There was no persuading her and with her mind also made up on the location where she was to spend her final days, he set about researching care homes on the West Sussex coast. It was here that she had lived as a child and where she had met Ellis’s father. Dying in Borehamwood, where she had lived for the last sixty-odd years, was apparently unacceptable.
The only care home he’d found that he felt sure would look after Rose well enough was inevitably the most expensive. He took her to view it and she gave it her seal of approval. She had been here since early February and despite the quality of care provided,it was clear that she was failing fast.
Which was why he’d taken the step to move down to West Sussex so he could spend as much time as possible with her while he still could. Retirement had been just around the corner for him anyway, so he decided to quit a couple of years earlier than planned. Financially he had everything in order and with no real plans in place since returning to London from New York, he looked for a modest property to rent a short drive away from Rose. Waterside Cottage had fitted the bill perfectly.
On a bitterly cold February morning, two days after he’d moved in, he had stood at the end of his new garden surveying the beautiful harbour view the cottage afforded him. The tide had been in, which meant there was only a narrow strip of shoreline between him and the water’s edge. To his right, and in the distance, he saw the lone figure of a woman in a red hat and a red puffa jacket, hands pushed into pockets, walking along the shoreline. He had the strangest feeling that he recognised her, that heknewher. It was something about the way she moved, her head held high, her unhurried pace steady and even as though she had all the time in the world. Curiosity made him stay where he was until he’d figured out why he was experiencing the sensation he was. She was steering a course towards the house next door when it came to him.
‘Naomi?’ he called out, hardly able to believe his eyes. ‘It is, isn’t it?’
She slowed her step and looked over to him. ‘I’m sorry, do I know—’ Then she let out a gasp and put a hand to her mouth. ‘Ellis? What are you doing here?’
‘I’m living here.’ He gave the gate a tap, as though claiming ownership of it. ‘I moved in two days ago.’
She stared and stared at him. ‘I’ve … I’ve been away,’ she said. ‘I only got back late last night. I saw lights on in the cottage and wondered if the new tenant had moved in. I … oh, my goodness, I can’t believe it!’ She shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, I’m prattling on. It’s the shock.’
‘Take a breath,’ he said with a smile, while opening the gate and joining her on the shingle.
That was two months ago. Two extraordinary months during which it was as if they had turned back the clock. He hadn’t known such happiness in a long time. It made him realise that he had been doing no more than existing since Diana had died, merely taking each day as it came. Now he felt as though he had been given a second chance to live his life to the full.
The sound of his mother clearing her throat roused him from his thoughts. Turning from the wall of photographs he’d been looking at, he was surprised to see that Rose’s eyes were wide open and fixed on him.
‘How long have you been awake?’ he asked, leaning forward in his seat and reaching for her hand.
‘Long enough to wonder what you were thinking about.’ Her voice was surprisingly firm and quite at odds with her frailty.
‘I was thinking about Naomi,’ he said.
‘I thought so.’
He smiled. ‘What gave me away?’
‘The happiness on your face. Why don’t you bring her to meet me one day? If she’ll come.’
‘I’m sure she’d like to meet you.’
‘Well, ask her before it’s too late.’
He gently squeezed her ghost of a hand. ‘Don’t talk like that.’
She ignored his comment, just as she always did whenever he admonished her for talking about dying. ‘Do her daughters know about you yet?’ she asked.
‘No.’
‘So you’re still her secret lover.’
‘That makes me sound a lot more interesting than I am.’
‘What about Lucas, have you told him?’
‘The moment hasn’t felt right yet.’
She narrowed her eyes, making him feel like he was a child again and caught out for not being entirely truthful.
‘Are you waiting for Naomi to take the first step of making things official before you do?’ she said.
‘Stop being so wily.’
She tutted. ‘The pair of you need to get on with putting the past behind you so you don’t sacrifice your future. I want to die knowing you’re happy.’
