Chapter 53
‘Tell me again how this is going to work?’ said Holly the next morning, as she tried to make sense of the diagram scribbled on the back of a beer mat.
It was the kind of scheme that could only have been cobbled together over a few pints of cider at The Kingsley Arms. Granted, Holly had been stone-cold sober throughout the entire debate, but then she had also been asleep, wedged between Taffy and Jamie in a booth and snoring gently, for at least half of it.
‘Well, when I said we’d hired a van—’ began Taffy.
‘Obviously that was our first mistake,’ said Holly, squinting at the beer mat and angling it back and forth in a search for clarity. Their second clearly being to schedule their official moving day to Elsie’s on the morning after the night before.
‘Look, just follow the arrows. It will work like a dream, and think of all the extra pairs of hands! We move to Elsie’s, leaving our house empty. Then Dan and Grace move into ours. Then we whip across town to pick up Jamie’s stuff, swing by Alice’s and we’ll have them both installed at Grace’s old place by suppertime. Then Tilly is going to have Alice’s place while she works out what to do.’
‘And when you say “we”?’ Holly clarified.
‘Well, obviously you’re not going to be lugging boxes around, are you, my little Moomin? Which is why this is so genius. You can be foreman with the clipboard. Lucy’s looking after the twins. And if you fancy a snooze, then we have Grace and Alice on hand for sensible female input.’ Taffy looked remarkably pleased with himself.
‘The lengths you’ll go to, not to do this by yourself.’ Holly shook her head and smiled.
‘Why be mundane? This is going to be SO much fun,’ Taffy insisted. ‘And I have stickers and labels and marker pens so nothing gets muddled up, plus you get to be Stationery Queen for the day!’
‘Stationary Queen is more like it,’ Holly grumbled, unable to surrender her role in such a momentous occasion. ‘But you’ll pack things up room by room, yes? There’ll be a system? Because otherwise it will end up as total chaos.’
Taffy nodded. ‘We all pack this morning and shuttle boxes this afternoon. We’re organised. Relax. What can possibly go wrong?’
Holly’s mobile chirruped beside her, Grace’s photo lighting up the screen.
‘I’m a raging hypocrite!’ wailed Grace down the line, her normally unruffled self having clearly left the building. ‘All these weeks I’ve been going on at Alice for holding on to so much stuff. I can’t believe it. I’ve just been in the loft for the first time in a decade . . . Oh, Holly, I’m so sorry – it’s going to take weeks to clean this lot out.’
‘What have you got stashed up there, Gracie? Do we need to organise another auction?’ Holly said, pulling a face at Taffy as their plans teetered on the brink of collapse.
‘Nothing fancy enough for an auction,’ confessed Grace, ‘but there’s some nice vintage stuff. And there’s the problem – it’s all muddled in with the crap that could go straight in a skip!’
‘Okay,’ said Holly. Her body might be ungainly, but as the only one of the team without a hangover, her mind was decidedly more sprightly than most. ‘Hang fire a minute, I need to make a call.’
She hung up on Grace and dialled Alice. ‘Hi, Alice. Oh, okay, I’ll whisper. Or maybe take some paracetamol? Listen, I have a proposition for you.’
Five minutes later and Holly was three calls down and looking smug. ‘Day saved,’ she announced to Taffy, who was wrangling a reel of parcel tape and pretending not to eavesdrop. ‘Alice is going to take Grace’s place even with the loft full and there’s a skip turning up in the morning. Anything they want to chuck can go straight in there and Alice can include anything lovely in her pop-up shop. I suggested she work on commission, but they’re going to donate all the proceeds to the Auction Fund. No such zealot as a convert, eh? She seems over the moon at the chance to flex her decluttering skills again. Can you believe, out of all of us, Alice is the only one who’s packed and ready to go?’
‘I can, actually,’ said Taffy with feeling, as he attempted to wrangle enough Bob the Builder merchandise to entertain a small island community into yet another box. ‘Maybe she could work her magic on the twins’ pack-rat habits while she’s on a roll?’
