Lizzie Marshall's Wedding (17 page)

‘She’s coming round,’ a voice said.

‘Thank God.’

Becky recognised Max’s voice and slowly opened her eyes. She was in bed in the Yellow Room at Beckleston Hall. For a moment she thought she’d travelled back in time. This had been her bedroom when she’d lived here, but she saw Max leaning over her, concern evident in his eyes. Dr. White had just stepped back from examining her and Margaret and Victoria were holding one another as if for support, standing across the room, near the window – and she saw that it was dark outside.

‘Lily!’ she shrieked in panic. ‘I must get Lily!’

‘Shush Becky, Lily’s fine,’ Max said softly, then, ‘Jess, she’s awake, you can bring Lily in,’ in a slightly raised voice. ‘She’s okay isn’t she?’ he asked Dr. White.

The doctor nodded. ‘It’ll take a lot more than that to keep our Becky down. Her arm’s badly bruised but I don’t think it’s broken. I’d like to get it x-rayed if it still hurts her tomorrow.’

Jess and Susie appeared at the door and Lily raced from them and tried to scramble onto the bed. Max lifted her up and placed her in Becky’s outstretched arms and Becky hugged her, in spite of the searing pain. Tears rolled down her cheeks, half from the pain and half from relief at holding her daughter.

‘What happened?’ she asked when she finally felt able.

‘You fell into the empty pond,’ Max said brushing what looked like a tear from his eye.

Her memory returned and she glared at Margaret. ‘Then, why am I here?’

‘I brought you here,’ Max said.

‘I think I should leave.’ She tried to sit up but Max gently restrained her.

‘You’ve had a nasty fall and you need to rest. We’ll see how you are in the morning.’

‘I don’t think your mother wants me here.’

‘I do.’ Margaret approached the bed. ‘I’m sorry Becky. It ... it was such a shock, that’s all. I ... I was taking out my bitterness and hatred for someone, on you and that was wrong of me. When you’re feeling better, I’ll explain but for now, please get some rest.’

‘I ... I don’t understand.’

‘Mum will explain it all later Becky. I’m in the dark myself, so I’d quite like an explanation as to why my normally sane, kind and loving parent turned into a harbinger of hell. Would you like something to drink?’

Becky was still confused but Lily was singing her a lullaby and she turned her attention to her child, momentarily ignoring Max. ‘Are you okay sweetheart? Mummy was very silly and she slipped into an empty pond but there’s nothing for you to worry about.’

Lily nodded. ‘I know Mummy. Are we staying here?’

Becky glanced at Max, who was nodding, then at Margaret, then at Jess and Susie. ‘For tonight, I think we are. This used to be my room Lily. I came here when I was your age.’ She saw Max and his mum exchange looks but she ignored them.

‘It’s very big and it’s very pretty. I like yellow.’

‘I do too. It’s called The Yellow Room. All the rooms in this house have names.’

‘Why?’

‘So that you don’t get lost. There are lots and lots of rooms here and you need to know which one you’re in so that other people can find you and so that they don’t get confused.’

‘All pretty colours?’

‘No, only some of them. There’s a room called “The Oak Room” because it has oak panelled walls and there’s “The Queen’s Room” because Queen Elizabeth the First stayed there and –’

‘The Queen!’

‘Yes darling. Not this Queen but one with the same name a long time ago. This house is very old. Oh. There’s a secret passage too.’

Lily sat upright and her eyes opened wide. ‘Can we go and see it?’

Becky realised what she’d said. ‘I ... I don’t know if the new owners would want us to.’

‘A secret passage? The new owners would love you to.’ Max said casting his mother a decisive look. ‘I’d like to see that too but not tonight.’

Jess and Susie came and stood beside the bed. ‘How are you feeling?’ Jess asked. ‘You gave us quite a scare.’

‘Fine, I think, although my arm hurts and my head feels like someone’s been using it as a drum. How did you know where I was?’

‘Max called us,’ Susie said. ‘We went and collected Lily from playgroup and came here. It’s a good thing he saw you fall. You might have been there for hours otherwise. Why did you go towards the pond and not home?’

‘Instinct I guess. I –’

‘Always go to the pond when you’re upset.’ Jess finished her sentence.

Max hovered in the background.

‘You saw me fall?’

He nodded. ‘I came after you. I thought you’d go home so I headed down the drive but I heard you scream and I just saw you disappear into the empty pond. It’s a good thing I got to you when I did. It’s like a quagmire in there. God knows what would ...’ he looked at Lily and stopped then said, ‘You would have been very muddy.’

