The car was one hundred pounds and the fifty paid for petrol, registration and insurance. Diana was now free to come and go from the house as she pleased.
‘Your dad is going to be mad,’ said Helen.
‘He’s already mad – he can add it to the tally,’ Diana said as they got into the car.
‘You’re like a different person now,’ said Helen as she touched the dashboard and the seats inside.
‘I am. I’m going to be a mother,’ said Diana proudly. She started the car and slowly backed out of the car yard and drove them back to Moongate.
21
Amanda
When Amanda woke that morning, her first thought didn’t go to her mother’s death. It was becoming less of a place her mind went to since moving to Moongate Manor, as there was always something else to think about. At that moment, she was focused on her aching muscles from working in the garden. Her hands hurt from using the secateurs so much and her hamstrings complained as she moved her legs. And she had another day of the demands from the garden, asking for her toil and trouble, ahead of her.
She gingerly walked to the bathroom and cleaned her teeth, then took a shower to try and loosen her muscles.
Who knew gardening was such hard work? No wonder Diana was in such great shape.
After breakfast, she headed down to the pond to work.
By ten in the morning, the sun was beating down. Even the shade of the fernery wasn’t a relief.
‘It’s so hot,’ Amanda complained to Simon as they dug out around the pond. ‘I didn’t think England got as hot as this.’
‘You can thank climate change for that,’ he said. ‘We were in a drought last year.’
Simon had resealed the pond, thanks to a video online that he had watched with Diana, and they planned to put in the small ferns and cuttings from Janet’s garden around it.
‘We shouldn’t plant these when it’s so hot,’ he said. ‘Maybe later today, before the sun goes down or first thing in the morning.’
Amanda wiped her face with her hand and a smear of dirt went across her forehead. ‘Do you want to call it a day and go for a swim?’
‘Where?’ He looked around.
‘In the sea, you idiot,’ she teased.
‘Do you know how cold that water is? It’s the North Sea,’ he said.
‘Come on, it can’t be that bad. I didn’t see any penguins. You can at least put your feet in.’ Amanda had already pulled off her gardening gloves and thrown the vines and weeds into the wheelbarrow.
‘I don’t think I have any swimmers,’ he said.
‘Are swimmers British for swimsuit?’ she asked.
‘Yes.’ He laughed.
‘Then swim in your underwear. I don’t care, let’s just go and cool down.’
‘You’re crazy. Swim? In my underwear?’ he said.
‘Yes, Captain Prude, in your underwear. I won’t tell and no one else will notice, I promise.’
She stuck her garden fork in the ground. ‘I’ll meet you at the moon gate in ten minutes.’
Exactly to the minute, Amanda was ready and waiting for Simon at the gate. A bathroom towel would suffice, she thought, along with a cooler bag with some beers and a fresh breadstick from Shelley’s, along with cheese, salami and dips. It was a perfect afternoon and the water across from the house sparkled in the sunshine.
‘Here he comes,’ she called out as Simon walked towards her wearing a T-shirt and shorts.
