JUST AS SAM was finishing a more thorough examination of Granny June, the ambulance arrived, the crews clearly busy from injuries caused by the worsening weather conditions. It was agreed that they would take Granny June to the hospital, for X-rays on her ankle and to check a minor swelling that had appeared on her elbow, and Bess and her husband Tom appeared as Eloise was getting ready to go with Granny June.
‘We got here as soon as we could.’ Bess was reassured now, by the quiet preparations and Sam’s easy manner. ‘Your grandfather and Celeste are at our place, babysitting.’
Eloise smiled at the thought. ‘No doubt Gramps is having a whale of a time playing with all of Aaron’s toys.’
‘He and Celeste were lining up for a fight with his superheroes when we left. Thank you so much, Eloise. I dread to think what could have happened if she’d been out there any longer...’
Eloise hugged her friend. ‘Then don’t. Granny June’s okay, and that’s all that matters. You’re going with her in the ambulance?’
‘Yes, Tom will follow in his car, and we’ll bring Gran back to our place afterwards.’
‘That’s good. Time for you to go, now...’ Sam was helping the ambulance crew carry Granny June out of the house, and Eloise pressed the door keys into Bess’s hand.
‘Thank you.’ There was time for one last hug and then Bess hurried out to the ambulance.
Tom closed up the cottage, shaking their hands and thanking them, before climbing into his car. It was snowing more heavily now, large flakes dancing in the pools of light along the road. Eloise heaved a sigh, stopping to look.
‘It’s like a chocolate box, isn’t it?’ Sam came to stand beside her, gesturing an acknowledgement of Tom’s wave.
Somewhere along the way she’d lost that. The idea that, on a picture-perfect snowy evening, doors and windows could conceal just warmth and peace. Ever since betrayal and deceit had become a part of her life, it had seemed that it must be everywhere.
‘Yes. It’s a very pretty part of the world.’ Maybe she should trust Sam’s assessment of this situation as well, even if it did seem much harder than trusting his medical judgement.
‘Where will they take June? Is it far?’
‘No, they’ll be taking her to the Community Hospital, it’s only a few miles away. They have X-ray facilities, and can keep her in overnight if there’s any cause for concern.’
Sam nodded. ‘Might be the best thing. She had a shock, and she was very cold by the time we got to her.’
It was Eloise’s turn not to think about what might have happened. If she hadn’t seen Bess’s car, or if Sam hadn’t decided to come with her to the village...
‘Thank you. For being there.’
He smiled, brushing a snowflake from her hair in a sudden gesture that could mean anything. Maybe he hadn’t quite switched off yet, from the tender care that he’d shown for Granny June.
‘I’m glad I was. You’re close to June and Bess?’
Why did that feel like an opportunity to apologise to him, when it was just a question? She’d acted professionally, despite all of her fears for Granny June. Gramps had been right, she did apologise too often, and turning over a new leaf might just as well start with Sam as anyone.
‘Yes. My mother died shortly after I was born, and I used to come up and stay with Gramps and my grandmother during the school holidays. Bess and I used to come here and play a lot.’
He nodded. ‘I’m sorry to hear about your mother.’
It was more of a yearning than anything else. For someone who would belong to her and would support her come what may.
‘Gran filled in for her really well. You know, teenage advice and what to do about boys...’ Maybe Sam didn’t want to hear about that. He was Celeste’s nephew, after all.
‘You must miss her.’
Eloise puffed out a breath, which hung in the air between them until the wind caught it and blew it away.
‘I miss her. Gramps was devastated when she died, but the one thing that the two of them always used to say is that life goes on.’ She turned to Sam. ‘I’m really happy to see him with Celeste. They’re good together.’
Sam nodded. ‘How does your father feel about it? If you don’t mind my asking.’
‘My father remarried and went to Indonesia eight years ago. He and his wife have two young children and they take up most of their attention.’
‘He’s not expressed an opinion, then?’
‘Not that I’ve heard.’ Eloise had tried to keep in contact with her father, but there had always been some excuse about why he couldn’t come to the phone or make a video call, and slowly they’d drifted apart. She’d felt angry and neglected, and then she’d come to terms with the loss, because moving on was one of those things that wasn’t always a choice.
