A Change for the Better? (26 page)

The next day, when Ben, Charlie and John had got back to BW’s office Ben decided to make the call. Unlike many people, Ben couldn’t put off an unpleasant
task;
he preferred to get them out of the way rather than brood on them for days and then still have it to do anyway. He dialled the number of his mother’s mobile, strangely the ring-tone sounded quite normal, not the slightly longer, shriller tone you usually got when calling abroad. They must be making them sound the same he thought idly as it rang. Finally on about the twelfth ring, someone answered, “Hello” the familiar female voice drawled. Ben clenched and unclenched his hands to relieve the tension before he answered.

“Hello Mum, how are you?” he asked.

“Ben, is that you?” Trudy’s vague tones and question immediately got under Ben’s skin – who else would be calling her Mum, there was only him and Lucy! Taking a deep breath he carried on, “Yes, Mum, it’s me. I was wondering how you are, you know, the inner core, peeling layers and all that.”

“Oh, darling, how sweet.
I’m very well now; my layers have been stripped to the core and re-layered in line with the universe. I’m at peace, at one with energy,” she sighed contentedly.

“Umm, great, great” Ben stammered, “so you’ll be heading home soon then, will you? You see, I’ve got quite a big project on and, well, I might have to be away a bit in the future so it might be best if Lucy
were able to come home rather than going from pillar to post” he explained. Trudy trilled with fake laughter and Ben grimaced.

“Oh Ben, how funny you are. When will I be heading home? I’m at home, of course, I’ve been back for over a month. Where on earth did you think I was?” she asked

“I thought you were where you were last time I spoke to you – as you haven’t told me any different.” Ben said, through clenched teeth.

“Well why would I, my dear?” Trudy asked, bemused, “we don’t usually tell each other everything we’re doing.”

“Well, it might have crossed your mind as Lucy, your daughter, is staying with me. She might like to have known her mother was back” Ben was fighting hard to keep his temper.

“Oh” Trudy sounded genuinely surprised, as if the idea had never crossed her mind, which, to be fair, it probably hadn’t, “I’m sure she’s fine with you, anyway Trevor and I needed a bit of space to commune together. Lucy can be quite demanding you know.”

Ben made his decision in that instant. He put the phone down without another word and wrote his mother out of his life. He could cope with her forgetting about him and what he was up to, after all he had many years to get used to it, but Lucy was fourteen. Demanding! All she wanted was a bit of attention from her mum, food to eat, clothes to wear, those sorts of things. Lucy deserved much better than their
mother was prepared to give and Ben would have to find it for her instead. He didn’t know how it would work but Lucy was going to stay with him. She was already doing better than ever before at school, and he wasn’t going to abandon here now, though how the hell he was going to do it he had not a clue – and he had even less idea how he was going to tell Lucy.

“Just tell her” Cliona stormed, “she’ll understand Ben, she knows you’re your Mum’s like” Ben had just shared his news with Katie and Cliona as they sat round Katie’s kitchen table, ostensibly discussing the final details for the fayre but once Lucy had been dispatched with Poppy to start putting jewellery into packets ready for her stall, he’d had to share the recent developments with them.

“Don’t you agree Katie?” Cliona looked to Katie for support.

“I think she will, but it doesn’t mean she won’t be hurt. Mum and Dad used to disappear all over the world and I always had Grandpa and Mo to stay with – and they always told me when they were back but I always felt a bit abandoned if I’m honest – and this is a whole other level. I mean, she’s not travelling she just doesn’t want her back. God, what sort of woman would do that?” she raged and then added, “Sorry Ben, I know she’s your Mum, I just can’t get my head around it.”

“Don’t worry” Ben smiled ruefully, “you’re not saying anything I haven’t already said many times, but that’s me finished with her now. If Lucy wants to stay in touch, that’s fine, but I’ve had it now. I’ll look after Luce, one way or another,” he added determinedly.

“Of course you will” Katie said, patting his arm reassuringly, “she’ll be fine – and you’ve got plenty of friends round here to help you anytime.”

