‘For all that we didn’t see eye to eye, I would have come to his funeral if Harry hadn’t been so ill. I hated missing it. He was my brother, after all.
‘What on earth are you going to call me?’ Suddenly she was more practical, as she teased, ‘I don’t suppose many girls get their aunt as their mother-in-law. Perhaps you should just call me Sophy as Harry’s girls do?’
‘Save the chit chat for later, Ma,’ Saul advised, coming between them to soften his words by kissing her on the cheeks. ‘Lucy isn’t used to our humidity yet, and she’ll probably pass out on us if we leave her standing out here much longer.’
His mother was instantly apologetic. ‘Lucy, forgive me, in all the excitement I forgot. Yes, you do look dreadfully pale you poor thing. Saul’s told me about the baby…’ Her smile was warmly encouraging. ‘I admit at first I was somewhat surprised—Saul isn’t normally so unorthodox—but after all what could be nicer than getting a niece, a daughter-in-law and a grandchild all at once?’
Chatting away she led the way to her car, smoothing over Lucy’s embarrassment and discomfort, making her feel as though she was indeed very welcome. It went a long way to offsetting the anxiety she had endured during the flight, and as she got into the car Lucy could almost feel the tension draining out of her.
Saul’s mother drove with a competence Lucy envied when she studied the heavy traffic, explaining as she drove that their home was several miles away in a small new township near the coast.
The car’s air-conditioning was blessedly cool after the heat of the airport.
‘How’s Harry?’ Saul questioned his mother as they left the freeway and turned on to a more minor road.
‘Better, but fretting to get back to work—you know what he’s like. Dr Schlinder’s told him he must rest and build up his strength before they can operate.’
She turned to Lucy and said soberly, ‘Harry, my husband, has a problem with two heart valves. He will be having an operation to replace them but Matt Schlinder, our doctor, believes in getting his patients just as fit as he can before putting them in for surgery, and Harry doesn’t have a lot of patience, I’m afraid. Saul being away has made things worse—Saul’s just about the only person he trusts to handle his business affairs properly, which was why he had to come rushing back over here.
‘There were problems on one of the construction sites, and it was heading for a real labour confrontation. Harry was worrying so much I was afraid he would have a relapse. I’m sorry I had to drag Saul away from you like that, virtually in the middle of the night.’ She turned to her son and said affectionately, ‘It was lucky you were able to get that early morning flight, Saul. I was really beginning to panic.’
Lucy glanced across at her husband. He was frowning slightly as he looked out of the window. She hadn’t realised he had left the Manor so hurriedly—was that why he hadn’t contacted her? Could he have been called away that same night that they had made love? Hope clutched tightly at her stomach and then faded away to make room for pain as she remembered that even if by some coincidence Saul had been called away that night he could always have telephoned her, or written to her. He could even have contacted her on his return… But no, if she hadn’t gone up to the Manor and accidentally bumped into him, she doubted that she would ever have seen him again.
‘Nearly there,’ Saul’s mother commented, mistaking her unhappy silence for tiredness.
‘I’ve told the girls definitely no visitors tonight,’ she added, smiling at Lucy. ‘They’re dying to meet you.’ She looked past Lucy to grin at her son. ‘Meryl says you’ve won her twenty dollars. Apparently she bet Christie that much twelve years ago, when you first went over to England, that you’d fallen for Lucy, and now she claims she was right. You’ll find my stepdaughters are inclined to be rather outspoken,’ she told Lucy. ‘An American habit that I still find startling at times. They accuse me of being too British and “buttoned-up” and claim that I’ve brought Saul up the same way, which is why he’s chosen to marry a British girl.’
They were driving through a new township now, and Lucy looked around with interest, wondering if this was the sort of place where she and Saul would eventually make their home.
As yet she had barely thought beyond the initial stages of their marriage, but now she had a bleak picture of the years ahead, empty of love and warmth, and she had to close her eyes against the tears prickling her eyelids.