‘Nightingale here,’ he said in his deep voice. Felicity had told him not to answer with his name as it gave cold callers a perfect way in, but still he did it.
‘Dad, hi. It’s Lily.’
‘Hello, Lily. Your mother’s not here,’ he replied by force of habit.
‘I know that. She’s in Greece.’
‘Ah, yes. Quite so.’
‘I was ringing to make sure you’re okay. Do you need anything at all?’
‘No, thank you. I am perfectly fine. Plenty to be getting on with, you know. I promised your mother that I’d tackle the shed whilst she’s gone. It’s got into a bit of a state. I’ve been to the tip twice already today.’
‘Don’t overdo it, will you?’
‘I’ll have you know that I’m hardly decrepit!’ Her father sounded a little put out.
‘I know that, but you are seventy, Dad. Marco will do the tip run for you. It’s no trouble.’
Her father gave a little harrumph.
‘And have you been to the shops? Do you have plenty to eat?’
‘I have,’ he replied, but then his tone changed to something considerably lighter. ‘It’s amazing what you can get these days. I found a recipe that had something called pak choi in it and blow me but they had it in Tesco.’
‘That’s great, Dad. Did you get some?’
‘I did!’ He sounded so proud. ‘So I’m having beef noodle broth for supper. I’ve always loved Asian food, although your mother’s less keen. She says it’s too wet. I recorded this programme and I’ve written everything down. I’ll watch it over again before I start. I’m really looking forward to it actually.’
‘And have you heard from Mum?’
‘No. Not yet. She’ll ring when she’s good and ready, I expect.’
This surprised Lily. As far as she knew her parents were never apart, never really had been across the forty plus years of their marriage.
‘What’s this all about, Dad?’ Lily asked now. ‘Is Mum okay?’
There was a brief but discernible pause at the other end. ‘She is. This is just something that she had to do. I know it must look odd to you girls but I’m sure she’ll talk to you about it when the time is right.’ Another pause. Lily opened her mouth to say something else but then her father continued, ‘Don’t ask me any more, Lily. It’s for your mother to explain.’
‘All right,’ replied Lily. ‘But you’re okay?’
‘I am perfectly fine. And now, if you’ll excuse me, the shed is calling.’
Lily smiled down the phone. ‘Well, enjoy your beef noodle thing. I’ll ring again tomorrow.’
‘There’s really no need, Lily. I’m perfectly all right on my own.’
You might be, thought Lily, but I’m not.
7
Julia was tempted to order another drink before Sam arrived but she had no reason to be nervous – not really. And she wanted to keep a clear head. She didn’t want to forget anything or agree to anything by accident.
The bar was quiet, as she’d hoped it would be, and she took her glass and made her way to a table by the wall, away from any thoroughfares. It was unlikely that anyone would be eavesdropping on their conversation but she would rather not take any chances. It was going to be a weird enough discussion without worrying that a stranger was listening in.
She had butterflies. It had been so long since she’d been excited about anything enough to give her actual butterflies. It was like being a girl again. This buzz had even woken her up in the night, which was unheard of.
But then, every so often, her adrenaline became mixed with a different emotion as it pumped through her veins: panic. Somewhere at the back of her mind the little voice of reason kept chirping up. What are you doing? How will you afford it? Do you think you can cope? Really?! And what will everyone say? What will Lily say?
Julia hadn’t told Lily. She told her twin everything and yet somehow she had managed not to mention what she was planning; not in any detail anyway. They had mooted the possibility at various points over the last five years but only in a ‘pie in the sky’ kind of way. To be fair, Lily had been surprised but not against the idea, and Julia was sure that she would still support her, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Now that she had decided that this was definitely what she wanted, she felt the need to get all her ducks in a row before she told anyone. Except Sam, of course. Sam had been brilliant about the whole thing so far.
And there he was, strolling into the bar and scanning the room until he spotted her. He raised an arm in casual salute and then went to the bar. A minute later Julia saw him laughing with the barman. He was pushing his thick dark hair away from his face as he spoke and then leaning forward as if the pair of them were sharing a secret. She rolled her eyes. Sam was flirting. Now! When they had so much to discuss. God, the man was incorrigible. She couldn’t blame him, though. The barman was kind of cute in a clean-cut sort of way.
By the time Sam finally wandered across to her his pint was already half drunk.
‘When you’ve quite finished . . .’ laughed Julia.
‘Sorry. Got distracted. I’m all yours now though,’ he said, settling himself in the chair opposite hers. ‘How are you? All good?’
‘Fine, thanks,’ replied Julia. ‘Except my mother seems to have disappeared.’
‘For real? Have you contacted the police?’ His grey eyes were wide and for a moment Julia got a flash of the boy she’d known at school.
‘Well, she’s not disappeared as such. We know where she is. Kefalonia. We just don’t know why she’s gone.’
‘How very intriguing. Has she left your father? Is she having a tawdry affair with a Greek waiter like in Shirley Valentine?’
This possibility hadn’t even crossed Julia’s mind. She considered it now and rejected it. ‘No. Dad seems to be in on it but he’s keeping schtum. It’s all mightily perplexing. Fliss nearly had a fit.’
Sam smirked.
‘She wasn’t best pleased, but mainly because Mum was supposed to be looking after Hugo and hadn’t told her that she wouldn’t be there.’
Sam raised his eyebrows. He might have made some comment about the preciousness of Hugo, but he didn’t need to. They both knew what he was thinking. ‘Well, it’s all happening with the Nightingales at the moment,’ he said simply, and he was right. It was.
Julia took a swig of her wine. It had gone a little warm and was less enjoyable as a result, but she could make do for the time being. She was eager to cut straight to the business in hand and not get distracted by the dramas of the rest of her family. She put the glass down decisively as if to signal a change in the conversational direction.
‘So,’ she began tentatively. ‘Are you sure about this, Sam? You haven’t changed your mind? If you have then that’s totally fine. I’ll completely understand. But please tell me now, so that I know.’ She looked straight into his eyes, searching them for any modicum of doubt, but found none.
‘Of course I haven’t. I didn’t just say yes on a whim, you know.’ His tone was bordering on the offended.