Page 10 of A Scottish Love Story
‘I did think it was a good idea, honestly,’ Jenny said with a grin. ‘But as it happened, we benefitted too because dear Aunt Amy gave us the bed as well as the bedside cabinets! It had been her spare bedroom, you see.’
‘So that means you don’t have a spare bedroom now, then?’ Roxie looked anxiously at Amy.
‘I don’t need one, dear. Most of my friends live near enough to visit for an afternoon and that is usually long enough. Jenny and Donald were the only people I enjoyed having to stay, and Ciaran has plenty of room for them. He enjoys their company too, especially when Jenny cooks as well, don’t you, son?’
‘I do.’
Amy smiled happily. ‘I have thoroughly enjoyed my day with you all. It is so good to be with young people again, and hear you sparring and teasing and your laughter.’ She reached out and patted Roxie’s knee. ‘Your family’s loss is my gain. I am so glad I didn’t allow Ciaran to persuade me to settle for either of his choices.’
‘So am I!’ Jenny said fervently. ‘Apart from being your chauffeur, Aunt Amy, I think Roxie and I will be friends, and you’re always telling Ciaran and me we can never have too many friends. Now, I had better make a cup of tea before Ciaran has to put on his working clothes again and go to milk his cows.’
Roxie cast Amy an enquiring glance, wondering if the older woman was tired and wanted to leave, but she gave a little smile and shake of her head, indicating she was happy to stay.
‘I will come with you then, Jenny, and lend a hand if I can.’ When they got out of the room, she added in a low teasing voice, ‘Pregnant mums are supposed to take things easy, aren’t they?’
‘Don’t you start.’ Jenny pushed the kettle onto the hot plate of the Aga to boil. ‘Donald has been bad enough. He has his own dental practice and I work as his hygienist-cum-receptionist so he keeps saying he ought to get me some help. They’ll be getting someone in to cover maternity leave, anyway. I’m hoping we shall be able to get a receptionist too, eventually.’
‘How have you been feeling so far?’ Roxie asked, setting out the cups and saucers.
‘Oh, no worries at all on that front. And I don’t even need to travel to work. We live in one of the old Victorian houses in the town and made two of the second-floor rooms into a surgery and waiting room. Patients come in the street door. There is another door to the rest of the house, which we keep locked. We’ve our kitchen-diner with glazed doors onto a large garden at the back. Upstairs we’ve two very large rooms for our own use as a sitting room and dining room. That leaves the four bedrooms and the family bathroom on the third floor. We like it since we gutted it all out and modernised it to suit ourselves. Though it’s not been convenient for Aunt Amy, of course, these past eighteen months, with so many steps everywhere. She has managed the few stairs down into the kitchen a couple of times, though. She’s a lovely lady and has always been generous to me, even when I was young and Mum was alive.’
Chapter 5
‘I’m sure I shall find your aunt a lovely person to work for, Jenny. She has been so warm and kind to me already.’
‘Yes, she has had troubles of her own so she is very understanding,’ Jenny said quietly. ‘You must never tell her you know, but she had twin daughters of her own. They died from meningitis when they were very young. That was before either Ciaran or I were born.’
‘How awful!’ Roxie said. ‘That’s so very sad. I felt sad enough yesterday seeing that little boy and thinking of his sister and his mother... I didn’t think I’d get to sleep last night for reliving the accident, but I slept amazingly well.’
‘Did Aunt Amy make you a hot chocolate with brandy for a bedtime drink?’
‘Yes, she did. She insisted on making it herself for all I’m supposed to be looking after her. She said I deserved it after such a dreadful experience.’
‘After I had seen the news, I phoned to tell Aunt Amy you had had a far more distressing experience at the scene of the crash than we had realised.’
‘It’s not easy to put such things out of your mind when you get time to reflect. You have all been kind and understanding though. I do appreciate it,’ Roxie said sincerely.
* * *
Roxie enjoyed hearing about Amy’s early life. She was always reluctant to interrupt when the older woman felt like reminiscing — she’d been doing lots of that over the course of the ten days Roxie had been at Oaklands. They’d lingered over lunch and Roxie had yet to clear away their pudding dishes when Amy caught sight of a car through the kitchen window.
‘Oh, dear, we’re getting a visit from Joan Smith. She is a new elder from our local church. It must be time for Holy Communion again. Help me through to the sitting room before you answer the door, will you, dear?’ Roxie did as she asked, noticing that she had shoved her wheels out of sight behind the kitchen door. As she was leaving the sitting room, Amy said conspiratorially, ‘If she asks too many personal questions, turn them aside. You will not offend me if you refuse to answer them.’
Roxie showed Joan through to the room where Amy was comfortably seated beside the fire as though she had been there for half an hour or more and had no intention of stirring. Even so, Joan held up her hand. ‘Now don’t get up, Amy. I know you are not very mobile these days.’ Amy rolled her eyes at Roxie as the woman took a seat on the other side of the fire.
‘Would you care for a cup of coffee and a biscuit, Joan?’ Amy asked, knowing their visitor would stay until she had discovered details about Roxie. News always spread rapidly on the local grapevine and the elders of the church, in her experience, liked to know the gossip as much as anyone else, even if it was with the best of intentions.
‘Coffee would be lovely, thank you.’
‘Would you bring a tray with three coffees and a plate of those delicious raisin biscuits you baked, please, Roxie?’
While the coffee was percolating, Roxie quickly put the dishes in the dishwasher and wiped down the countertops to leave the kitchen tidy. She set a tray with the coffee mugs and a plate of biscuits as Amy had requested. Already she had learned to sense her new employer’s mood. She guessed their caller was a person she could accept, but did not regard as a particular friend. Her own first impression was that Joan wanted to be one of the first to meet Amy’s new companion and discover her background, so she was not surprised to be greeted with a question when she entered the room with the tray.
‘Amy tells me you are her new companion? You’re not from our part of the country, are you, Roxanne?’
‘My home is in Derbyshire.’
‘Are you from the town? Did you work in an office?’
