Full Circle (23 page)

Walking into the cottage was like stepping back in time. Almost everything was the same as it had been when Lily and Nick stayed there. Becky walked to the window and pulled aside the old-fashioned chintz curtain to look out at the sea.

“
May I go upstairs and have a look?”

“
Sure, go right up. I’ll just get the hamper out of the boot.”

Becky went up to the bedroom. She looked at the brass bed and the flowery curtains at the window. It all looked exactly as she remembered it, even the flowery bed-spread.

“
It all looks in great condition,” she observed to Jamie as he walked into the room.

“
The old guy never used it. He used to stay here with his wife before the war, but after she died in an air-raid while shopping in London he didn’t want to come here anymore. I think he tried letting it out, but there weren’t too many takers. I am not sure why he never sold it. The only thing I changed was the bedding and bought some new towels. Everything else remained the same. I came up here several times before I left for New York. I love this place. Come downstairs, lunch is served,” he said as he kissed her and pulled her towards the stairs.

“
Oh, how wonderful!” Rebecca gushed as she came down. The table was set with a checkered table-cloth and there was a chilled bottle of wine, baguettes, cheese, ham, and even pate. Jamie’s mother had also thoughtfully provided some fruit tarts for dessert and a thermos of hot tea. Rebecca briefly wondered how many other girls Jamie had brought there before her, but she put the thought out of her mind. It was really none of her business. Jamie handed her a glass of wine and she gratefully accepted. They enjoyed a leisurely lunch and then quickly cleaned up the mess and went out. The view from the cliff top was breathtaking and Rebecca was overwhelmed by the wild beauty of the place. Everything was in shades of blue and green with only the occasional white cottage peering from behind the trees.

“
Look over there. You see that? That’s St. Michel,” said Jamie as he pointed to the fortress island jutting out of the sea. Rebecca could clearly see the outline of the castle perched on the great rock, looking sinister and impregnable in the October haze. She never realized that France was so close. Jamie held her hand as they followed the path down to the beach. Rebecca noticed the huge flat boulder where Lily used to sunbathe and sat down on it. She looked towards the horizon as a wave of sadness washed over her. It all seemed so intimately familiar. She could almost hear Lily’s laughter as Nick tried to throw her in the water or see his lean body stretched out on a towel glowing in the afternoon sunshine. By the time they got back to the cottage the sun had been taken hostage by menacing looking clouds and the rain began to fall just as they ran through the door. Within ten minutes it was fully dark outside and rain was lashing against the windows.

“
It’s going to be an unpleasant drive back to London,” observed Rebecca.

“
Becky, please stay. We can spend the night here and drive back tomorrow. Say you will.”

The room was enveloped in gloom, but Rebecca could see the pleading look on his face. She didn’t say anything, just walked across the space that divided them and kissed him tenderly as she wrapped her arms around his waist. He kissed her back hard and before she knew it, they were pulling off each other’s clothes and stumbling up the narrow stairs to the bedroom. They left a trail of discarded clothes behind them as they finally fell onto the bed kissing hungrily. Rebecca was frantically trying to undo his belt buckle as he pulled down her bra straps and kissed her breasts. Finally she got the damn thing open, pulled down the zipper and slid his jeans down over his hips. James stepped out of his pants, lifted her up off the bed and pushed her up against the wall. Rebecca wrapped her legs and arms around him as he impaled her on top of him. She settled in for the ride and gave herself up to the waves of pleasure crashing through her.

“
Oh, God. I have to call the girls and tell them I am not coming back tonight. I have to assure them that I am still alive and you haven’t thrown me off a cliff,” she said giggling as she lay snuggled up against Jamie under the down comforter. The room was lit by a single candle and the sounds of crashing thunder and rain came in through the open window, the curtains billowing like the sail of a ship at sea.

Jamie raised himself on one elbow and looked at her with a quizzical expression. “Why would I throw you off a cliff when there are so many other things I can do with you?” he asked as he pulled her to him again. Rebecca forgot all about her phone call as he rolled on top of her and pinned her arms down on the bed. She was already wrapping her legs around him ready for another round.

Becky woke up sometime in the middle of the night. The storm had passed and the sky was clear and full of stars. A gibbous moon hung in the sky illuminating Jamie’s profile. He looked all blue and silver in the moonlight, his floppy hair falling across his face and his impossibly long lashes fanned out against his cheek. “God, he is so beautiful,” Rebecca thought. “I think I am falling in love with him.” This thought made her really anxious. Friday was their last day in England and Jamie hadn’t really said anything about seeing each other in New York. She didn’t want to be the one to bring it up. He would think that she was clingy and desperate. Becky thought of how wonderful it would be if they saw each other when he got back to New York and she drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.

She was woken up in the morning in the most pleasant way possible. Jamie was kissing her shoulder and sucking on her earlobe. She was about to protest that she hadn’t brushed her teeth yet, but Jamie was already rolling on top of her with a suggestive grin. “Good morning,” he whispered. His body claimed hers and Rebecca matched his rhythm as he moved inside her slowly and tantalizingly. She enjoyed watching his face as he made love to her and he let out a satisfied moan as he collapsed on top of her. “Good morning,” she answered.

Jamie made them some coffee while she took a shower and then they went for a last walk on the beach. A brisk wind was blowing off the sea, fresh and invigorating. Jamie showed her his favorite cove and they found some pretty seashells to take home as a souvenir.

