Return to Mandalay by Rosanna Ley

Author:Rosanna Ley [Ley, Rosanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General
ISBN: 9781782067634
Google: jywxAwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00HVBK074
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2014-04-30T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 32

Of course, Lawrence could understand that Rosemary blamed him, about Eva.

He closed his eyes. That bloody ceiling. He hated that bloody ceiling. Sometimes it was close. Sometimes it was far away. Sometimes it stopped him from thinking, from remembering. And he wanted to be clear. So much, he wanted to be clear.

He hadn’t thought much about becoming a grandfather, not until after Rosie had met her Nick and he’d seen that love light in her eyes … ‘It won’t be long,’ Lawrence had said to Helen. She wouldn’t have it of course, told him he was a silly romantic fool. Perhaps he was. Perhaps that’s why he could see it.

Nick had come to him, a decent young man – no money, but honest and hard-working – and told him what they planned to do, how they’d manage, how he intended to build up a business from scratch. And Lawrence had felt only respect for him. ‘Good luck to you,’ he’d said. ‘Good luck to you both.’ And he knew there’d been a tear in his eye. That was the way things should be. Lucky Rosie.

When their daughter was expecting Eva, Helen had fussed around like women do. And he had thought it wouldn’t make much difference to his life. A grandchild to spoil, that was all. He hadn’t realised Eva would make him feel young again, that as she grew a bit older, she’d want to listen to his stories of the old days, and listen open-mouthed with such a look of wonder in her dark eyes that he almost felt he was back there. He hadn’t imagined that he’d be asked to look after her in a way he’d never really ventured to look after his own girl, because now Helen tired so easily and wasn’t good with disruption and noise. He’d never dreamt he would feel such love.

So when Rosie took it in her head to remarry and leave West Dorset, well, he’d thought his heart would snap like a dry twig. His two girls. Something had happened with Rosie, she blamed him for something, she was still wrung out after Nick’s death. And when Eva, his lovely granddaughter, had come to him crying … What was he supposed to do? He could never say ‘no’ to her.

Lawrence shifted on to his side. God knows what time of day or night it was, because he didn’t.

Most of all perhaps, he hadn’t imagined that Eva would inherit from him his love of wood. The smell of it, sweet and deep in your nostrils, the darker rings of age and history, the feel of it, raw and sappy, smooth as satin on the inside, rough on the out. That there would be such a bond between them.

Upper Burma, January 1942

‘You are very quiet,’ Maya observed. She was wearing a cream silk longyi and it rippled as she rose to her feet and took the empty bowl from his place. But Lawrence noticed she didn’t ask what he was thinking.

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