‘Lucky
Day’ by Sarah Swatridge
A Pot of Tea
Everything
changed that day. The day the piano tuner came.
Heather’s son, William, still lived at home
and for some time he’d been dating Katie, a single mum.
It was a Sunday when Heather and Joe met
Katie for the first time. They took to her straight away. She was warm and
friendly and above all, a gentle and loving mother. Little Tia was seven and painfully
shy.
‘She’s usually so chatty,’ William laughed. ‘It’s
hard to get a word in.’
‘It can’t be easy meeting strangers, and
we’re all adults,’ Heather reassured her son, although she’d gone to the
trouble of providing a box of toys and had offered her chocolate ice-cream for
pudding which, according to Katie, was her favourite.
Heather was confident Tia would relax once
she began to get to know them. Perhaps next time they met she’d be more
comfortable?
As they’d eaten a big roast at lunchtime,
Heather only served tea and cake for tea, in the lounge. It was, as she was
pouring the tea, that she noticed Tia looking at the piano.
‘Would you like to have a go?’ she offered.
Katie looked worried, ‘Don’t worry, it’s old, and probably out of tune. She
can’t do any harm.’
While the adults continued to chat, Tia
climbed on to the stool and lifted the lid. Tentatively she played a note or
two, gradually gaining confidence and making more noise. It was the happiest
she’d been all afternoon.
Over the next few months Katie and Tia became
regular guests. Tia lost her initial shyness and Heather loved having her
around. William said he’d arrange piano lessons for her, and so Heather decided
it was high time to have the piano looked at.
Not surprisingly the piano tuner tutted and sighed
as he inspected Granny Pearl’s treasured instrument.
‘Would you like a cuppa?’ Heather asked him.
‘Yes please.’
‘Heather?’ he called a few moments later.
Heather rushed in from the kitchen expecting to be told it was past repair. ‘I’ve
found this.’
He handed over an old biscuit tin, covered in
a good layer of dust. Heather blushed and wondered what he’d think of her
housekeeping skills.
‘It was at the bottom of the piano. A small
glass of water is more effective. It counteracts the effect of central heating.’
Heather felt a little confused, but took the
tin and returned with a glass of water which was duly placed inside the bottom
of the piano.
‘Kettle’s boiled. How do you like your tea?’
she asked.
‘Milk, no sugar, thanks.’
Having served his tea, she returned to the
kitchen and opened the ancient tin. And that’s where she found Granny’s jewels!
Granny Pearl had never been wealthy but
various members of the family had expected her to have a string of pearls if
nothing else. No one had ever thought to look for them in the piano.
‘My goodness, there are rings, chains, old
watches and loads of necklaces,’ Heather grinned as she showed Joe. ‘They’re
all a bit tarnished, but not plastic.’
The whole episode, although exciting, caused
Heather a sleepless night. She was sure, when her grandmother died, that she
was her Granny’s only living relative. Her will had specifically mentioned she
was to have the piano. But in her dream, she imagined that someone else had a
claim on the biscuit tin of old chains. What if somewhere out there, there was
a distant second cousin, twice removed?
The following day she and Joe took Granny’s
jewellery to be valued.
‘Do you want a valuation for insurance
purposes or are you thinking of selling?’ he asked.
Heather looked at the rather ugly hoard
knowing she’d never wear it. She didn’t think Pearl would be upset if she sold
it. Granny had never been one to wear much jewellery.
‘I’m thinking of selling,’ she told him.
She
left the stash with the jeweller and went for a coffee with Joe.
‘What will you spend the money on?’ he asked.
Heather was quiet for a while, stirring her coffee again and again.
‘If it’s not worth that much, perhaps we
could go for a meal, although I dare say Granny would see that as being extravagant.’
‘It’s up to you.’
‘If they really are of value then maybe we
could have a holiday and if it’s worth a fortune then I’d love to buy a beach
hut on the coast – but of course we would share it with our friends and
neighbours. Tia would love it.’
As they ate their cake and splashed out on a
second coffee, they thought of all the things they could buy if they were rich.
‘I’m being so selfish,’ Heather said after a
while. ‘We ought to give it to William to help him get a place of his own. It’s
so hard for youngsters these days. Do you think he’s serious about Katie?’ Joe
shrugged. ‘I like her and she’s good for our William.’
‘You’re right there,’ Joe agreed. ‘He’s
certainly matured since she’s been on the scene. And, I think he’d be a good
father to Tia.’
‘I tell you what,’ Heather said. ‘I’m feeling
lucky today so I’m going to see if I can win anything on the tombola.’ She
looked across to the charity table in the corner of the café. It was full of
prizes in aid of Cat Rescue.
‘I’ll have some tickets please,’ she told the
woman behind the counter and was delighted when she won a book token, even
though she made a point of using the library. She didn’t want their village to
lose it.
A while later Heather and Joe sauntered down
the high street calling in at the bookshop and then at the newsagents.
‘I’ve been lucky so far today so I may as
well buy a scratch card,’ Heather laughed as she scratched away at her card a
few minutes later.
‘Hey, I’ve won ten pounds, and you know what
they say? Good luck comes in threes.’
However, when they returned to the jeweller,
he told them the jewels were mainly paste, copper or at best gold plated. There
was only one item of any value.
Heather fingered the gold St Christopher. It
was the only piece of jewellery she could ever remember her grandmother wearing.
That was because her grandfather had given it to her. It had been to keep her
safe.
Heather decided she couldn’t part with the St
Christopher. And it looked so much better now the jeweller had cleaned it up.
Joe fixed it round her neck. She was offered twenty pounds for the rest which
she accepted.
‘Shame we weren’t lucky,’ Joe said on the way
home.
‘Oh, but we were,’ Heather corrected him. ‘We’re
thirty pounds better off and I have Gran’s necklace, which I’ll always treasure.’
‘You’re right. We could put it toward a meal
out or a cream tea?’ he said, ‘But what if we started a ‘Spur of the Moment’
fund? And give ourselves the occasional treat?’
Heather laughed. ‘I like the sound of that.
Granny would definitely approve. And when we get home I’m going to empty my
coin jar and add that to our fund.’
At home Katie and Tia were waiting for them.
Tia had just had her first piano lesson and was keen to show them what she’d
learnt. They’d never seen her so enthusiastic or chatty.
They all listened to Tia practising her
scales through a couple of times and clapped.
‘I’m glad you enjoyed it because I won a book
token today and got you this music book, Piano for Beginners.’
‘Thank you,’ beamed Tia as if she’d been
given the Crown Jewels.
‘And we have something to tell you,’ William
announced. ‘I’ve asked Katie to marry me and Tia to be my daughter – and
they’ve said yes!’
There were hugs all round. ‘You were right,’
Joe told Heather. ‘It has been a lucky day.’
about the author
Sarah Swatridge writes short stories for women’s magazines worldwide. She now has a collection of twenty uplifting short stories called Feel-Good Stories along with her large print novels available in libraries and online. Visit www.sarahswatridge.co.uk and sign up to her monthly one page newsletter.
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