“Harring was a central part of the plan!” Explains Jemma.
“Loxley, hasn’t your shrink told you that we both live on this planet and you have to deal with it?” Haz mocks her.
“Which one of my three shrinks are you talking about?” She replies.
“An amusement park, Jemma?” I ask, stunned, interrupting the skirmish between Haz and Cécile.
“They never took you as a child, so—”
“So you brought it to Denby.”
“Exactly,” Jemma nods, proudly.
“And you expect me to believe it was a last minute idea?”
“Not last minute, but it was all set up in the last five days.”
“I’m flattered. You went to so much trouble for me.”
“Yes, but my parents helped me, and so did Cécile, Lance and Delphina!”
“My mother?” It definitely doesn’t look like something my mother would approve of.
“Yes, if she hadn’t left for Bath, I could never have done all this,” she says, with a satisfied smile.
I look around again, astounded. “What are we waiting for? Shall we choose a ride?”
“Big wheel?” She suggests.
“Queue up, I’ll get some popcorn.”
*
When the seat reaches the highest point of the wheel, I look at the manor and say: “I have never seen Denby Hall from this perspective.”
“You’re lucky, you’re one of the few privileged people with a life above every standard. You live in a mansion, you have a big park all to yourself and you are surrounded by luxury objects and works of art,” she lists.
“Jemma, you have a family that loves you. I never saw my parents holding hands on a carousel after thirty years of marriage.”
“My father also won a teddy bear for my mother at the shooting range.”
“He also won a teddy bear for your mother,” I repeat.
“So, what do you think? Do you like this birthday?”
“I’ve never had a party like this and yes, I agree with what Harring said earlier: it’s freaking cool.”
“I have to thank you,” she says in a low voice.
“What for? You did everything yourself!”
“For my parents. I know you invited them here.”
I thought I had been clear, it had to be a secret. “They should never have told you.”
“My father had a high temperature after chasing after Westfalia in the woods. He just let it slip out.”
“I could not let your parents end up homeless. After all, you saved Denby Hall with your inheritance,” I say, admitting it out loud in front of her for the first time.
