Before the pudding, Hattie got up. ‘I’d better check on everyone else. I was having such a good time I’d forgotten I was sort of on duty.’
It was to her parents’ table that Hattie went first. ‘How are you two? Enjoying yourselves, I hope. It’s going well, isn’t it?’
‘Harriet?’ said her mother. ‘When is a long silk dress and a leather jacket appropriate for a Golden Wedding Anniversary lunch?’
‘Well, it’s not what I was planning to wear, as you know, but I think it works better than the dress on its own.’
Her mother nodded. ‘Lots of people have said how lovely you look, so it probably does. You did arrange a photographer, didn’t you?’
For a moment, Hattie’s mind went blank, then she remembered. ‘Yes, I did. I’ll go and see if he’s arrived. Are you saying a few words, Dad?’
As her father either didn’t speak at all, or at great length, this was a tall order for him, but he nodded. ‘Your mother has checked my speech.’
Hattie shuddered inwardly. ‘I’ll go and find the photographer.’
Leonie caught up with Hattie while she was in the kitchen, drinking a large glass of water.
‘It’s going awfully well, Hattie darling,’ she said, revealing the fact that Tom was obviously the designated driver and Leonie had been enjoying the wine. ‘And your outfit is lovely. I might try wearing something like that myself. You won’t forget to give me my jacket back, will you?’
‘Of course not,’ said Hattie. ‘And you would totally rock this look. Biker-girl chic.’
Tom, who had his arm round Leonie, said, ‘I totally agree. Although there aren’t many looks you couldn’t “totally rock”, my love,’ he said fondly.
Leonie laughed and looked down, embarrassed but clearly thrilled.
The afternoon dragged at the speed of a glacier moving. Hattie, who liked being sociable and was meticulous about thanking staff and giving good tips (there had been firm words spoken to her father about amounts) thought she would never get away. And even then she found herself giving Mrs Simpson – or June, as she had soon come to call her – and her husband a lift home, because Derek, the husband, had drunk a little more than planned and couldn’t drive. Hattie didn’t blame him. She didn’t mind not drinking as a rule, but she had been sorely tempted.
When she got back to her parents’ house, she found the full extended family in the kitchen with plastic boxes of leftovers, half-used bottles of wine and a desire to gossip. Hattie slipped upstairs to get into her own clothes before going back down.
She had just put cheese on some crackers (there had been a lot of cheese left over) when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. It had been out of reach all day. Now, when she looked at it, she saw about five missed calls from Mary. Her heart sank.
There was a message. ‘Hattie? No need to worry, but I feel I should tell you, I won’t be home when you get back. Clive has got me into a care home. I do hope the lunch went well.’
Hattie went cold, suddenly glad of the cardigan she had on under her linen jacket. She knew there had been a waiting list for the care home Mary wanted.What sort of a home had he put Mary into with virtually no notice?
‘Excuse me, everyone, there’s been a bit of an emergency.’
Then she took her phone and went out of the room.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
It was nearly six o’clock before Hattie managed to get through to Mary. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yes. A little tired.’
‘You sound exhausted! Where are you? Are you in the home you wanted to be in?’
The tiniest of pauses was very revealing. ‘Not quite, but I’m sure I can move later if I need to.’
Hattie took a breath. Mary probably didn’t want to answer a barrage of questions just now but she felt she needed to know where her friend was. She didn’t trust Clive further than Mary could have thrown him.
‘I won’t interrogate you now. Just give me the name of the care home and its address.’
‘The name – well, “Whispering something” is the best I can do, I’m afraid. I don’t know the address.’
‘Don’t worry. I can google it. How far from home are you?’
‘It was quite a long drive. I slept through some of it…’
