‘Glad to hear it. OK, I’m going to go now. Be happy, sweetheart.’
OK, maybe just the one tear. ‘Thanks. Bye.’
Ellie carefully blotted her eyes with a tissue. When she looked up again, Jamie had gone.
Moments later there was a knock at the door. She called out, ‘Come in,’ and Tony appeared.
They hugged each other, hard.
Tony drew back finally and surveyed her with pride. ‘Oh sweetheart. I miss my boy so much. And I never thought I’d be saying this, but today is going to be a very good day. It’s going to be… splendid.’
Moved, Ellie straightened his pale gray tie. Tony was still smartly dressed but the last year had taken its toll on him. There was a lot more silver in his hair now. The lines on his face were more pronounced. He put on a brave front, but she knew he’d been working hard on various projects in order to take his mind off the emptiness in his own life. He’d kept the Nevis Street flat on after she’d moved in with Zack, but these days it was a seldom used pied-à-terre with most of his work concentrated in the States.
And Ellie was fairly certain she knew why. He had learned of Henry’s death through the Internet but had respected Martha’s wishes not to resume contact. No one knew better than Tony the power of grief.
‘It will be.’ She brushed a fleck of lint from the shoulder of his morning suit. ‘You’re looking very handsome.’
‘Flatterer.’ Ever the actor, he was adept at hiding his loneliness beneath that ready, charismatic smile. Glancing out of the window, he said, ‘By the way, should pregnant women run around like lunatics?’
He was referring to Roo, her topaz-yellow dress plastered to her impressive seven-month bump as she raced barefoot across the lawn with Lily, Joss, and Elmo in hot pursuit. With her shoes in one hand and Elmo’s favorite new squeaky toy in the other, she was squeaking it wildly, sending Elmo into a frenzy of excitement. The next moment all four of them had hurtled over a flower bed. It was like a kindergarten version of the Grand National.
‘Roo’s fine. It’s good exercise. Did I tell you, she’s got Todd doing 5K runs with her on Saturday mornings?’ Ellie had declined their kind offer to join them, but had nothing but respect for their efforts. Once the baby was born, Roo had her sights set on next year’s London marathon. She turned away from the window to face Tony again. ‘Now listen, can you do me a huge favor?’
His expression softened. ‘Anything.’
‘Everyone here knows pretty much everyone else. But I’ve invited a friend along who doesn’t know anyone at all.’ Ellie pulled a face. ‘Which means she’s going to feel a bit on her own. I was hoping you could kind of look after her. Would that be OK?’
‘Oh God, do I have to?’ Evidently not enthralled, Tony hesitated for only a split second before good manners took over. ‘Sorry, that’s fine, of course I will. Is it someone you used to work with?’
Ellie checked her watch. ‘Come on, she’ll be waiting downstairs. Let’s go and find her, and I’ll introduce you.’
Together they made their way down the impressive staircase. Ellie practiced walking like a bride and not falling off her high heels. In twenty minutes the wedding was scheduled to begin. Tony, her beloved former father-in-law, would escort her into the oak-paneled drawing room where the ceremony was being held, and give her away.
But before that happened, there was one other small thing she had to do.
One other small exciting thing, hopefully.
She led Tony through the door on the left and there was Martha waiting for them, thinner but still beautiful, wearing a flowing Cadbury-purple dress and jacket, and nervously clutching a tray-sized silver gift bag with curly silver and white ribbons trailing from the handles.
Tony stopped dead when he saw her. Ellie let go of his arm and moved discreetly to one side. Martha did her level best to smile over at her but her attention was being dragged towards Tony, who in turn couldn’t tear his gaze away.
‘Martha… my God, you’re here.’
‘Ellie invited me. We’ve been talking things through.’ The lilt and the warmth in her voice was unchanged. ‘She made me see that it was OK. I couldn’t have done it before. Now I can. It’s been a nightmare year.’ Martha paused, her smile hesitant. ‘But I’m on the mend.’