Page 65 of Be Less Panda
Mary scowled at her. ‘The last big storm we had, waves were crashing right where you were sitting. You’d have been washed out to sea. I don’t want your sons or anyone else, for that matter, suing me for negligence,’ she said as she picked up the small table that Nancy had been sitting at. ‘And my coffee is not sludgy. People come from miles around to drink it. You should have stuck to tea.’
There was obviously still no love lost between the two women, which made it all the more odd that Nancy was here.
The wind was seriously picking up now. Mary struggled to hold the table as a gust caught it like a sail. Em dashed over to help her.
‘No, no, no,’ Mary said. ‘I’ll manage. I don’t want you to get injured in your condition. Congratulations, by the way.’ Another gust helpfully blew her into the storage area.
Someone else who already knew Em’s news then. ‘Did Nancy tell you?’
’No, I did not.’ Nancy looked quite affronted by the suggestion.
Em picked up the remaining chair and handed it to Mary.
‘Paul at the Gallery whispered it to me a couple of weeks ago.’ Mary said as she put it away and locked up. ‘Is it common knowledge now?’
‘I guess so.’ Em was getting used to her pregnancy being an open secret. How on earth did Paul know? Had Jack let slip something to him as well? But she’d have to follow that up with Jack later. Right now, she needed to persuade Nancy to go home.
‘Why are you here?’ Nancy asked Em. ‘You said you were going straight home after you’d finished the admin?’
‘I thought you could do with a lift home before the rain set in. Mary was concerned about you.’
‘I’m not that fragile. I’m perfectly capable of walking back up to the Grange. I’ve done it in all weathers for the last 70 years. You’re not turning into Nigel, are you? That boy is still desperate to lock me away in an old people’s home.’
Nancy’s eldest son, Nigel, always underestimated his mother’s capabilities from the safety of his home 3,000 miles away in New York. Em, however, didn’t. She was taken aback. She didn’t normally get the rough side of Nancy’s tongue. She was tempted to let her get on with it, but something must be seriously wrong to put her in this mood.
‘It’s nothing to do with age. We’d all struggle to walk back up the hill in this weather. And several trees on the wooded part of the route don’t look stable. Two of them came down last time we had a high wind. I’d never forgive myself if you got struck down by one of them.’
Nancy grudgingly seemed to see the sense in what Em was suggesting. ‘Ok then. Thank you.’
‘The car’s over there by the ticket machine.’ Em said, handing Nancy the keys. ‘I just need to ask Mary something.’
When Nancy was out of earshot, Em turned to Mary. ‘Has she said what’s bothering her?’
‘She wouldn’t tell me anything. But she was reading a letter a few minutes ago.’
‘Was it from Germany?’
‘I’ve no idea, but I did notice it started “My darling Nancy”.‘
‘Is everything ok?’ Em asked Nancy as they drove up the hill back to Dashford Grange.
Nancy debated whether to share any of the many thoughts racing around her head. She didn’t want to be quizzed until she got things straight in her own mind. If there was anyone she was going to share the news with first, it should be Olivia. She would be more helpful in this situation.
‘I’m fine, thank you.’
‘If you’re sure. You don’t seem your usual self to me.’
‘Perhaps it’s the threat of the incoming storm making me feel out of sorts.’ Nancy sensed Em didn’t believe that. She deliberately looked out of the passenger window so Em couldn’t catch her eye.
They continued in silence until Em turned the car into the drive leading up to the Grange.
‘Do you want me to stay with you this afternoon?’ Em offered. ‘I’ve still got plenty of admin work to do.’
That was the last thing Nancy wanted. She’d planned her next step, and it required being left alone to use the laptop in peace.
‘I’ll be fine. You go home and put your feet up. You need to take it much easier now,’ she said, attempting to be her usual cheery self.
Nancy got out of the car and let herself into the house, aware that Em was watching her. She stood on the doorstep and turned back, smiling and waving. Em took the hint and drove away.