Chapter 31

31

ONE MONTH LATER

Winter was still putting in an appearance but today, it came with clear, blue skies and sunshine rather than the rain they'd had over the last few days, and the appearance of the first snowdrops in Wildacre Meadow. Bess had made good on her promise to pay regular instalments to her mum and to Malcolm and although she'd only just started, slowly but surely, she was seeing her debt decrease. And she wasn't adding to it, more to the point, which made her proud. She knew if her dad were here, he'd be feeling the same way. She missed him incredibly, she always would, but she was getting to know Malcolm more and more and it was hard to imagine not having him in their lives now. He made her mother so very happy.

A couple of weeks ago, Bess had gone for an appointment to have a routine breast screening. She always got nervous beforehand and this time, Gio had wanted to go with her.

‘This is something I need to do on my own,' she'd told him. The checks had become less frequent as time went on and she hoped this one would come back as clear too but couldn't help being reminded of the day she'd found the lump, the days of worry that came after it and sent her world into a spin. And things with her and Gio were new; she didn't want this to be a part of the beginning of their relationship, not unless it needed to be.

The results had come back this morning and, apart from her mum, Gio had been the first person she'd wanted to tell. She'd come straight here to his place to let him know she'd been given the all-clear again. It hadn't taken long for them to tumble into bed and with a family meet-up on the cards in an hour, Bess finished up in the shower, pulled on her jeans and her pale-blue, roll-neck jumper.

Sitting on the bed, Gio reached out and tugged at the waistband of her jeans to draw her closer. ‘I want to see my brother and his family but I'd rather stay here.' He lifted her jumper and planted a kiss near her belly button, right on the dolphin tattoo.

‘Tempting, but we have to be there.'

He groaned.

‘Your mum is nervous; I think it worked out well that I came over here, gave her a chance to get ready and get her head together.'

Gio pulled on his jeans and a charcoal jumper. Coffee and cake at a café meant he didn't need to dress up. It was a family-friendly, no-frills place, a venue where the kids could be kids and Marianne wouldn't feel too much pressure.

Gio was progressing every day. Now, it seemed that rather than suggesting that a return to the job he loved might not happen, even the doctors had begun to almost say – although they never categorically would – that he was likely to be able to return to full duties if he carried on this upward trajectory. He'd been determined throughout, pushed it when he needed to, taken it easy when that was required. He'd attributed a lot of it to Bess's bossiness and she didn't mind that at all.

When Gio and Bess picked her up, Marianne was no less nervous than she'd been when Bess left the house earlier. Her hands clutched her bag and she was quiet in the passenger seat as they made their way to the café. Gio and Bess tried to keep conversation going but they all did a deep intake of breath when they pulled up in the car park and saw Marco, Saffy and the kids climbing out of their vehicle.

‘Do I look all right?' Marianne's voice shook. She didn't move from the passenger seat.

Gio waved to his brother and while he made his way over, Bess climbed out of the car and opened up Marianne's door. She held out her hand. ‘You look wonderful. You can do this.'

Gio was already hugging his brother and then he moved on to Saffy before picking up Matilda. Bess could hear Billy asking for his turn as they walked over.

‘Hello, Mum.' Marco's gaze had been fixed on Marianne ever since she got out of the car; Bess had been watching him.

Bess felt protective over her lodger, even though that wasn't her right. This meet-up had been a long time coming after Marco came down with a winter bug, as did the kids, and then Saffy had a family emergency with her parents. Marianne had seen for herself over FaceTime that things with Marco's family were tough during the rest of January, she hadn't assumed he was making excuses, and it had given them all a bit of extra time to work up to this day.

‘Thank you for coming.' Marianne stopped a few steps in front of her eldest son.

And Marco opened his arms.

Marianne took a step closer, froze, but then closed the gap fully and fell against him .

Gio scooped Billy up now he'd set Matilda down and Bess introduced herself to Saffy and Matilda.

‘Shall we get the kids settled inside out of the cold?' Saffy suggested. ‘Maybe give them a moment,' she said just to Bess, nodding in the direction of Marianne and Marco.

Gio had already had the same idea and headed for the café and when they caught him and Billy up, he sneaked a look back at his mother and his brother, who were still hugging.

They settled the kids inside and they were given crayons and pads of paper straight away, which Saffy expressed her relief about. But when their grandma came inside, they immediately latched on to her, wanting her to help them draw. An argument nearly erupted as they fought about who got to have Marianne's attentions first so Bess stepped in with Matilda and it seemed to save the day. She felt Gio reach beneath the table to give her knee a squeeze.

After cake and two rounds of coffee for the adults, more paper for the kids to doodle on, Bess and Gio walked with Saffy and the kids to the local park so they could run off some energy. They didn't seem to care that it was freezing cold and it also gave Marco and Marianne a chance to have some time alone.

As the kids played and Saffy policed their time on the seesaw, Gio sat at the picnic bench next to Bess.

‘Today has gone really well,' said Bess. To onlookers, they might have seemed like one big, happy family despite the trust that needed to be re-established. And Bess loved that she was a part of it all.

‘It has. Starting with your good news.' He leaned across and placed a kiss on her temple, his lips warming her up. ‘And the kids love Mum as much as they ever did; I don't think they're too scarred from her past behaviour.'

‘I'm glad. '

Marco, Saffy and the kids were staying in a hotel for a couple of days but Marianne hadn't mentioned what she wanted to happen later. Perhaps she was waiting for the right moment.

