The Library of Lost and Found(63)
Lilian shifted in her chair. “About what?”
“About what went on in our family. Mum and Dad told us that she’d died, but she didn’t. And you know something about that…”
“It was just something that Mum said, years ago. That’s all. I didn’t think too much about it at the time. Until you told me that Nana was still alive.”
Martha thought how her sister’s words sounded vague. She had sounded so certain the other day. “You told me to be careful…” she prompted.
Lilian leaned her head back and looked up at her large wooden ceiling fan. “You’re digging up the past, Martha, when it’s probably best to let it remain buried. I know you and Nana were close, but things must have happened in our family that we don’t know about.”
“I spent every day with Mum and Dad for years,” Martha said. “How could I not know things? They told us a huge lie. Why would they do that?”
“I don’t know.” Lilian shook her head. “But they did, and there must be a reason for it. Don’t you remember how Nana and Dad didn’t get on? She constantly wound him up.”
“They weren’t best friends, but they didn’t hate each other,” Martha started. Or had she forgotten things? Was she too busy writing her stories, trying to interpret the atmosphere in the Storm household, without actually seeing what was going on? “If you know something, Lilian, please tell me.”
Lilian remained with her face in the shadows. “I don’t know a thing about it,” she said. “But I do know that I don’t want our nana spending any time with Will and Rose.”
24
Invitation
Betty, 1982
Asking people over for tea was something that didn’t happen often in the Storm household. Thomas constantly made it clear that Zelda wasn’t welcome in the house, and Betty’s friends had dwindled so she didn’t go out as much. Thomas didn’t socialize, preferring to spend time at home. So Betty was surprised to find that he’d invited his parents around for tea, without asking her first.
Eleanor and Dylan Storm lived in a posh penthouse apartment in Cornwall, with a sea view. They sent Martha and Lilian checks for their birthdays and Christmas, and caught the train once a year for the long journey up to Sandshift for one of Dylan’s golf tournaments.
Thomas, Betty and the girls usually met them in their hotel restaurant for a stilted Sunday lunch, where Eleanor would order a glass of champagne and barely touch her salmon. She wore small round felt hats pinned to the side of her head, and matching tweed jacket-and-skirt sets. Thomas insisted that Betty, Martha and Lilian wear their best clothes when they went along.
Whenever Thomas talked about his mother, he made her sound perfect. She was a brilliant, loving woman who made the best cakes ever. She was a great seamstress and always kept a beautiful home. Betty noticed that Eleanor let her husband enter the room before her and agreed with everything he said, smiling beatifically at his comments.
To her, she was a reminder of how Thomas wanted her to be.
* * *
The day before Betty and Thomas’s wedding, Eleanor took Betty to one side for a chat. “You’re getting married so terribly quickly, I feel I hardly know you.” Her eyes flitted, examining her from head to toe. “I want the best for my son and I want your assurance you only have his best interests at heart.”
Betty thought that Eleanor’s words sounded a little like a threat. “Yes. Of course. I’ll do my best.”
“Well.” Eleanor sniffed. “Only time will tell if that’s good enough.”
When Betty walked down the aisle, Eleanor sat in the front row, her eyes pinned to her son. She didn’t smile and wore a dark gray dress more suited to a funeral.
Throughout the ceremony and reception, Betty swore she could feel her new mother-in-law’s animosity towards her.
Dylan Storm was friendlier. He was an older version of Thomas, but with granite-gray hair and jowls that wobbled. When he talked, he stood with his hands behind his back. The two men talked about the changing world of accountancy, the bible and cricket. Nothing that Betty could relate to.
* * *
“Your parents don’t usually come over to the house,” Betty said. “Is there a special occasion?”
Thomas tutted and shook his head. “Have you forgotten what special month and year this is?”
Betty frowned and could only think of one possibility. “Um, it’s our sixteenth wedding anniversary.”
“Well, of course it is.”
“Lovely,” Betty said, trying not to frown. They never marked their anniversary and didn’t buy cards for each other. Sixteen years wasn’t a traditional celebration.
“Mum and Dad haven’t seen the girls for months. And I’ve invited Trevor, too,” Thomas said.
“Your brother?”
“And his new fiancée. Teresa is training to be a lawyer.”
“Ah.” Betty nodded. She knew there was a brotherly rivalry between Thomas and Trevor, and she wondered if her husband was trying to prove some kind of point.
She also felt a sense of dread creeping over her, as she imagined spending an evening with Thomas’s family. She’d have to do everything, from cooking to being a charming host. “That’s a lot of people to fit around our dining table. Can’t we go to a restaurant instead?”