Anna suddenly remembered that they were expected at Lucy’s for tea to celebrate the day the three kings reached the manger.
She rang Lucy to explain. ‘Sorry, Lucy, I’ve been held up, we’re coming now, Daisy has arrived unexpectedly and…’
‘Do bring her, the more the merrier,’ Lucy said. ‘Don’t stress, it’s only tea, I’ve nothing spoiling in the oven, see you when you can make it.’
Mattie, still residing in Lucy’s granny annexe, was there for tea when they arrived. She was flushed with excitement to see them, sporting a shocking pink hat secured by a beautiful thirties hatpin, which she assured Freddie was not going through her head.
‘I’m so glad to see you before I go,’ she said. ‘I’m flying out to Spain the day after tomorrow and I have got the builders all lined up to put my cottage in order while I’m gone.’
‘That’s such good news, lucky you to be out there in the sun,’ Anna said. ‘It will be good for you after this.’
‘Can’t wait, it’s so sad here with all the mess the flood left behind, but it will all be put right soon.’ She smiled at Lucy, ‘Your lovely cake shop will be up and running again by the time I get back.’
‘I do hope so,’ Lucy said fervently, before calling everyone to the table where a Gateau des Rois stood in pride of place in the centre, its pastry top sprinkled with gold. ‘Julius rang to say not to expect him, he’s bogged down with something,’ she said cheerfully, and Anna felt disappointed, scolding herself for minding at all.
Freddie was allowed to slice into the Gateau des Rois, which he did with great solemnity. ‘It’s a bit wobbly,’ he said of the first slice.
‘Have you got the king?’ one of Benny’s sisters asked.
To his disappointment, Freddie had not. Lucy cut the rest and it was Mattie who found the king and Daisy who got the queen, two tiny figures hiding in the cake, and the two women wore their paper crowns with pride.
As soon as the boys had finished their tea, they were off on some mission in the playroom, Colin excused himself to go to his study and their two daughters rushed off to get ready to go out.
When they had all gone, Anna told Lucy and Mattie about Cathie. ‘I just thought you should know about it from me,’ she said to their shocked faces, ‘but keep it to yourself… and Colin. With luck the story won’t get far and everything will settle down when Freddie and I have left.’
‘Oh, jealousy,’ said Mattie, ‘always brings danger with it.’
‘Simon is a very attractive and lovely person, but all the same, that’s no way to behave,’ Lucy said. ‘He was married, has a little girl, but I think they broke up, well we’ve never seen her, but they keep friendly for Becky’s sake,’ she went on, not noticing the despondent look on Daisy’s face.
‘That’s right, Becky’s a dear little girl,’ Mattie said. ‘I’ve only seen a photo of her, but I expect she’ll come here more often as she gets older.’
‘So do she and her mother live nearby?’ Daisy asked as if she was making polite conversation and only Anna knew how much she cared.
‘Not too far, Saxmundham way,’ Lucy said. ‘I think the relationship was a mistake from the start, but there was a baby so… they got married.’
‘So… is he divorced now?’ Daisy tried to look as if she didn’t care, but Anna who knew her so well could see how she suffered.
‘Yes, I believe so,’ Lucy said. ‘Anyway, they don’t live together.’
Daisy stayed quiet for the rest of the time they were there, though Mattie kept them entertained with stories of the man she was going to in Spain.
‘We’ve always cared for each other, but we’d have probably killed each other if we’d married. Anyway we were both married to other people, at the time.’ She winked.
‘Mattie, you’re incorrigible,’ Lucy teased her.
The time came to leave, Benny and Freddie were getting tired and fractious, and Anna said Benny could come over to play tomorrow. Anna told Mattie she’d come and say goodbye to her before she left and she, Freddie and Daisy went back in the dark to the castle, driving up the hill to where it stood lit up for all to see. Daisy was silent and Freddie almost asleep.
There was a Land Rover parked outside the flat and as they arrived Simon got out. He opened Anna’s door. ‘I just came round to see how you were and apologise for Cathie’s behaviour,’ he said, his eyes on Daisy.
‘It’s fine, Julius told me all about it,’ Anna said. ‘Come in and have a drink, we’ve just been to tea with Lucy.’
He came in to the flat with them, still apologising for Cathy’s behaviour.
