The Way We Were_ A Novel - Marcia Willett [25]
‘I expect you did your helpless female thing and got them to do all sorts of things they weren't paid for.’
‘Well, of course I did. I wasn't stupid either. Caroline wonders if you'd like a sandwich.’
‘Oh, I think we can do better than that. Why don't we stroll over to Brown's Hotel and have lunch?’
‘Oh, yes.’ said Julia at once. ‘Now that's a very good idea. Caroline loves Brown's.’ She smiled at him and then on impulse leaned forward and gave him a little kiss.
He raised his eyebrows. ‘Any special reason? Apart from the fact that you're mad about me.’
‘Just remembering,’ she said. ‘You know. The way it was all those years ago.’
He looked at her ruefully. ‘It wasn't all jam, was it?’
She shook her head. ‘But there were some very good bits.’
Pete put some more books on to the shelf. ‘I need to wash,’ he said. ‘And then I need a pint.’
Caroline came in. ‘Are you starving? I've got some delicious things from Creber's, and I could make a sandwich. Oh, and I remembered to gel some Doom Bar in for you, Pete, in case you get seriously thirsty.’
‘Pete wondered if you'd like to have lunch at Brown's,’ suggested Julia. ‘It would be rather good, wouldn't it? A civilized moment amongst all the chaos.’
Caroline beamed with pleasure and relief. ‘Oh, yes. Fantastic. I'll go and tidy myself up a bit.’
She disappeared; Pete looked thoughtful.
‘I approve of our daughter-in-law,’ he observed. ‘She gets her priorities right.’
‘I imagine you aren't referring to her desire to be tidy?’
‘Don't be foolish.’ he said. ‘I'm talking about the Doom Bar. I like a girl who recognizes a good beer when she sees one.’
* * *
‘It's a nice little house, isn't it?’ Julia said later, as they drove back to Trescairn. ‘Gosh, my back aches. Still, I think we cracked the worst of it and Caroline can relax. I wish Zack was home to help her.’
‘It's only a couple of weeks to go before he joins Seraph but I doubt he'll be around much anyway. This next job as Jimmy is crucial if he wants to be recommended for Perisher and drive his own boat. He won't want to be stuck alongside the wall in the dockyard.’
‘Poor Caroline.’ Julia stared out of the car window. ‘I hope he's home when the baby comes. It'll be wonderful to see him again. At least he's got a fortnight's leave when he gets down. I'm glad that Caroline and Liv are such friends, Pete. I wonder what Liv will do when she leaves Penharrow.’
Pete shrugged impatiently. ‘We've had this conversation. None of us ever knows what Liv will do next.’
‘I suppose that being brought up at Trescairn with all of Cornwall on the doorstep makes it hard to settle to a nine-to-five life in the city’ said Julia placatingly.
She wished she hadn't brought up the subject. Pete was always touchy about Liv's lack of ambition. Julia pondered on how odd it was that it should be Zack who had followed Pete into the navy whilst neither Andy nor Charlie had any close affinity with the sea; but then Andy had never shown much affinity with any kind of career until just lately Zack and Charlie had always been more focused: Zack on the sea and ships, Charlie on the land and horses. She and Pete had been so pleased when Charlie joined his uncle on the family farm in Hampshire, gradually building up the livery stable that he and Joanna now ran so successfully together. There was a stability about Charlie that provided an area of peaceful relief amidst the turbulence of the twins’ activities; though Andy's Internet company seemed at last to be making progress, even if she and Pete couldn't quite understand what it was all about. Neither of the twins placed any great value on status or security, which bothered their father, but at least Charlie was well and truly settled and Zack was happy, first in his naval career and now in marriage with darling Caroline.
‘The trouble is, you spoil her,’ Pete was saying; he who'd always adored his only daughter and was putty in her hands. ‘No wonder