‘Thank you,’ she said, not fully comprehending that he had actually saved her life.

‘Well, we’ll leave you to rest,’ Margaret said. ‘Again Becky, I am sorry. Jess and Susie, you’re welcome to stay, for as long as you like.’ She smiled apologetically at Becky then she and Victoria left.

‘Do you want me to leave too?’ Max asked.

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘but you two stay, please,’ to Jess and Susie.

Max left without another word.

‘What the hell is going on?’ Jess whispered over Lily’s head.

Becky shook her head. ‘No idea. Could you try and help me sit up please?’

They helped her, and Lily jumped off the bed and danced around the room with her Teddy bear.

Becky smiled lovingly at her daughter. ‘One minute everything is fine and the next Margaret is going mad. I said I grew up here. She yelled about me being a Beckleston and said she never wants a Beckleston in her house. Max walked in just as she collapsed on the floor. I... I ran off in tears. If you’d seen the look she gave me. Pure hatred. And, that’s another thing; Max said he’d be away until tomorrow. Clearly, he’s not quite as honest as he claims to be.’

‘I thought I detected a distinct cooling off on your part,’ Jess said, ‘but you must stop jumping to conclusions Becky. He came back earlier than he’d expected to – and he went to your house before he came here. He said so. And what’s more, the bottom of that pond is like quicksand.’ Jess lowered her voice so that Lily couldn’t hear. ‘You could very easily have died; seriously Becky. Think about that.’

‘So, you really shouldn’t be angry with him. His mum, yes, she’s clearly a loon but him, no,’ Susie said, ‘The good thing is, you can blame it on concussion or something; pretend you didn’t know what you were doing and just say sorry.’

Becky screwed up her eyes. ‘Why do I do that? Jump to conclusions I mean? Could it really have been that serious?’

‘Yes, it could but let’s not dwell on that. I suppose, the reason you do it is because you trusted Jeremy so completely and never doubted him until he let you down so totally; now, you doubt first and trust later. It’s only natural, but you need to stop and think a bit. Max looked really worried, didn’t he Susie? I think I actually saw tears in his eyes before you came to. He was terrified you were badly hurt. This time, I think you do need to apologise.’

‘Okay. I will. What’s the time?’

‘Seven-thirty.’

‘Really? God. I must have been out cold. It’s time for Lily’s bed.’

‘Do you want her to stay here with you? Personally, I think you’d be better off getting some rest. I could take her back and stay at yours, if you like,’ Jess offered. ‘I’ll bring her back first thing tomorrow if you’re going to be staying here for a while. She’ll be fine. You know she will.’

Becky smiled weakly, ‘I’m more worried about how I’ll be without her. Lily darling. I’ve got to stay here just for tonight. Aunt Jess will take you home and stay the night then bring you back tomorrow or you can stay here with me. Which would you prefer?’

‘Stay with you Mummy.’

‘Okay, shall I get her nightie and stuff and bring it back?’

Becky shook her head. ‘She’ll be okay for one night.’

As if on cue, Max knocked on the door. ‘Sorry to interrupt but I remembered Lily goes to bed about now. Shall I take Jess to get some overnight things for her? She can sleep in here with you or there’s one of those fold up beds I can bring in for her.’

Becky caught Jess’s eye and Jess nodded.

‘Thanks Max that would be great if you don’t mind –  taking Jess, I mean. Lily can sleep in this bed. It’s big enough for both of us.’

‘See you in a mo,’ Jess said as she headed off with Max.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Becky slept fitfully. She dreamed she was falling and screaming Max’s name but he wasn’t there to catch her. She woke with a start and almost jumped out of her skin to find him leaning over her.

‘Bad dream?’ he asked. ‘You were screaming something.’

She turned to look at Lily but she was still curled up fast asleep. She let out a long sigh. ‘Very bad dream, you weren’t there to catch me.’

He screwed up his eyes in a look of contrition. ‘I’m so sorry Becky. I –’

‘I meant in my dream; you weren’t there to catch me in my dream. You weren’t to know I’d gone to the pond, earlier.’

‘Jess knew.’

‘Jess has known me most of my life. I owe you an apology. I ... I was angry and stupid and I took it out on you. I’m sorry. You said you weren’t back until Saturday and when I saw you this afternoon, I thought you’d lied. My only excuse – and it’s a poor one, is something Jess said. I trusted Jeremy completely and he utterly deceived me. Now, I assume people have deceived me and I don’t wait for explanations. Can you forgive me?’

