Whispers of Love (27 page)

 

‘Telling Aunt Chrissy we would come to Liverpool for the weekend is one thing, actually doing it, is something else!' Kay muttered moodily as she handed her suitcase to Stuart so that he could put it in the boot of his Rover.

‘I thought you would jump at the chance of showing me all your childhood haunts,' he teased, turning to kiss her on the cheek before he slammed the boot shut.

‘I could have done that without staying the weekend with her,' she told him, turning away.

‘You mean you would have preferred simply to drop in for tea, and then be on our way again?' he said as he held the passenger door open for her.

‘That is exactly what I mean!' She settled herself in her seat. ‘Still, it's too late for that now, if you've already agreed we will be staying with her; I only hope you don't live to regret it,' she added ominously.

‘It's not altogether my fault,' Stuart told her as he took his place behind the wheel and switched on the ignition. ‘When she phoned me she said she had already spoken to you
about it at Marlene's wedding, so I thought it was all agreed, and it was simply a case of confirming a suitable date.'

‘That actually goes to prove my point! Get wise to her now while you have the chance. She can be quite smothering.'

‘Are you saying that you didn't make any arrangement to visit her?'

‘I certainly did not. Nor did she ask me to do so,' Kay laughed. ‘She probably knew I wouldn't agree.'

Stuart looked puzzled. ‘Why are you so hostile towards her, Kay?'

‘Oh, I don't know.' Kay's mood was as grey as the day, as she stared out of the car window. ‘I suppose it's because she's always fussed over me so much.'

‘She didn't come across like that to me,' Stuart exclaimed in surprise. ‘She certainly seemed to be very concerned about your welfare.'

‘That's just the point,' Kay sighed. ‘You call it concern, but I think of it as interference. Ever since I can remember, Aunt Chrissy has been there in the background, fussing over me like a mother hen with one only chick.'

‘You mean she brought you up? You never told me that.'

‘Probably because I was trying to forget about it. My mother died when I was about eleven and as Aunt Chrissy was staying with us at the time she stayed on and took care of things. Then, when I was about fourteen, Dad was
killed in a road accident so Aunt Christabel was left in sole charge.'

‘So how did you end up in London?'

‘Marlene and her parents were living there and I used to visit at weekends and stay with them in my school holidays.'

‘Go on!'

‘There's not a lot more to tell except that I failed my Higher School Certificate exams . . .'

‘All because you spent far too much time with Marlene in London instead of at home studying,' Stuart cut in.

‘Aunt Chrissy told you, did she?'

‘No, as a matter of fact, she didn't. I managed to work that much out for myself,' he laughed.

‘And you got it completely right! In fact, I was in London when my exam results came through. Aunt Chrissy told me over the phone that I had failed them all and she sounded so upset that instead of going back and facing a lecture from her I decided the best thing to do would be to find a job and stay in London. You know the rest,' she ended with a wry smile.

‘Your aunt must have been very upset; after all, she must have put her own life on hold in order to stay and look after you.'

‘I suppose she must have done, I never thought about it like that,' Kay agreed reluctantly. ‘My dad was her sister and they got on very well. I know she was terribly upset when he died, and she must have been pretty lonely afterwards. I suppose I should have stayed with
her but, at the time, all I could think of was putting it all behind me and getting away so that I could start afresh.'

‘Which must have been devastating for your aunt after all she'd done for you.'

‘Marlene says she's found herself a boyfriend. Yes, it's true, even at her age,' she laughed when she saw the look of surprise on Stuart's face. ‘Apparently they worked together during the war when she was a nurse and she met him again at the hospital when my dad had his accident.'

As silence descended between them Kay pondered on what Stuart had said. It made her think about her Aunt Christabel in quite a new way and she felt that perhaps she had been thoughtless, unkind even, to have deserted her like she'd done when, as Stuart had pointed out, Aunt Chrissy had obviously changed her whole life to look after her.

She stole a sideways glance at Stuart wondering how she would feel if she had to change her lifestyle and never see him again. She knew she would be heartbroken because she loved him so much and was determined to marry him. She'd never thought about it before but now she wondered if perhaps Aunt Chrissy had forfeited the chance of marrying in order to look after her and her father.

When Aunt Lilian had heard that she was seeing Stuart on a regular basis she'd wanted her to tell Aunt Chrissy about him.

‘Well, at least bring him here so that we can meet him,' she begged when Kay had refused to take him to see Aunt Chrissy. ‘He sounds all right, but there are some very strange people in London, and you are very young and inexperienced.'

Kay had still not done so, preferring to keep him to herself but, in the end, she'd had to give in because Aunt Lilian had insisted that if she wanted to bring him to Marlene's wedding then she and Alex must meet him first.

They'd made quite a party of the occasion so that Stuart wouldn't feel that he was being inspected. Marlene and her prospective husband Bill were there, and Alex had invited people from the film set, and it had turned out to be a very convivial evening.

Afterwards, both Alex and Lilian had said they liked Stuart and kept reminding her that she ought to take him to meet Aunt Chrissy. Aunt Lilian was far too busy with the preparations for Marlene's wedding to follow up her suggestion with any enthusiasm and Kay was happy to let her forget about it.

Kay herself was so involved with work and with Stuart that she'd not checked on whether Aunt Chrissy had accepted an invitation to Marlene's wedding or not and seeing her in the church as they walked in had been a shock. Kay wished she wasn't sitting in a pew behind them. She could feel her eyes on them, studying
her and Stuart, and it made her feel uncomfortable all through the service.

Afterwards, at the reception, when Aunt Chrissy sought them both out, Kay had felt cornered, and knew there was no way at all that she could avoid introducing Stuart to her.