Maybe the cold shiver that ran down her spine was because they were standing outside in the snow. Maybe because Sam’s questions reminded her that she was alone in life, with only Gramps to protect her. Or maybe it was because the warmth in his eyes seemed to hold the kind of understanding that she craved.
‘It’s cold out here. We should get home...’ She grabbed at the first, most obvious, explanation rather than contemplate the other two.
He nodded, pulling his keys from his pocket. ‘Want to drive?’
It was an obvious tease, and she didn’t need to feel grateful that he’d even considered the possibility of giving his car keys back to her. Eloise shot him a smile and headed for the passenger door.
It had occurred to Sam that there was still time to run.
The more time he spent with Eloise, the more he was fascinated by her. Her vulnerability, and how she seemed so alone and hurt. Her warmth and the way she’d cared for her friends. And the way her strength had suddenly shown itself, when it was needed. That had been the biggest turn-on of all, and in allowing himself to even think that way Sam was stepping into the same dangerous territory he’d inhabited with Alice.
It wouldn’t be so difficult to manufacture an excuse about being needed at his practice in London, Paul and Aunt Celeste would insist that he went. It was looking increasingly as if the party wasn’t going to happen, and by tomorrow he might find that it wasn’t so easy to go anywhere.
Instead, he took off his coat. Eloise was drawing the curtains, stopping to look out of the sitting room window.
‘Do you have to be back at work on Monday morning?’
Sam shook his head. ‘No, I’m not due back at the surgery until next Wednesday.’
She nodded, smiling. ‘That’s good. If this keeps up the roads might be blocked over the weekend, but they’re usually cleared within a couple of days. It would be awkward to be stranded up here if you had to work.’
Not quite as awkward as things were now, trying to navigate his way through all of the uncertainties. All of the things that challenged his peace of mind and made him feel that he wanted things that he’d already decided he couldn’t have. But Eloise’s smile, and her apparent pleasure that he wasn’t going to be driving back to London this evening outweighed all of that.
They were both hungry, and there was enough food in the kitchen to feed an army. Eloise went for quick and easy, and half an hour later they sat down at the kitchen table to sausages and mash. One bite was enough to indicate that Eloise hadn’t sacrificed taste for speed.
‘These sausages are great. And the onion gravy’s got to be a secret recipe...’ He couldn’t help grinning at her. Eloise’s response to praise was always a glowing smile, as if she hadn’t expected anyone to notice all of the effort she put into things.
‘The sausages are from one of the farms in the area. And yes, the onion gravy’s a secret recipe so don’t ask me for it.’
‘You’ve put a lot of work into this weekend.’
This time she blushed a little. ‘I wanted everything to be perfect for Gramps and Celeste.’
‘Things haven’t quite gone to plan so far, but it’s not been so bad, has it? When I called Aunt Celeste just now to see how they were doing, she said they were having a wonderful time and that she couldn’t stop and talk because your grandfather was putting Aaron’s train set together. Apparently her supervision is an all-important part of the process.’
Eloise chuckled. ‘They have a lot of fun together. I just hope that everything’s going to be all right tomorrow...’
That doubt again. As if disaster was always waiting, just around the corner.
‘Whatever happens, it’ll be fine. We’ll make it so, eh?’
She hesitated and then smiled. ‘Yes. Thanks.’
They ate in silence, too hungry for much conversation, and then Eloise leaned back in her seat, toying with the last sausage on her plate. ‘You and Celeste are very close, aren’t you?’
Sam nodded, as he swallowed his last mouthful of food. ‘Yes. She did a lot for me and my brother and sister when our parents’ marriage broke up. Provided us with a safe place away from all the conflict. It was a very messy break-up.’
‘I didn’t realise. I shouldn’t have mentioned it...’ Eloise had secrets and she should respect that Sam might well not want to talk about this.
‘It’s okay, it’s all ancient history. I was thirteen when my parents split up, and it had been coming for as long as I can remember. My father wouldn’t accept that my mother wanted to leave him, and he started stalking and harassing her. He’d turn up at the house at all hours of the day and night, and in the end she had to take out a restraining order. Aunt Celeste did the one thing that no one else did and kept speaking to both sides.’ He stretched his arms, rubbing the back of his head. ‘She spoke her mind, of course. Didn’t pull any punches.’