‘It’s over now. And I’m sorry it happened, but let’s forget it. I must get Freddie to bed,’ Anna said, it was past his bedtime, but really she wanted to give Simon and Daisy a chance to be alone
‘Can’t I stay up a bit longer so Simon can play with my toys with me?’ Freddie stifled a yawn.
‘Not now, it’s late and Benny’s coming tomorrow. I’ll read two chapters of your book, so hurry and get into your pyjamas,’ she went with him into his room.
She read to him once he was in bed but he fell asleep long before she got to the end.
As she crossed the hall to the living room, she called out, ‘Do you want to stay for supper, Simon? We could have omelettes and salad.’
‘Thanks… but I can’t, I’m going away tomorrow for a couple of nights and I’ve got a lot to do before I leave.’ He came out to meet her, his hair was all mussed up and there was a dazed look of wonder about him.
‘Another time,’ Anna said.
‘I hope so. I’ll be off now. Shall I say goodnight to Freddie or is he asleep?’ He smiled at her.
‘He’s asleep, I’ll tell him you said goodnight,’ she said, seeing him to the door.
‘Night,’ he said, glancing back towards the living room before going out into the darkness.
Anna shut the door behind him and went into the living room. Daisy was shining.
‘So,’ Anna smiled at her, ‘I feel love in the air, very quick though, you’ve barely met.’ She wondered if this would be another of Daisy’s love affairs, too much expected too soon.
‘Yes, I can’t believe it. We were talking and somehow, well, we kissed and, I don’t know, I’ve often thought I’ve been in love before but not like this.’
‘That’s how it is sometimes,’ Anna said, a small pang in her heart as she thought of Gary and how they’d known at once that they were attracted to each other and now the huge void without him, though to her surprise it didn’t seem as hopeless as it used to.
‘Simon’s going to see his daughter, it’s her birthday,’ Daisy said. ‘He told me about her straightaway, said how important she is to him. He said he’d understand if it upset me, him having a child.’
‘And has it?’ Anna asked her, sitting down on a chair opposite her. Daisy had never been one of those women frantically counting down the years before their childbearing days were over while lying in wait to grab a suitable mate. Her sister had six children and she’d often said if she wanted a baby she could always go and hug one of hers and give it back when it got grouchy.
‘No. It might have done when I was twenty, but not at our age. Like you with Freddie… any decent grown-up man would take on Freddie.’
‘He’s got to be free though and love us,’ Anna felt a little sad that she had not found a dad for him.
*
Daisy left the following day and Anna wondered if she’d have stayed longer if Simon had been there. She promised she’d be back soon, ‘to see how Philly and Sidney’s trip went’, she said, not looking at her.
‘Of course,’ Anna laughed, waving her on her way.
Benny spent the day with them and Anna and Freddie went to say goodbye to Mattie, in the granny flat, when they dropped him back. Mattie gave Freddie one of her old trains.
‘Much better you have it, so it is played with,’ she said, touched by his delight. He ran next door to show Benny and the two women were left alone together. ‘I so enjoyed meeting you, Anna, and I hope we meet again,’ Mattie said. ‘You feel as if you fit here somehow.’
‘We’ve both enjoyed being here,’ Anna said, hit by a sudden pang of sorrow, she and Freddie had loved it here and it was almost time to leave.
Mattie stayed silent a moment, eyes down as if she were deep in thought, before saying gently, ‘When people die young, as your husband did, we carry them in our hearts all our lives. But it can be a long and lonely life if you shut out other people. You have Freddie now and he is a great gift, but he’ll grow up and go off to lead his own life and I wouldn’t like to think of you being alone.’
‘But I have lots of friends,’ Anna said, wondering why Mattie was saying such a thing, she was alone and seemed fine, though she remembered her saying she’d kept up with all her lovers and she was about to go and join one in Spain.
‘I’m sure you do, but you know what I mean. Freddie wanted a dad for Christmas and I think, though he might not quite understand it himself, it also means he wants you to have someone who would be special to you as well.’ She smiled, ‘Say I’m an old fool, love is where you find it, but you have to keep your eyes skinned and not miss it.’
‘I’ll try, Mattie,’ she hugged her goodbye, not saying that her advice was rather far-fetched, but then she did belong to a different generation and saw things from that perspective.