Page 50 of Fly Me to Moongate Manor
‘My mom always said that caring about the way you look doesn’t mean you care about what people think. I love to wear clothes that I know people think don’t match but they make me happy and so I don’t care.’ Amanda looked down at her pink shorts and orange strapless top. ‘I look like gelato… but happy gelato.’ She laughed. ‘I love clothes; they’re a weakness of mine. I left a lot of them in New York. I had a bunch of vintage dresses from thrift shops and markets.’
Amanda poured them a mineral water each and sat down opposite Diana.
‘There are so many old clothes in the attic. You’re welcome to sort through them,’ Diana said. ‘Some were mine and some were my mother’s. Maybe my grandmother’s and before that also,’ she said.
‘Really? Wow, that would be amazing,’ Amanda said. ‘I’ve made us a Caesar salad, anchovies on the side in case you’re not a fan.’
Diana looked up. ‘I love anchovies. I’ll take extra.’
‘You’re like my mom – she loves them.’ Amanda paused. ‘Loved, I should say.’
‘You must miss her very much.’
‘I do,’ said Amanda, as she arranged the salads for them. ‘But I started to miss her when she became sick. The illness, it took over everything, the best parts of her. I felt like I lost her before she died.’
Diana frowned. ‘That’s very sad. I’m sorry you and she didn’t have more time together.’
Amanda poached two eggs and then put them carefully on the plates and brought then to the table.
‘I got to have twenty-six years with her though. That’s better than nothing. One of my friends from school, her mom died when she was twelve. I mean, that’s unfair, isn’t it?’
Diana nodded. ‘It is unfair – very.’ She looked down at her plate. ‘This looks delicious.’
‘Yes, but let’s hope it tastes as good as it looks.’
They tucked into their lunch and chatted about the garden, and the progress Amanda, Simon and the gardening club had made in the clearing.
When it was time for the apple cake, Amanda took the plunge with Diana.
‘I think I’m going to have to get a job,’ she said. ‘Because I have to pay my student loans and pay for my life here.’
‘Of course, dear, you must work. I wished I had worked. I had wanted to but eventually I had to give that dream up. I just didn’t have any real transferrable skills – well raised but useless other than being a wife and mother, of which I was neither in the end.’
Amanda gave a sigh of relief. ‘I was worried you would be mad if I worked. I thought you wanted me here digging up weeds full-time.’
Diana gasped. ‘What? Why on earth would I be mad, as you put it, that you worked? Of course you need your own money and to have something to do. Don’t end up like me, knowing everything about roses but nothing else.’
Amanda shook her head. ‘I don’t think that’s true. You probably know more than you think.’
Diana shrugged. ‘Perhaps. Now, do you have any pictures of your mother and you as a child? I’d love to know more about your life in New York. It always seemed so fascinating to me.’
Amanda jumped from her chair. ‘I would love to – let me get my laptop.’
She came back to the table, opened her computer, clicked on the photo album folder and it opened full screen on a picture of her mom pregnant with Amanda.
‘Here’s Mom – she had me that night. I was born just before midnight on a full moon. My dad took the photo.’
Amanda’s finger touched her mother’s face on the screen.
‘Where is your dad now?’ Diana asked, moving closer to the screen.
‘He died when I was nine. He wasn’t really around much after I was born. He was a musician apparently, never had any fame or anything, but played guitar. He died in a car accident.’
‘I’m sorry for your loss.’ Diana seemed genuinely sad for Amanda. She didn’t want the poor woman to dwell on her sorry tale of her dead parents so she quickly moved on to the next image.
‘This is me when I was one,’ she said, showing a photo of her face covered in cake, her hair sprouting from her head like a Chia Pets toy.
Diana laughed. ‘Look at you, cheeky monkey,’ she said.
