Aunt Bessie Volunteers by Diana Xarissa

Author:Diana Xarissa [Xarissa, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-19T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

“It’s Doona. Would you like to get dinner with me tonight? There’s nothing to eat at my house and I’m too exhausted to shop,” the message said.

Bessie rang her friend back at home. “I’d love to go out tonight. Where do you want to go?”

“How about the café in Lonan? I haven’t been there in ages,” Doona suggested.

“I never say no to going there,” Bessie agreed.

Knowing that Doona was going to be there at half five gave Bessie some extra motivation to get some work done. She had a small pile of unpaid bills that needed sorting, and some correspondence to reply to as well. As she sealed up her letter to Janet Markham, Bessie wondered again if Edward Bennett could help John. She hadn’t mentioned anything to Janet about Sue in her letter, but she could always ring Janet if Andrew was unable to assist. With those little jobs out of the way, Bessie pulled out Onnee’s letters and began to work on the next one.

When Doona arrived, right on time, Bessie was ready.

“How are you?” she asked Bessie.

“I’m fine, I suppose,” Bessie replied.

“What’s wrong?”

“Onnee had her baby.”

“Oh, dear. It didn’t go well?”

“There were complications. The baby survived, but the doctors have told Onnee that she could lose the little girl at any time. The letter was full of so much pain that it was difficult to read.”

“I am sorry.”

Bessie nodded. “I know this all happened over fifty years ago, but I still feel incredibly sorry for Onnee. Her husband sounds quite dreadful, too. He’s spending nearly all of his spare time with his former fiancée, as she’s unwell. Onnee is on her own with the baby, feeling alone and friendless.”

“Perhaps she needs to make more of an effort to find new friends,” Doona suggested.

“She doesn’t drive and apparently there isn’t any public transportation in the small town where they live. She talks of walking to the local library, but apparently the only people she’s met there are older. She needs to meet other new mothers.”

“What’s wrong with the baby?”

“She isn’t specific, at least not in the letter that I read today, but there were problems with the delivery, whatever that means. She’s been told that, even if the baby survives for a while, she won’t ever be able to do much. It sounds as if they suspect brain damage.”

Doona wiped a tear from her eye. “I can’t believe I’m crying over something that happened so many years ago.”

“You should read the letters. I’ve been in tears all afternoon.”

“No, thank you. It’s bad enough hearing about them from you.”

Bessie shook her head. “Let’s find other things to talk about over dinner,” she suggested.

“Yes, and let’s go. I’m starving,” Doona replied.

The drive into Lonan didn’t take long. The small car park for the café was already half full when they arrived. There was a sign on the door that read “Under New Ownership Beginning First of February.”

“I didn’t realise they’d sold the place already,” Bessie said as Doona pulled the door open.

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