The Inn On Bluebell Lane — Episode 20
The Inn On Bluebell Lane
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- 1. The Inn On Bluebell Lane — Episode 20
It was gone six before Ellie got back to Bluebell Farm, exhausted.
She’d met Matthew’s doctor, and the good news was he’d be able to return home tomorrow.
The bad news was that in addition to the six weeks in plaster, he’d need months of physiotherapy.
“Hello?” Ellie called as she came into the house.
Ava hurtled out of the kitchen, tackling her around her waist.
“Mummy, where have you been? You didn’t pick me up from school.” The last was flung at her accusingly, even as Ava wrapped her arms around her waist.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. Did Granny tell you about Daddy’s accident?”
“Yes, his arm is broke.”
“Broken. Yes.”
“But he’s going to be all right, she said.”
“Yes. Yes, he is.” Ellie untangled Ava’s arms from her waist and held her hand. “Where is everyone, Ava? Do you know?”
“I’m in here,” Gwen called and Ellie went into the kitchen.
Her mother-in-law was smiling but she looked tired, standing at the stove.
There were crayons and a dozen sheets of scribbled-on paper on the table.
“Thank you so much, Gwen, for holding the fort,” Ellie said. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
Gwen shrugged in reply.
“It wasn’t a problem. How’s Matthew?”
“He’ll come home tomorrow morning. Where are the others?”
“Upstairs. The two rooms affected have been closed off. I don’t think anything is dangerous.
“You can sleep in one of the guest rooms.”
“Thank you, that’s all good to hear. I’ll just go see how they did today.”
“They didn’t tell me much, I’m afraid. Tea’s in a few minutes.”
“Thanks.”
Ellie headed upstairs, her nose wrinkling as she breathed in the plaster dust still hanging in the air.
It could have been so much worse, she reminded herself, and yet when she peeked in her bedroom and saw the jagged, gaping hole in the middle of the floor, she had to acknowledge this was pretty bad.
Closing the door, deciding she’d think about all that later, she went in search of Jacob, Craig, and Jess.
“Hey, Jacob.” Her younger son was lying on his bed, reading a “Horrible Histories” book.
Craig was on the other bed, playing on his iPad.
Ellie perched on the edge of Jacob’s bed and smiled.
“How was school?”
“OK.” He shrugged, his gaze glued to the book.
OK was better than some words, Ellie thought.
Jacob was so quiet, so sensitive, so shy. Even back in Connecticut he’d had trouble making friends, and she worried about him here.
“Is your teacher nice?” she tried again, and Jacob just shrugged. He clearly wasn’t in a talking mood.
Ellie turned to Craig.
“What about you, Craig? Good day at school?”
“Yeah. OK.” He didn’t look up from his screen.
“Meet anyone interesting?” Ellie asked, and he grunted in reply.
She knew she wouldn’t get any more from him, not now, so she decided to go in search of Jess.
Her eldest daughter was curled up on her bed, her back to Ellie, a pillow clutched to her chest.
Ellie’s heart ached at the sight of her.
“Jess? How was school?”
“Horrible,” she said in a muffled voice. “I hate everything about it.
“I don’t want to be here. It stinks.”
Ellie hesitated, unsure what tone to take. Bracing? Sympathetic? It was so hard to know sometimes.
She sat on the edge of the bed and touched her daughter’s back, but Jess flinched away.
“First days are hard, aren’t they?” she said.
“As if you know.” Jess hunched her shoulders further, away from Ellie.
“You never moved halfway across the world.”
“No,” Ellie agreed. “But I did start a new school when I was thirteen, Jess, where I didn’t know anyone.”
“It’s not the same.”
“I know it’s not.”
The last thing Ellie wanted to do was seem as if she were competing with her daughter for who’d had it toughest.
“Tell me about your day,” she invited. “Were your teachers nice?”
“No, they were horrible.”
“Did you meet anyone friendly?” Ellie asked, striving to keep a light, upbeat tone.
“Everyone ignored me.”
“What about lunch?” She was getting desperate now, but surely something had gone right, or at least not completely wrong.
Jess rolled over on to her back, and Ellie’s heart squeezed painfully at the sight of her daughter’s blotchy face.
“I didn’t even eat lunch, because you can’t pay with regular money, you have to have an account.”
“Oh, Jess.” Ellie looked at her in dismay. “I didn’t realise. I’m so sorry.”