The Quality of Love (36 page)

Now that Lloyd not only knew she could drive but felt quite safe when she was doing so, Sarah found life was more relaxed. It was so much easier to get Rhoslyn dressed and ready at her own speed instead of having to constantly chivvy the child to hurry.

Lloyd also found that it was less stressful when he could take his time and not be expected to rush.

Celina was delighted. ‘I always intended to learn to drive but it always looked so complicated that I never plucked up the courage to do so,' she admitted. ‘All those gears and levers and switches, I could never work out how to use them in the right order.'

‘I'm sure you could,' Sarah told her. ‘Why don't you give it another try?'

‘No, I don't think so,' Celina protested with an affected shiver. ‘Perhaps you should suggest it to Lloyd, though. I'm sure he'd enjoy driving and he is so much better these days that he might jump at the opportunity.'

At first Sarah felt quite startled by the idea. She thought about it and realised that Celina was right and that these days her dad's hands barely shook at all. She couldn't remember the last time he'd dropped or spilled anything and so she was inclined to agree with her.

For the next few days she didn't bother about cutting up Lloyd's food for him and she noticed that it didn't seem to bother him at all that he had to do it for himself.

‘Perhaps you should learn to drive, Dad,' she said tentatively the next time she was collecting him and Rhoslyn from Celina's, ‘then you could take Celina out sometimes. I'm sure she'd like a run out into the country or down to the seaside and we're always so busy that we never seem to get the time for any little jaunts like that.'

He dismissed the idea as nonsense. ‘An old crock like me? What are you talking about, cariad? Duw anwyl! It takes me all my time to climb into this damn thing,' he grumbled as he settled himself in the back seat and waited while she put Rhoslyn in beside him.

Although she laughed with him it did put an idea into Sarah's head and she asked Owen what he thought.

‘I don't see why not,' Owen agreed. ‘There's nothing wrong with his eyesight or hearing. In fact, he's so much better these days that the only problem is that he can't walk very well.'

‘So you think that once he is behind the wheel he could manage to drive all right?'

‘Send off for a driving licence for him and when that comes through I'll suggest it to him and we'll see how he gets on.'

At first Lloyd didn't even want to give it a try. ‘Damnio di, what are you trying to do, boyo, get me to make a fool of myself?'

‘No, not at all. I simply thought it might give you a little more independence if you were able to drive.'

‘Not likely to get much of that, not at my age and in my state of health, now am I?' Lloyd muttered gloomily.

‘Of course you're not when all you do is sit in your armchair and wait for other people to ferry you around.'

‘I'm past it, boyo, and the sooner I settle down and accept the fact the better.'

‘If that's how you see things, then probably you're right,' Owen shrugged as he turned away.

‘The sooner the lot of you accept that my life's more or less finished the more contented I'll be,' Lloyd muttered.

‘You can't blame me for trying,' Owen said mildly as he started up the engine. ‘I even thought that if you did learn to drive then it
might be possible for you to have a job again at Morgan's. Even if it was only part time it would keep you occupied and prove to the rest of the world that you're not quite useless yet.'

Lloyd looked startled and so taken by surprise at his son-in-law's remark that he was speechless. He puffed out his cheeks and raised his eyebrows speculatively. ‘Do you really think so?' he asked in disbelief.

‘If I've managed to learn to drive then I'm sure you can as well,' Sarah told her father when he brought the subject up over the meal table the next day.

‘It's not so easy learning new skills as you get older,' Celina said thoughtfully.

‘Dad's not all that old, though,' Sarah argued as she helped herself to potatoes and passed the dish along to Owen.

‘Well, he's middle-aged like me and I know I tried and I was absolutely hopeless.'

‘Owen would probably say that was because you're a woman and therefore you find it more difficult to understand how mechanical things work,' Sarah laughed.

‘Well, in that case, your dad shouldn't have any problem,' Celina murmured, her eyes twinkling as she looked across at Sarah.

