leg hit something and it clattered to the floor. Cursing herself, she scrambled around to find what had fallen over. At the same time, a series of measured creaks marked the approach of someone on the other side of the door. When it opened, she detected the scent of her husband’s aftershave.
‘I knocked an umbrella over, that’s all,’ she whispered.
‘Time for a stiff drink?’
‘If only I could,’ Maggie mumbled as she entered the room.
The dining room had been recently redecorated and as Maggie walked in she was thankful for the sense of security it gave her. This was her territory. The newly plastered walls had been painted a soft shade of green that was almost blue, complementing a feature wall which had been papered in a raised art deco pattern of silvers and greys, and the soft furnishing and accessories picked up the reflective tones of the wallpaper. Before the cloud of curry spices had a chance to overwhelm the room, Maggie could detect the scent of the rosemary- and peppermint-scented oils she had left warming to welcome her guests.
‘Ready for some help yet?’ Judith asked.
‘No, everything’s under control,’ replied Maggie, her false cheerfulness a perfect match for that of her mother-in-law.
‘Here you go, love, you’ve earned this,’ Ken said.
Maggie could hear the glug of a wine glass being filled. The bouquet of dark plum mixed with notes of oak cut through the already heavily scented air. Whether it was nerves or delayed signs of morning sickness, her stomach flipped as she took a seat at the dining table.
‘Not for me, thanks, Ken. I’ll keep to sparkling water for now.’ The pause she left was the perfect opening for the announcement but the only sound from James was the clink of glass as he poured her water. She had no choice but to continue and said, ‘I need to keep a clear head while I’m in charge of dinner.’
‘Mum was saying how Liam’s been pestering Carolyn for a dog.’
‘I wonder where that idea came from,’ Maggie said, patting her hand against her thigh and within seconds Harvey was by her side, nuzzling her hand with his wet nose as he deciphered the scent of the meal she had been preparing. A soft sneeze confirmed that he wasn’t impressed with her choice of menu.
‘So is she going to give in do you think?’ James asked his mum.
‘I hope so. A dog would be good company for her. She gets so lonely with Tony working away so much. I’m a bit worried about her if I’m being honest.’
‘They were debating different breeds when we left,’ Ken said when everyone else fell silent. Neither James nor Maggie was prepared to launch into a debate about the state of Carolyn’s marriage. ‘It was a good job we came home when we did. Given half a chance, your mum would have marched them all off to the nearest kennels to put down a deposit on the first puppy they saw.’
‘I hope they don’t get a Labrador,’ James said. ‘The boys might be less inclined to come up here otherwise.’
‘You know there’s more for them here than just Harvey,’ Maggie said, picking up immediately on the insecurity in James’s voice that he was trying hard to disguise. ‘They might love him to bits but they love you more.’
‘And let’s not forget their wicked stepmother,’ James reminded her.
Maggie’s gentle laughter helped her relax a little. Her first taste of motherhood had felt daunting at the time but in hindsight it had been nothing compared to the prospect of caring for a newborn. There had been a gradual introduction into the boys’ lives and, with her mum by her side, Maggie had embraced her new role and the challenges that came with it. ‘The one who can see through walls, you mean?’
Liam and Sam had learnt very quickly that they couldn’t get away with quite as much as they had first expected with Maggie. Her hearing could see around corners and through closed doors and occasionally she had even been able to detect the sound of wet tongues being poked at her. But that had been in the early days. Their reluctance to accept a rival for their father’s affections had been overpowered by Maggie’s winning charm, one that had four legs and a wagging tail.
‘How’s Kathy doing?’ Judith asked her, clearly not willing to dwell on her daughter-in-law’s virtues. ‘Still working at the salon until all hours? It’s high time that woman slowed down.’
‘She never will and I can’t imagine the place without her,’ Maggie said of the person who had been pivotal in getting her business up and running eight years ago. Aromatherapy had been little more than a hobby before then, and the offer to rent out an old storeroom in Kathy’s salon had been too good to turn down.
‘We all thought she was mad moving away from Nantwich and setting up in Sedgefield, of all places. Her mum was absolutely against it but Kathy was as stubborn then as she is now,’ Judith said.
‘She’s stubborn?’ asked Ken before turning to Maggie and saying, ‘I have to take cover when those two are in the same room. How they’ve remained friends for the best part of fifty years is beyond me.’
‘I’m glad they did,’ James added. ‘It’s thanks to Kathy that I found Maggie.’
Judith had taken a breath to berate her husband but James’s comment knocked the wind out of her sails. She exhaled with a sigh.
‘You’ve done a lovely job in this room,’ Ken said to break the silence that Maggie was waiting for James to fill. ‘In fact, the whole house is really coming along.’
‘Yes, it’s been a hard slog stripping everything back. This room must have had about six layers of wallpaper underneath,’ James explained. ‘But the end result is all down to Maggie.’
‘Oh, James, you always did hate taking credit for anything. He was exactly the same when he was little,’ Judith said.
When Maggie spoke, her tone was that of a frustrated schoolmistress who was tired of repeating herself yet still managed to keep up a façade of good humour. ‘I chose rosemary and peppermint for the theme because they both have properties that help with digestion, perfect for a dining room, and of course the blue-green of the peppermint complements the silvery rosemary leaves. I may not be able to see colours any more, but I can still visualise them with my sense of smell. My mum taught me the basics and training for my accreditation as an aromatherapist brought even more depth to that visualisation,’ Maggie said, using the opportunity to remind Judith that she was a skilled professional. ‘Every room has been carefully thought through and my next project will be the third bedroom.’
Maggie turned towards James in grim expectation.
‘It’s a fair-size room,’ Ken said, ‘not one of those boxy third bedrooms by anyone’s standards, but the boys will still fight over who keeps the bigger one.’
James didn’t answer immediately and the sense of anticipation was tortuous. Maggie had to bite her tongue to stop herself from jumping in. As he cleared his throat, his discomfort was obvious and contradicted all his previous assurances that his parents would take the news well.
‘Actually,’ James paused, ‘it’s going to be a nursery. We’re going to have a baby. Maggie is due at the end of October.’
Maggie couldn’t see Judith’s jaw drop but she imagined
