Grania came home on Sunday evening. Amelia and Sophie picked her up from the station, Sophie giving up her time at the kennels to welcome her sister home.
For a second Amelia didn’t recognise her. Gone was her long, dark hair, replaced by a short, elfin cut. She seemed taller and thinner but full of life and energy.
‘It’s so good to be back.’ Grania hugged them both. ‘I loved it, but it was time to come home.’ She dumped her bags in the boot and got into the car.
‘So, tell us about Gus,’ Sophie demanded.
‘Give her a moment, love,’ Amelia said, wanting to know herself but not wanting to seem too nosey.
‘Well… where do I start?’ Grania laughed. ‘He’s small, fair and handsome… Not that small, taller than me.’
‘That wouldn’t be difficult.’ Sophie teased.
‘Shut up, you’re jealous, wait until you see him,’ Grania said. ‘Anyway, how’s Dom? You said he’s going to work in the States. You could go too.’
‘I can’t,’ Sophie said with a sigh, explaining his firm’s rules.
‘They can’t stop you going out there to see him.’ Grania said. ‘Gus and I are not sure where we will settle. He has a house in Wales that belonged to his grandfather.’
‘So, when are we going to meet this Adonis?’ Sophie asked.
‘Very soon, I hope. I’m going to join him with his family soon, they live in Kent, then I hope to bring him back with me,’ Grania said.
They had arrived home and Grania went into the house. ‘Home at last,’ she said. ‘I adored India but it’s so good to be home.’
‘Lovely to have you back.’ Amelia wondered how long she would stay.
Exchanging news over supper, Sophie told Grania that their mother had a date.
‘Good on you, Mum, what’s he like?’ Grania turned to her.
‘He’s nice, but nothing special,’ Amelia said, wishing she wasn’t going out with him at all.
‘And it’s Valentine’s Day,’ Sophie teased, winking at her sister.
‘Don’t be silly, he didn’t even know that it was.’ Amelia wondered how she could get out of it. If only Grania would stay a few more days she could use her as an excuse to postpone it, but naturally, she was longing to be with Gus again especially on Valentine’s day, so she left a few days before to join him.
Amelia felt as nervous as an adolescent going on her first date. Though why on earth couldn’t two people of the opposite sex go out together without it being expected to end in some bedroom fiasco? Or was that just her being paranoid?
The difference between them was that David’s previous girlfriend had left him and married someone else, while Esmond, her beloved husband had died and would not, sadly, turn up again in the future saying he’d made a mistake and wanted to be with her again. She suspected, remembering that night after the concert when his ex rang him and told him she was getting married, that David still loved her, and if things did not work out with her new love, they might get back together again.
She knew she was over-stressing about this date, but unless one of them came down with flu, or something, it looked like it was going to happen.
She confided in Vero when she dropped in on her after her day’s teaching. Vero had just got home from the bookshop and was surrounded by boxes of books which had been delivered at her house instead of the shop.
‘It’s a new company, so I hope this is the only mistake they make,’ she grumbled. ‘Anyway, let’s have some tea. There’s the remains of a fruit cake if Ben hasn’t found it.’
‘But you made it quite clear you only wanted to be friends, didn’t you?’ Vero asked when they’d settled, and Amelia had shared her feelings about David.
‘I did, but I don’t know if he took it in or not. It would be Valentine’s Day and bound to be a romantic atmosphere.’
‘Of course.’ Vero laughed. ‘Though you say he didn’t know that it was?’
‘That what he said. Imagine the restaurant all done up with flowers and hearts and lovers all billing and cooing in discreet corners. I just can’t think how to get out of it, or even go somewhere ordinary, perhaps a film, that won’t make such a thing of it.’
‘You have to make it clear from the start that you are happy to have supper with him and just be friends. Definitely no flirting, that always gives them the green light even if you don’t mean it,’ Vero warned.
‘I know. I can’t say I’m ill or he’ll ask why I’m at work and I can’t let my class down by pretending I’ve got flu or something.’ Amelia sighed. ‘If Grania was still here I could have used her as an excuse not to go.’
‘So glad she’s back. You must all come round so we can hear about her adventures. Great she’s brought a man back with her.’
Valentine’s day arrived and David picked her up and they drove to the restaurant. To her relief things felt easy between them and she began to look forward to a good dinner, though she wondered if she shouldn’t make some lighthearted remark about being surrounded by lovers.
It was obvious that the restaurant was intent on making a huge splash, opening on Valentine’s Day. There had been advertisements in the local newspaper, and in some shops, offering a free glass of prosecco, and a red rose, all obviously trying to appeal to lovers to spend the evening with them.
She should have refused the invitation for such an obviously romantic evening. He’d said he hadn’t realised the date, but was that true? The shops had been full of chocolates in red heart-shaped boxes and red roses for ages.
They were driving deep into the countryside now, a thin moon hung above them in the dark sky. She said, ‘I’m sure we could be great friends, David. I don’t want romance. I still miss my husband too much and you have just come out of a long relationship. Let’s be friends.’ She smiled at him. ‘Don’t you think that would suit us best?’
‘So…’ He turned to her, the car lurching on the bend of the road. ‘Let’s get straight to the point. You mean no sex?’
Why was this so difficult, did he expect a night of passion with her in exchange for a good dinner?
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I do. I know we are both adults and have no one – like small children - to hurt but I just want friendship, which as I’ve said is a very special thing.’
He drove on in silence a moment before he said, ‘I’m very attracted to you, Amelia. You are a beautiful woman and I’d like us to have a relationship together. We are both free, after all and can take it further, be more than friends.’
She wanted to say ‘please turn back and take me home’, instead she said, ‘Let’s see what happens but tonight we are just friends, and if you are not happy about it, I’m sorry, but that is how it is.’
There was another long silence and she stared out at the passing hedgerows; each piece lit up as the headlights caught it. They reached the outskirts of the village and he turned down a street and there ahead she saw the restaurant, its name, The Aviary, lit up over the door. What a strange name, she thought. It didn’t look like an aviary, just like any other restaurant, a door with a lamp over it and two large windows either side with a couple of old barrels with obviously fake red roses arranged in them.
They got out and walked over to the door, neither saying anything, Amelia struggling to think of something cheerful to say. He opened the door for her, and they went inside. It was full with a scatter of tables, each occupied by two people and as she had feared decorated in hearts and red balloons. Ahead it was all glass, an aviary, no less, full of colourful parakeets, flying and squawking safely inside, and there, happily settled at a table beside it were Jamie and Wilfred.