Once they’d cleared the farm’s long driveway and got onto the country lane that would take them back towards the A road and the motorway, Ben asked Marcie anxiously, “Was that all right? Granny was coming on a bit strong, wasn’t she?”

“She was lovely,” Marcie said happily, “I wasn’t bothered at all by her church stuff. She reminded me of my Nanna, perhaps with a bit more of a Church of England countryside spin. But your aunts were lovely too, just like your dad was. I really did feel very welcome, as if I was a part of the family already.” She paused for a moment, and then said in a deliberate tone of voice, “And that’s the thing, isn’t it? They all think we’re going to get married already.”

“Aye,” Ben said carefully, aware of what he’d said to his dad, “Maybe it’s a country thing too, like they’re still a bit traditional. We might have thought that it was moving in together that was the big milestone, but they’re maybe just assuming that we would be ready to get engaged, if we’d made that step.”

“And are we, do you think?” Marcie asked bluntly.

“After what we’ve been talking about, what we said in the ash tree especially? I think we agreed, we’re already doing Mother Nature’s work, braiding the cord of life through the generations. Marriage is the public way of demonstrating that, isn’t it? Listening to Dad talking about Mum, and seeing Grace and Ginnie together too, seeing how they’ve made it work their way, it feels as if we’ve just made it all more tangible.”

“Yes, your aunts are a strong couple, aren’t they?” Marcie observed, “When we talked, with you out of the room getting the tea with your dad, I could see how Ginnie supports Grace, and also how Grace maybe in some sense completes her. It’s a shame they couldn’t get married officially. I guess it may have been hard for them, especially if your Granny’s Christian faith is quite strong.”

“No, as I understand it, Granny was always just fine with it,” Ben recalled as he drove, “I don’t remember Grandpa that well, but from what Dad’s told me, she had to work at persuading him back then, explaining it was just the way Grace was. She did fall out badly with the vicar over it, I think, but I guess she was confident enough in her faith, stubbornly turning up in church every Sunday despite the old duffer. I can easily imagine her glaring him down, while he was droning on in his pulpit, then maybe over coffee, reminding him time and again that God is love. But we were talking about us, weren’t we? So, do you really think we’re ready to get engaged?”

Ben felt quite anxious about Marcie’s response, having steeled himself to ask the question directly. She seemed to give it careful thought, taking a deep breath before she replied, “Oh Ben, yes, I really do. I really do think that’s where we are already as a couple. I truly believe that we are both ready and willing to make a lifelong commitment, as adults with our eyes open to everything that means, even though it’s been so quick. But maybe we don’t need to make that step official just yet. It’s been such a mad week, for you more than me. We should give time for things to settle down, to see what normal looks like for us maybe, then decide. Does that sound okay?”

“Aye, that sounds just fine,” Ben agreed happily. He felt he had to be honest with Marcie though, so he explained, “I admit, that’s pretty much what I said to Dad. I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to go behind your back, but we talked about it in the kitchen, when we were making tea. I just wanted to know what he’d think, if he’d be okay. I wanted to know if I’d be risking falling out with him, I guess, if you and I took that step so soon, if he’d then think it was reckless and foolish. He maybe seems a bit lonely sometimes, without Mum, with his sons away. I didn’t want to think I’d be pushing him away. There’s no chance of that, it seems. He’s happy for us, genuinely, I think. It’s like we reminded him of falling in love with Mum. But he said he wouldn’t try to tell me what to do, saying the two of us should follow our hearts, I think.”

“Aw, that’s very touching. And it was very kind of you to think of not leaving him lonely, Ben,” Marcie said in a tender way, reaching over to squeeze his knee, “But don’t worry. It doesn’t feel like you were going behind my back. We have sort of been talking about this already, haven’t we? You were right to seize the chance to talk to your dad. Maybe we’ll persuade him to come up to Newcastle soon to see our new shared home too.”

“Aye, that sounds good,” Ben agreed, before going back to her answer to his original question, “I’m really happy that you agree we’re ready, that we’re looking at a lifelong love with our eyes open. I was worried, like I was after that dream, that I’d lost you, or risked losing you, with my stupid words outside the gym. Like I said, it felt worse than the fire.”