Lloyd and Owen remained silent while listening to their banter.

The following day, however, Owen reported that Lloyd had said he was going to give it a try, that was if he was able to manage to climb in behind the wheel.

Three weeks later he had not only mastered
getting into the car, but was also driving as confidently and proficiently as if he'd done so all his life. Owen was pleased and Sarah was delighted. Celina was also full of praise about what he'd achieved although she declared that she'd known all along that he'd be able to do it.

‘I shall expect you to fulfil your promise and find me a job back at Morgan's,' Lloyd reminded Owen.

‘Well, you can start by chauffeuring Sarah and Rhoslyn around and taking Celina out,' Owen told him.

‘Oh no, he's not doing that; I don't want him depriving me of driving,' Sarah told them promptly.

‘She's right, boyo, it's not what I want to do. I'm hoping for a proper driving job, in either a van or a small lorry. I want one that will put me back on the payroll, in fact.'

‘I'm still expecting you to take me out for a run now and again, Lloyd,' Celina reminded him. ‘I'm looking forward to it, so don't let me down.'

‘I can see we'll have to draw up a rota so that we know whose turn it is to use the car,' Owen laughed.

Although they never did anything quite like that they did arrange certain days when the car would be available for Lloyd to take Celina out and Sarah realised that these became the highlight of Lloyd's week.

Celina, too, seemed to enjoy their excursions which were extremely varied and depended to some extent on the weather. When it was bright and sunny they journeyed out into the surrounding countryside or to places like Penarth. Occasionally when they intended to go to Barry Island, Porthcawl or anywhere near the coast where they knew there was going to be a sandy beach, they took Rhoslyn with them.

Rhoslyn loved these outings and soon grew to know which days of the week Lloyd and Celina would be going out. She would have her little bucket and spade with her when she came down to breakfast in the hope that her grandfather would take her along as well.

Although they loved taking her with them they both admitted that they found it very tiring having to keep an eye on her. Celina was the one who had to run after Rhoslyn most of the time because she moved far too fast for Lloyd to keep up with her.

Sarah welcomed the opportunity to have a few hours on her own whenever they did take her. She found she was leading such a busy life that she had no time for personal things and welcomed these opportunities for shopping or a visit to the hairdresser's.

Although it was fairly hectic day to day, she wouldn't have changed things for a moment. Her father seemed to be so much happier and brighter now that he was working again, even though it was only for two or three days a week.
The other days while Sarah was at work he spent at Pen-y-lan Road with Rhoslyn and Celina.

As Lloyd's health improved over the next couple of years he spent more time at Pen-y-lan, and did more and more odd jobs for Celina while he was there; things which neither her daily woman nor her housekeeper could manage to do. It was a very big house with four bedrooms, a large drawing room and a spacious dining room as well as a huge kitchen and scullery.

There was also a greenhouse and potting shed in the big garden and Lloyd loved to potter around in there as well as in the well-equipped workshop that was built on to the side of the garage.

Sarah's initial envy that Celina's place was so much grander than their home in Cyfartha Street was tempered by the thought of how much maintenance it required, even though Celina had plenty of help. She found that cleaning their own small house took up most of her time when she wasn't at the office.

Owen kept telling her that she should never have stopped Marie coming in to help because they could afford to pay her now that their situation had improved so much.

‘I couldn't bring myself to let someone do housework for me, not when I'm fit and well, because I always feel that my mother would have disapproved.'

‘You are an idiot,' Owen laughed, pulling her
into his arms and kissing her. ‘Lorna probably didn't have anyone to help out because she couldn't afford it; I keep telling you that nowadays we can. What's more, I want you to let someone else do it so that you can have an easier time.'

‘It would make me feel guilty, though. The reason my mam couldn't afford it was probably because they were scrimping and scraping all the time to send me to university.'

