Page 72 of Autumn in Sycamore Park
‘Yes, Miss.’
‘Yes, Miss.’
The Jarder twins were too busy fussing over Bonky to say anything.
‘Well, it looks great,’ Jennifer said. ‘You’ve done a wonderful job.’
‘Thanks, Miss.’
‘Thanks, Miss.’
‘Thanks, Miss.’
Jennifer wandered over to the courtyard’s edge, where Greg Downton was talking to Amy while Don Jones and Colin Tiller, both with their hands stuffed into their pockets, stood either side of him.
‘Well,’ Downton said as Jennifer came into earshot. ‘Now’s your chance to ask him.’
Downton nodded towards the northern park entrance just past the Oak Leaf Café where Angela was arranging salt and pepper pots on the outdoor tables. A man in a sweatshirt with the hood pulled over his head was pushing an older woman in a wheelchair. The woman had a basket on her lap as though she meant to fill it with cakes, and a wide grin on her face.
‘Is that … who is that?’ Amy said, frowning at Jennifer.
‘Are you ready for the big reveal?’
‘What reveal?’
Jennifer cupped her hands around her mouth. ‘Good morning, Rick!’ she called.
Rick looked up, his face just visible inside the hood he had pulled tight with a drawstring.
Amy clutched Jennifer’s arm so tightly Jennifer nearly fell. ‘Oh, my. Is he married? Is that his wife? She’s not what I would have expected. She’s so old, and you know, disabled—’
‘That’s his mother, Amy.’
As Rick, still hiding inside the hood, pushed the wheelchair to a stop beneath Big Gerry’s leaning branches, Jennifer called, ‘Good morning, Mrs. Fellow!’
‘Oh, good morning, dear. Eric, are you going to introduce me to your friends?’
‘It’s colleagues, Mother. None of these people are my friends.’
‘It was one and the same in my day, Eric.’
Amy pulled Jennifer close. ‘What’s this “Eric” business?’
‘That’s his name.’
‘But … oh, I get it.’ Amy let out a guffaw. ‘Eric … Rick. Eric … Rick.’
With a sigh, Rick loosened the drawstrings and pushed the hood back. ‘Please, Amy. Don’t make this any harder.’
‘There you are, Eric,’ Downton said, giving Jennifer and Amy a quick smirk. ‘About time. Why don’t you go and marshal your class before there’s complete anarchy, while in the meantime I’ll take your lovely mother over to that delightful café over there for a wonderful coffee.’
Rick, refusing to look at Downton, twitched in a way that could be perceived as a nod. ‘Sure.’
As Rick headed off to his class’s stall, Jennifer turned to Amy. ‘Isn’t this just a wonderful day?’
By five to ten,the courtyard was teeming with people. The kids were all in position around their stalls, the first band was ready on the stage to play, and even Rick seemed to have cheered up. Jennifer said good morning to Marlie Gordon, who introduced Jennifer to John Gordon, Gavin’s dad. While there might not have been a ring on either of their fingers, that they were chatting amicably boded well for Gavin and his ongoing behavioural shift.
‘Jennifer? Have you got a sec?’