Holly shrugged. ‘Ah, but you’re forgetting they’ve a whole playroom to fill now. I think they’re taking it as a challenge!’ She paused. ‘Is it weird that I’m so pleased Elsie isn’t moving out for a while? I know she’s got this whole thing about professional packers and making the Sarandon Hall team jump to, to get her installed, but part of me keeps hoping she’ll change her mind and stay. Or maybe Celia Price will confound medical science and hang on to the garden suite for a little while longer.’
Taffy sat back on his haunches and said nothing for a moment. ‘Who do you think would find it more stressful, though, with Elsie and two sets of twins in the house? Because that’s what we’re talking about.’
Holly nodded. ‘I know. It’s just—’
‘You still feel like we’re kicking her out, don’t you?’ Taffy said observantly. Even the folder of notarised paperwork had done nothing to dent Holly’s discomfort on that front. ‘You really need to talk to Elsie, because the way she tells it, we’re doing her a favour. She’s even bought new clothes to wow the Sarandon Hall set. I think she’s excited, Holls, like she’s setting out on a new adventure – a chance to rule the roost amongst her peers one last time.’
Holly nodded. ‘This whole merry-go-round with the houses makes it all seem so frivolous though, doesn’t it? Not to mention worrying whether it’s all actually legal and above board?’ She fidgeted slightly as another twinge of backache caught her unawares. Moving house and growing two tiny humans at the same time was hardly a winning combination. The fact that Nineteen was clearly having issues acclimatising to Elsie’s garden and had spent the whole morning thus far with his little snout pressed against the French windows looking in and squealing was hardly helping her quest for composure.
Taffy stood up and walked over to her, dropping down beside her and massaging her lower back. ‘Dan and Grace sublet from us until your lease runs out, or they find their dream wreck to renovate. Alice and Jamie are renting from Grace so they can be love’s young dream with no responsibilities and save a bit of money for when Alice goes part-time. Jamie’s given notice on his rental. And Tilly’s moving into Alice’s. They sorted it last night – caught up in the merry-go-round. But all legal. All above board. And we get to move our family into their for ever home while there’s four of us, not six. Well six, not eight, if you count the porker and the Muttley.’
‘When you put it like that—’ said Holly, leaning into his arms and sighing contentedly. ‘And I don’t have to pack a single box! It does sound kind of perfect.’
‘Perfect. Bonkers. Supportive, yet mildly incestuous,’ Taffy countered.
‘Pretty much perfectly Larkford all over then really,’ mused Holly. She couldn’t help thinking that her maiden attempts at meddling with Lizzie had gone really rather well; bringing Connor and Tilly into the mix had been a stroke of genius if she did say so herself. ‘Speaking of incestuous, do you think Dan will forgive me for hiring Tilly without so much as an interview?’
Seven long hours and several tearful moments later, the entire team were assembled together around Elsie’s kitchen table, demolishing mammoth helpings of fish and chips, washed down with Dom Pérignon or Appletiser.
Dan raised his glass. ‘You’re all bloody wonderful and thank you!’
Taffy guffawed with laughter. This was hardly the sentiment that Dan had been expressing earlier, when Taffy and Jamie had dropped Alice’s sofa on his toe. The entire day had been utterly chaotic and, of course, the romantic notion of having everyone settled in their new homes by bedtime had been a complete fantasy. Instead, they had to settle for the fact that all the furniture and boxes were in the right homes, albeit not necessarily in the right order.
An echoing knock on Elsie’s front door had the pack of dogs barking in greeting. Eric, Coco, Noodle and Doodle swarmed into the hall towards the front door, Nineteen scrabbling to keep up, almost drowning out Elsie’s magisterial cries of ‘Come in, come in!’.
