She rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head and slowly Diana stopped crying.
‘I haven’t cried in years,’ she said. ‘It feels good, actually.’
Amanda nodded. ‘Nothing like a good cry.’
Diana touched her granddaughter’s face.
‘You’re kinder and more beautiful than I ever could have imagined.’
‘You, also,’ Amanda said. ‘And we’re lucky to have each other.’
‘We are,’ said Diana. ‘Now, where is the cup of tea that Janet promised? And then I want to see the garden that Simon bought us.’
Amanda burst out laughing. ‘That’s mean.’
‘Not mean. It’s true but if you can do it then why not? You might as well share it with those you love.’
Amanda laughed again. ‘So true. I’ll go and chase that cup of tea.’ She stood up and looked around. ‘Are you okay with being back in this house?’ she asked Diana.
Diana looked around. ‘It doesn’t feel like it used to anymore. You have changed everything, Amanda. You have changed my path and this house’s path and history. I didn’t think my life was worth anything anymore but here I am, with you, mattering. I have friends, I have purpose, and I have a second chance with my health and with you, and for that, I am more grateful than you could imagine.’
‘Hallelujah,’ said Amanda as she opened the door and Trotsky came wandering in and sat in his bed by the mantelpiece.
‘And Trotsky thanks you also, from the bottom of his Marxist little paws.’
Epilogue
‘Hold her for a minute?’ Amanda asked Shelley, who gladly took the baby, who then tried to eat Shelley’s crescent moon earring in return.
‘Celene, no,’ Amanda said. ‘Not for eating.’
‘I don’t mind. She’s hungry. Would she like some watermelon?’ asked Shelley.
‘Probably. She has her father’s appetite – never-ending.’ Amanda laughed.
The garden at Moongate was filled with visitors who had all paid for their ticket to the Moongate Festival.
There was music playing and food stalls and jugglers and magicians wandering about. Simon and Frank had strung lanterns throughout the garden, which were just starting to twinkle in the dusk.
‘I just need to check the chairs are ready,’ Amanda called to Shelley who was already walking to sit with Diana and Maggie under the wisteria arbour.
Amanda took a moment to watch them all fuss over Celene, who had taken the red hair gene and added Simon’s curls to the mix. Shelley handed Celene some watermelon and after staring at it for a short moment, the baby gummed it happily while Helen and Diana fussed around her.
Reuniting Helen and Diana had been a joyous moment for Amanda and they had seen each other weekly ever since. Diana had joined the gardening club, the historical society and the birdwatching club, and though meetings for the latter were done in the garden at Moongate, Amanda had finally seen a goldfinch in the wild, when Diana had been watching keenly with the little binoculars that Simon had gifted her for Christmas.
‘All okay?’ she asked Simon who was putting out the last of the chairs.
‘Perfect,’ he said, and gave her a kiss.
‘Amanda?’ She turned to see Simon’s mum, Elfreda, waving at her from the other side of the garden near the gatehouse.
Amanda walked over to Elfreda. ‘I’ve finished at the dig and am showered, so what can I do?’ Elfreda asked.
Amanda looked around. ‘Perhaps Diana and Helen might like a gin and tonic? Or you could take Celene for me. I’ve lumped her on Shelley.’
‘Noted. I can and will do both of those tasks,’ she said.
Elfreda had come up to Moongate for a break and then learned there was a dig by the University of Edinburgh taking place not too far away. Some Viking brooches and bullion were found in a field and so she took a sabbatical.
