Twenty
Molly had made a decision. She must stop worrying about the ‘condition’ her great-grandmother may or may not have had. At least, until the Boots returned. She must also stop obsessing about turning into her grandmother. She was not Millicent Law, and she needn’t be if she chose not to. She must make a concerted effort to lay the woman to rest, once and for all.
Even if she had inherited more than Oak View Cottage from the Law side of the family, she must have inherited something from her mum’s side. Her mum was a lovely, kind and caring woman. Molly wanted to be like her mum. Not like her grandmother.
She would give Jemma a call tomorrow and see if she might be free for a cup of coffee on Saturday. Molly would apologise and say that all those things she said about Greg might be true, but it was also true that he clearly liked Jemma. That look he had given Jemma on Sunday couldn’t have been fake. Even if Jemma had landed in his lap like a gift from the gods, it doesn’t mean he only wanted her as a stand in for Laurence. That look had said he wanted her. Full stop. Molly might wish that Greg would look ather like that, but she had to accept that he hadn’t so far, and he probably never would.
Hopefully, there was someone out there who would look at her like that. All she had to do was find him. He might be in Folkestone, right under her nose. Or he might be waiting for her in some far-flung place. One thing was for sure. Sitting at home worrying about whether or not she had inherited some disease or affliction, or both, and whether she would become a mean and nasty old woman, wasn’t going to get her anywhere, was it?
‘I think I’d like to go on holiday,’ Molly told her parents on Thursday night. Somewhere exotic, perhaps.’
‘What about a cruise?’ Nikki suggested. ‘I’ve always wanted to go on a cruise. Hearing that the Boot sisters were on one, made me think how much fun one might be.’
‘A cruise might be nice,’ said Owen. ‘We could sit back and relax while the ship transported us to a new destination each day.’
‘We could drink cocktails, dine with the Captain, go on day trips, watch shows for free, dance the night away under the stars.’ Nikki was really getting into the flow. ‘Oh yes. A cruise is what we should do.’
‘Erm. I meant me,’ said Molly.
‘On your own?’ Nikki’s concerned expression said it all.
‘I am thirty-three, Mum. I think I can manage on my own.’
‘Yes, but … Owen, say something.’
‘Don’t you want to come with us?’ Owen asked. ‘We’ll treat you.’
Molly laughed. ‘It’s not about the money, Dad. I can treat myself. I’ve got the rent from the cottage, remember. Plus I’ve got my savings that I was going to use for a deposit on a home of my own. I don’t need those now, because whether or not I decide to sell Oak View Cottage at some stage, I can effectively use that as my deposit. It’s mortgage-free and worth a lot.’
‘That’s true. Or you could live there yourself. But I understand why you wouldn’t want to do so. And of course, if you don’t want to holiday with us, we understand that too. We can still go on a cruise, Love,’ he blew Nikki a kiss. ‘Imagine what we can get up to without our beautiful little girl in tow.’ He winked at Molly.
‘Oh all right, Dad. I’ll go on a cruise with you and Mum. Someone must take care of you oldies, after all.’
Molly loved her parents very much, and a holiday with them would be fun. They wouldn’t have to live in one another’s pockets. Those cruise ships were huge. They could go for days without seeing one another unless they wanted to. And it would be good to have someone to have some meals with rather than sitting alone, or with a bunch of strangers, at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
‘Are you sure, sweetheart?’ Owen said. ‘Because if so, we can book something tonight. I’m rather excited. We haven’t been away for longer than a week for years.’
‘Two weeks would be lovely,’ said Molly. ‘But what about the salon?’
Nikki waved her arm in the air. ‘We can close the salon for a few weeks. Or even a month. Some of those longer cruises go to more exotic destinations. And a week or two will go so fast.’
‘True,’ said Owen, already scouring the internet on his phone. ‘Here’s one for twenty nights that goes from Southampton to Dubai.’
‘Here’s one for thirty-one nights that also departs from Southampton but this one goes to Singapore,’ said Nikki now also searching the internet via her phone.
‘Here’s one for a year,’ joked Molly, laughing as she pretended to look at her phone. ‘I think we need to reign ourselves in a bit, don’t we? What happens if we don’t enjoy cruising? We’d be stuck on a ship and we might hate it.’
Nikki tutted. ‘Cocktails, swimming pools, theatres, shows, dancing, food served twenty-four hours a day, a luxury suite with a balcony overlooking the ocean. What’s not to like?’
‘A luxury suite?’ Molly croaked. ‘Okay, Dad. This can be your treat.’
