Cosy Nights & Snowball Fights (Little Duck Pond Cafe #36)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

I felt so stupid and cowardly for walking out like that. Frustration at myself was simmering away inside and making my eyes hot with unshed tears. I was actually shaking, I realised, as I tried to insert the car key.

On the one hand, it was great having Jo back in my life. But I was so mad at myself for the way I’d behaved with Josh. In leaving so abruptly, I must have made it fairly clear to him that I wasn’t interested. So that was that. It might not have worked out between us, of course. But the point was that now, I’d never know...

Back at the cottage, in an unsettled daze, I put a pre-packaged lasagne in the oven. Then I made a mug of tea and sat on the sofa, watching TV but not really seeing it. Only when I smelled burning did I snap out of my mood. My tea was stone cold and the lasagne was ruined.

I threw it out and went to bed.

I wasn’t hungry anyway . . .

*****

Next day, on my shift, Ellie had decided to have one of her regular thorough spring-cleans in the kitchen – and this time, it involved the walk-in storage cupboard that she used to store, among other things, all her spare crockery and cutlery and baking implements.

I was busy cleaning shelves in there when I heard voices in the kitchen.

‘Are they sure about this?’

‘Yes.’

‘But they could have mistaken your symptoms for something else, though, couldn’t they?’

‘No. They were pretty certain. It’s Huntington’s Disease.’

I held my breath. It was Maddy and her dad. And I was eavesdropping on an emotional and very sensitive conversation!

I opened my mouth to call out, to let them know I was there, when the next thing Barry said made me freeze.

‘Maddy, no one – and I mean absolutely no one – can know about this, okay?’

Maddy mumbled something I didn’t catch, and then Barry said, ‘ You know now. And so does your mum and the twins. But we need to keep this in the family.’

‘Okay.’

‘Promise me, Maddy.’ Barry sounded stern. ‘I’ll be furious if I hear you’ve told the staff here or any of your other friends.’

‘I won’t. I promise. But what about Jack? I can tell him, can’t I?’

‘Yes. Yes, of course. But no one else, all right?’

Maddy sighed. ‘But why, Dad? Everyone would be there for you. They’d want to support you. But if they don’t know you have this... Huntington’s thing... they won’t be able to.’

Her dad sighed. ‘Maddy, love, that’s exactly why I don’t want this news spread around. I can’t bear to see the pity on their faces... hear their endless sympathy on the subject. It would obviously be very well meant, but I don’t want people thinking of me as some kind of invalid.’

‘The doctor said the symptoms might not get worse for years yet.’

‘No, but I still don’t want to be known as “that poor guy who has Huntington’s Disease”. Can you understand that?’

Maddy sniffed. ‘Yes. Of course I can. Oh, Dad.’

There was a pause and I guessed they were hugging, which made me feel quite choked up myself, standing there frozen to the spot. Barry was so adamant no one else should know about this. There was no way I could reveal myself now.

‘I’m fine, Maddy. Really. The symptoms barely affect me at all at the moment, and with a bit of luck, that will continue for a long time. So I’m afraid you’re not getting rid of me yet!’ He chuckled. And so did Maddy.

‘There’s no way I’m letting this thing hold me back from doing everything I want to do.’

‘Including walking me down the aisle?’

‘Yes, of course . You don’t think I’d miss out on the most important job I’ll ever have to do in my life, do you?’

Maddy laughed through her tears. ‘Okay. Well, as long as that’s understood.’

‘I’m going to be so proud of you, my love, on your wedding day,’ he said softly. ‘So very proud.’

I heard the sounds of another hug and then they were leaving the kitchen, walking through to the café together.

I leaned back against the shelves, breathing a sigh of relief.

Poor Barry. And poor Maddy as well. And the rest of her family. Life could be very cruel. But it sounded as though Barry was all right just now and would be able to fully enjoy the wedding of his oldest daughter.

Maddy must be distraught, though, and my immediate reaction was to want to offer some words of comfort, if there were any. But it was tricky. I’d need to be careful about what I said to her. I didn’t want her knowing I’d overheard the whole conversation between her and her dad.

It lingered in my mind for the rest of that day. Overhearing Barry giving his daughter the bad news had only increased the frustration and sadness I’d been feeling since I walked away from Josh in the café, and it was making me treasure my own parents even more than I already did. You just never knew what was around the corner. I’d go home for a visit soon... maybe at the weekend...

I was mulling this over later after my shift as I grabbed a few essentials from the village store, when suddenly – over the music that was playing – I thought I heard a voice that sounded familiar. A customer was chatting to the girl behind the counter, joking with her about something. And then he laughed, and I knew.

Gavin.