“Oh Ben, remember our smooches and cuddles since then! Remember how badly I wanted you, how eager you were to consume me,” Marcie said, briefly lifting her hand to brush his cheek as Ben diligently focused on the road. She went on, “I see it the other way around, in a way. We’re not talking about making the public commitment of our love by getting married despite that little row, we can talk about it now because of it. What you said in the moment, and the awful way that I treated you, it’s all been washed away now. We kissed and made up, big time. And I think that’s the real lesson for us. We’ll row again I’m sure, sadly, but when the moment’s past, we’ll both want to come back together again, to heal any hurt we’ve caused, then reforge our love in those trusty inner fires you and your grandmother both talk about. We know now that we’ll end up returning to our deep affection for each other, to the union that supports us both, right?”

“You’re right,” Ben agreed thoughtfully, turning briefly to smile into her earnest big brown eyes. He drove in silence for a while, then remembered what else Marcie had mentioned, “So, when you were all talking without Dad and me, you said you saw how my aunts supported each other. So what came up? I’d thought you’d just spoken about books, but maybe I shouldn’t ask.”

Marcie gave a light chuckle before she began filling him in, “It did get a bit more personal than that, but I needn’t keep it secret from you. It actually got dangerously risqué almost as soon as you’d left, when that Ashleigh came up again. Because your dad had mentioned her, Pat had to ask if she had been your girlfriend or Adam’s. Grace reminded her firmly that she’d been with your older brother as she was so much closer to his age, but then Ginnie remembered that you’d seemed to have a teen crush on her too. She must have been talking about the very same lunch party that you told me about, when you had your secret moment with Ashleigh and your first taste of sexual intimacy. Ginnie explained to me that there had been this one time that Ash had come along to a family lunch when your brother was away, and you had, ‘Made doe-eyes at her through the whole meal.’ She said it was then that she knew you were heterosexual, though she didn’t put it like that. Maybe she’d been a bit worried that as you hit puberty it would turn out that you were gay, like your aunt, and she didn’t want you to go through the anxiety and strife that they’d presumably experienced.”

“I’m amazed she remembered, after all these years,” Ben said, feeling a little worried himself now. Maybe it really would be still awkward if he and Marcie ran into Ash again now, with her husband and their kids.

“I’m afraid I probed a little,” Marcie admitted, and Ben glanced across to see her coquettish expression. When he asked her to go on, she explained, “I asked if she remembered whether you’d been brave enough to tell Ashleigh how you felt about her. Then Grace said that she remembered the lunch party too, because she’d been embarrassed about her drinking, and it had given her pause to reflect on whether she was happy in her life. She reminded Ginnie that you and Ash had disappeared for a very long time to look at some kittens. Then Ginnie completed the story, saying that when you’d come back, you’d both looked quite flushed, almost as if ‘they’d had a little roll in the hay,’ to use her exact words.”

“I never knew it had been so obvious,” Ben said, feeling deeply embarrassed and ashamed.

“Hey, don’t worry!” Marcie said brightly, “Your aunts clearly both thought it was sweet. I felt they really didn’t care either way whether it was just a cuddle or something more serious that had happened. They just wanted to tell me so that I’d know you’d always been very kind and attentive towards your female friends. Your grandmother obviously agreed with them, as I think she said, ‘He certainly applies himself well when it comes to meeting his duties to the young ladies.’”

Ben felt a slight easing of his anxiety as he asked, “And was that all? You didn’t fill them in on the details?”

“No! Again, don’t worry,” Marcie said, squeezing his knee again, “I’d never gab about something you’d told me in confidence. And though even your grandmother seems to be quite at ease with the idea that the two of us are already sexually active, I’d never have gone into the genuine intimate details of our adventures with them, nor anyone else. As I remember it, because your aunts had hinted already hinted at how well they knew what teenagers were like, our chat simply drifted onto their school careers, and then children’s books as you came in on us.”

“Well, I’ll have to keep reading your book now,” Ben said more lightly, “You didn’t say there was an incestuous lesbian love scene in it.”

Marcie gave a shocked laugh as she admonished him with a light swipe to his shoulder, saying, “Ben! It’s certainly not like that. It is a very tender moment in the book, and I remember that when I read it, I wished I could have been there to give Lucy and Susan a hug too.”

“Ah, but you’ve already told me,” he went on with a chuckle, “When you were teenager, you were as happy kissing the girls as you were the boys. Maybe Ginnie recognised that, and that’s why you got on so well. When I was making tea with Dad, you weren’t being a bit flirty, were you?”

