‘And Mum and Dad never got them a gift. They said they wanted to get something special and hadn’t seen anything suitable until now. We assumed they’d forgotten and would never have said anything but they’d obviously still been looking. I overheard them apologising to the boys for it being so late.’
‘Iamhappy with my shortbread,’ I said, feeling bad now that I knew the story behind the other gifts, ‘but I couldn’t help feeling like a point was being made.’
‘I get it, but I think a lot of that’s in your head. You think you’ve damaged your relationship with Mum and Dad but I say it’s only a little bit bruised.’
‘I suppose.’
‘Another thing to bear in mind is that you don’t actually have a home at the moment so gifts like ours would be a little redundant for you.’
I shook my head at her. ‘Urgh, I hate it that you’re so reasonable. It’s a fair point and, even if I did have a home, I guess they don’t know what my taste is anymore, although I am trying to be part of their lives again. Not that it got me anywhere.’
Georgia’s brows knitted. ‘Yeah, that was strange. Maybe Mum’s in more pain than she’s letting on again and Dad was just focused on getting her home.’
‘I hope you’re right – not about Mum being in pain, of course, but about Dad being distracted – because that lack of enthusiasm about seeing me hurt way more than any token gift ever could.’
‘This past year or so hasn’t been easy for either of them with Mum’s health and I think their patience has been stretched to the limit. Baby steps. You’ll get there.’
‘I hope so.’
‘Going back to that thing you told me you nearly did yesterday,’ she said, setting the dishwasher away. ‘I think visiting The Bothy would be a good step in helping you dig your head out of the sand, but I don’t think you should do it alone. When you’re ready, we’ll do it together. And whatever else you need to do to move forward, I hope you know that I’ll be right by your side every step of the way. We’ll get through this together.’
I hugged her, touched by her kindness. ‘I’d really appreciate that because I haven’t had much success tackling it on my own.’
‘Cup of tea before you head off?’ she asked.
‘That’d be great.’
‘You’ve got this. Baby steps with the parents and baby steps for this. We could call it Operation Ostrich.’
I rolled my eyes at her. ‘I’m not convinced it needs a name.’
‘What about a hashtag? Ooh! Hashtag be less ostrich.’
‘Stop! Please don’t ever say that again.’
‘But it’s genius.’
‘It’s certainly something.’
Watching Georgia preparing the drinks, I thanked my lucky stars that I’d been blessed with such a wonderful sister. She was such a calming influence, always able to step back and look at an issue from several perspectives. Weirdly, that was second nature to me when it came to my job but it somehow didn’t translate into my personal life. If only it did, I might never have left. My relationship with my parents wouldn’t be bruised. I’d still be with Flynn.
If only.
18
Returning to Willowdale Hall after Sunday lunch at Georgia’s, I poked my head round the library door to let Oliver and Rosie know I was back. Alice and Xander were with them.
‘Just the person!’ Rosie said, inviting me to join them. ‘Mum has just been telling me about your brilliant suggestion to turn the boat house into a luxury retreat.’
‘But I’m bound to have missed some of it out,’ Alice added. ‘You tell them what you told me, Mel.’
‘You like the idea?’ I asked.
‘We love it,’ Oliver said, giving me that fizz of excitement I always got when a client enthused about an idea.
‘In that case, I did some rough sketches last night so let me grab those. It’s always easier to explain when there’s something to look at.’
I returned minutes later with my iPad and sketchbook and ran through what I’d drawn, showing the photos I’d taken of the boat house on my iPad to compare what was there now and what it could become. My cheeks glowed with the compliments about the quality of my sketches, the attention to detail in such a short space of time and the proposal itself.
