When Clo was allowed to come home again, a few days later, Bob phoned Simone, who had settled back into her own home, to tell her.
‘Can you pick them up from hospital?’ he asked. ‘Only I’ve got an important meeting at work and—’
She was startled by the request. ‘Don’t you want to bring your daughter home for the first time yourself?’
‘Of course I do, but it’s just a tad awkward today. My boss is panicking about something.’
‘Well, I’m afraid I can’t help you. I have something else arranged.’
There was dead silence at the other end, then he put on his cajoling voice, ‘Can’t you change it, Ma?’
‘No, Bob, I can’t. And I’m quite sure Clo will want you 326to be with her.’ When he said nothing, she held in her anger, saying only, ‘I have to go now.’
She ended the call then stared at herself in the mirror. Had she really done that? Said a firm no to her persuasive son-in-law? Yes, she had.
‘Good for you!’ she told the woman in the mirror. She wondered where to go to prove she had something arranged, then frowned. She didn’t need to prove it, she could do as she pleased. She’d planned to clear out the kitchen cupboards today.
The Dittons had left everything clean and well-stocked but they’d rearranged many of the cupboards and it was driving her mad going automatically to get something out and not finding it where she expected.
She walked slowly round the house which had once been her pride and joy. It wasn’t a refuge now, didn’t wrap itself round her as it had once seemed to do. In fact she was thinking of moving. This place had too many memories and they cascaded down on her at the most inconvenient times.
The phone rang and she checked who it was before picking it up. Deb, phoning from work.
‘Hi, Ma. Bob just rang to try to get me to pick up Clo from hospital. He said you couldn’t do it.’
‘That’s right.’
‘I told him I couldn’t do it either. If he’s too lazy to take precautions when he’s making love, and doesn’t have time to end his fertility, he can wear the consequences, as far as I’m concerned.’
Simone didn’t know what to say to that. What a turnaround.327
‘You still there, Ma?’
‘Yes. I was a bit surprised at you saying that.’
Deb laughed. ‘I’ve always been able to say no to Bob. He’s Clo’s choice of man not mine. And I have taken it on board that you need to get a life of your own. I still feel guilty when I think of how we took you for granted. You should join a club or take classes or do something different for yourself.’
‘Join a club? Ugh, no thank you!’
‘Whatever. Anyway, I just wanted to congratulate you and tell you that Bob is going to have to pick them up himself from the hospital. He should do more to look after his other two kids as well, if you want my opinion.’
‘What does your husband say to all this? You’ve changed too, you know.’
‘Being Logan, he’s been watching and thinking. I shan’t need to make my point too heavily with him. He was never as bad as Bob and I’m not as much a domestic fanatic as Clo. Oops. Got another call on the line. See you!’
That conversation pleased Simone greatly. But she still felt a bit down about her own situation. She’d grown out of the habit of being on her own so much, thanks to Russ and Fern and Henrietta. And now that she’d caught up with the four older grandchildren, Deb was right: she really had to sort her own life out and do something worthwhile.
But she wasn’t the sort to join clubs, never had been.
What was she the sort for?
It wasn’t until she was in bed that she admitted to herself how much she was missing Russ. Even more than she’d expected to and that was saying something.
Was he still missing her? There had been phone calls from 328him every day. She hadn’t answered them, hadn’t dared.
Henrietta and Elizabeth hadn’t seen him, nor had Fern.
Her parents had been in touch but weren’t coming back for months, it sounded like. And why should they? At their age, they wanted to make the most of every single day. She wished them well, emailed when she could because they rarely seemed to switch on their phones.
She couldn’t help wondering – just a tiny wonder or two, not a decision – whether she’d been right to break up with Russ so completely.
Maybe she should have come back to Australia and kept in touch, letting their relationship cool gradually.
But what if it hadn’t cooled? What would they have done then?
She’d better concentrate on selling the house. That would be her next step. It would take her mind off Russ getting it ready, keep her nice and busy.
Surely a change of surroundings and all the work involved would help?
Only where was she going to move to? She’d been looking at houses and flats and nothing had caught her fancy.
In England, Russ fell into bed late each night, crashing into the sleep of utter exhaustion. Sometimes he didn’t get to bed until the early hours. He still tried to phone and she still didn’t answer. He didn’t want to do this by email. It just wasn’t intimate enough.
He was jubilant about pulling the final programmes together. It was his best work ever. In fact he was, as a friend of his would have said, ‘thrilled skinny’ about what he’d captured on film.329
He was surprised at how well Simone had shown up in the filming, not just her appearance but how she talked once he’d coaxed her into relaxing and simply being herself.
She had an on-camera warmth that viewers would relate to, he was sure. And a way of choosing exactly the right word to describe some situations. She wasn’t glamorous, but who wanted that when there were so many cute little creatures to watch? The fact that she had a wholesome look to her went really well with Mother Nature’s fantastic contributions to his series.
His agent was getting excited about some deal she was cooking up about Henrietta’s capture of the burglars, together with the three episodes now nicely polished about the smaller inhabitants of the grounds of Pennerton House.
Being Sally, she was refusing to give him any details until it was all done and dusted, but that hadn’t stopped her dropping a hint or two.
He’d started off hoping to get everything finished in two weeks, but it was going to be nearer three, dammit.
He was wondering whether to stop phoning Simone, though that would take all his willpower. He was determined to surprise her in person and make utterly sure that she couldn’t avoid speaking to him. He hoped that not hearing from him would make her worry about whether he was all right.
Would she phone him to find out? He doubted it.
But it wouldn’t be long now before he could leave. And when he got there, whatever it took, he’d persuade her to stay with him. He knew she loved him and he wasn’t leaving her again until she’d agreed to take the next step and marry him.330
The Dittons had been helpful. They’d given him some information from their daughter about what she was doing. She sounded to be coping much better with her family these days. From the sounds of it, things had changed and she wasn’t allowing them to take advantage. Good for her.
Oh hell, he was missing her dreadfully. It was as if a part of himself was suddenly not there. How had this happened so quickly?
With a sigh of longing he reluctantly continued his efforts to leave things in good order here so that he didn’t have to rush back once he got to Australia.