Page 36 of Together Again at the Cornish Country Hospital

The longer he stayed around, the harder it was to imagine life when he finally left again, but that was exactly why she had to do something to persuade him to leave Port Kara sooner rather than later. Whether that was by reminding him that he belonged on the stage, performing the music he loved, or some other way, it didn’t matter. She told herself that if she didn’t do it soon, it was going to be too late, but deep down she knew it probably already was. The fact he was willing to do whatever it took not to let Albert down said so much about the man he was.

When Amy eventually arrived at Albert’s farm to pick Monty up, Lijah answered the door and her breath caught in her throat, just like it had the first time she’d ever seen him.

‘Hi.’ It was all she could manage.

‘Hello.’ He smiled and the lines she’d been rehearsing about this never working between them, and him needing to stop hiding out in Port Kara and get back to his own life, felt like the last thing she wanted to say. She didn’t want to get dragged into the drama that surrounded Lijah, any more than she wanted to risk letting him break her heart again. She’d built a great life for herself and had known exactly what it was she wanted, before Lijah had turned up again. It should have been so easy to tell him all the reasons why trying again would be a mistake, but it turned out that logic didn’t stand a chance when feelings got in the way. It was Lijah who broke the silence between them.

‘Are you coming in? I’ve just made some tea for Albie and we’re about to start on the chocolate biscuits. Monty’s been drooling ever since he heard the rustle of the packet.’

She returned his smile; talking about the dog was safe ground and something she could manage. ‘That sounds like Monty, they say dogs copy their owners and I can sniff out a biscuit from a hundred metres. As you can probably tell.’

He shook his head. ‘Why do you always put yourself down Ames? You did when we were teenagers and you’re still doing it now. I wish you could see yourself the way others do.’

‘Some old habits die hard; you must know that.’ Her laugh sounded hollow, as she moved past him down the hallway, wanting to get to Albert and Monty so they could change the subject and talk about something – anything – other than the two of them. She wasn’t ready to have the conversation she’d planned, she wasn’t sure she ever would be, but either way now definitely wasn’t the time. Reaching the door to the living room quickly, she pushed it open to see the little dog curled up next to Albert on the sofa. ‘How are you, Albie? Monty certainly looks at home.’

‘I’m all the better for Monty and Lijah visiting and seeing you is just the cherry on the cake. Having a beautiful woman come to see me is always a treat.’

‘Thanks, but I think beautiful might be stretching it a bit!’ Amy saw the look that crossed Lijah’s face, but before he could say anything, Albert launched his own protest.

‘Don’t talk nonsense. You remind me of Elizabeth Taylor inRaintree County. I was only ten years old, but it was the first time I remember seeing a girl and thinking how beautiful she was. I watched as many of her films as I could after that, until I met Millie and I forgot about everyone else, even Elizabeth Taylor. I probably shouldn’t tell you that you remind me of my pin-up, should I? It’s not the done thing these days.’

‘I’ll let you off.’ She smiled, the only film Amy had ever seen Elizabeth Taylor in wasThe Flintstonesand from what she remembered she’d played a very glamorous grandmother, but Amy decided to take it as compliment all the same.

‘Good, because you need to start realising how beautiful you are.’ Albert wagged a finger at her, sounding just like Lijah, who immediately echoed the sentiment.

‘I keep saying the same thing.’ She couldn’t look at him, otherwise he’d realise that she’d long since lost the battle to play this cool. Thankfully Albert saved her from having to respond at all.

‘Trust me, you’ll wish you realised how beautiful you are now when you get to my age!’ He laughed. ‘There are lots of things I wish I’d made the most of, going out dancing on a Saturday night with Millie for one. She’d sneak out of the big house and meet me at the village hall, and I’d whirl her around the dancefloor all evening. When you’re young you think you’ll be able to do those things forever and I wish I’d appreciated it a bit more.’

‘You could still go dancing. My friend goes to a great dance class where everyone’s included.’ Amy tried not to think about whether the days of Gwen dominating the dancefloor would soon be over. ‘I can give you the details if you like.’

‘I don’t think that’s for me, but if you could transport me back to the late 1950s or even the early 1960s just for one night, I might be persuaded.’ Albert sighed and then Monty started howling for no reason at all, making sure the attention was back on him, and the conversation quickly moved on to the subject of dogs and Lijah’s plan to get one as soon as he worked out where he wanted to settle permanently. Amy tried not to be too disappointed that he was still so uncertain. Less than an hour ago she’d been intending to try and persuade him to leave Port Kara. Now here she was, feeling gutted that he hadn’t come to the conclusion he needed to stay. Heading out to the kitchen she started washing up the mugs, so her face couldn’t give her away.

‘Do you think we could organise it?’ Lijah’s question as he followed her into the kitchen a few moments later, made her head shoot up.

‘Organise what?’

‘A dance in the village hall with some of Albie’s favourite music from the fifties and sixties. We could invite other people from the befriending service.’

‘You’d want to do that?’ Amy already knew what his response would be, so it was no surprise when Lijah nodded.

‘You know how much Mum loved music from the eighties. She always said there was something about music from her youth that seemed to recharge her. We spent so much of our time listening to it in our teens, and it’s those eighties songs that can take me back to being a carefree kid too, even though we weren’t born when they came out. There’s nothing better than seeing people getting lost in the music they love, and it would be so brilliant to see Albie doing that.’

‘It might take a while. Will you be around long enough?’ She held her breath, waiting for him to answer, and he nodded.

‘I’ve got nowhere I need to rush off to and I can stay as long as it takes to…’ He hesitated for a moment as if he was going to say something else, but then seemed to think better of it. ‘I can cover any costs, but I’m just not sure where to start with organising it.’

‘I’ll talk to Aidan and see what he thinks.’ Usually the first person Amy would have spoken to would be Gwen, but her friend had far more important things to focus on right now. ‘It’s a lovely idea, though, and I’m sure Albie would be really touched that you’ve thought of it.’

‘Do you ever wish you could go back to a time when things were simpler?’ His voice was soft and her fingers twitched with the longing to reach out and touch him, but she gave an almost imperceptible nod of her head instead. She couldn’t risk Albert walking in and seeing them together. The fact this relationship was just between the two of them was the last one of the rules she was managing to cling to. If that went, she’d be in even deeper than she already was.

‘Me too.’ There was a sigh in his voice, and then Albert called out his name, interrupting whatever Lijah might have said next.

‘You’d better go and check he’s okay and tell him about your idea. I won’t be a minute.’ Staring into the washing up bowl, Amy held her breath again until he disappeared. If she could go back to when they were teenagers, she’d do it in a heartbeat despite all the angst and heartbreak when it had ended between them. It would be worth it to have those years with Lijah again, because there was no doubt in her mind they’d been the happiest of her life.

21

After Lijah’s sixteenth birthday, Maria had continued to make up for lost time and birthdays had become a big deal at Mor Brys. It always began with the ‘birthday balloon’. It was a tradition Lijah’s mother had started, where she’d plan something exciting for his birthday, from a day at the theme park, to tickets to see his favourite band. Maria wouldn’t just announce it, though, or hand over the gift, she’d reveal the secret by putting a tiny slip of paper inside an inflated balloon. It would be hidden amongst lots of other balloons, the number matching the number of years the birthday was marking. The three of them would then chase around trying to find the balloon with the message inside, popping it to discover the secret, but woe betide anyone who popped the wrong balloon, because that would result in a forfeit. After that, there’d be a birthday breakfast, and it was just the start of a day made special by all the things Maria did to make it so. She’d done the same for Claire every year too.

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