‘That's all water under the bridge, cariad. We have a new life now, we've moved on. Take your dad, for example: here he is, driving and having days out and enjoying his life, yet a couple of years ago he looked as though he was going to be a permanent invalid only capable of sitting in his armchair all day.'

‘I know, and I'm very happy for him.'

‘He'd be very happy for you if he thought your life was easier. He was saying only the other day that life seems to be rushing by and what with a home to run and putting in time at the office you didn't get much time to do anything else. In fact, he even suggested that this year we should arrange to take Rhoslyn away on holiday.'

Sarah's face lit up. ‘That would be lovely!'

‘She'll be four in July, old enough to appreciate a week by the sea. Next year she'll be off to school, remember.'

‘It would mean leaving Ion in charge, would you be happy about that?' Sarah queried.

‘Your dad would be there as well; he said he would go in every day to make sure everything was running smoothly.'

‘What would he do if it wasn't?'

‘Let me know, of course. I would arrange to telephone in at a set time each day and he'd be there to take the call and let me know if there were any problems.'

Sarah mulled the idea over for days before she reached a decision and agreed with Owen that it was a good idea.

‘We'll go in the middle of June; before the schools break up for their summer holidays, so then it won't be too crowded. We won't talk about it in front of Rhoslyn in case anything goes wrong and we're prevented from going.'

There was so much preparatory work to be done that there were times when Sarah wondered if it was worth all the hassle it entailed. Then she thought of how excited Rhoslyn would be when they told her and all her doubts vanished.

At the beginning of the month they told her and made a special list of the days left before their holiday started. Each morning the minute she got up Rhoslyn crossed one off.

When Saturday 16 June arrived Rhoslyn crossed off the last day. She jumped up and down with excitement and could hardly eat her breakfast.

Owen had packed the motor car with everything they were taking the night before so the
moment Sarah had finished washing-up the breakfast dishes and making the beds they were ready to leave.

Owen gave some last-minute instructions to Lloyd and then finally, to Rhoslyn's joy, they were in the motor car and heading out of Cardiff on their way to Swansea.

Their hotel was close to the sea front with a wonderful view of the sweeping bay as it curved towards Oystermouth. They could see the castle perched on the hill and, further along, even the gleaming white islets of Mumbles Head.

There was so much to do and they revelled in the feeling of freedom. The week passed all too quickly but Sarah found that it did give her and Owen an opportunity to recapture some of the romance that seemed to have been squeezed out of their busy schedule since he'd taken over at Morgan's.

Being out in the warm June sunshine all day was wonderful for all of them. Rhoslyn loved it when Owen rolled up his trousers as far as the knees and took her paddling in the sea. They built endless sandcastles and Rhoslyn had great fun exploring rock pools with her little shrimping net and turning over pebbles and stones to see what wildlife would scuttle from underneath them.

Every afternoon Rhoslyn had a donkey ride along the sand before they went back to the hotel for their evening meal. By the time they'd
eaten she was ready for bed and once she was settled down they knew they wouldn't hear a peep from her until the next morning.

Although it meant they had to stay in the hotel themselves during the evening they soon discovered that this could be the best part of the day. Once Rhoslyn was asleep they pulled back the curtains, opened the French doors on to the balcony, and swivelled the sofa round so that they could sit there in comfort.

As dusk fell and the lights came on around the sweeping curve of the bay the whole scene was transformed. In such a romantic setting, with a bottle of wine on the table beside them, they were content to sit, talk, kiss and cuddle before eventually making their way to bed to complete a night of lovemaking.

Their feelings for each other were as strong as ever and as the end of the week approached Sarah felt reluctant to return to Cardiff; she wanted their holiday to go on for ever.

‘Unfortunately that's impossible,' Owen sighed on their last evening there as they sat close together on the sofa, his arm round her and her head resting on his shoulder.

‘I know, I was only daydreaming. We must try and do this again, though, and not keep putting it off. This is the first holiday we've had since we've been married.'