Page 18 of Winter at the Cornish Garden Café
‘I spoke to Finn too.’
Thora fought the urge to groan. So now her mum and Finn were discussing her and her ex-boyfriend? ‘I’ve spoken to Finn, and he tried to tell me that I should let Lucas in again, but I told him it was all so long ago. We’ve both changed.’
‘And in some ways stayed the same.’
‘It’s true.’ Thora looked away, across the garden at the bird feeder where a robin was feasting on mealworms. ‘I know I’m the same inside as I always was but… I’m scared, Mum.’
‘I’m not surprised. I would be too. Lucas had your heart for many years and then you split up and never saw each other again. It was like you were on the path to marriage and family and a beautiful life together then you broke up and that was that. Your dad and I were convinced that you’d get back together at some point, but you didn’t and well… He’s the one who got away, isn’t he?’
Thora nodded and her bottom lip wobbled. Her mum always had a way of getting to the heart of her feelings and making her facethem. ‘There’s a chance that he still has feelings for you too, love. You know that don’t you?’
‘I do but… I don’t want to have these feelings because if he doesn’t then it could end badly, and I can’t afford to have my heart broken again.’
‘But what if he does care for you still and what if he doesn’t break your heart? Don’t look at the negatives, Thora. What if your worst fears don’t come true and everything turns out well. Perhaps you both needed to have that time apart in order to mature and grow and now is the time when you’re meant to be together and have your happy ever after.’
Thora wiped her eyes with the back of a hand then sniffed. ‘It could happen, I suppose. But I have the twins to think about. And Barry.’
‘The twins will leave home one day in the not so distant future, and it will be just you and Barry. It would be nice to see you happy with someone again.’
‘We’ll see.’ Thora shrugged. She looked over at the kitchen window to see her dad smiling at her. His smile was like a warm hug, and she smiled back. Whatever happened, she was very lucky to have amazing parents who loved her and looked out for her.
‘That we will.’ Her mum wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her tight. ‘Now then… I’m going to check how Reggie is doing, and you can pick up after your dog.’ She pointed at the grass where Barry had left a not so pleasant gift then headed back indoors.
‘Goodness me, Barry! How can such a small dog produce such a giant sh—’ She caught herself and giggled. ‘I mean such a bigpoo.’
Looking very pleased with himself, Barry kicked his back feet in the grass like he was wiping them then he ran inside after her mum, leaving her to clean up. When she’d bagged and binned his deposit, she washed her hands under the outside tap then went to the back door. She paused for a moment, gazing back at the robin that was eating like there was no tomorrow. The robin paused and stared at her, his beady black eyes unblinking. ‘It’s OK, little man, carry on. Enjoy your dinner.’
The robin flicked his tail then resumed feasting and Thora went inside, closing the back door behind her. She looked around the kitchen, at her beautiful children sitting at the table with her mum, and Barry who was perched on her mum’s lap then over at her dad who was chopping broccoli. Her cup was very much full, and any relationship would simply be a pleasant bonus. There was only one man she’d want to make room for in her life and that man was the one who had hurt her more than anyone else ever could.
Did she have it in her to try again with Lucas? Was he even interested in her now?
So many questions and uncertainties that made her head hurt. For now, she’d push them to the back of her mind and help with dinner. Pretend that everything was normal. Everything was exactly how it should be. Everything was… the way it had always been meant to be. Perhaps her mum was right and now was the right time for her to try again with her childhood sweetheart.
10
LUCAS
‘Shall we start with the smaller box?’ Lucas asked his father as they sat on the sofa with the boxes of Christmas decorations lined up on the coffee table in front of them. They’d eaten a light Sunday lunch of herby chicken breasts and roasted vegetables and were now ready to look through the decorations. Lucas hadn’t been certain that any of them would be any good now, after being in the attic for so long, but if they didn’t look they’d never know.
He opened the lid of the smallest box and peered inside. ‘This one has some lights and tinsel.’ He lifted the tinsel and the silver strands caught the light, but the string at the centre was showing where some parts had gone bald.
‘Looks a bit sorry for itself,’ his father said, and Lucas agreed. ‘Perhaps the lights will be gone too?’
‘I would think so. Don’t want to plug them in if they’re a fire risk.’ Lucas checked there was nothing under the lights and then put the tinsel back in the box. ‘Perhaps we need to check with the council about how to recycle these after Christmas. I’ll take them to the shed later on and put them away until January.’
‘Good plan.’ His father nodded.
Lucas put the first box on the floor, then opened the next one. ‘We have some small ornaments in here.’ He got out a reindeer ornament with a sleigh attached to it, then a jolly Santa ornament. ‘Do you want to put these up?’
His father shrugged.
‘No pressure. We can donate them to charity if you don’t want them.’
‘You can put them up if you like,’ his father said. ‘I just don’t know how I feel about them, to be honest.’
‘Mum was the ornament person in the family,’ Lucas said. He wasn’t fussy on ornaments, seeing them as clutter, but if his dad would feel more festive with them up, then he was happy to oblige.
‘She was indeed.’ His father sighed. ‘Tell you what, let’s put them up this year and then we can decide what to do with them after Christmas. At least that way we can give them a chance and decide whether to display them again.’
