my address. It was a short wait, and I shivered a little in the night. He noticed straight away, draping his coat around my shoulders and pulling me into his body heat. He was such a gentleman. I was completely overcome with him, and my heart sang at having him close like this.
‘So you going to take Gran up on that modelling job?’
He chuckled, a lovely soft sound. ‘I think I’m in love with her.’
‘There isn’t a man in the world who is not susceptible to her charms. Not even the great Nick Northby.’
‘Abbey …’ Nick started.
I met his eyes and my heart gave a shuddering lurch. I was in over my head here. I wanted to make very bad decisions with him. I wanted to show him all of my colours.
