Page 20 of A Recipe for Love
‘I’m sure whatever we decide will be all right,’ Bella offered.
‘So if we have a cremation, does that have to be in Inverness?’
Jill nodded. ‘It’s the nearest place. We can have a service there, or that can be private and you can have the service here before or after.’
‘OK. We’ll have a private cremation in Inverness. I’ll go with him.’ He turned to his stepmother and grandmother and addressed them like a primary school teacher at the end of a particularly trying day. ‘You two can come or not. Then can we have a memorial service here with the ashes?’
Jill nodded. ‘Of course.’
‘OK. Is that all right with everyone?’
Veronica opened her mouth but thought better of it. Both women nodded.
‘Good.’ Adam pulled out his phone. ‘I should phone the funeral director then, shouldn’t I?’
Bella could hear the quiver in his voice. She reached for the phone. ‘Shall I do that?’
His face was a mask of exhaustion. He handed her the phone. ‘Thank you.’
A few minutes later she’d confirmed that the cremation could be done within the week and they could have the ashes returned to them in the urn of their choosing in ten days’ time. ‘So we’ve got time to work out where you want to…’ What was the phrase? ‘Erm, lay him to rest?’
‘And let’s try not to argue about it,’ Adam implored.
Even Veronica’s unruffled exterior looked a little bruised by Adam’s new attitude. He turned back to the vicar. ‘Is there anything else?’
‘Well, normally we’d spend some time talking about the service itself. Hymns. Readings. Perhaps you might want to talk about your father yourself? It can be much more personal to hear from people who knew him well.’
‘Of course the laird will give the eulogy,’ Veronica confirmed.
Adam responded with a small nod, but the fear had returned to his eyes.
‘Wonderful,’ Jill continued. ‘So maybe Mrs Lowbridge… sorry Lady Lowbridge…’ She turned pointedly to Darcy. ‘You might have some music or a reading that particularly meant something to your husband?’
Darcy had visibly rallied but seemed to sink back as she caught a glimpse of her mother-in-law. ‘What if we have a think about it and email you?’ asked Bella.
‘That would be great,’ Jill agreed.
Finally, after another interminable round of sorrys for their loss and awkward mangling of names and titles Bella showed Jill out and walked her across the courtyard to where she’d parked outside the coach house. ‘I couldn’t believe it when I got the call to come over here.’
Bella glanced back at the castle. ‘Yeah. It’s a lot to take in.’
‘No. I meant, well I’d heard about the laird. The old one obviously, but I’d never been here. I mean I knew there was a chapel. Technically it’s part of my parish, but I sent an email when I first came here and never got a reply. It sort of dropped off the to-do list, you know. More pressing things.’
‘So you’re the vicar for the village?’
Jill nodded. ‘Yeah. Although I don’t see many of them at church. Locharron’s a long way to traipse on a Sunday morning. I think my predecessor used to do special services in the community hall or…’ She glanced back towards the castle and left the rest unsaid. ‘The hall’s all closed up now though.’
‘I didn’t know that.’ She didn’t know much it turned out.
‘No. Well you’re new here. Properly new.’ Jill smiled.
‘Arrived yesterday,’ Bella confirmed.
‘And you really haven’t been here before?’ She hesitated. ‘Just, you know, most people meet the family before they get engaged.’
‘No. Bit of a whirlwind romance,’ she explained.
‘Fair enough.’ Jill nodded. ‘Honestly I barely knew there was a son.’
