Page 38 of Clara's Secret Garden
‘Oh.’ I turn in surprise. ‘Sorry, Lois, I didn’t know youwere planning anything.’
She laughs. ‘I wasn’t.’ She smiles at Gran. ‘Welcome home,Paula.’
‘Thank you, Lois. It’s good to be back.’
Lois nods. ‘This is a new beginning for you, Paula. And inthe spirit of new beginnings, I’d like to mention my own fresh start. I wasjilted a week before my wedding and for a long time, I couldn’t bear to show myface, so I hid away in my bedroom. But then something happened to pull me outof my trough of misery. I met someone lovely.’
She stops and looks around with a smile, and I meet her eyesin astonished but happy surprise.She’s kept this quiet!
‘So this person took me out of myself and made me believethat life might be worth living again.’ Her lip trembles and I’m so happy forher, I just want to go over and hug her. But she’s still talking...
‘I’m over the moon that this amazing person is actually heretoday.’ Her eyes swing to a spot to my right and I glance over in bemusement.
Lois smiles and holds out her hand.
‘Rory.’
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
Confusion roots me to the spot.
What’s going on?
I’m watching the scene unfolding before me, as if in slowmotion.
Lois is smiling at Rory and he’s smiling right back. Andwhen he opens his arms, she walks right into them, happy tears glittering onher lashes.Lois, who would rather die than show herself to be vulnerable,seems overcome with emotion. And Rory is wrapping his big arms around her soprotectively and lovingly that my throat chokes up just watching them.
I’m vaguely aware of the cheering and clapping going onaround me, but my brain is still struggling to connect the dots.
I didn’t even know they’d been talking.
Why didn’t Lois tell me she liked Rory?
They must have started chatting when he mowed the lawnsat our house. I’ve spent all that time these past weeks with Rory, but he nevermentioned Lois to me once.
Looking away from them, I catch Gran’s eye and she stopsclapping, the smile slipping from her face. Hauled back to the present by herworried look, I somehow force a smile and join in with the applause, shruggingat Gran with a comical face, as if to say,Who knew?
She walks over to me and puts her hand around my waist,giving me a little squeeze. And I beam at her as if I’m nothing less thancompletely and utterly delighted for them.
‘I guess it’s time we went on a proper date,’ Rory is saying,looking boyish and happy.
Lois’s smile is flirtatiously coy. ‘I thought you were nevergoing to ask me out. That’s why I had to take action.’
He chuckles. ‘I’m very glad you did.’
‘So where are you taking her, then?’ asks Gran’s friend Pat,who’s smiling and wiping away a tear herself.
‘Somewhere special, I hope?’ says Lois. ‘A Michelin star, atleast.’
Everyone laughs, thinking she’s joking, and Lois shrugs.‘First dates need to be memorable.’
Rory grins. ‘Who needs a Michelin star when the personyou’re with makes you happier than you’ve been in a long time? A bottle of wineon the beach would be good enough for me, as long as you were there to share itwith me.’
There’s a chorus ofaahs,and even Lois goes allmushy at this, cuddling into Rory with a big smile on her face.
I’m smiling so hard, my face is aching, so I quietly excusemyself – whispering to Gran that I’ll be back in a sec – and I retreat to thebathroom. Locking the door, I stare at my reflection in the mirror, clutchingmy stomach as if to try and quell the nausea.
I feel like a whole chapter has been torn out of a book Iwas reading. How didn’t I know that Lois and Rory had been getting to know eachother?
