Page 46 of The Inn on Bluebell Lane
“But maybe we could talk about something else,” her mom suggested. “Would you like to do something fun this weekend?”
Jess looked up cautiously. Her mom had seemed too busy and hassled to think about fun. “Like what?” she asked.
“We could go swimming at the pool in Abergavenny,” her mom suggested. “Or even drive into Cardiff and see the sights. I don’t know what they are, but there’s got to be something.”
“There’s a science museum my friend told me about,” Jess ventured. “Techniquest. It sounds kind of cool.”
“Your friend told you?” her mom said, brightening at this news. “Great. Well, maybe we could go there on Saturday.”
“Okay.” Jess knew her mom was trying, and she wanted to try too, and Techniquest did sound cool… but why hadn’t Chloe read her message, never mind replied to it? It was like a slap in the face, and Chloe knew that.
Maybe she should forget about Chloe, she thought with sudden, rebellious defiance. If she was having such a fantastic time with Emily, well, Jess could have a great time with Sophie. She didn’t have to sit around moping and missing her.
“Mom,” she asked, “can I send one more message on my phone?” She knew her mom was strict about not using the phone once it was on charge for the night. “To my friend?” she added, and her mother’s lips twitched.
“Trying to soften me up?” she teased. “I’m glad you’ve made a friend, Jess, and yes, you can message her—just this one time.”
With a quick grin, Jess reached for her phone to message Sophie.
Re the audition—let’s do it!!
CHAPTER 24
GWEN
“Go on, go on, or you’ll miss your reservation!”
Gwen gave Matthew and Ellie a wan smile as she did her best to make her voice cheerful but firm. It was the Friday after she’d started the chemotherapy, and it also happened to be Matthew and Ellie’s sixteenth wedding anniversary. She’d booked them a reservation for dinner at a Michelin-starred inn on the outskirts of the village, and insisted she could manage the children at home.
“Let me do this,” she’d told Ellie when she had, predictably, resisted, concerned for Gwen’s health. “I’m not an invalid. Not yet, anyway. My consultant assured me I have a few more weeks before I’m anything more than a little tired, so I want to enjoy feeling mostly all right while I can. And it will be good to have some time with the children. I do enjoy it.” She gave Ellie a no-nonsense look. “I haven’t spent enough time with them, and I want to, especially while I’m still mostly well.” Even if she did feel tired right down to her bones, a physical exhaustion she’d never felt before, in all her days, like she was walking through a fog. But tiredness was just that, and she could work with it. Get over it. Mostly.
Reluctantly, looking anxious, Ellie had agreed to the plan, and now she and Matthew were dressed up to the nines—Ellie in a little black dress and heels, Matthew sporting a coat and tie—and heading out for dinner.
“Mommy!” Ava cried from behind Gwen, clearly gearing up to cry, and Gwen waved them off even more firmly, staying Ava with one hand on her shoulder.
“Go… just go. We’ll be fine.” She turned to smile down at the little girl. “Won’t we, Ava?”
“Mommy…” Ava’s voice wobbled.
Finally, with one more kiss and hug for Ava, they went, and as the car headed down the lane, Gwen closed the door and turned to the four children looking at her with varying degrees of uncertainty, boredom, and disinterest. She really hadn’t spent enough time with them, she thought, although she’d made a few strides. Now she gave them all a cheerful smile.
“Right… how about pizza for tea?”
“Do we even have pizza?” Jess asked dubiously, arms folded, expression doubtful. She’d seemed a bit more cheerful, or, more accurately, less sullen, in the last week, but her moods still swung like a roundabout, and Gwen was never quite sure what mood was going to greet her at the end of the school day.
“Even better, we have pizza dough,” Gwen told her with the same resolute cheer. She’d dragged herself out of bed to make it that morning, even though she’d been exhausted, every movement making her whole body ache. Still, she’d been determined to do this for her grandchildren, and she still was.
Ava wrinkled her nose. “What do we do with pizza dough?”
“Make pizza, of course!” Gwen replied. “And the best part is, you can decide the toppings yourself. Artisan pizza. Or maybe the right word is bespoke.”
Both words flew over the children’s heads and Ava frowned. “I only like cheese.”
“Then cheese you will have,” Gwen assured her. “Come on, everybody, into the kitchen. We’ll get everything out.”
It didn’t take too much effort to get the children all organized in the kitchen, pounding and rolling the pizza dough with a bit more enthusiasm than they’d first exhibited while Gwen got out the cheese and tomato sauce and various toppings—black olives and red peppers for Jess, who seemed slightly more enthused. Josh said, hesitantly, that he’d try pepperoni, if it wasn’t too much trouble.
“Of course it isn’t, darling,” Gwen assured him. “I bought some salami to cut up just for that purpose, and it’s not too spicy, so I think you might like it.”