Page 11 of Forgive Not Forget
Abigail shrugged. “I don’t mind.”
“I will need help putting some signs up and then handing out trail sheets. Can you help with that?”
Abigail beamed and nodded. “Easy.”
“I’m not going,” Tom interjected. “It’s for babies.”
“I’m not sure they’d want you there anyway with that attitude,” Laura replied, to which Tom stormed off out of the kitchen.
Anna tried once again to steer the conversation back to more pleasant ground. “I can take Abigail to the bunny trail and drop her back in the afternoon,” she told Laura.
“I’m eight,” Abigail said. “I don’t need dropping back.”
Laura laughed at her daughter. “You send her straight home if she’s any trouble. Now upstairs with you, Abi. I’ll bring Anna up before she leaves, don’t you worry.”
Abigail’s hand dove into the biscuit tin before she skipped out of the room.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Laura asked.
“Not at all. An enthusiastic and willing helper is always welcome at the abbey.”
CHAPTER5
After they had been over their schooldays and every teacher and fellow student they could remember, Anna moved the conversation on to more current times.
“So, do you work?”
“Not now, no. Not since the kids were born,” Laura replied wistfully. “I was in catering. It’s how Steve and I met actually; I was working an event he was at. I was in the process of starting up a catering business when I fell pregnant with Tom. With Steve’s hours being irregular, it was too difficult for us both to have jobs and be there for the kids.” Laura extracted another biscuit and munched on it thoughtfully.
Anna refrained from commenting on how many women had given up their careers for their husbands and children; Laura was fully aware of what she had lost.
“Have you never thought about getting back into it now the kids are older?”
“I can’t now. I’m hoping to have an operation soon — if I can convince the stupid doctors to give me one.”
Anna laughed internally; relieved Katherine had stayed at home. She wasn’t sure if she should ask what was wrong or wait and see if Laura was forthcoming.
“Nothing serious, I hope?” she ventured.
“Not serious enough for them to take it seriously, yet enough to cause me day-to-day misery. I have fibroids,” Laura finally disclosed, as if she had sensed Anna’s awkwardness. “They’ve cursed me most of my adult life, and now with Steve gone, I just want a hysterectomy. My previous doctor thought that at forty I may want to have more kids. When I pointed out that my husband was dead, he suggested that my next husband may want them. As if my choice not to have any more was irrelevant.”
Anna spat out a laugh and then held her hand to her mouth. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ve heard anything so ridiculous.”
Laura grinned, much to Anna’s relief; she did have a habit of smiling or laughing at inappropriate moments, something she blamed her dad for.
“It’s fine. I’m hoping that, now that I’ve changed location, a new consultant may agree with me, I’m waiting for an appointment.”
“Fingers crossed. It must be awful if you feel the need to have a hysterectomy.”
“It is. Imagine the worse period pains, and then imagine you have them most of the time. Stress makes it worse, so Steve dying… let’s just say I’ve had to learn to manage myself a little better now. If it wasn’t for the kids, I think I would have fallen apart.”
Anna nodded; she knew all too well about managing herself.
“Have you considered going private? Assuming you could afford it?”
Laura fell silent for a moment. “I hadn’t, no. I suppose I could afford it.”
“There’s nothing more important to spend your money on than your health. It’s just a shame some have to; you’ll also be freeing up treatment for someone less able to afford it.”
