‘Fresh air after a big meal is always good.’ Loretta waved over to Mrs Ledbetter who was hanging a garland on her front door. ‘And I haven’t had much of a chance to talk with you yet.’
‘We’ve talkedloads, Mum.’
‘Not really. We’ve discussed the quilt for Grandad, you’ve told me all about your travels, your work and how much you like swapping over from one environment to another, but we haven’t really talked aboutyou.’ And it was high time.
‘Not this again. You always want to know long-term plans and goals.’ But she said it with an air of amusement and Loretta couldn’t deny it.
‘What’swrong with putting a little bit of planning into your life?’
‘I do plan. I travel, I work, that takes a lot of juggling, believe me.’
Loretta sighed. ‘You know what I mean. Are you telling me you always want to be chopping and changing, you don’t want to put down roots?’ Usually whenever they talked Loretta asked questions, but Ginny didn’t give much away about what she wanted long-term.
‘Ihave roots, Mum.’ She coaxed Busker away from sniffing the bushes in a front garden when he lingered that bit too long for a cold winter’s night.
‘So where to next?’
Ginny took a deep breath of the cold night air. ‘I don’t know.’
‘But you always plan the next trip after you come home.’
‘I usually do.’ She waited before she added, ‘But this time … I don’t know.’ She looked around them, at thelights on the big tree, the illuminated windows in the homes facing Lantern Square, people heading home from the pub, others out for a late night stroll.
Loretta came out with the question she’d been wanting to ask since Ginny came home and it wasn’t hard to see that something was different this time. ‘Would you ever consider moving back to Butterbury?’ She fussed the top of Busker’s head andaround his ear until he decided that she could do that anytime and with this being the last walk of the day he really should be making the most of it and trotted ahead of them, nose to the ground to see what was what.
‘I’m not sure.’ It wasn’t the response Loretta had expected at all. But it was said in a way that wasn’t dismissive, in a way that said Ginny had a lot of thinking to do. And Lorettahad to wonder how much of it had to do with her sisters, or perhaps Lucas being back in the village, or even the family business that Ginny had once had a real passion for.
Loretta put an arm around her daughter’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. ‘Well whatever you decide, it’s really good to have you home.’
When they arrived back at the house Daisy and Fern were already in the sitting roomand had upended the big box of material they’d been collecting ever since they decided to make their grandad another Christmas quilt. Out onto the floor tumbled an assortment of fabrics, a variety of designs and patterns, different textures, jaggedly cut scraps, neater quilting quarters.
Ginny had shrugged off her coat and when she joined her sisters she knelt down on the floor next to them.‘It’s a bit late to start this tonight, isn’t it?’
‘We won’t get it done otherwise,’ said Fern.
‘She’s right,’ Daisy put in, ‘And I won’t sleep tonight if we don’t make a start. We’ve finally got all the material we’re going to need, no time like the present.’
‘This piece is perfect.’ Loretta bent down and plucked the piece of fabric with a vintage town design, snow falling, a pale blue background.There was even a classic car driving along the street.
‘I thought that piece looked like the car Grandad had years ago,’ said Fern. ‘I found it in a second-hand shop.’ Fern sighed. ‘Can we really pull this off and get it done by Christmas?’
‘Of course we can,’ Ginny rallied.
‘But I’m so rusty,’ Fern said, doubting herself. ‘I’ve forgotten everything, I’m sure of it.’
‘Don’t forget that lovelygirl up at the lodge has said she’ll help with the pinning and some of the basic stitching. Having an extra pair of hands might be just what we need.’ Usually the least decisive of the three, Ginny wasn’t this evening, she was taking control, her face alive with enthusiasm.
‘Would anyone like a cup of tea?’ Fern suggested. She seemed nervous about how her part in all of this would play out, unsureof herself for one of the first times in her life. Or perhaps she did it more often than Loretta realised, she’d just got proficient at covering it up.
‘Please.’ Ginny was lifting up pieces of material and matching them to others, toying with ideas.
‘I’ll do it, you sit down,’ said Daisy to Fern. ‘Choose some fabric.’
Busker almost tripped Daisy over when she brought back the tray holding mugsof tea, Ginny got her hair caught on a pine cone hanging from one of the tree branches and Fern untangled it for her, and all three of them knelt on the floor for the next couple of hours going about the project, filling the house with the sounds of a normal family going about their lives, together.
When she’d found out Carrie would be helping with the quilt, it had filled Loretta with a mixtureof dread and excitement. For her girls to be so welcoming was a gift, but what if it all fell to pieces?
Loretta had a tear in her eye, but her daughters were all so busy rifling through the material that they hadn’t noticed. Seeing them come together like this already showed Loretta they were well on their way to being the three sisters who would do anything for one another and their family.
All Loretta could do for now was hope that they would be able to accept the changes coming their way and look to the future rather than the past.