‘Pulling punches doesn’t seem much like Celeste’s style.’
That made him laugh, only there was a trace of bitterness there. Eloise wondered if the sudden haunted look in his eyes mirrored that of her own. It wasn’t pleasant to watch.
‘It’s not her style at all. She loved my father, he was her brother. But she had no hesitation in telling him that he had to stay away from my mother, or in supporting Mum in a practical sense. Or trying to get my father to take some help when he started drinking. I was nineteen when he died, and Aunt Celeste was devastated.’
‘I’m so sorry. That must have been a very difficult loss for both of you.’
‘There were a lot of missed opportunities, but you can’t force someone to take help when they don’t want it. His liver began to fail but he wouldn’t give up drinking. Aunt Celeste helped me come to terms with that too.’
The hurt in his face belied his assertion that this was all in the past. Those wounds still remained, and maybe they always would. Sam was living with something as well, and that made it even more necessary for her to keep some kind of emotional distance while they were trapped in such close proximity to each other. His peace of mind seemed as fragile as hers was.
But she couldn’t help it. She wanted to acknowledge the chaos and pain of his childhood, and her feelings must be showing in her face. Sam’s gaze caught hers, and she saw the lines of tension in his brow soften. He gave a little nod, as if he’d seen her thoughts.
‘Thank you. It’s all a long time ago now.’
It was an effort to break that sweet connection, but Sam clearly didn’t want to say any more. Eloise got to her feet, leaning towards him to pick up his plate.
‘Would you like some dessert?’
He shook his head. ‘Thanks...but shall we wait until Paul and Aunt Celeste are home?’
Gramps had called, saying that Granny June had been released from hospital with a badly sprained ankle, and that she’d be staying with Bess and Tom while she recovered. They’d be home in half an hour.
While Eloise set to work making dinner for them, Sam was making his own preparations. He disappeared into the scullery and she heard him opening and closing drawers and cupboards, obviously looking for something. Before she could go and see what he was doing he reappeared, holding candles, napkins and silver cutlery.
‘I thought we’d eat in here, it’s warmer than the dining room...’
He nodded, starting to arrange the candles at the centre of one end of the long table. ‘Yeah, that’s what I thought too. No reason not to make it nice, eh?’
Eloise smiled. He’d said that he’d help to make the weekend a success, whatever happened, and that clearly wasn’t an empty promise. ‘Shall we break out the champagne, then?’
He thought for a moment and then nodded. ‘Champagne with bangers and mash. I like your style.’
By the time she heard Gramps and Celeste at the front door, the champagne was chilling in an ice bucket. Crystal glasses shone in the candlelight and the bangers and mash was ready to be served on the best plates.
‘It looks great.’ She took a moment to survey the table. ‘You said you’d make things nice for Gramps and Celeste...’
Something flickered in his eyes, the warmth greater than even candlelight could achieve. ‘What makes you think it’s for them? This is for you.’
She caught her breath, but Sam was already gone, out into the hallway to hang up the coats and shepherd Gramps and Celeste through to the kitchen. Hugging the thought that he’d done this for her against her chest like a warm, comforting blanket, she turned back to the range to start serving the food.
There were exclamations of delight from Celeste, along with Gramps’ quiet chuckle of approval. Eloise and Sam sat with them at the table, sipping champagne and eating nibbles while Gramps and Celeste tucked into their meal. It was impossible not to feel that Sam was watching her, and when Eloise turned and mouthed Thank you he smiled.
There was ice-cream for dessert, and then they repaired to the sitting room, taking their glasses with them while Eloise prepared coffee. When she brought the tray in, Gramps smilingly got to his feet.
‘I think this is the right time for my speech, don’t you, Celeste?’
‘Absolutely, Paul.’ Celeste beamed at him in anticipation, although she must already know what he intended to say. ‘Let’s hear it.’
‘Don’t you want to wait until everyone’s here?’ Gramps’ speech had been scheduled for the dinner on Friday evening, which had been planned to welcome everyone.
‘We’re here, Eloise,’ Gramps chided her gently. ‘I think this is the time for it.’
Sam had topped up everyone’s glasses and Aunt Celeste had once again pronounced herself all ears. Paul took two folded sheets of paper from the mantelpiece, and then stood to one side of the hearth.