“Ben! Most certainly not,” Marcie snapped back with mock indignation, “I don’t know how you could imagine such a thing. You’re turning into a worse tease than me!”

Ben laughed aloud, then reassured her that he thought she’d been utterly charming and polite to all his family, remarking that she’d certainly seemed to overcome any nervousness that she might have had.

“Hmm, well, you seemed to be making an effort too,” Marcie noted with a sly tone, “I didn’t see you trying to pick your nose or grab your lunchbox once while you were with your family.”

Ben laughed again, a little self-consciously, then admitted he had been trying to make an effort, to notice and check his impulses so that he’d not embarrass Marcie with those impolite tics. But they’d reached the motorway by now, and he was aware there was a long slog ahead, so after a pause he said, “I’d better focus on the drive. Shall we put the CD back on now? Maybe a tender scene is coming up there too, between Frodo and Sam.”

Marcie laughed, even as she denied there was anything like that at all in the story, then pressed play. Ben found that despite the rather staged and self-conscious style of the recording, the drama did help the long journey to pass quickly.

Their drive back was also uneventful, without any unexpected phone calls or stops this time. The last few minutes through the quiet Sunday evening streets of Newcastle were easy too, but Ben was still glad to finally reach the journey’s end as he reversed into a parking space on Marcie’s road. Marcie thanked him for bringing them safely home as he sheepishly took his childish box of bricks, following Marcie was she let them into the flat.

“Do you want to pop the kettle on while I bring the washing in?” she suggested, striding through the flat in her boots while Ben slipped his own shoes off, “Then I’d better phone my mum.”

“I forgot!” Ben said with sudden realisation, following her into the living room, “We’ve been talking about my family, as if you’re already my fiancé, and your mum doesn’t even know I exist!”

“It’s not a big deal, really,” Marcie insisted, “I’ve already said it won’t be major news to her, compared to Mister Tiddles’ hairball problem.”

“Still, we should maybe put a date in to see her too soon,” he suggested, also asking her, “Tea? Or wine maybe?”

“Tea for now, please,” she said as she stepped out of the back door. Then when she came back in, Ben suggested he fold the laundry up and put it away while she made her phone call, if she wanted to get it out of the way. He also asked if she’d had any thoughts on what to eat for their tea, but she said she’d had such a big lunch that she’d be fine with just some cheese and crackers, with an apple and a glass of wine maybe. Ben thought he might have beans on toast, and volunteered to get it all ready for them once he’d put clean bedding and so on away. Marcie agreed, but when Ben moved to take the laundry basket into the bedroom, she suggested he stay, so he could hear how the conversation went with her mother.

So he began diligently folding the sheets as Marcie took the phone to the sofa and dialled a number from memory, starting to unlace her boots even before her mum had answered. Then he listened, keeping himself busy, while Marcie spoke, “Hi Mum. How are you? Really? Mum, I’ve got some news. I’ve got a new boyfriend. He’s called Ben, and we’re getting on really well. Yes, we’re both taking it quite seriously. No, I met him at the gym actually. It’s a bit of a funny story. Well, funny odd, not funny ha-ha. He collapsed while I was there, yes, he just stepped off his running machine and slid to the floor, gasping for air. Anyway, I went with him to the hospital. I wanted to help, Mum. Yes, he’s out, and doing well, but it’s quite a serious condition, so he can’t go back to work. No, but he’s putting in a compensation claim. He’s a tree surgeon. It’s okay, he’ll be safe now, he’s getting treatment. But he sadly had some other bad news this week too. Well, there was a fire in his flat and he lost a lot of his things. They burnt, Mum. No, he’s living with me now. Yes, we’re being careful. Yes, I know, but you don’t need to worry, I’m a big grown-up girl. No, he’s a bit younger actually. No, Richard’s completely out of the picture. Yes, he knows, but really there’s no way I’d ever go back, believe me. Ben means so much more now. Yes, like I said, we are serious about it. Well, he grew up in Lincolnshire on a dairy farm, but he lost his mum a few years ago. Yes, it is sad, but I met his dad today actually, and he’s lovely too. We drove down, and I met his grandmother and two of his aunts too. Yes, they were all very friendly and I felt very welcome. Yes, it is serious. We really want to make a go of it. That’s right, he’s living with me in the flat. No, we’re okay, it’s fine, it’s going very well actually. Yes, it is, it’s all good. Well, he wants to meet you too. I have my diary and my library rota here so we can make a date right now.”

