‘Where are you off to next?’
‘I’m going to go and see Katherine. I feel like I haven’t spent much time with her since she’s been back, and I want to get her involved so she doesn’t feel left out. You and I both know how much she used to love catering for parties. I’m going to ask her if she wants to help.’
‘I would have done all the catering for you if you’d asked me last year, but I have a busy schedule this week love. I have a wedding to cater for. But if you get stuck, I’m here to help too.’
Morgan grinned and leaned in to hug Pamela, her face grinning mischievously. ‘Oh you shouldn’t have told me that, I can see it now. You, Christine, Katherine and me in the pubkitchen filling Vola vents at the eleventh hour, a couple of empty bottles of wine in front of us.’
Pamela roared with laughter. ‘It wouldn’t be the first time. Remember Pippa’s surprise thirteenth birthday, Marie had us all doing the very same thing.’
Morgan chuckled. ‘Where do you think I just got the idea from?’
Pamela grinned as she walked over to her car and opened the door. ‘Come on. I’ll drop you back into town save you calling Mina’s uber. It will soon be school pick-up time and she might be busy.’
Morgan walked up to the passenger side, opened the door and got in. ‘Thank you. Can you do me a favour on the way?’ Pamela nodded. ‘Can I make a quick stop at the florist, and then can you drop me at the church? I want to go and visit Bren first.’
‘Of course I will love.’
MORGAN WAVED AT PAMELAas she pulled away. Her breath came out in billowing white puffs reminding her of a dragon. She blew out a few long breaths in childlike wonder and watched in amazement as they instantly disappeared. The temperature had dropped. Pulling her scarf tighter round her neck she looked towards the cemetery.
When Bren first passed away her visits there had been daily, but they had been emotionally exhausting, so she’d reduced them to once a week and then to once a month. These days due to her limited mobility, she only came on special occasions.
Looking at the grass growing around the gravestones, Morgan could see it was overdue a cut. She hoped she’d be able to manoeuvre around it okay using her cane. Turning in the direction of Bren’s plot, Morgan started to slowly make her way there, silently paying her regards to elderly friends who’dalso passed away from the community who were Bren’s eternal sleeping companions.
His gravestone came into view and the same gasp caught in her throat every time she laid eyes on it. She stood in front and read the inscription. Had it really been so very long ago since she lost him? Where had the time gone?
Holding onto the head of her cane tightly, she bent down and laid the bouquet of flowers she’s bought close to the headstone. Their pinks, lilacs and blues, were a beautiful contrast to the cold grey of the stone. The vision of Bren in her dream came back to her again, and she thought about what he’d said.
Had she spent too long grieving? She was a young woman when she’d become a widow. There had been plenty of years to slowly move on and be open to meeting someone else to live the rest of her life with, but the yearning had never been there. Bren had been her everything. Now he was just a wonderful memory for a short period of her life. How did the saying go? Better to have loved and lost rather than to have never loved at all.
A smile formed on her lips. ‘Thank you Bren for the short time we had together...but I think it’s too late to move on. I’ll be sixty in less than a week. I’m disabled now. I have a walking stick. Who’s going to want me?’ Morgan shook her head. ‘No. I’m happy that I got to fall in love with you. Even if our time together was brief.’
A noise not too far away startled her and Morgan looked over to where it came from to see Ned collecting rubbish with a long grabbing stick. He was such a good man. Always giving to the community. He hadn’t seen her, and his head was bobbing away. Morgan noticed why, he had earbuds and wires dangling from each ear.
She smiled to herself.
Turning back to Bren’s gravestone she blew it a kiss before making her way over to Ned.
Tapping him on the shoulder with her cane, he spun around to face her, his brow lifting in surprise and a huge smile forming on his lips when he saw her. He tugged out his earbuds and Morgan heard what appeared to be rock music blasting out of them as they dangled down.
‘Morgan. What are you doing here?’
Morgan pointed back in the direction she’d just come from. ‘I came to pay my respects.’
Ned’s mouth formed a large O. ‘Oh yes. Of course...sorry.’
‘There’s no need to apologise,’ she smiled. ‘Busy as usual I see. Don't you ever stop?’
Ned chuckled. ‘Stop and I’ll never start again. I like to keep active, keep my joints subtle. I noticed the graveyard was full of rubbish when I walked Laurel and hardy along the beach and past here last night. It must have been from all that wind.’
‘Oh yes, of course.’
‘Did Mina drop you off?’
Morgan shook her head. ‘No, Pamela did. I came from Poppy Farm after meeting the fire inspector there with her.’
Ned’s brow drew together puzzled. ‘Oh?’
‘I’m holding a barn dance there next week for my sixtieth birthday. I think a get-together is just what the residents of Seagull Bay need.’