Connor Danes stepped into the hallway and looked utterly disconcerted. ‘Are you sure you’ve got enough dogs in here?’ he called. ‘And don’t any of you ever answer your bloody phones?’ He pushed the door open wider, submitting to his furry greeting to allow his companions to come in behind him. To be fair, it was hard to know who looked more uncomfortable, Derek Landers with his sweaty, rotund face, or Councillor Malcolm Bodley clutching a briefcase to his chest and shying away from Eric’s exuberant attentions and Nineteen’s frenzied squeals of delight. Harry Grant walked in with him, completely calm and unfazed.
The four men entered the kitchen and Grace immediately got to her feet to offer them a drink.
‘Do you think Malcolm Bodley has any idea how ineffectual he is?’ Dan muttered under his breath to Taffy. ‘He’s about as useful as a chocolate teapot when it comes to representing the residents’ wishes, don’t you think?’
‘It’s a pretty thankless task, though, isn’t it?’ Taffy replied. ‘The poor bloke obviously had no idea this would all fall into his lap when he stood for councillor. Besides, he’s up for re-election soon and we’re hardly going to find anyone else around here with the chops to stand up to the man on a voluntary basis.’
‘Hmm,’ said Dan thoughtfully.
Taffy gave him a hard stare. ‘I mean, it’s not like you’re going to throw your hat into the ring, now, is it?’
When Dan didn’t answer, Taffy simply gaped. ‘Councilman Dan?’
Dan grinned. ‘Challenge accepted.’ He clinked his glass against Taffy’s. ‘But keep it under your hat for now. I need to see how Gracie feels about being First Lady of Larkford first.’
‘If I could have your attention for a moment—’ said Malcolm, clearing his throat ineffectually and making barely any difference to the hubbub in the kitchen.
‘Oi! Guys! Shut up and listen!’ said Connor, projecting his voice as if controlling a rowdy rock and roll crowd.
Instant silence and Connor grinned. ‘We’ve been trying to get hold of you all afternoon. We have news!’
Derek Landers stepped forward, every molecule of his corpulent frame screaming with silent antagonism. ‘I have been in constant liaison with my superiors over the last few days. And of course, they in turn have consulted the decision-makers in Westminster. I’m sure you realise that the little publicity stunt you pulled last night is hardly the most professional way to influence policy.’ His tone was pretentious and patronising and he certainly did not respond well to Connor elbowing him in the ribs.
‘Bloody effective, though,’ Connor said, with no regard for his authority whatsoever.
Derek glowered. ‘As I was saying, there appears to be a consensus that the budgetary changes did not receive sufficient consultation in our more rural constituencies.’
‘We did try to tell you that—’ Malcolm cut in weakly, perspiration beading his forehead.
‘Pompous arse,’ muttered Dan, eliciting a small smile on Harry’s otherwise poker face.
Derek simply ignored them both and carried on talking. ‘Now obviously, your efforts last night were appreciated, but please don’t make the mistake of thinking that they were in any way responsible for the adjustments that are now on the table.’
Connor snorted, and for a moment Holly wondered whether he was actually a little bit drunk. Certainly there was a fierce wildness in his eyes that had only been muted before. ‘What the wanker in the suit is trying to say,’ Connor blurted loudly, ‘is that now that people are dying as a direct result of his department’s ignorance and arrogance, they might be prepared to give the situation another look. Not that they did anything wrong or negligent the first time around, of course, when they toyed with people’s lives without getting their facts straight first. Obviously.’ He leaned into Derek’s face, until Malcolm wasn’t the only one breaking out in a sweat. ‘And don’t worry. I have no intention of suing your sorry arse – I don’t think Rachel would have liked that very much. But I have every intention of watching you very closely. One step, one tiny fucking step off message here, Derek, and I can promise you I will see it. Who knows how you might respond to a little press attention of your own?’
Holly was stunned. She wasn’t used to witnessing such overt power plays, let alone over fish and chips. Of course, there was one person in the room who didn’t bat an eyelid. Elsie stood up and quietly walked over to Connor, slipping her arm through his, and resting her head against his shoulder fleetingly. He glanced down at her and nodded, message received and understood.
