They watched her go and when she was out of sight, they looked at each other as if they couldn’t quite believe what had just happened.
‘What a very sad woman,’ murmured Willow.
The old critical and judgemental Martha would have tutted and rolled her eyes and said,Trust you to be so soft, Willow!But she didn’t.She put her arm around her sister and said, ‘I agree. Now come on, let’s go home.’
Ellis drove them back to Anchor House, the mood in the car subdued. Until the last few miles of the journey when Serenity decided she’d had quite enough of being so good, and livened things up by voicing her eagerness to be fed. Her cries, as insistent as they were, were a welcome antidote to the utter dismalness of the day.
That evening Tom rang from Yorkshire to ask how the funeral had gone.
‘I almost feel sorry for Rick now,’ he said when Martha had filled him in. ‘The poor sod didn’t exactly have the best start in life, did he? And it raises the eternal nature versus nurture question, was he born bad or made bad?’
‘We’ll never know for sure, but I’m afraid it doesn’t mean I can forgive him. Or that ghastly mother of his. I know it’s perverse of me, because I don’t want her anywhere near Serenity, I really don’t, but I can’t stop asking myself what kind of a woman would throw away the chance to play an active role in the life of a grandchild she’s just discovered she has? She literally just walked away without a backward glance.’
‘But you don’t know how difficult that might have been for her to do. From what you’ve said it sounds like she didn’t want her husband to know that she’d attended her son’s funeral, which probably means her loyalty to him overrides anything else.’
There was that word again, thought Martha with a small jolt. Loyalty. It was yet another example of it being wholly misplaced.
For all the questions and suspicions the day had raised, there was one certainty Martha was glad of. That she and Willow had been lucky enough to have such a wonderfully loving mother.
Chapter Sixty
It was a glorious afternoon in early March. The sky was the colour of bluebells and bright sunlight spangled the swelling surface of the water. In the distance a motorboat could be heard chugging into the harbour and as always, there was the ever-present call of seagulls and the rhythmic push and pull of waves on sand and pebbles. The fresh spring air was fused with salt and seaweed.
Naomi and Ellis had been sitting on the beach in companionable silence for some minutes, each lost in their thoughts while relishing the simple pleasure of being together. After a hectic few days, it was lovely for it to be just the two of them. Not that Naomi hadn’t enjoyed having a house full of family and friends staying with them. But relaxing here in the sun-warmed sand dunes with Ellis and sharing a picnic of leftover party food, including two slices of Christening cake and a bottle of wine, was just heavenly.
The double baptism two days ago at St Saviour’s for Serenity and six-week-old baby Eliza had been a wonderfully joyous occasion. Tom had asked his sister and brother-in-law to be Eliza’s godparents and, much to Willow’s delight, when she’d asked her friends Lucy and Simon to be godparents to Serenity, along with Lucas,they had readily accepted. A couple of months away from the birth of their own baby, they had put the unpleasant incident with their cat behind them now. It was possible that because of the way Rick died they felt it inappropriate to hold a grudge against Willow any longer.
Just as he’d flown over to spend Christmas at Anchor House, Lucas had taken another flight to be with them for the weekend, timing a work commitment in London to coincide with his visit. He had stayed at Waterside Cottage with Willow and Serenity, and whether he stayed in the spare bedroom or not was absolutely no one’s business but their own. Whatever the relationship was between the two of them, Naomi and Ellis were determined not to enquire. On the face of it, Willow and Lucas behaved like a pair of close friends, or brother and sister, but both Naomi and Ellis knew from personal experience how friendship could so easily tip into something quite different.
Brian and Geraldine had also been with them for the weekend and it had been good to see them happily bickering amongst themselves. Some things should never change, Naomi had told them, and their marriage was one of those things.
Both grandchildren had risen splendidly to the occasion and behaved extraordinarily well during the baptism service, although Eliza had appeared to frown and raise a tiny fist as if in protest when the Reverend Veronica Carlyle had splashed water onto her forehead. A sign of things to come, Naomi had thought with a smile. Later, while watching her daughters taking selfies of themselves with their adorable babies, she was overcome with love for them. With all that had happened in recent months, combined with motherhood, they were now closer to each other than they’d ever been.
Convinced that she wouldn’t go all the way to her due date, Martha had proved herself right and, after a textbook labour with Tom at his wife’s side, Eliza had arrived exactly a week early. So far, she had been a model baby and was already occasionally sleeping through the night. Everyone had said that they would expect nothing less. Yet for all Martha’s capable efficiency, there was a new and more gentle side to her these days, an acceptance that perhaps there were things she couldn’t control and that actually it didn’t matter. Being a mother had softened the spikiest of her edges and that, in Naomi’s opinion, was a good thing.
There were fleeting moments when Naomi caught herself thinking of Colin and what he was missing out on.Another generation of my Miller Girls!he would have proudly boasted. Except they weren’t his Miller Girls any longer. They had all, including Naomi, moved on to be their own person in their own right.
Suddenly putting his arm around her, and breaking into her thoughts, Ellis said, ‘I’ve just realised that it’s exactly a year and two weeks since I moved here.’
Naomi turned her head and smiled at him. ‘It’s been a tumultuous year, and hardly what you expected when you moved into the village. You probably thought you’d found some quiet little backwater where you could conveniently set up temporary camp before moving on to something more permanent and exciting.’
He pulled her closer to him. ‘What I found here far exceeded anything I could have imagined. And based on this first year with you, I’m curious to see what this one will bring.’
‘Well, my guess is that you’re going to want another house project to keep you busy, and I have a suggestion in mind for Willow when she feels she’s ready.’
‘What’s that, then?’
‘I’ve been thinking it might be fun to start up my gardenalia business again, maybe focusing more on online sales rather than renting a shop. I’m hoping Willow might like to help, and who knows, if she takes to it, I could step back and spend more time looking after Serenity while she does the lion’s share of the work. What do you think?’
‘I think you know perfectly well that it’s a great idea. But what if Willow wants to leave Tilsham and go back to London? Or move somewhere else?’
‘Then I’ll have to rethink things. What will be, will be.’
‘A sentiment I fully endorse,’ he said. ‘And one we should drink to.’
He delved into the picnic basket for the bottle of wine and after refilling their glasses, he was about to raise his glass to touch hers when he hesitated.
‘But if there was one thing you could make happen, rather than leave it to chance, what would it be?’ he asked.