Sam had been in the audience for more than one of Dr Paul Grant’s lectures, and he normally spoke fluently and entertainingly, without even glancing at his notes. But this time he seemed almost nervous, studying the paper in his hand.
‘Come along, darling. Out with it...’ Aunt Celeste came to the rescue as usual, flashing Paul with an expectant smile. He laughed, putting the paper into his pocket.
‘A toast first. To Celeste, whose questionable judgement has led her to agree to marry me. I’m looking forward to many more years of bad decisions together, darling.’
‘Absolutely!’ Aunt Celeste laughed and took a sip of her champagne. ‘And to Paul, who always knows how to lead a woman astray.’
Bad decisions and leading each other astray suited them both very well. So well, in fact, that it was tempting to make a bad decision all of his own.
Another bad decision. The one to make this meal a little special hadn’t been so bad, that was fun for everyone. Telling Eloise that it had been all for her hadn’t been such a smart move, but it was the truth. She seemed to take every disruption of the plans for the coming weekend so much to heart, and her sudden smile had been so delicious that it was hard to bring himself to regret anything.
The champagne was making his head swim. Or maybe that was just watching her, as she took a sip from her glass. Or being caught watching her, as her gaze found his and a smile sprang to her lips before she looked quickly away again.
Sam turned his attention to Paul, who was already getting on with the first part of his speech.
‘The year is now 1802, and two young men are fresh-faced students at medical school. Aloysius Grant and Henry Douglas became firm friends. The opportunity to quarrel over women never presented itself, in fact it’s said that Aloysius went to some lengths to engineer Henry’s introduction to his future wife. They were young, had all of the advantages that money could provide, and in learning together how to be of service to others a deep affection had been born. What could go wrong...?’
Every member of the Grant and Douglas families knew what had gone wrong. Paul launched into the story of how Aloysius Grant had written a medical paper, which Henry Douglas had debunked. The subsequent quarrel in the medical press had soured their relationship.
‘They’d been inseparable friends, and maybe that was why they argued so bitterly, and never reconciled...’ Paul gave a regretful smile at the ways of the world, and Sam felt his heart jump, as if this story really was something that was new and shocking. Maybe he should take it as a cautionary tale. If you didn’t get too close to someone, then you couldn’t do so much damage to each other. Sam suspected that his history and Eloise’s were an explosive mix, and that they could do a great deal of damage together.
‘Thirty years later when their old alma mater, here in Norfolk, was looking to grow, alumni were invited to contribute to new residences for students. Both Aloysius and Henry responded to the call, but only because each wanted to shame the other. Grant College and Douglas College were built and they still stand today, their sporting and academic rivalry a memorial to two foolish men, who each wanted to outdo the other.’
Eloise was smiling as she turned to Sam. ‘You were at Douglas College?’
Sam hadn’t felt much like following in his father’s footsteps when he’d gone to medical school, and he hadn’t changed his mind about that since. He shook his head.
‘No, I broke with tradition and studied down in London. But there was that one rugby match I rather wished I hadn’t been involved in...’ He turned the corners of his mouth down.
Aunt Celeste chuckled. ‘I thought I did rather a good job on your nose, Sam. Are you telling me you don’t like it?’
‘You did a fine job. It’s far better than it was before, but I didn’t much like being punched in the face by the Grant team’s scrum half.’
Paul was chuckling. ‘I seem to remember there was some concern over there having been a ringer on the team.’
Aunt Celeste’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Vitriol, more like! Sam’s a Grant, isn’t he? So he can play for the team even if he’s not a member of Grant College. I’d like to know what happened to the lad who was supposed to be playing...’
Paul and Aunt Celeste were teasing each other amicably and Sam turned to Eloise, his smile suddenly dying on his lips. Her cheeks were pink with embarrassment and she looked as if she wanted the cushions of the armchair she was sitting in to swallow her up.
There was no opportunity to ask her to explain, not now at least, because Paul had launched into an account of his and Celeste’s progression from rivals to complete and loving accord. Another toast was proposed, to a new era of harmony between the Grants and the Douglases, and all four of them drained their glasses.
Then Eloise seemed to see an opportunity for escape and, before Sam could think of anything to say that might stop her, she was on her feet, collecting the empty cups and glasses and heading for the kitchen.