Page 39 of The House at Hope Corner
They had already been eating dinner for ten minutes or so and the question came out of nowhere. Flora almost choked, looking across at Ned, but he hadn’t seemed to notice anything untoward.
Flora had heard the front door close just as she was checking on the pie for tea some half an hour earlier and she’d braced herself for the inevitable questions. But it wasn’t until she was spearing a carrot to check if it was cooked that she’d heard a creak on the stairs and realised that Hannah had gone straight up to her room. Had she not even seen the alterations in the dining room? Or, thought Flora ominously, has she seen them and chosen not to comment?
The time in between had been agony for Flora as she waited on tenterhooks, but when Hannah finally appeared she had greeted Flora normally and bustled about the kitchen helping with the last-minute dinner preparations.
But now this.
Flora looked up and smiled, determined not to let her own misgivings about the room show. ‘Oh, I popped it in the other room,’ she said lightly. ‘I can show you what I’ve done after tea if you like.’
Hannah’s knife clattered onto her plate, making Ned jump. ‘I rather thought I might put it back again,’ she replied sharply. ‘It’s the dining room, Flora.’ She placed her fork down rather more quietly. ‘And that table was my mother’s.’
‘Yes, Caroline took great delight in pointing that out, don’t worry.’ She had told herself over and over not be defensive about what she’d done to the room and that if Hannah didn’t like it, it wouldn’t matter, but now faced with her scorn she could feel her indignation rising. ‘So the table is quite safe. It’s in the small sitting room, tucked out of the way so that it doesn’t come to any harm… not that it’s going to, seeing as no one ever goes in there anyway.’
Ned had sat up, his own knife and fork now resting on his plate. ‘Caroline…? And what table?’ He frowned, looking at his mother’s angry face. ‘What’s going on?’
Hannah picked up her cutlery and started to eat again.
‘Flora has taken it upon herself to move all the furniture out of the dining room which, although we had discussed very briefly, I certainly hadn’t agreed to.’
‘Oh… is that all? For goodness’ sake, I thought she’d painted the room black with orange stripes the way you’re going on, Mum. I take it this is to make some space so that Dad can move in there when he comes home?’
Flora nodded. She couldn’t trust herself to do any more.
‘Excellent idea.’ He slid his hand down Flora’s knee and grinned at her. ‘You can show me what you’ve done when we’ve finished eating. I bet it looks great.’ His eyes stayed on hers the whole time he was speaking.
‘It isn’t finished,’ murmured Flora. ‘Because obviously I can’t move the beds by myself, and I haven’t moved any of Fraser’s personal things either.’
‘No, obviously,’ replied Ned, his eyes still on her. ‘Mum can do that, can’t you, Mum? Make it really cosy for Dad, with everything he’ll need on hand. He’ll feel so much better for knowing he hasn’t got to worry how on earth he’s going to get up the stairs.’
Flora was very glad for his response, and squeezed his fingers in reply, but he had also put her firmly in the middle.
‘I honestly thought it would help,’ she said.
‘And it does. Mum’s very grateful for all your hard work, aren’t you, Mum? It’s such a generous thing for you to do, thinking about Dad like this. I don’t think it would have even occurred to me.’ He was staring at his mum, eyebrows raised.
Hannah fidgeted with the edge of her placemat. ‘Hmmm,’ she said. ‘I would still have liked to have been consulted.’
Ned loaded his fork with mashed potato. ‘What did you get up to this afternoon then, Mum? Did you get the things you wanted?’
‘Yes, thank you. A couple of books from the library, hisFarmers Weeklyand some new pyjamas. I don’t like seeing your dad in those old ones, they’re fine here, but not at the hospital.’
‘Brilliant,’ Ned replied. ‘It sounds like Dad’s going to get spoilt rotten, he’ll enjoy that, despite what he says. We’ll go and see him in a bit,’ he added. ‘And then we’re one day closer to having him home again.’ He smiled. ‘It won’t be long now, Mum.’
It was a valiant effort and Hannah did show a flicker of a smile, but the rest of the meal was finished in virtual silence. Despite Ned’s attempts to make her feel better, Flora felt every second keenly.
Chapter Fourteen
‘… And then she said you’ll have to sell the farm.’
Ned had just taken a huge bite of toast and suddenly paused mid-chew, eyes wide. He waggled his fingers and Flora waited until he was able to speak. ‘Caroline saidwhat?’
‘That you’re going to have to sell the farm,’ she repeated.
Ned stared at her.
‘I know. She said it without thinking and I wouldn’t have mentioned it except for the fact that, well, I could be wrong, but I’ve heard that Caroline likes a bit of gossip… Imagine how Fraser will feel if he hears that kind of thing going round. It’s bad enough now,’ she added. ‘Even if it is a rather old-fashioned view. In Fraser’s eyes he’s the head of the household and I know you don’t mind holding the fort while he’s ill, but it’s obvious he feels terrible about saddling you with everything. And then you get people like Caroline making stupid assumptions, which isn’t going to help anybody. I just hope Fraser never gets wind of it, that’s the last thing he needs.’
‘I’ll speak to her.’ Ned’s mouth had set in a hard line.