Ben watched Marcie’s finger through Filofax as he now got on with laying things out for their supper whilst she went on, “We could come over on Friday. Yes, this Friday. Well, the week after then. What about Wednesday? Because that’s when I’m off shift for the whole day. Okay, Sunday then, two weeks from today. Yes, I’m writing it down. Yes, for lunch. I’ll bring something. No, he’s easy, but I’ll bring something anyway. I’d like to, and it will be easier for you. Well, okay, but we’ll speak again before anyway. Yes, I’m fine, very well, thanks to Ben. Yes, it has been a big week. How’s yours been? Yes, yes. Oh dear, no. Yes, I remember. No, that’s a shame. No. Well that’s okay then. Look Mum, I’d better be going. It’s been a big day and we’ve not had our tea yet. Ben and me. Yes, he’s in the flat now. We’re together now, Mum. Yes, he’s living with me, that’s what I said. No, it’s all okay. I’m very safe, and very happy. We’re both very happy together. Well, you’ll meet him in two weeks’ time, won’t you? Did you write it down too? Lunchtime. It’s Osborne, he’s Ben Osborne. No, you wouldn’t know him, but you will. Mum, I need to go now. All right. Bye-bye. Yes, you take care too. Iva, Alla jbierek ukol. Saħħa. Bye.”

Marcie hung up, put the phone on the floor, then leaned back on the sofa and blew out a long sigh of relief as she looked up at Ben with an exaggerated expression of weary exhaustion. He smiled sympathetically as she invited him to sit next to her with a gesture, saying, “Well, I guess you got the gist of that.”

“Aye, I think so,” Ben said, twisting to face her on the sofa and resting his hand on hers, “She worked out you’re serious about me, but she’s a bit worried, thinking of you with a strange man, who she doesn’t know. Also, she can’t fit us in for a lunchtime date next week.”

“That’s it! That’s just it, isn’t it?” Marcie said with frustration, sitting up again and gesturing with her hands, “She fusses and worries, but she puts off doing anything about it! She’s not really busy on Friday, or any other day in the next fortnight. Yes, maybe she does usually go to the shops on a Wednesday. But hey, here’s a crazy idea, why not go on Tuesday instead so you can meet your only daughter’s new ‘serious’ boyfriend for the first time? And what does ‘serious’ really mean anyway? She must have said it six times! But what about love, or just affection and support and open trust and shared happiness? Mother of God, what about just getting to the point and asking about pregnancy and safe sex and weddings, or even mortgage payments, savings and earnings if that’s what was on her mind? Why not come out and say those things? Your family managed it, and I was a stranger to them this morning. I’m sorry, but Holy Mary, she winds me up.”

“That’s okay,” Ben said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tensed-up frame to his chest. He kissed her cheek, just below her glasses, then said, “She’s stuck in her ways, I guess. She’ll come around to the idea. She wants to be happy for you, I think. She was asking about me, she was showing an interest, in what’s important to you, and she did want to meet me, even if she was dithering about it.”

“Hey, don’t take her side,” Marcie said crossly, her hands pinching and fiddling at her skirt in frustration, but Ben could tell she was already calming down. Then she looked at him, furrowing her dark eyebrows to say, “Yes, and that was another thing! Why not just let me bring something for lunch? She knows she’ll work herself up into a flap about getting anything ready, and it will be awful even if she manages it. Why not just say, ‘Yes, Marcie, that would be lovely. Why don’t you bring your lovely lasagne? We can pop it in the oven as soon as you arrive, then we’ll all enjoy tucking into it half an hour later. It would be a real weight off my mind.’ Oh, I’m so cross! I’ll have to ring her again each day as it gets close, listening to her fuss, waiting until she agrees to let me help.”

“I’m sorry,” Ben said, holding her head tenderly, cupping his hand against the firmly pinned hair behind her ear as he held her close.

“Oh, don’t be,” Marcie said, sighing, seemingly letting the tension drain from her as she did so, “It’s my problem. I let her wind me up. Maybe it will all work out fine in two weeks’ time. Maybe she’ll even start taking a bit more interest in the world around her if she thinks she’s got a prospective son-in-law who’s battling for his health, and for justice regarding injuries to his body and property. And you’ve been busy making such a lovely spread! Thank you,” she concluded, smiling again as she turned towards him and then pressed her lips to his, just for a lingering sensitive moment.