“
Jamie, we better head back. My friends will be worried about me. Next thing you know, irate parents will be arriving from the States to accuse you of kidnapping and torture.”

“
I wish we could stay longer. But, if we must, we must. I know a nice, little place where we can have brunch. Have you ever had Cornish pasties? It’s on the way back to London.” They closed up the house and headed back towards London. Rebecca felt very sad as they drove away from the little house. Now she and Lily truly had something in common.

“
Tomorrow is our last day in England,” said Becky wistfully, “I wish we didn’t have to leave. I loved every minute of it.”

“
May I call you when I get back? I hope you want to see me again,” he said hopefully.

“
I think it’s safe to assume after last night that I want to see you again. All of you, as a matter of fact,” she said laughing. “When will you be back in New York?”

“
A week after you. I haven’t even spent any time with my friends. They are all angry with me and demanding reparation.”

“
Well, they can join the “Furious Friends Club”. I hear it’s open to new members.”

It was mid-afternoon by the time they got back to London. Jamie kissed her several times before finally letting her get out of the car. He called after her as she turned to walk to the front door of the hotel. He got out and came around to her side. “Becky, I know you already have plans with your friends for tomorrow, but can I entice you into coming over for lunch? I would really love for you to meet my family before you go back to the States. Please?” He looked so cute that Rebecca simply couldn’t say no. She knew her friends would be angry, but they would simply have to forgive her, as she had forgiven them many times in the past when they cancelled plans because of some guy.

“
I’d love to, Jamie.”

“
Great. Let me just write down the address for you. Would 1 pm be all right?” he asked anxiously. He seemed so pleased that she was coming that Becky felt her heart turn over. She was secretly very happy to see him one more time before going home.

By the time she got upstairs, the co-founders of the club were waiting for Becky in their room. They were about to berate her, but when they saw the goofy smile on her face, they just shrugged their shoulders and proceeded to give her the third degree. All that was missing was the interrogation light and the desperate screams of other victims down the hall. They managed to extract almost all the details in no time.

They decided to spend their last day in London visiting their favorite places again, taking a cruise down the Thames and maybe doing a little shopping. Emma and Rachel were pretty upset with Becky for ditching them for lunch, but they decided to meet up afterwards by Harrods’s. They would check out the famous store and then have a last dinner at one of the many Indian restaurants that London was famous for.

Chapter
40

Baby Olivia did her best to keep her mother from brooding. She cried whenever possible, fussed, and stayed up for hours at night. Lily was exhausted, but grateful to have something to occupy her mind. She hadn’t seen Nick in almost six months and she missed him terribly. He still wrote frequently, but the letters took ages to get to their destination and Lily often got them out of sequence. She had no idea where he was and kept praying that he was safe.

1944 was just around the corner and still the fighting went on, fierce as ever. Lily hadn’t realized that getting through the winter with a baby would be more difficult. It was cold and snowy and they were frequently in-doors. The wheels of the pram would get stuck in the snow and Lily didn’t have anywhere to go anyway, other than the Rectory. Martha volunteered to stay with her granddaughter while Lily went to visit the children several times a week. They seemed quiet and subdued. They made some Christmas decorations, but the place still looked far from festive. They were losing hope of seeing their parents ever again and Lily felt terribly sad for them, and for herself.

The winter months dragged on and on. Lily spent every evening listening to the wireless with her parents and Edward while either rocking Olivia or knitting. She had unraveled some more of her old sweaters and was re-making them into new ones for Livvy. It had been months since Lily had been to the cinema or seen any friends. Sometimes in her darker moments she believed that this war would just go on forever, like the Hundred Year War and she would just grow old and die in this house. Her spirits lifted a little as spring came. She would go for walks with the baby and escape the house that had begun to feel like a prison.

“
Has the postman been, Mum?” she asked coming in from one of their walks.

“
Yes, dear. Letter from Nick on the hall table.”

Lily tore open the envelope. Nick’s letters were the only bright spot of her days. Every letter re-affirmed that he was still alive and thinking of her. “Mum, he is getting some leave in April!” Lily called to her mother. “I can’t wait to see him. He’ll be so amazed by how much Livvy has changed.”

Olivia was almost one by the time her father saw her again. She was a sturdy baby with Nick’s green eyes and her mother’s coppery hair. She knew exactly what she wanted and how to get it and she had the whole family wrapped around her tiny finger. She was starting to walk holding on to furniture and knew only one word “MOM”. She used it nonstop. Lily spent most days chasing her around the house as she crawled from room to room and was starting to miss the good old days when she just stayed in one place.

She dressed up Livvy in her prettiest sweater and matching bonnet and went to the station to meet her husband. “For once, I am meeting rather than saying goodbye,” she thought joyfully. She anxiously watched the train come puffing into the station and craned her neck trying to see over the steam from the locomotive. She finally spotted Nick jumping onto the platform and he came running towards her, hugging her and the baby at once. “Lily, you are a sight for sore eyes. Now, let me say hello to this little lady.” Lily felt an irrational moment of jealousy as Nick turned his attention to the baby. He picked her up and they studied each other with very serious expressions on their faces.

“
Olivia, I am your daddy.”

“
Mom.”

“
Say “DADDY”.”

“
Mom.” Olivia was giggling and squirming trying to get away from Nick’s stubbly cheek as he kissed her.