The Day She Came Back(95)
‘I hear you. You say things like, “Prim, you should see Stina” – that’s me!’ She touched her fingers to her chest. ‘“She is so like you it’s scary: a bossy little thing with her dad’s beautiful blonde hair but Grandpa’s twinkly eyes!”’ The funniest thing about the retelling was the way Stina put on her mum’s very British accent, masking her own Scandinavian tones.
Vidar laughed. ‘She’s a mimic.’
‘She’s a horror is what she is!’ Victoria leaned over and kissed her daughter on the cheek, each kiss a gift . . . It was quite unimaginable to her to think of their time being limited, knowing that one hundred and eighty kisses would never have been enough. Since becoming a mum herself, this fact had burned itself into her mind. The very idea was unthinkable, it was cruel, it was brave and it was crazy, and something she could not in a million years imagine; having to wave off her darling girl and play dead. She doubted she would ever fully understand Prim’s motivation, but accepted that, as a mother herself now, she knew she would do whatever was necessary to keep Stina safe, out of harm’s way.
She and Sarah had fallen in love over the years, and what they shared now was a deep friendship and a healthy respect for the journey the other had taken from the other side of the bridge. They talked daily, saw each other weekly, and she knew the novelty and joy of this contact would never wane.
Vidar squeezed her arm. ‘Jeg elsker deg s? mye.’ (I love you so much.)
‘Jeg elsker deg ogs?.’ (I love you too.) ‘Come on!’ She stood up from the bench and yanked her coat free, wiping the damp residue from the seat of her jeans. ‘We need to get home, Mormor Sarah has made lunch!’ It was a regular occurrence, Sunday lunch with her mum and Jens, all swapping stories they had read in the weekend papers and laughing, laughing, and laughing some more, because life was so damn good!
‘Sarah won’t mind if we are a bit late,’ Stina asserted, and again she and Vidar laughed.
A couple walked by, a boy and a girl, hand in hand, stopping only to kiss and then resume their stroll again.
‘Yuck!’ Stina said, without paying attention to her volume.
Vidar gave his now familiar eye roll and took her hand. ‘Come on, you.’
Victoria watched her beautiful husband and her little girl start the descent to the main road, where they would jump on a tram. They always took the tram. I mean, who would ever choose a car over the tram?
‘It’s not yuck, baby girl!’ she called after them. ‘I love to see people in love. I think it is one of the most hopeful sights known to man. I think as long as people love one another, then there is hope.’
‘Hope for what?’ Stina asked, with that perfect little wrinkle to the top of her nose, this pretty little girl who was born full chip.
‘For everything!’ Victoria beamed. ‘For absolutely everything.’
BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS
Discuss whether it is ever okay to tell a big lie in the way that Prim did.
How did you feel about Sarah coming back into Victoria’s life? Do you think she had the right to do that?
Discuss the conflict that Victoria must have inevitably felt – how would you advise her?
This book made me lament the loss of letter-writing in this world of email and push-button communication. Have you kept any precious letters and, if so, why?
I know I would have really liked a friend like Daksha. Did you ever have friend like that and, if so, how did she help you through a hard time?
I think this book proves that home is not always a place; home can be a person too. Discuss.
Do you think Victory would have had a better life had Sarah not turned up and she had lived none the wiser? Which would you prefer?
I love the way that Stina’s personality reflects that of the grandma she never knew. Has this happened in your family? Is there anyone who is the absolute embodiment of someone they never knew?
I love the way Sarah and Victoria both had such precious memories of Rosebank; I still find it hard to drive past our old family home and see someone else living in it – tell me I’m not the only one.