Page 17 of A Scottish Love Story
‘It is wonderful to know the wee boy is being well cared for. You deserve their thanks, Roxie. It is good you have heard from the family,’ Amy said warmly.
‘It is. I think we all wondered how things would work out after we saw how awful it was on the news,’ Ciaran said.
‘I wondered if the driver would even survive. His mother has included her own address, so I shall send a note to let her know I received her letter and thank her,’ Roxie said.
Chapter 7
It was Christmas Eve morning and Roxie was doing as much preparing as she could for the Christmas dinner the following day, peeling the vegetables, making stuffing, checking ingredients for bread sauce and gravy. Then she spent time making the starter with finely grated orange and lemon rind, and squeezing the juice into a bowl ready for the neat round melon balls she was making out of the two melons they had bought at the supermarket in town. She was glad Amy already possessed a melon scooper so she could make neat little balls rather than simply dicing the melon into small chunks. Sometimes she wished she had brought some of the kitchen gadgets she’d had at home, especially now she knew she had free rein with cooking. Amy always seemed to appreciate her efforts. Jenny had said her aunt Amy had enjoyed cooking herself when she’d been fit and well, so she appreciated appetising meals. Roxie brushed away a tear as she remembered how her dad had always praised her efforts when she had made one of his special favourites. She wondered whether Gilda would learn to cook for Tommy and if she would make use of the utensils Roxie had bought. It would be even better if Tommy had a go at learning to cook, too.
She sighed as she thought of last Christmas. She swallowed the hard lump in her throat when she thought of her father, and how happy and content they had been. So much had happened since then. She had begun to think she was not even going to receive a Christmas card until one arrived that morning, the very last post before Christmas. It was Tommy’s writing on the envelope and a first-class stamp. Inside it said simply,from Tommy and Gilda, and, in brackets underneath, in Gilda’s tiny writing,My parents are spending Christmas with us. Roxie felt it was obvious she had not expected, or wanted, Roxie back atWillowbrook for Christmas. She had wondered about sending Christmas gifts, but was glad now that she had set that thought aside. In her heart she felt Gilda would be happy if she never returned to the home she had known for almost a quarter of a century.
She would need to go back some time to retrieve the rest of her clothes and other possessions, including the painting and the precious smaller items of antique furniture her maternal grandmother had left her. She had stored everything safely in her bedroom and there were plenty of rooms at Willowbrook so her room would certainly not be needed, except by herself, when she eventually returned for a visit. If she did decide to go to university next September, she would have enough money to buy a small flat, even though she had only received a third of the money so far. She would clear out her bedroom at Willowbrook then. The strange thing was, she felt so happy and settled here with Amy she couldn’t visualise uprooting herself again for a while. She remembered how delightfully warm and secure she had felt in Ciaran’s arms when he’d carried her the few steps to the Land Rover. Privately she admitted she was more than a bit attracted to him.
Amy came through to the kitchen, leaning heavily on her wheels. She often came to sit at the table to chat companionably while Roxie worked. Today she had glimpsed Roxie’s expression through the open door as she passed on her way from the cloakroom.
‘Are the preparations for Christmas bringing back memories and making you feel a bit homesick, lassie?’ she asked in her kindly voice.
‘I was thinking of last Christmas and how much has changed since then,’ Roxie replied. ‘But I can’t say truthfully that I’m homesick to go back. I would never have believed how much at home I feel here, and in so short a time. I sometimes pinchmyself and wonder if I once had another life and lived here then.’ She gave a whimsical smile. ‘You have made me so welcome.’
‘I am glad you feel like that, Roxie, and I know exactly what you mean. I can scarcely believe we didn’t know of each other’s existence six months ago.’ She gave a little shudder.
‘One of the women Ciaran selected was a widow in her fifties who had been a French teacher. He thought we should have a lot in common because we’d both been teachers. She had no conversation, no hobbies, she didn’t even read a book or a newspaper. She seemed content to watch television the whole day, whatever was on. I was so bored with her company I used to go into the kitchen and do the crossword. She didn’t even make her own bed or tidy her room.’
