Spring Blossoms at Mill Grange

landed on the breakfast Mabel had left for Bert. It was untouched.
‘Right then, Bert, what’s been going on here?’
‘Just a cold. Been off for a few days. Tired today.’
‘Then you are wise to have stayed in bed. I’ve called the doctor.’
Bert shook his head, ‘No need, my boy, no—’ Another coughing fit took over his protests as, wrestling a handful of tissues from the box by the bed, Bert spat out a mouthful of mucus.
‘Okay mate, okay.’ Sam wiped his forehead. ‘You know this isn’t a cold, come on, what aches and what doesn’t?’
Resting his head back against his pillows, Bert released a painful sigh. ‘Everything hurts, Sam. Everything.’

Three
Monday March 16th
‘We have three hours before the guests arrive.’ Tina checked her wristwatch as Sam addressed his colleagues. ‘I know Mabel’s friend Diane is with her, but I’d like at least one of us to be there when the doctor sees Bert, so let’s crack on.’
Tom raised the outdoor to-do list he held. ‘Beyond a little tool cleaning, Helen and I are as ready as we can be for the week ahead. Perhaps we could be of use in the house until then?’
Helen agreed. ‘Absolutely. Why don’t you and Tina go and check on Mabel while we start prepping tonight’s dinner?’
‘Would you mind?’ Tina was itching to go and check on Bert.
‘Of course we wouldn’t.’ Helen turned to Tom. ‘I know the week’s groceries were ordered on Friday. They’re due between twelve and two. If you don’t mind listening out for the van, I’ll double check the bathrooms have loo roll and clean towels, then we can start on whatever Mabel has decided is for dinner tonight.’
As Tom readily agreed, Sam got to his feet. ‘I’ll go and check on Mabel and Bert. Diane is a good friend to them, and very capable – she was one of the original team here when Mill Grange was under restoration so we got to know her quite well. If she’s happy keeping Mabel’s spirits up, then maybe, if you come up later, Tina, we can take it in turns to sit with Bert. Although we’ll need to be back to greet the new guests at four.’
Tina gave a weak grin. ‘If we didn’t, Bert would give us a hard time for putting him before the business.’
‘Aint’ that the truth!’
*
Tom’s insides clenched as he stepped out of Mill Grange’s backdoor and saw his ex- girlfriend’s Mini pull up outside of the old butler’s quarters.
‘Sue?’
Having expected the vehicle he’d heard, crawling up the drive, to be the supermarket delivery van, Tom experienced a sense of foreboding. Sue turning up unannounced anywhere was never good news. Unannounced on a week day, at a time when she was normally at work, was even worse.
‘You’ve landed on your feet here, haven’t you?’ Sue slid out of the car and eyed the side of the manor house.
Biting the inside of his cheek to prevent himself saying something he’d regret, Tom peered over Sue’s head, hoping the groceries would arrive, and therefore legitimately take him away from her. ‘Why are you here? Is Dylan alright?’
‘He’s at school.’
‘I didn’t ask that, I asked if my son was alright.’
‘Don’t snap!’ Sue tucked a strand of bright pink hair behind her ear. ‘Dylan is fine.’
Exhaling with a rush of air, Tom dug his hands deep into his trouser pockets. ‘I’m at work, Sue, what do you want?’
She gave him a dazzling smile that immediately put Tom even more on his guard. ‘I thought you worked outside?’
‘Your point is?’
‘You were inside. I saw you come out of the backdoor.’
‘I was doing some paperwork while waiting for a grocery delivery for our caterer, if you must know.’
Sue sneered. ‘Hardly the hot shot archaeology tutor now then.’
‘Oh for goodness sake, Sue. Just tell me what you want and go home.’ He checked his watch. ‘You’ll need to get back to collect Dylan from school at three.’
‘Three-fifteen, actually.’
‘Sue!’
‘Yeah, okay.’ She shuffled her trainers on the gravel. ‘I wanted to talk to you about Dylan.’ She raised her hand fast to calm his repeated enquiry as to their son’s welfare. ‘He is fine, I promise. Whatever our differences, I’ve never for a moment doubted that you love our boy.’
Taken aback, Tom said, ‘Right, well yes. Good. So, what about Dylan?’
‘He’s growing up fast. Every day he gets more inquisitive, brighter. He’s a clever boy.’
Pride lit Tom’s eyes. ‘He is. We were talking about dinosaurs again on Sunday. I’m not sure there’s anything he doesn’t know about them.’
‘Well that’s just it you see.’
‘Dinosaurs?’
‘No! School. Look.’ Sue opened the bag she’d slung over her shoulder and extracted a letter.
Reading it, Tom’s face shone with pride. ‘Accelerated reader’s scheme? That’s fantastic.’
‘Honestly Tom, I had a little cry when Dylan wasn’t looking. The thing is…’
Reeling from the fact his ex was admitting to having an emotional response to something, Tom pushed, ‘What’s the thing, Sue?’
‘There’s going to be a parent’s evening at his school soon. Then there’ll be loads of other things. Events that we haven’t had to deal with before. School concerts, nativity plays, parent assemblies and all that.’ Continuing to stare at her feet, rather than at him, Sue scuffed a line in the gravel with the toe of her trainer. ‘I don’t think you should miss out on those things just because we aren’t together.’
‘Really? You mean it?’
‘Yes.’ Sue checked her watch. ‘Like you said, I can’t hang about now, but I want to talk to you without Dylan being around. Do you think we could do a proper meeting? We’ve never talked about access and stuff.’
‘I wanted to, but you—’
‘I know.’ Sue rolled her brightly painted fingernails into fists and pushed them into her jacket pockets. ‘But if Dylan is going to have a better life than we’ve got, we need to start putting him first.’ Catching one look at Tom’s expression, she hastily added, ‘I need to start putting him first.’
Knowing how much it would have cost her to admit that she might not