Jess dropped a couple of teabags into a teapot, glad Vivi couldn’t see that she hadn’t warmed the pot first. ‘That’s lovely, Vivi, but why are you telling me all this?’
‘Well, Jenny reminded me that Isla came from Scotland. Somewhere near Inverness. I mean, her name’s a bit of a giveaway, I suppose. Isla. At least it was back then – now people just call their children all sorts. I heard somebody shouting at their child in the park not long ago – the little boy was called Leaf. Can you believe that? Jess, promise me you won’t call your son Leaf, will you? Over my cold, dead body.’
‘I was thinking more along the lines of Lenin.’
‘As in the founder of communism, Lenin?’
‘Or maybe Balthazar, it’s got a certain ring to it, don’t you think?’
‘No, I do not.’ Vivi’s voice reached supersonic levels. Sometimes it was such fun to wind Vivi up.
‘I’m joking. Plus, I think Leif is a Scandinavian name. Was it really ‘Leaf’ you heard, or Leif, like “safe”? Maybe they were Norwegian?’
‘Well, maybe that was it, I can’t quite remember now. But as I was saying, Jenny said she thought Isla had gone back up north, and she managed to find her number somehow – don’t ask me how, Jenny is endlessly resourceful. Anyway, to cut a long story short—’
‘That’ll be the day, Aunt Vivi,’ Jess said.
‘Har de har, very funny. Anyway, this is the bit you won’t be able to believe – Isla now lives in Kirkshield.’ Vivi left a dramatic pause, time for Jess to absorb the magnitude of the coincidence.
‘In Kirkshield – in the village, you mean?’
‘That’s exactly what I mean. She married someone called Craig Macwarren, apparently, and they’ve retired into what was his parents’ cottage. Actually, it belongs to your fancy-pants earl, but still, you know what I mean. They think of it as their own. I spoke to her for ages – I thought my arm was going to drop off I was holding the phone to my ear for so long—’
‘You’ve never thought of using speakerphone?’ Jess suggested.
‘That’s all well and good for you youngsters with perfect hearing,’ Vivi replied – curtly, if Jess was any judge of her vocal tones. ‘Not so good for the rest of us. Plus, I always think those people who hold their phones up in front of their faces in order to shout at the poor person at the other end of the call do look as if they require medical intervention.’
Jess stifled a laugh. ‘Fair enough. So, Isla and her husband live in Kirkshield village. Would you like me to go and say hello?’
‘It’s much better than that,’ Vivi said, excitement clamouring for attention in her voice. ‘They’ve invited me to come and visit. I’ll be with you this time tomorrow.’
‘Wait, what?’
‘Are you on speakerphone, perchance? Can’t you hear me very well?’ Vivi was as sharp as ever, mocking Jess as she repeated herself, speaking purposefully slowly and loudly. ‘I said they’ve invited me to stay and I’m arriving tomorrow.’
‘Sarcasm. It’s the lowest form of wit,’ Jess said. Vivi hooted with laughter. ‘I heard you perfectly well the first time, Vivi. What concerns me is how you’re going to get here, with your hip?’
‘Well, I’m not leaving it behind,’ Vivi said. ‘The doctor says I’m doing extremely well, it’s healing perfectly, and she says the train journey probably won’t kill me. So, I’ve booked my tickets and polished my walking frame. I’m all ready to go.’
‘Have you got someone lined up to get you to Kirkshield from the station?’ Jess asked. ‘It’s quite a trek.’
‘All organised. Isla’s husband is coming to get me.’
‘And you’resureyou’re up to the journey?’
‘What have I told you about fussing?’
When Vivi put her mind to something, it tended to happen. She’d often regaled Jess with the tale of how she’d continued nursing in paediatrics even though she and her husband had been unsuccessful with having a child of their own, how she’d turned her hand to running the Home From Home agency and, subsequent to the premature death of her husband, had decided to foster. In lighter moments, she told Jess that replacing her husband with a foster child was nothing more than swapping one child for another, but Jess had grown to understand how much Vivi had loved him. She’d learnt so much about people and emotions from Vivi, including how people tended to be truly disparaging only of those they cared for, because they were the ones worth bothering to think up insults for.
If Vivi had told her once, she’d told her a thousand times that she couldn’t believe her luck when she’d been lumbered with Jess. Not once did Vivi specify whether she considered the luck to be good, or bad, and Jess supposed it probably varied, depending on the stage of their relationship. But she liked to believe she was one of the people Vivi truly cared for – because love definitely went in the opposite direction.
Anyway, Jess didn’t bother to argue further with her, as she had learnt long since that a Vivi decision was exactly that. No room for manoeuvre. So even though she wasn’t sure such a long train ride was the best thing for a newly knitted hip, Vivi was coming to Scotland.
‘Digby will be absolutely thrilled to see you,’ she said instead, aware she’d also completely omitted to tell Vivi any of the current castle drama. Even if Sebastian did sell, she supposed it wouldn’t happen overnight, so maybe her job would be safe through to the end of the original contract after all.
‘And I can’t wait to see him. Although I might have to ask you to continue to walk him for me, if that’s all right?’
Jess had a flashback to her first day at the castle, to how Digby had taken her, along with a tray full of crockery, to the floor. There was no way Vivi should be doing anything other than pet her dog for a while yet. ‘That’s no problem. We’ve become great friends.’