‘Surely everyone would expect to do that themselves?’
‘Don’t you believe it! She expected Iris to do it, so she was not pleased when she discovered Iris didn’t come to me every day. I believe she was looking for a free retirement home.’ Amy declared this with unusual cynicism. ‘Worst of all was her driving. I was petrified even driving as far as the kirk with her. I simply had to tell her she wasn’t suitable. She phoned Ciaran because she said he had employed her. Fortunately, he knows I don’t complain without reason. He agreed she had to go. He paid her an extra month’s wages out of his own pocket, as well as a month in lieu of notice, so there would be no trouble.’
‘Gosh! Did she take it?’
‘She certainly did. So, you see, my dear, Roxie, I’m sure my guardian angel brought me you. I am so pleased I didn’t listen to Ciaran’s other choices. He agrees with me now he sees how well we get on together and how you’ve cheered me up. I know he had the best of intentions and he genuinely cares about me.’
‘Yes, I can see he cares very much,’ Roxie said gently.
‘At the farm he has made a room downstairs into a bedroom and put a shower in the cloakroom next door to it, so that Ican stay there anytime. I have stayed once or twice for various reasons, but he is out working most of the day so I’m better up here where everything is on one level and more compact. Ciaran bought me the wheels to help me get around more safely.’
‘I think you manage splendidly. Now, I think I have done all the preparing I can do ready for tomorrow, but I would like to make some mince pies after we have had our lunch, then I will set the dining room table.’
‘Is that the melon cocktail you’ve made? Can I have a wee taste?’
‘Of course you can.’ Roxie put some into a small dish and passed her a spoon.
‘It’s delicious — so refreshing. We must get out the small crystal bowls to serve it in. They are in the sideboard in the dining room. They belonged to my mother. They’re very pretty and ideal for this starter. You will find a jar of maraschino cherries in the drinks cupboard too if you want to put one on top of each dish tomorrow. It is Christmas!’ she added with a happy laugh. ‘I think this is going to be the best Christmas I have had in a long time, Roxanne Carr, my dear young friend.’
* * *
Ciaran collected them that evening to go to the carol service. They thought they were in good time, but there were already a lot of cars there so Ciaran dropped them off at the gate into the church and went to park.
‘Take your time, but get a seat. I will soon find you.’ So, Amy leaned on her stick and Roxie’s arm as they made their way slowly inside. The old building looked lovely with the coloured lights of the large Christmas tree. On a small table in front of the altar there was a nativity scene with a beautifully thatched roof to the stable. A small light discreetly hidden inside, illuminated Mary in a blue dress and a tiny baby in a manger with theanimals round about. Behind it all, a light, in the form of a star, shone down on three kings making their way towards the stable.
‘How lovely it is.’ Roxie helped Amy into her chosen seat.
‘Sit near the end with a space between us so we can save a place for Ciaran,’ Amy whispered, before she looked up with a smile and a nod at two older women. Roxie guessed they had intended sharing their seat, but they smiled back and moved on to another one. ‘There is usually a good turnout for the Christmas Eve carol service, but there are always enough seats for everyone, except when there is a big funeral of someone very popular.’
It did not take Ciaran long to find them and Roxie stood up to let him pass, but he shook his head, indicating she should move closer to his mother. With a smile, he eased himself into the seat close to her.
It was a beautiful service and there was only one of the carols Roxie didn’t know, and she knew the tune so it was easy enough to fit in the words after listening to the first verse. She could not lay claim to being a talented singer, but she had always enjoyed joining in. She was surprised to hear Ciaran singing in a pleasant tenor voice and enjoying singing the familiar carols as much as everyone else. At the end of the service, he stood in the aisle and held his arm for her to link hers through, then he drew her in close to his side and smiled down at her. His mother edged her way from the pew and linked his other arm with a happy smile. One of the older men grinned at him.
‘It looks as though you have your arms full of pretty women tonight, Ciaran. I wish you a merry Christmas, laddie.’