Gio had his elbows resting on the tabletop behind them as they watched Billy and Matilda. Soon after he and Bess had got together, they'd talked about kids, whether either of them saw children in their future. Bess had admitted that when she was still in her thirties, she'd realised that every birthday, every time she turned another year older, the possibility was slipping further away. And she'd said that now she was in her forties, it was even more unlikely to happen.

‘I love these two,' Gio admitted as they watched the kids play now.

‘They're pretty amazing.'

He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. ‘We could give it a try. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't then it'll be just us two.'

She loved that he'd whispered those words in her ear. It showed her even more – not that he hadn't told her umpteen times how much he loved her and was glad they'd found their way to each other as more than friends – that he was all in when it came to their relationship.

‘We might be too old, Gio.'

‘Yeah, geriatrics, me and you.'

She grinned. ‘It might be too soon. We only just started dating.'

‘But we've known each other for years.'

‘True.' She loved that she was discovering a new side to this man she'd always valued being in her life. ‘How about we think about it?'

‘I'm okay with that. And the practice we'll need to do, obviously. '

‘Obviously.' She grinned.

‘Uncle Gio, come on the roundabout!' Matilda called over.

‘Auntie Bess, can you push me on the swings?' Billy shouted.

Gio and Bess looked at each other and as they went to their respective duties, Gio climbing on to the roundabout, Bess laughed, ‘Maybe these two will be plenty.'

She went to the swings and Gio bellowed over to her in reply, ‘I think you've got a point.' He looked like he was feeling a bit rough already, whatever he'd eaten and drunk likely churning around as his niece pushed the roundabout, her little legs going as fast as they could as she gave her uncle an experience he wasn't likely to forget in a hurry.

Marco, Saffy, Matilda and Billy came back to Bess's place. Marianne had made chocolate chip cookies for the kids and when she revealed that she wanted to cook a Christmas dinner for them all this evening despite it being well and truly past the festive season, the suggestion was met with a resounding yes. Billy and Matilda wanted to help with the preparations, Bess assured Marianne she was on hand if needed, Saffy said she'd do anything she could to help out too.

As Bess and Gio left the others in the kitchen, they overheard Marco invite Marianne down to their house in a couple of weeks.

Bess snuggled next to Gio on the sofa. ‘This is nice, all of you together.'

‘Yeah, it really is.' She heard a catch in his voice, the sign of emotion she wasn't going to push him to explain because she knew how big this moment had been for all of them.

The kitchen door opened, Marianne came through briefly, ran upstairs and returned with an inky-blue woollen dress.

‘What's going on?' Gio asked.

‘Never you mind, I want to show this to Saffy.' She disappeared with the dress and closed the door behind her .

‘She's hiding something,' said Gio but for once, his voice didn't imply he was worried at all.

‘She bought the dress for a special occasion,' said Bess.

‘What sort of special occasion?'

Bess turned to him. ‘Don't freak out… She has a date.'

‘A date?'

‘With Frank.' She hoped he wasn't going to find this difficult to handle. His mother needed his support and approval. Bess knew that if she didn't get it, Marianne would likely cancel and that would be a shame.

‘Who's Frank?' Gio asked.

‘Frank, who works with The Skylarks,' said Bess. ‘He's a good man. You don't need to worry.'

‘I'm not.'

‘Liar.'

‘You think it's a good idea?'

‘I do.' Perhaps some background might help. ‘They met one evening in town, after one of her meetings; they seemed to hit it off. They've been for coffee, chatted a lot, but this is their first official date. She's nervous, more about what you and Marco will think than anything else.'

He fixed his gaze on Bess. ‘Should I be worried?'

‘I don't think so. I can't guarantee it but my gut feeling is that this is a good thing. Frank is a lovely man, he's had his fair share of heartache, I've no doubt he'll do right by your mum.'

‘I need to talk to her.'

But Bess leapt up when he did and pulled him back towards the sofa. ‘Leave it for now; there's plenty of time to do that.'

When he sat down, Bess sat on his lap to stop him attempting to get up again.

‘This is highly inappropriate with kids in the house, you know.' His hands settled on her hips .

Bess gasped. ‘I didn't think.' But when she tried to move, he held her firm.

‘Good tactic, though,' he praised. ‘Don't mind you stopping me moving this way at all.'

Her lips grazed his, teased him. She couldn't help it. She wished right now that they were alone or that they could sneak off.

‘You know how we could do this sort of thing permanently?' he asked after kissing her with the promise of more. ‘Move in with me; think of the money we'll save.'

‘I don't want to rush.'

‘I think we've waited long enough.' He kissed down her neck. ‘And you know it makes sense.'

‘So you keep telling me.'

‘I've found persistence pays off.' He kissed all the way up her throat and back to her mouth. ‘Figured I should start dropping not-too-subtle hints; it took you long enough to say yes to a date. I need to start asking now if we're ever going to move forwards.'

‘Hasn't anyone ever told you good things come to those who wait?'

He groaned with the frustration that they were alone in the room but likely to be interrupted at any given moment. ‘We need to take this upstairs.'

‘With your family here?' She laughed.

‘We'll have a while. They're too busy eating cookies and talking about dresses and roast dinners to care.'

‘You obviously have no idea how kids' minds work. They'll lose interest and seek you out.'

‘How about we take the risk? Imagine this is our last day on earth; would you turn me down then?'

Bess giggled. ‘Not a chance.'

He stood up, Bess still on his lap, her legs wrapped around him. It was as if he was practising what it would be like to go back to work and take the stairs with the weight of a body in his arms.

And Bess didn't mind one little bit that he'd chosen her as his first rescue because she knew now that with Gio by her side, she really was living life to the full.