‘You’ll find we all pull together around here,’ Elsie said, her voice like crystal and her determination equally clear. ‘Not just in times of trouble, but always. You might want to remember that next time you’re looking at one of your woefully misleading spreadsheets. Never make the mistake of reducing us to mere statistics.’
Dan stood up too. ‘I think you’d be surprised how many people outside the M25 feel that way.’
Derek spluttered at the vehemence of his words. ‘Well, perhaps you’ll be happy with what I’m here to offer? There’s to be a discretionary fund offered to each Primary Care Trust, allocated according to rural population. A committee of local GPs and consultants in key areas will decide on its distribution – whether the Air Ambulance, the midwife-led maternity units, or indeed the oncology support teams.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I am assuming you’d like to be represented on the committee?’
Holly, Dan and Taffy exchanged glances – too bloody right they would.
‘I’m in,’ volunteered Dan.
‘And me.’ Grace stood up. ‘I gather that my skillset within the practice management community is somewhat unique.’
‘Unique and indispensable,’ said Harry Grant, the professional voice of reason, carrying composed authority in a roomful of emotion. ‘Mr Landers has kindly appointed me to head up the committee, reporting straight to the Department of Health. And I, for one, would be keen to have as much input from your team as possible. After all, there’s no point finally having an official inside man if your wishes are not being represented by the best talent I can assemble.’ He gave Grace a wink and she blushed prettily.
Holly smiled at her across the table, their gaze locked for a moment at the enormity of what they were hearing; it was everything they’d hoped for and more. Money, yes, but also a chair at the table. A voice with direct access to the decision-makers.
Connor leaned in towards Derek Landers, as though a thought had just occurred to him. ‘And just to clarify, who funds the committee? I know you said they were volunteers, but is this where the budget gets creamed off?’
Derek didn’t even get a chance to answer. ‘Well, let’s nip that one in the bud straight away,’ said Connor. ‘I’ll cover the running costs of this region’s committee. Well, The Hive will. That way every single penny goes to where it’s needed. Deal?’
Holly sat back in her chair and let the discussions ebb and flow around her. Even as Derek and Malcolm were being herded towards the door, she kept thinking that nobody had actually said thank you. Obviously mistakes had been made, and nobody believed that the publicity from the auction had played no part, but at least change was on the horizon. Change for the better, she could only hope. After all, it wouldn’t be long before she was welcoming two new additions to the Larkford family and she longed for them to enter a world of security and comfort.
Taffy pulled up a chair beside her. ‘How you doing there, my little Moomin? This is hardly the peace and quiet that the doctor ordered.’
Holly nodded. ‘Peace and quiet are overrated,’ she said simply, as she watched Dan sweep Elsie off her feet in an attempt to waltz her around the kitchen in celebration. The music was cranked up and champagne corks flew.
‘To moving day!’ cried Alice in exuberant spirits, sloshing fizz from the bottle as she attempted to fill Jamie’s glass and kiss him at the same time.
‘To our inside man!’ called out Taffy, nodding his thanks towards Harry Grant.
‘To making a difference! And to my Rachel!’ added Connor quietly, by no means raining on their parade, but with his eyes shining with unshed tears, barely finishing his toast before Dan could pause mid-fleckle to clap him on the back and pull him into a manly hug.
‘We’ll be okay, won’t we?’ Holly whispered to Taffy, in a moment of vulnerability.
‘I think every single person in this room will make sure of it,’ he said with absolute conviction, resting his hand on her bump and kissing her lightly on the end of her nose.
As the summer evening sunlight faded into pink and rose, and the laughter and conversation in the kitchen spilled out into the garden and across the treetops of Larkford, Holly breathed in the scent of sweet peas and jasmine.
She knew they still had a few hurdles to jump on their way to happy-ever-after. But for the first time in a long time, it felt as though she was finally on the right path to get there. And she was most certainly starting in the right place; there really was no place like home.