Ben smiled gratefully, he could feel the responsibility on his tensed shoulders but it wasn’t something he was walking away from.

“Anyway,” he started, “enough of that now, let’s talk about something else, like the arrangements for the fayre – which is, in fact, why I’m here!”

Half an hour later they had agreed that Ben and Lucy would come at four o’clock on the Friday to help with the setting up and then Ben would be on hand during Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday with the van to ferry the food from Declan’s to the marquee and in between time he could do odd jobs as required by Katie.

“Within reason” Ben warned as he saw Katie rubbing her hands together with glee. “We’ll see” was all she said, smiling as she stood up, “So anyone for a cup of tea, I think I’ve got some apple pie in the fridge if anyone’s hungry?” Katie offered

Ben needed no further prompting he hadn’t been ready to head home just yet, and not just because of the conversation he was going to have to have with Lucy when he got there. If he was honest he was always reluctant to leave Katie’s flat. He found his eyes resting on the
doorway where Katie and he had kissed after Cliona’s dinner party. After that he had kept his promise to be a friend to Katie whenever she needed one but he couldn’t fool himself any longer that that was all he wanted. Still no point dwelling on it he thought, friends she wanted so a friend he would be.

“Er hello – earth to Ben” Katie broke into his reverie, waving a hand in front of his face.

“Sorry” he laughed, “just thinking about something. What did you say?” Katie decided not to take offence and explained, “I was asking if you’re okay to stay on for a bit longer, Mo and Bert are going to drop in soon and they’d love to see everyone – if you’ve not anything more important to do,” she finished teasingly.

“Well, I suppose I can, if there’s another piece of pie, I could hang on for a bit longer.” Ben countered.

Katie, laughing, cut him another huge slab of pie with a dollop of ice cream which she plonked down in front of him, marvelling at how he managed to eat so much and there wasn’t an ounce of fat on him that she could see – maybe there was a lot to be said for a job that wasn’t entirely office based! Just as Ben was finishing the last mouthful of pie the doorbell went and soon Mo and Bert were bowling through the door and Mo was already in full flow.

“You’ve fixed the door Katie” she said accusingly, “Bert nearly ended up at the back of the house when I told him to give it a good push! Just as well it wasn’t me – I’d have been back in hospital” she laughed, “so what else have you been doing to Tolpuddle?” she eyed Katie with stern eye, belied by the twinkle in it.

“Well” Katie replied, “We’ve given the front room a lick of paint – but that’s about it.”

Mo headed straight back into the hallway and over to the drawing room and flung open the door.

“A lick of paint!
You’ve transformed the room, Katie Kettle – it’s even warm in here.” Mo exclaimed with delight.

“Yes Mo, I did that” Ben appeared at her shoulder and gave her a bear hug.

“Actually you helped Billy the plumber and swore a lot as I recall” Katie teased, “I’m not sure exactly how much work you actually did!” she added as she took a step back to avoid Ben’s playful swipe towards her.

“Well whoever did it – it looks and feels wonderful” Mo said, “and if I wasn’t pining for my kitchen table I’d sit in here with my cup of tea, which I’m sure you were about to offer” she looked at Katie expectantly who knew when to take her cue and led them all back into the flat to get the kettle on.

They were soon all settled at the table as Katie made a huge pot of tea for everyone and Mo caught up on all the news from Cliona and Ben, soon Poppy and Lucy came rushing through the door, like exploding balls of dazzling colours, one blonde head and one dark head bobbing up and down with joy and they were quickly hugging Mo and then finishing up the apple pie between them, a spoon each, straight from the pie dish. Through a mouthful of sweet crumbly pastry Poppy asked the question they had all (
except
Katie & Cliona) been wondering about when Mo would be returning to Tolpuddle. Everyone turned from Poppy to look at Mo expectantly. Mo had been waiting for this moment and always a fan of the dramatic arts she took a deep breath, averted her eyes and said quietly, “Well that’s the thing Poppy, I’m never coming back” Mo waited for the gasp and then added before they jumped to the wrong conclusion, “Not to live anyway”

Katie and Cliona looked at the others as the news sank in that they were both already privy to. Although Katie smiled to herself knowing there was more to come, that Cliona didn’t know either. Mo, as was her way, was feeding them the line enticingly so that they all bit, just as she wanted, and she wasn’t to be disappointed. Poppy was first to react.

