Simon laughed. ‘And how do I feel about her? Perhaps you need to tell me. She’s a great friend.’
Diana rolled her eyes, which was so funny to see from a woman in her late seventies.
‘You are better for being around her.’
‘Perhaps I’m better for being here, at Moongate,’ he said.
‘You can quibble, Simon, but I am aware you have feelings towards her and also that you are avoiding them because you don’t want to recover from the hurt you experienced before coming here. Anika betrayed you and so did you friend Charlie. It is a deeply painful thing to go through.’
Simon was silent.
‘Do you think about Anika and Charlie and what happened when you’re with Amanda?’ Diana asked.
‘Not really,’ he said. ‘But she’s always talking and coming up with ideas about things. There’s not always a lot of quiet time.’
Diana laughed. ‘She is a dynamo, yes. But let me ask you, do you look forward to seeing her?’
Simon nodded. ‘I do, she’s a great friend.’
‘Oh shush, I don’t believe in that. You like her; she adores you. Why haven’t you done something about it?’
Simon looked at Diana. ‘I don’t want to have this conversation, Diana. I’m sorry but I already have a meddling mother; I don’t need a meddling grandmother.’ He stood up. ‘Should I help you back to the gatehouse?’
‘Sit down now,’ she said and he did. It almost felt like his body didn’t have a choice. ‘Do not waste a moment when you find the right one. Write your own story, Simon. You are happy here; you love what you do. You could be with Amanda and make a go of it. The whole of Moongate is for you and her if you want it to be.’
He looked down at the fish, floating in their little watery world. ‘I don’t know if Amanda feels that way,’ he said finally. ‘It’s one thing to assume there is an attraction and another to say, “hey, can I live with you for the rest of my days?”’
‘If you don’t ask then you won’t know,’ Diana said. She took another look at the fish. ‘Okay, I’m ready to go home now. Is Amanda working?’
He nodded.
‘Don’t forget it’s her birthday party at Janet’s tomorrow night.’
‘I haven’t,’ he said.
‘You can take us both in the car.’
‘Yes, no problem,’ he answered.
‘I know it won’t be a problem because I just told you,’ she said with a frown and Simon tried to hide a smile as they walked back to the gatehouse together.
‘You don’t often take no for an answer, do you?’ he teased as they came to the gate, Trotsky heading in first as he was wont to do.
Diana walked through the gate and turned to Simon, leaning on her stick.
‘I have never taken no for answer but once a decision was made for me that I had no control over, and I swore I would never feel like that again. But in doing that, I have kept myself isolated and lonely for too many years.’ She paused. ‘Don’t be like me, Simon. Don’t let the anger eat you into a shell of a person. It’s a sad place to live.’
And with that she turned and walked into the house, leaving him to wonder how he had managed to be ambushed by a septuagenarian who saw him better than he saw himself.
*
1980s
Diana spent the next two decades living at Moongate Manor, watching her mother fade away into dementia as the years passed, asking her where the pearls were, and when was the baby coming. Diana couldn’t remember where the pearls were and couldn’t answer about the baby without wanting to tear her own hair out.
Diana was gentle with her mother though. She had married a brute and had suffered for it deeply.
Her father had called for her when he was on his death bed, and she went to his room and simply looked at him in silence, waiting for whatever he wanted to say before he died of cancer.
