*
It was her new thing, checking the calendar each morning and counting down the days until their midnight charity swim. It was hard to believe it was only a week away. She reminded Jo of it when she went to visit her dear friend later that morning.
‘You’d better be behaving yourself,’ she said mock crossly.
‘Never,’ Jo whispered. She was tired today. On days like this, she was almost unrecognisable from the woman she’d known for so long. And yet, Elizabeth had seen her like this before and then, a few days later, she’d rally round enough to turn up for their midnight swim. Of course, Lucy would be giving out and telling her that it was unadulterated madness for a woman who’d been so unwell only days earlier to be stripping down and getting into the sea in the middle of the night. But Jo was still Jo. Her friend had never allowed anyone’s opinion to sway her from her chosen path.
‘We have only days to go, so no funny business now.’
‘Don’t you worry; I have every intention of being there. I’ll be expecting a round of applause at the very least.’ She laughed.
‘You’ll be lucky. I’d say half the women of the village will be far too busy covering over their peculiar bits to dare put their hands together.’
‘You’ll be surprised.’ Jo smiled and Elizabeth thought her heart would break because there was so much spirit left in her friend’s eyes even if the life was being drained from her body.
‘So, you must be over the moon about Lucy staying on.’
‘As are you, I’m sure.’ Jo cocked an eye on her. Then she looked out towards the window. ‘It’s the right thing,’ she breathed. ‘It’s the right thing for both of you.’ She closed her eyes. ‘I want you to look out for each other… when I’m gone.’
‘Stop it. Don’t talk about that now.’
‘No.’ Jo raised a hand that was almost skeletal. The skin hanging from her bones made Elizabeth want to wrap up her friend so nothing further could happen to her. ‘I have to say this to you. You’re going to need each other. The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club, you need to keep it going; you need to make sure that you’re both…’
‘We’re going to see each other every single day.’ Elizabeth tried to laugh.
‘You know what I mean. You need to talk to each other. She has an unhappy marriage behind her; she needs to meet someone new. It’s not too late for her to have a larger family. It’s what she always wanted.’
‘And you want me to find her a good husband? I’m hardly qualified to advise on that front.’
‘No, but you’re well placed to make sure she doesn’t marry another one like the one she married before.’ Jo shook her head. Elizabeth knew she’d never liked Jack Nolan no matter how much she tried to pretend that she did. ‘It’s not just that though, you’ll both need a good friend. I’ll do what I can from…’ She raised her eyes towards the ceiling.
‘Will you stop it? You know I’m going to look out for her…’ Elizabeth said and now the tears were much too close to say much more. Instead she looked out at the sea opposite. She loved it here.
‘Good. That’s as much as I’m going to ask you to do for me.’ She smiled then and there was no hiding that devilish sense of humour. ‘For now.’
‘Yes, all you have to do for me is turn up on the fifteenth when we’re all out there swimming in your honour.’
‘I’ll be there,’ Jo said softly and Elizabeth just prayed she would.
Part 5
August
28
Jo
It seemed to Jo that she woke before anyone else on the morning before they were due to launch into the water as the Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club. There was no point being awake now though; it would be the other side of the day before she’d even think of getting out of the bed. She’d learned, over the last few weeks, that getting the most out of the time she had left was all about pacing herself.
She felt badly, because she could see in Lucy’s eyes the worry that some days she didn’t get up much further than raising herself onto an extra pillow at her shoulders. It was enough to watch the world unfold outside her bedroom window and anything more she needed to know was supplied by Niall and Elizabeth when they came to sit on her bed each day and fill her in on all that was happening in the village. Dan had taken to visiting her too, now that he had finished writing his book, during the day when Lucy was at the surgery. He would let himself in the side door and make them both a cup of tea, before depositing it on her bedside table. He’d sit and listen while she told him all she knew about village life when St Nunciata’s was up and running. Sometimes, if she hadn’t the energy to talk, he’d tell her about his life in London and how he’d found out about where he’d originally come from.