‘I guess,’ said Lottie. Although that didn’t make it any easier to accept.
‘Daniel is rushing the estate agent along, so hopefully it’ll be sold pretty quickly. Large house, huge potential. I don’t get involved.’ Although Lottie knew her mother would become very involved when the money appeared. ‘Prime building land. Blah, blah, blah.’
‘Building land? What? Knock down the manor house?’ Nana would have been horrified, and so was Lottie, and she couldn’t even imagine what the villagers would think. An image of an angry mob of old people wielding pitchforks and tartan wheelie trolleys ran through her mind.
‘If someone buys it, they can do what they like. A dusty old village like Henbourne could do with some new style injecting into it. All those decaying properties. Rat-infested thatch …’ Angie gave a shudder. She saw things very differently to Lottie. The village Lottie loved was dotted with quirky cottages and even quirkier locals, nestled in a sleepy corner of the Cotswolds and wrapped in a patchwork of fields. Angie was far better suited to the bright lights and superficial side of London, even if she could barely afford to hang on to the outer reaches of the city by her manicured fingernails.
‘But I’ll see you at Christmas?’ Lottie tried to hide the plea in her words.
‘I don’t think so, sweetie. We’re thinking of—’ her mother’s voice tailed off as she became distracted by her brother, heading for the exit without even a goodbye.‘Daniel!’ she beckoned him over. His wife, Nicola, looked irritated but came with him.
Daniel appeared suitably embarrassed. ‘We need to dash off I’m afraid.’ He rattled his car keys.
‘Will we see you at Christmas?’ asked Lottie. She needed some things to stay the same, and for now she was clinging on to Christmas. This was all happening too fast. One moment she was being cosseted by Nana, licking her wounds after finding herself suddenly single; the next, Nana was gone. And now she was facing being homeless, and very alone in the world.
Daniel was pulling a face and checking his Rolex. Nicola piped up. ‘Actually, now we’ve been released from Nana Rose’s annual summons, we thought we’d jet off to Bermuda. Or possibly Aruba.’ Lottie thought Nicola was looking more and more birdlike each time she saw her. Her beady eyes darted about, as if keen not to miss anything she could pounce on.
Lottie was starting to feel the tides of change slosh in her gut. ‘That sounds lovely, but—’
‘First I’ve heard of it. Sounds expensive,’ said Daniel, his eyebrows knotting up.
Lottie thought of Nana’s Christmas wish. ‘But don’t you think we should all have Christmas at the manor?’ Her voice had taken on a desperate tone.
‘It might be sold by then,’ said her mother. ‘Won’t it, Daniel?’
‘Sadly not that quick,’ said Daniel. He turned back to Nicola. ‘We went to Australia this summer. That was meant to be ourbigholiday.’
Nicola gave a tinny laugh. ‘It’s not like we can’t afford it, Daniel.’ She slapped him on the arm and laughed, and from the wince he gave, Lottie guessed she had used someforce. Nicola pulled Daniel to one side and a hushed but animated discussion continued. Angie was checking her phone. Lottie felt like a kite caught in a tree; no longer anchored, but also not ready to fly freely.
Lottie’s brother sidled over to her, looking his usual laid-back self. Zach had always been far more easy-going than her. He gave her a warm hug. ‘Lovely service,’ he said, his eyes full of sadness.
‘Yes,’ said Lottie, with a nod.
‘Although,’ he smirked, ‘the bagpipe player was a bit of a surprise.’
‘Agreed,’ said Lottie. Uncle Bernard had assured her it was what Nana would have wanted, so she’d gone along with it. She’d had second thoughts when she’d heard what sounded like a hyena having a thistle rammed up its bum echoing through the church. It was certainly something they’d all remember for quite some time – the ringing sensation in their ears would see to that.
‘It’s my first funeral since …’ His voice tailed off, and Lottie gave his arm a squeeze. She thought time was meant to heal, was meant to help you cope with the harshness of the past but in this case, she was pretty sure she felt a tiny bit worse each time she saw Zach. But then that was probably guilt, rather than anything else.
‘You all right?’ Zach asked, doing up his coat.
‘Not really, no. What are you doing for Christmas?’ Lottie pulled her brother to one side.
He pushed his bottom lip out. ‘I guess it’ll be just me and Jessie.’ Lottie’s niece, Jessie, was six years old and the apple of her Daddy’s eye. Lottie thought the world of her too. She’d spent every Christmas with her since she’d been born, thanks to Nana’s three-line whip. Another pang of loss gripped her.
‘And will you be joined by …?’ She left a pause where Zach’s girlfriend’s name should be. It wasn’t that Zach had lots of girlfriends, he was thankfully not like their mother, it was more that he rarely introduced them to the family, so they were just a name. ‘… Emma?’ she ventured.
‘Emily,’ he corrected. ‘She’ll probably spend it with her folks.’
‘Yes, and that’s exactly what we should be doing.’This is it, thought Lottie, glancing past Zach.This is the very last time all my family will be together until someone else dies or my mother gets remarried again. Unless I do something about it.
What would Nana say?she wondered. The answer came to her almost instantly.Be brave. Stand up for what you believe in.
Lottie reached past Zach and picked up an empty glass and a fork which someone had abandoned next to some pork pie. Lottie held up the glass and tapped it firmly with the fork. The noise ebbed away as everyone turned to stare at her. Her heart beat a little faster and she swallowed hard.
‘I just wanted to say … Um, thank you all for coming.’ The expressions softened and some of the guests smiled at her. Great Uncle Bernard waved his glass, and Lottie was surprised to see he was still awake. ‘I’m sure you’ll agree that we’ve given Nana Rose a good send off, and one she would approve of. She would have been pleased to see all of you here and she would have been especially delighted at having all of her family together.’ There were nods of agreement. ‘So thanks again. Safe journeys home – and could I have all the family join me in the snug, please.’
‘We really need to go,’ said Nicola, looking irritated again, but Lottie ignored her.