Max’s eyes scanned her face. ‘Of course I can – and do. And it’s not a stupid excuse. It’s perfectly understandable. I did say you need to try not to compare me with him, but it’ll take a long time, I understand that. May I just ask you to do one thing? If you’re having doubts about me or you think I’m not telling you the truth, ask me. I promised I won’t lie to you and I won’t.’

Becky smiled. ‘I will. And you saved my life – again. I hear I could have died in the bottom of that pond.’

Max nodded. ‘You could have. That’s my fault. I should have asked Paul to put a fence around it. I just wasn’t thinking. Now I’ll tell you something. I came back early because I managed to get everything done a lot sooner than I’d anticipated. I was going to meet some of the guys for a beer but all I could think about was getting back and seeing you. I thought I’d surprise you. Do you believe in fate?’

Becky shrugged. ‘I don’t really know.’

‘Well, I didn’t – until today. If I had stayed in town, I wouldn’t have seen you fall. Mum has just told me a story about when she was young. I’ll let her tell you tomorrow; she owes you an explanation and I think you’ll be able to forgive the way she behaved when you’ve heard it – or at least, understand why she reacted the way she did – and she is truly sorry about it, by the way. Anyway, it’s about fate and people being in the right place at the right time. Fate put me in the right place at the right time today.’

‘To save me, you mean.’

‘To see you fall. I thought I’d lost you Becky and I never want to experience that feeling again.’ He leant forward and kissed her softly on the lips. ‘Now, try to go back to sleep and don’t worry about me not being there to catch you; I’ll be right here.’

She saw the blanket thrown across the armchair that had been pulled near the bed. ‘How long have you been sitting there?’

‘It doesn’t matter; I won’t leave you.’

‘Max I’ll be fine. Please, go to bed and get some sleep. You can’t sit there all night.’

‘I think you’ll find I can. It’s actually a very comfortable chair.’

See glanced at Lily then shifted her position so that there was space on the bed. ‘If you are determined to stay with me at least come and sleep on the bed. It’ll be a little more comfortable and ... I could really use a hug right now.’

His eyes searched her face then he grabbed the blanket and got onto the bed beside her, lifting her head so that he could wrap his arm around her.

She raised her face to his and looked him straight in the eye. ‘I really am sorry Max. You’ve been so good to me and I’ve behaved like a fool.’

He kissed on her nose. ‘Stop apologising Becky, you have nothing to be sorry for. And please don’t look at me like that or I’ll forget you’re hurt and that Lily’s here and show you just how glad I am that I came back early. Now go to sleep.’ He gently coaxed her head back down onto his chest and stroked her hair until, minutes later, she was asleep.

Becky woke to the sound of her daughter’s dulcet tones. She was singing a very old song about robins and when Becky raised herself up on to her elbow, her heart did a pirouette. Max was holding Lily in his arms and they were peering out of the window down towards the lawn.

‘Shall we go down and see if we can find something for him to eat?’ Max said ‘and we can make Mummy some breakfast for when she wakes up.’

‘Yes please!’ Lily said, one tiny hand resting on his back, the other one resting on his arm.

‘Mummy’s already awake.’

Max and Lily both turned surprised eyes to Becky and smiled simultaneously.

‘Mummy! Mummy! There’s a robin! We’re going to find him some food.’

‘That’s a good idea.’ She smiled at her daughter then at Max and her heart did another little dance. There was something in his eyes, a mixture of relief and contentment and it spoke to her of safety and security and total happiness; something she’d believed, until he had come into her life, she may never find again other than with Lily.

‘How are you feeling?’ he said carrying Lily over to the bed and sitting down with her on his lap.

It was such a simple gesture but it brought a tear to Becky’s eye. ‘Wonderful,’ she said, truthfully. ‘Even the pain in my arm has disappeared.’

He smiled, leant forward and kissed her forehead then stood up taking Lily with him. ‘Come along little princess. Let’s go and get the robin and Mummy some breakfast.’ He strode out of the room telling Lily why it was important to help feed the birds in winter.

Becky gingerly, got out of bed. She did feel wonderful but even she knew not to take any chances. She walked to the bathroom and it was only when she saw her reflection in the mirror that she realised she was wearing what was clearly, one of Max’s shirts – and only that. She dashed back into the bedroom and saw on the ottoman at the foot of the bed, her clothes lain out, washed and dried and ready for her to wear.