Spring Blossoms at Mill Grange by Jenny Kane (fiction books to read .txt) 📕

too late for a specialist shop to get you a bespoke dress ready.’

Seeing the light in her friend’s eyes dim with a disappointment, Thea was reminded of the Tina she knew before Sam had come along. The girl who was going to marry with all the trimmings, wearing a diamond tiara and a mile-long train. Suddenly, she was determined that, even if the rest of the wedding was on a budget, Tina would get the dress she wanted – and on time. ‘Why don’t we call them? The boutiques, I mean. Find out the availability of time slots for trying on and their estimated turn round time on outfits.’

‘But if I fall in love with a dress and they can’t make it on time that would be awful.’ Tina looked at Sam. ‘I think I’d better stick to the department stores.’

‘And I think you should do what you want for once, and not what you think you ought to do.’ Sam beamed at his future bride. ‘Mabel, would you call the local shops, just on the off chance that our schedule doesn’t daunt them?’

‘My pleasure.’

‘Now I have a question for you, Shaun.’ Sam swallowed. ‘With all the to-ing and fro-ing lately, I haven’t had a chance to ask. I wondered if you’d do me the honour of being my best man.’

‘I’d be delighted.’ Shaun shook his friend’s hand across the table as Tina turned to Thea.

‘Obviously I want you to be my bridesmaid, Thea. And Helen as well, if she wants to. You will do it, won’t you?’

‘Of course!’ Thea smirked. ‘As long as you don’t make us wear pink or peach. I’d look awful, and Helen’s red hair would clash with it something awful!’

‘Talking of Helen,’ Sam gestured towards Mabel’s folder, ‘I don’t suppose there’s a spare piece of paper in there to plan something for her fortieth. What with the Easter egg hunt and open house on the same day, it’s been rather forgotten about.’

‘She might prefer it forgotten.’ Thea wrinkled her nose. ‘She’s got a bit of a thing about turning forty.’

‘Might be different now she’s with Tom.’ Sam tapped his pen against the table. ‘Either way, we can’t let the day go unmarked.’

Mabel turned to the back of the folder and wrote, ‘Helen’s Birthday’, at the top of the page.

*

‘Sorry about that.’

Tom pocketed his phone as he strode back to where Helen was showing Dylan how to hold a trowel in the test trench. ‘Your mum was just checking on you, Dylan.’

‘That’s nice.’ Dylan didn’t look up, his concentration set on the task in hand.

‘She’s bound to be concerned about him settling in.’ Keeping an eye on Dylan, Helen came to join Tom at the corner of the trench.

Tom lowered his voice. ‘I can’t work Sue out. One minute she’s dumping her son for a week without warning – not that I mind having him, but it’s the principle of the thing – and then she’s fussing over him settling in. It isn’t like he hasn’t stayed here before.’

‘Where has she gone on her break?’

‘No idea.’

Dylan looked up, ‘Mum’s with her job friends. Harriet told me.’

‘Your babysitter?’

‘I’m not a baby, Dad!’

‘Okay, your child sitter then.’

‘Yeah. Harriet looks after me when Mum’s out.’

Unease tripped down Tom’s spine. ‘Mum doesn’t go out much though, does she?’

‘Loads.’ Dylan placed the edge of the trowel against the loose soil, and pulled it neatly back. ‘Did I do it right, Helen?’

Puzzled as to why Tom was pulling his phone back from his pocket, Helen joined Dylan in the trench. ‘That was perfect. You’re going to make a fine archaeologist when you grow up.’

‘I want to dig up dinosaurs.’

‘And fossils?’

‘Yes! Big ones like your anonnon… nnomite.’

‘Good for you.’ Helen looked up to see Tom scowling down the phone.

‘Mum likes her work friends now she has a new job.’

‘That’s nice.’

‘Harriet thinks Mum wants a proper family for me. She talks about that a lot.’ Dylan rolled his eyes in a way that made Helen think he was copying it from someone, probably Harriet. ‘I’d much rather talk about dinosaurs or Romans, wouldn’t you?’

Thirty-three

Monday April 6th

Helen stared out of the window as Tina drove her, Thea and Mabel to the wedding boutique for their first dress trying session.

Dylan’s first day at Mill Grange had gone well, but the little boy’s comments about Sue wanting him to be part of a family had hit home. And what with Tom’s popping off to the office to make calls or answer emails every hour or so, none of which he seemed to have a convincing reason for making, Helen had ended the day feeling confused rather than euphoric.

After a day of digging, by the time Dylan went to bed he was exhausted, and the chance to tell him about their relationship had slipped away. Tom had taken his son off for a bedtime story, and hadn’t come back out of the room again.

Over breakfast, Helen had discovered that Tom had fallen asleep next to Dylan. But that information had come too late to stop her having a broken night’s sleep, wondering if Dylan had told Tom that his mum wanted them to be a family again. All night she’d agonised over if that had a bearing on Tom not coming to share her bed.

 Tom still hadn’t told her who’d been calling him on and off all day yesterday, but then she hadn’t asked. She hadn’t wanted to. She supposed it was Sue checking up on Dylan or Tom quizzing Sue on just how often her son was left alone with Harriet. Sometimes she hardly seems to care about Dylan – then others…

A small groan escaped Helen’s lips, causing Thea, sat next to her on the backseat of the car, to turn towards her. ‘You okay? You and Tom told Dylan the good news yet?’

‘No. Yesterday disappeared somehow.’ Not wanting to talk about her unease, which she wasn’t sure she understood anyway, Helen called into the front of the car as Tina pulled into a