the summer months. ‘When she does, that’s when we really need to worry,’ she said.
Chapter 21
Marigold had been very down. She hadn’t gone into the shop in days, preferring to hide away in the house, trying to do the Sudoku, or staring passively at the television. Dennis decided to take her away for the weekend. The present that Daisy and Suze had given them for Christmas had been on his mind for a while now. He had hoped to go in the spring, but Suze’s wedding had got in the way and Marigold had been much too busy in the shop. But now that Tasha was managing it, Dennis felt it was the right time to go. It was the beginning of August and they both needed a rest. They needed time to be alone together. And Marigold needed something to distract her and lift her spirits. Daisy had assured them she’d look after Nan. Nan had assured them that she didn’t need looking after. Suze was busy settling into married life. She’d barely poked her head round the door since she’d got back from honeymoon.
Dennis drove while Marigold sat in the passenger seat. The hotel was a two-hour drive down the coast. The girls had shown them photos of it. It looked lovely, just the kind of place where they could rest and put aside their worries. They listened to the radio, to old songs that appealed to both of them. Marigold didn’t like rock. She never had. She liked country music and Abba. So Dennis played Magic Radio and they watched the lush green countryside whizz by.
After a while Marigold slipped into a doze. With her eyes closed and her face relaxed, Dennis thought how young she looked. Her brow smooth, her lips parted slightly and, if he wasn’t mistaken, a very small smile curling the corners of her mouth with contentment. Gone was the anxiety that seemed to plague her much of the time nowadays, and in its place was serenity. It gave him pleasure to see her like this and he found himself humming along to the radio.
They arrived at the hotel just before lunch. Dennis parked the car and a porter came to take their suitcase, although they only had one and it wasn’t very big. Marigold was impressed with the building. She liked pretty houses. This one was white with turquoise shutters and a sloping grey-tiled roof, and had a view of the sea. ‘This is nice, isn’t it, Dennis?’ she said, taking his hand. She needed to hold his hand these days. She needed the sense of security that only Dennis could provide.
‘It’s going to be just the thing,’ Dennis replied. ‘It reminds me of the place we once went to near Land’s End. Do you remember?’
Marigold didn’t have a problem with old memories. It was new ones she struggled with. ‘It had blue shutters, didn’t it. I like shutters. They remind me of France.’
‘Would you like me to make you shutters for our house, Goldie?’
Marigold was thrilled. ‘What a lovely idea,’ she said. ‘I’d like that very much. Then I can sit in the garden with my birds and imagine I’m in Provence.’
‘Then I’ll make some and paint them blue, just for you.’
‘I think green would be nicer,’ she said. ‘To go with the garden. Blue is nice by the sea, but we’re surrounded by fields, aren’t we. So green would probably look better.’
‘Then green they’ll be.’
‘Thank you, Dennis,’ she said, smiling up at him.
Her smile made him feel good. It was full of admiration and gratitude, and a childlike wonder, which was a recent happening; she hadn’t smiled like that before. ‘Anything for you, Goldie,’ he said and pulled her close to plant a kiss on her temple.
As soon as they stepped into the hotel they realized what a special present the girls had given them. Everything was decorated in a bright blue and white. From the white walls and blue sofas in the reception area to the blue-and-white-striped bedcover and matching pillows in the bedroom. It was chic and understated and in very good taste. Marigold went out onto the balcony and saw that the flowers on the terrace below were blue as well, as were the parasols shading guests from the sun while they ate their lunch. Her eyes strayed to the fishing boats bobbing about on the water, and beyond, on the far side of the bay, to the smooth green hills that descended all the way down