She had to admit that her aunt had seemed to be extremely pleased to see her and hadn't reproached her at all for not keeping in touch. However, having to walk away to fetch the glass of white wine that Aunt Christabel had asked for and leave Stuart chatting to her on his own for a few minutes had been almost as great an ordeal as introducing them to each other in the first place.

They seemed to be on the best of terms when she returned, so she assumed nothing untoward had been said, although she thought Stuart looked at her in a rather puzzled way as she rejoined them.

 

Kay was surprised to find that their weekend in Wallasey was an extremely pleasant one. Aunt Chrissy made them both very welcome. She had put Stuart in the larger of the guest rooms and Kay in her old room, which was at the other end of the long passage.

The weather had brightened up so Kay and Stuart spent Saturday afternoon visiting places she knew in Wallasey and New Brighton. It was the first time he had been there and he was very impressed by the New Brighton Tower
and the fact that it was possible to look across the Mersey at the impressive Liverpool frontage and also far away to the West to see the outline of Mount Snowdon and the Welsh mountain range.

In the evening, Mark joined them for dinner and Kay was surprised to discover what good company he was. Afterwards, they'd all talked until quite late and Kay was intrigued to hear that he had two sons who were older than she was and that he had first known her aunt when she was about her own age.

Up until the moment when she went upstairs to collect her suitcase, the weekend had been surprisingly successful. Christabel knew from the look on Kay's face that she'd been greatly relieved because she'd been very tactful when reminiscing about the past and appeared to have accepted without any argument that she now had a life in London.

She wished with all her heart that Kay would come back home but she knew she had to accept that it would never happen now, not since she'd met Stuart. It was so obvious that they were in love and Christabel had to admit that Mark was right and that Stuart was a very solid sort of chap and would make Kay a good husband.

Christabel waited until next morning when Kay was coming downstairs with her suitcase and then asked her to come into the sitting room so that she could have a private word with her, saying they hadn't had a chance for a talk since
Lewis had died and there were a lot of things they needed to talk about.

She realised the moment she shut the door that Kay thought she was in for a lecture and that she was immediately on her guard.

‘Oh not now, Aunt Chrissy. Please don't ruin the weekend by lecturing me,' Kay protested.

‘I've no intention of doing that, my dear,' Christabel reassured her. ‘It's been lovely having you and Stuart here and I hope that you will both come again very soon. It's just that there are several things that we've got to sort out concerning your father's will and where you stand in regards to this house and everything else.

 

Stuart waited until they were clear of Liverpool, then he pulled over into a layby, switched off the ignition, and turned to face Kay. ‘Right, let's hear what it is, then. What was it your Aunt Christabel said to you that has made you clam up and look as if you'd been told the Stock Market had crashed and you'd lost all your money?'

‘I'm all right, really,' Kay protested.

‘You haven't said a word since we left Wallasey,' Stuart protested. ‘It wasn't because you heard me promise her that we'd come back again soon and that next time we would try and stay much longer, was it? I thought you were both getting on so well with each other by the time we left that you would want to do that.'

‘You're quite right, I do. I'm very pleased that you told her that. In fact, I think I have been rather mean and made her feel unwanted over the last few years. I'm glad she's got such a good friend as Dr Mark Murray, he seems to be such a nice man.'

Stuart looked puzzled. ‘So why such a subdued mood, then?'

‘Aunt Christabel was telling me about my dad's will and about the house and I found it rather upsetting. Look, I don't want to talk about it now. I'll tell you all about it some other time.'

With a feeling of dismay Christabel reread the letter from her sister Lilian which had arrived that morning. It certainly put a dampener on her own plans, she thought wryly.

She was sorry to hear that Alex had died but, remembering his lifestyle and the copious amounts he always ate and drank and how overweight he had been for years, Christabel wasn't all that surprised. She felt sad for Lilian because she'd depended on him so much. It had always been Alex who was the figurehead in their family and who made all the decisions.

Christabel reflected she and Alex had not been on very good terms for a long time, because she'd blamed him and Lilian for the rift between herself and Kay after Lewis had died.

She'd had such high hopes for Kay's future and she'd been planning for her to go to university and make something of her life. She was quite sure that would have happened if it hadn't been for Lilian and Alex encouraging her to visit them in London.

Spending so much time there with Marlene meant that Kay had neglected her studies and
consequently her examination results had been so dire that Kay had been afraid to come home.

It had meant a long estrangement between her and Kay. If Mark hadn't come into her life when Lewis died and been at her side ever since, she wasn't sure how she would have endured not being in touch with Kay because it had left such a dreadful void.

Christabel sighed, remembering how terribly upset and unwanted she'd felt when Kay told her that she was going to marry Stuart. When she'd confided in Mark about it he'd pointed out that since Kay was already leading an independent life it probably wouldn't make very much difference.

‘I know I can't take Kay's place in your heart but I'll always be here for you,' he'd added, taking her in his arms and giving her a reassuring hug.

All that, of course, was in the past and, as Mark was quick to point out whenever she mentioned that she still missed having Kay at home, she now saw her quite regularly.

This was very true and most of the time Christabel knew she was very fortunate that nowadays Kay did keep in touch and included her in her life as much as she possibly could, even though she was still living in London.

Until a couple of years ago, even after they were married, Kay and Stuart had made the journey from London to Wallasey so that they could spend the weekend with her at least once
a month. Since Jill was born they'd not managed to come quite as often. She understood that, of course; travelling with a very young child wasn't easy, there was so much that they had to bring with them.

Not for the first time, Christabel reflected on how lucky she was to have met up with Mark again and to have had him in her life for the past six years. He was not only a calming influence but was also dependable, wise and helpful.

She had Mark to thank for suggesting that since she had nursing experience she might find it interesting to come and work at the clinic that was part of the practice where he worked. It had not only stopped her brooding over Kay's absence but had also provided her with a much-needed income.