Epilogue
One week later
The smell of the barbecue was filling the air at The Brambles and Darla was on tenterhooks waiting for her parents to arrive. It was a warm sunny day with enough breeze to ruffle the leaves in the trees and to make the goats slightly skittish. They loved their new activity centre; there was usually at least one of them on it unless there was food about, then that always took priority.
It was a little gathering of the friends Darla had amassed since she’d moved to Southampton and even she was quite surprised with how many people she knew and could now call her friends. There were lots of people from both her jobs, plus Ros, who was more like family now, so she’d invited her mum, dad and Gazza too. Gazza was busy tailing Elliott, like a little furry bodyguard, as he ferried food from the kitchen. Darla watched Elliott carrying the tray of meat. His muscles were showing nicely under his polo shirt. He was such a lovely man and she was so lucky to have him in her life.
If she could just explain everything to her parents without them wanting to disown her then it would all be perfect. Darla had set up the grill at the side of the house and now the charcoal was lit there were plumes of smoke coming off it and straight into Elliott’s face.
‘It’s a bit windy here so I’m going to move around to the back of the house,’ said Elliott.
‘No, you can’t,’ said Darla. ‘I’ve done kebabs.’
Elliott looked confused. ‘There’s space for everything.’
She pulled him a bit further around the side of the house. ‘They’re chicken kebabs,’ she whispered with a theatrical nod towards the back of the property.
Elliott grinned as realisation struck. ‘You’re worried about upsetting the hens?’
‘I’d be a bit traumatised if you slapped a human toe on there.’
‘I think everyone would be disturbed by that. Including the chickens,’ said Elliott. ‘Okay, how about I turn the barbecue so the smoke blows in the other direction?’
‘Great solution,’ she said, giving him a kiss. They were interrupted by the sound of car wheels on gravel and her stomach felt like it was full of stones.
Ros appeared. ‘I’ll keep an eye on everything here while you speak to them,’ she said, giving Darla a much-needed hug. ‘You’ve got this. And I’ve got you,’ she added.
Darla swallowed hard. ‘Thanks.’ She turned around, slapped on a smile and went to face the reckoning.
***
Ros went on tiptoes to look over the wall and watch Darla greet her parents who seemed impressed by the faded grandeur of The Brambles. She wished she could do more to help but this was something Darla had to do alone. All she could do was be there to support her whatever the outcome. She was fast learning that was what friends were for, and what an important lifeline they were. She felt familiar hands slide around her waist as Cameron hugged her from behind, his hair and then his face appearing at her shoulder. ‘Has the firing squad arrived?’ he asked.
‘Don’t say that! I hope she’s okay. And them too to be fair. It’ll be a bit of a shock. They think she’s been sailing the seven seas trying exotic cuisine when she’s been here living off discounted food from the 7-Eleven.’
‘Come on, get a sausage while they’re hot,’ he said, taking her hand. ‘Elliott is also a Doctor Who fan. Seems like a top bloke to me.’
‘He’s making Darla happy so that’s all that matters.’
‘I hope I can do the same,’ he said.
Ros raised her eyebrows.
‘With you I mean. Not Darla,’ he clarified.
‘Well recovered.’ They joined the small queue for food behind Barry and Amanda. Ros had queried Darla’s suggestion to invite her mother, but Darla argued that there was safety in numbers and that Ros should make a bigger effort to spend time with Amanda. The tides were changing and Ros was starting to feel differently about her mother. Their chat on the yacht and Ros’s own dilemma over the job opportunity had helped her to at least understand a little better the situation her mother had been faced with. They were very different people but they were slowly getting to know each other.
‘I like your top,’ said Amanda.
‘Thank you. Cameron has a better eye for casual attire than I do,’ said Ros.
‘Should the dog not be on a lead?’ Amanda asked Barry.
‘No, he’s fine. He can’t get out of the garden,’ said Barry.
Gazza was busy patrolling the line. He barked when he reached Cameron, even though he’d already greeted him a number of times already. Unfortunately his bark was quite sharp and a lady who had just had a selection of barbecue food added to her plate jumped and lost her sausage. Gazza was on it like a seagull after a chip. Despite its temperature the sausage disappeared in a matter of seconds and Gazza was already looking around for the next one.
‘Whoops,’ said Barry quietly to Ros and Cameron as if trying not to out himself as Gazza’s owner. He spotted them holding hands. ‘Hey, look at you two back together.’
‘Well—’ began Ros but Barry waved her words away.
‘I know what you’re going to say. But you’ve always been great together in my book.’
‘Thanks, Dad.’ It meant the world to her that he was so happy that they were properly in a relationship now. It was early days but as a lot of the groundwork had been done it was all feeling pretty wonderful from her perspective, and the fact that no flip charts had been required was a revelation and also a slight disappointment but she’d get over that.
‘How are you, Barry?’ asked Cameron.
‘So far so good,’ he said. ‘I’m the model patient apparently. Everything is going well. And long may it last.’
Gazza barked at the same lady who promptly dropped her replacement sausage. ‘Not again,’ said Barry in hushed tones as Gazza wolfed down the ill-gotten gains.
Darla came out of the back door with her parents right behind her. Ros really wanted everything to be okay. She’d not expected it but setting things straight with her own mother had been a huge relief. It was going to take some time to build trust between them but they now had regular meet-ups in the diary. They had even been for a takeaway coffee together and made a stop at the bench at Sunset Shore.
‘Please just grab me a hot dog,’ said Ros to Cameron. ‘I need to check on Darla.’
‘Sure,’ said Cameron, giving her a brief kiss, as if he would miss her while she was away from him.
Ros walked over to her friend. ‘How’d it go?’
