Page 93 of The Christmas Retreat
‘I’m going to walk Uncle Noel home shortly, but I’ll look in when I get back,’ promised Rhys. ‘And I expect Ginny will too, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be fast asleep the moment your head hits the pillow.’
Once she’d gone, Evie finally emerged from her abstraction. ‘Renting that cottage while you look around for a new home is a good idea, Ginny. A nice breathing space. If you decide to settle here permanently, I’ll see you occasionally when I’m up staying with Noel to research Gwendoline Sutler for the next book. I expect that will bemynew beginning, once I’ve wrapped up the Milly/Arwen one.’
‘You will always be very welcome,’ Noel said.
‘I’ve already started on something new – the next novel,’ said Kate. ‘I want to get as much written as possible by the end of the retreat because I’ll be spending those two days on the way home with my friend Peter.’
‘I thought he was called Petruchio,’ said Rhys,sotto voce, and I gave him a sharp nudge in the ribs with my elbow, trying not to giggle.
Kate was looking a little self-conscious again and I wondered if Teddy Bear Man might be another new start in her life. It all goes to show that nature provides a partner for even the most unprepossessing people.
I noticed that she was less abrasive now than she had been at first, so perhaps a lot of it was a sort of protective coating.
‘I’ve made an important decision too,’ Pearl announced suddenly. ‘Opal, I meant to wait till you felt better, but you might as well know now. I’ve realize my heart was never in performance art and I’m going back to college to study ceramics. Working in the studio at the pottery this week has shown me where my true interests lie. I’m especially fascinated by porcelain.’
‘It’s obvious you are a natural with clay and I’m sure you’ll go on to do great things,’ said Timon, smiling at her.
Opal stared at her sister in total astonishment and, for the first time, seemed to take in the fact that Pearl was holding hands with Toby, who was looking encouragingly at her.
‘What on earth’s got into you, while I’ve been laid up ill?’ she demanded. ‘I mean, you don’t evenlookthat much like me any more. I’m sure you’ve put on pounds, for a start!’
‘You were both too thin when you got here – the wrong side of scraggy,’ Evie said bluntly. ‘You could do with feeding up a bit too, Opal. Then you might have some resistance to infections like the flu.’
‘We were both perfectly healthy on a good vegan diet till we got here,’ said Opal.
‘Now I’ve gone vegetarian plus a little fish, I seem to have a lot more energy,’ Pearl said, and Opal looked even more horrified.
‘I think the extra weight suits you, Pearl,’ Toby said, which itdid – as did the rosy glow in her cheeks, although that might have been love. She was wearing her flattering pink hoodie and T-shirt again too, while Opal was in her usual shades of snot green.
‘I don’tneedto look like you any more, Opal,’ said Pearl. ‘I can just be myself. And I’ll be moving out soon, too.’
‘Moving out?’ echoed Opal blankly.
‘Pearl and I are going to get married,’ Toby announced proudly. ‘I’ll probably sell my house in Formby, so we can buy a new home together. And,’ he added, ‘I’m going to take a post-graduate course and teach creative writing.’
Opal was too stunned to speak, but the rest of us warmly congratulated them, and Timon went out to fetch another bottle of Prosecco to toast the engagement with.
‘We have some workshops here during the summer, so you can be a tutor if you’d like to, Toby,’ suggested Nerys, and Timon, pouring more fizz, said that if he did, Pearl was welcome to come and work in the pottery studio.
‘And, looking ahead to the future, perhaps eventually you could run some ceramics workshops there, too.’
‘But – what aboutme?’ suddenly demanded Opal, finally finding her voice. ‘All our work was based on our double identity, our reflections!’
‘I’m terribly sorry, Opal, but really, I always did want to do ceramics. You talked me into doing the performance art. It wasn’t as if my heart was ever in it.’
Opal didn’t seem to hear her. Instead she appeared to be looking inwards, and suddenly a rapt expression was on her gaunt face.
‘Shattered reflections … the breaking of the mirror, the duality …’ she murmured. ‘The broken illusions … and illusions … I think – yes, I think I see my way forward,alone!’
She got up. ‘This has all been a bit too much. I must go to bed and think of my future direction.’
And then, like an emaciated figure of tragedy, she swept from the room.
Pearl was looking stricken. ‘Should I go after her? I mean, she was already very depressed, and this could tip her over the edge.’
‘No, she’s enjoying herself,’ said Evie. ‘Leave her alone. The creative spark seems to have fired on a different cylinder now, that’s all.’
‘I’m sure Evie’s right,’ agreed Nerys. ‘Opal is already envisioning new ideas based on your parting of the ways.’