“Not coming back?” Poppy repeated, “But why not?”

Mo paused and then in an even tone replied “Well my dear, it wouldn’t be right, would it?
Me, living here, and my husband living at Cheadle House.”
Mo was a study of nonchalance.

“No, no, I suppose …” Poppy started and then stopped, her mouth bobbing open and closed like a goldfish, then she shrieked, “Husband! You just said husband!” she finished accusingly.

Mo chortled as all the faces turned to stare at her one by one in surprise, except for Katie who was greatly enjoying the spectacle.

“Yes, Poppy, I did say husband didn’t I? Bert has asked me to marry him and after much persuasion I said yes – so we’re tying the knot in May and moving into one of the bungalows in the grounds at Cheadle.” Mo explained to her eager audience. The satellite delay soon passed now and in no time everyone was hugging Mo and shaking Bert’s hand with the usual expressions of congratulations.

“So when exactly is the big day?” Cliona asked once everyone had settled down again around the table with a fresh brew in hand.

“Soon I would think” piped up Lucy without thinking.

“Lucy!” Ben chided her, “don’t be rude” Lucy looked up innocently, unaware why it might be rude. Mo, her own shoulders heaving with laughter, cut in “Ben, she’s right dear, at our age we don’t want to be hanging around, do we? We thought the Spring Bank weekend in May.”

“And that’s part of the reason we’re here” Bert added ominously, “Mo has a cunning plan to involve you all – don’t you my love?”

“I do” Mo confirmed, “and it’s no good you all looking in the other direction, you all know me well enough to know I’ll get my own way, one way or another so you may as well accept the fact now!”

They all did know Mo well enough to accept that this was indeed true and so they waited patiently for their instructions. As it turned out it wasn’t too bad, Mo and Bert had arranged to be married in St Paul’s church in Laxley Heath and were planning a fairly hefty knees-up in a marquee on the common afterwards, the original plan of using Cheadle House having to be abandoned as they didn’t have the required licence. Katie, unsurprisingly, had been allocated the food – “but we only want a buffet – lots of lovely things for people to nibble on when they want” Mo explained.

Cliona was to be in charge of entertainment, and had carte blanche to do as she wanted, which Katie thought might be a touch rash, but Cliona looked thrilled. Poppy, with Lucy’s help, was to decorate the marquee and the tables, nothing too tasteful as Mo succinctly put it! Ben was to organise the transport, which at first seemed a fairly simple job as the church was forty yards from the green, but he soon found out he was also expected to get all the invited residents from Cheadle House to Laxley Heath and back again, hopefully all in one piece – as
well as the wedding car to take Mo and Bert to the train station for their honeymoon getaway in Scarborough.

“Ha” laughed Katie as she saw the realisation
sink
in on Ben’s face and his brow crease, “you thought you’d got of lightly didn’t you?” she joked.

“Not at all,” Ben answered, “I was just about to ask if there was anything else I could do.” He said smugly, sitting back and folding his arms in defiance. Mo rubbed her hands together, “Well since you ask Benjamin, my dear, we wondered if you’d consider being Bert’s best man? He has a daughter and she feels a bit uncomfortable to do it and she separated from her husband a few years ago so he can’t do it, and quite honestly I don’t think any of Bert’s friends could stand up for more than five minutes. Old buggers!” she mumbled, without a hint of irony. Ben was somewhat taken aback, he had met Bert a few times now and liked him greatly, but being his best man was something else. Bert could see Ben’s hesitation and as he hadn’t said much until now he decided to add his thoughts, “You see lad, I just need someone to look after the rings, hold me up when the knees start knocking, sign the register – don’t worry, you won’t have to come on the stag night!” Bert chortled; Ben laughed too, “I’d be honoured to be your best man, Bert, really. And don’t be too sure about that stag night either!”