Page 14 of Not Exactly Mr. Darcy
Gran’s phone buzzed with an incoming call. Liv glanced at it. The screen said TOBIAS.
“Tobias is trying to call you.”
Her grandmother looked up from cutting her roast lamb. “Ah. Can you answer and tell him I’ll call him back?”
“Sure.” She pressed ANSWERand did so.
“Do you have any idea what she wants to talk to me about?” Tobias asked.
“None whatsoever,” she replied, eyeing her grandmother. “Gran is being very mysterious about it all.”
Her grandmother snorted, then almost choked on mashed pumpkin.
“Sorry, Tobias, I have to go. She’ll call you soon.” Liv ended the call. “Gran? Are you okay?”
“Oh, stop your fussing, I’m perfectly fine.” Gran waved off Liv’s concern and sipped her water. “And I’m not being mysterious. It’s just something I wish to run past a few people who care about the village, that’s all.”
Liv’s chest panged. Didn’t Gran trust her? “I care about the village too.”
Her grandmother peered up at her. “Why?”
What kind of question was that? “Well, I don’t know why. But I feel like it’s part of me somehow. Perhaps because of all the stories Mum used to tell about living there. And it’s like the quintessential English village, a perfectly preserved part of English history—”
Her grandmother huffed. “We have to think about the future, not just the past.”
“Of course. I didn’t mean to sound condescending. And yes, I definitely agree that villages need to adapt and change with the times, or else they get left behind.”
“But not too much.” Gran’s faded blue eyes sparked.
“No, not too much,” Liv soothed. “But that’s always the challenge, isn’t it? How to preserve what makes a village special with its own unique qualities, while still catering for the families and younger folk who will provide for the future. That’s a challenge we’ve seen back home, with all the city dwellers wanting to escape to the country that leads to new housing developments, that can mean the village feel is under threat.”
“Thankfully we haven’t reached that stage yet. Quite the opposite, in fact.” Her grandmother sighed. “The lack of young families means the local school has been threatened with closure.”
“Really?” Indignation rose. “I can’t believe how shortsighted some government departments can be. We had the same thing happen in Wooten Forest, the town next to us back home, where the local school was closed and sold off to a private developer. Then Wattle Vale had all these new housing developments and now needs a new school. They wouldn’t have had to do that if they’d kept the Wooten Forest school open. It’s such a shame. And such a shame for those families who were attending it too. Wooten Forest is like a ghost town now.” She exhaled, conscious Gran was eyeing her, her brow wrinkled. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get so passionate just then. I just think it’s sad when things get neglected or abandoned, especially when it affects the livelihood of a village.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“I guess that’s partly why I was always keen to help at Hooper’s Manor. I know the village there depends on the tourist trade, and it helps everyone to keep the manor house open for visitors.”
Gran studied her for a long moment. “How long are you here for, Olivia?”
“As long as you need me.” She shrugged. “I made sure I got a flight with the option to have a flexible return. I’m fine as long as my return flight occurs by New Year’s Eve.”
“New Year’s?” Gran huffed. “I’m not the invalid your mother obviously thinks I am.”
“She cares about you, Gran. She—we—love you.” It never hurt to throw that word in.
“And you don’t have a job to return to?”
Hadn’t she said this to Gran already? Perhaps it was just as well she was here for a while, considering Gran was having trouble remembering things. “Not at the moment. I’ll need to find a new school to work at when I return, seeing I might’ve burned a few bridges on my way out.”
She told her about the dramatic desk clearing, which drew a chuckle. “It’s good to go where you’re celebrated, not just tolerated.”
“Amen.”
“Hmm.”
Gran kept eyeing her with that gaze that said she was considering something, but what that something was, she didn’t know. Then Gran’s phone buzzed.
