Chapter 4
4
Charlotte demurred on the cup of tea straight away, preferring to get her living quarters in Lorelai’s cottage organised first. She was a stickler for order, which had served her well in her career, and she wanted to make sure that everything was as it should be before she relaxed. Lorelai smiled and said to give her a shout when she wanted a hot drink, and left her to it after leading her through to her room.
First impressions were definitely good. After a few minutes in Lorelai’s company, Charlotte had made her way through to the spacious rooms at the rear of the cottage in a more modern extension. It ran down the side of Lorelai’s gorgeously appointed back garden and was joined to the main cottage by a lockable internal door, as well as having its own exterior entrance. Charlotte realised that she’d fallen on her feet. The bedroom was light and airy, and generously proportioned, with a king-sized bed, a chest of drawers and a wardrobe all in the same aged dark wood, which had been polished to perfection. There was a desk under the window with a leather top, which would be perfect for completing any work she brought home, and, joyously, there was a good space near the desk for Comet’s basket.
‘There you go, boy,’ Charlotte said, as she placed his shabby bed into position. A smell of dog wafted from it again, and she resolved to try to get him interested in a new one just as soon as she could.
Upon exploring, Charlotte saw a clean and surprisingly modern bathroom. There was even a small kitchenette tucked away under the staircase. The cottage, though it had looked small when she and Gemma had arrived, had depth to it, and Lorelai had made her guest quarters welcoming and private. The adjoining but lockable internal door to the space felt at once pleasingly separate but also reassuringly connected.
‘You’re welcome to use my kitchen whenever you like,’ Lorelai had said as she’d shown her around. ‘But experience has taught me that my lodgers like a few facilities of their own, so there’s a hot plate, an air fryer, a kettle and a microwave that are just for you, and a fridge with an icebox, too. Just let me know if you’d like to make arrangements for dinner on a weekly basis – I’m more than happy to cook for you if you give me a little notice.’
Charlotte had smiled at that. She appreciated Lorelai’s offer, but she was a largely solitary animal and guessed she’d probably end up just cooking for herself most of the time. She’d said thank you, though. This was going to be a slightly quirky living arrangement, she could see, but it was one she was more than happy with for the summer.
‘And this chap will be pleased that you’ve got your own door to the back garden,’ Lorelai had continued, giving Comet another ruffle. ‘I’m delighted to have him as a guest, provided you clear up his doings from the lawn. My great-grandchildren visit a lot, and they like a game of footy on the grass from time to time.’
‘Of course.’ Charlotte was surprised that the spry-looking Lorelai was old enough to have great-grandchildren, but perhaps she was older than she looked. ‘He – and I – are very well trained in that regard!’ She always had a ready supply of poo bags with her on her belt whenever she took Comet out, and she’d brought several rolls with her for her stay in Lower Brambleton. She appreciated just how rare it was to find a landlady who would accept a dog as part of the rental, and she wanted to make sure that Comet remained as welcome as she was.
Lorelai had left her to it then, and for a little while Charlotte had just wandered about, getting to know her space, putting her things away, and trying to adjust mentally to the new place. The quiet was something that was going to take a while to get used to, after the hustle and bustle of being a house parent in the halls of residence. There was always someone around, often knocking on her door. Here, although Lorelai was just the other side of the wall, the silence was almost overwhelming.
Eventually, she’d decided to rejoin Lorelai for the promised cuppa, and now they were sitting out on the patio that ran between both sets of doors to the back garden, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. Charlotte kept half an eye on Comet as he took his time sniffing around the secure back garden, making sure he didn’t take any flying leaps into Lorelai’s well-kept rose beds and herbaceous borders. The dog seemed content just to wander, though, and soon, for the first time since she’d left Bristol, Charlotte began to relax.
‘It really is beautiful here,’ she commented between sips of tea. ‘I didn’t expect it to be so remote, but it feels incredibly peaceful, too.’
‘That it is,’ Lorelai agreed. ‘But don’t be fooled, there’s a decent community in Lower Brambleton, even if people are largely outnumbered by grazing sheep!’ She smiled mischievously at Charlotte. ‘Of course, that’ll all change when the new housing estate is built. I can’t tell you how many locals have been up in arms about it.’
‘And what do you think?’ Charlotte asked, figuring that she probably already knew the answer. Lorelai, after all, was a dyed-in-the-wool local. She would doubtless be opposed to anything encroaching on the sanctity of the village.
Lorelai paused, putting her mug down on the garden table before she replied. ‘Well, change comes to everywhere,’ she said eventually. ‘And if I’m honest, it’s about time something came along to wake this place up. Admittedly, a hundred houses backing up against the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is quite a way to do it, but I do feel, at my age, some upheaval is inevitable.’
‘So you’re in favour of Flowerdew Homes developing the land, then?’ Charlotte was surprised.
Lorelai’s expression clouded for a moment and then, like the sun breaking out again, she brightened. ‘Anything that means my darling granddaughter, Thea, can finally afford to move back to the village where she grew up is all right by me. She’s a school teacher, and when the houses are built she’ll be able to do one of those shared-ownership things. It’s her only chance of being able to return here.’
Charlotte nodded. ‘I can see why you’d want that. It’s difficult to get a foothold on the property ladder as it is, and I should imagine that’s an unattainable dream for a lot of people around here.’
‘Absolutely,’ Lorelai replied. ‘And what else could they do with the land? Leave it there, getting more and more overgrown, while young people are struggling to find somewhere to live?’
‘But the observatory’s a historic landmark,’ Charlotte said. ‘Isn’t it worth saving?’
Lorelai scoffed at the notion. ‘That place has lain unused for nearly twenty years,’ she countered. ‘I think it’s about time it was officially mothballed and then we can all get on with our lives.’
There was something about Lorelai’s tone, an undercurrent of sharpness that piqued Charlotte’s interest. It was unusual to find a woman of Lorelai’s years being so in favour of change, but Charlotte wondered if there was another reason she was so sanguine about the observatory being demolished.
‘Well, I’m sure the university is going to be pleased with the new additions to the archive,’ Charlotte said. ‘I’ve already been doing a bit of research, and apparently there have been quite a few cosmological discoveries made in Observatory Field over the time it’s been there. There was the sighting of a supernova in 1965, and it’s been a hotspot for meteor shower observations for almost as long. It amazes me that after all of that history, the building hasn’t been in working order for the best part of three decades.’
‘Well, these things fall out of fashion.’ Lorelai’s tone was a little clipped, but Charlotte wondered if she was just tired. She’d obviously been out in the garden all day, and as evening started drifting softly in around the cottage, the sun’s beams had also moved around the other side of the building, so it had grown a little cooler. Charlotte glanced around for Comet, who’d collapsed, panting, on the flagstones of the patio.
‘I’d better get my stuff sorted out for when I start work,’ Charlotte said, aware that the atmosphere between her and Lorelai had shifted somewhat. She couldn’t quite put her finger on why, but then it may just have been that, as new acquaintances, they were still operating within polite boundaries.
‘And I’d better get some dinner on.’ Lorelai’s tone sounded warmer again. ‘Can I interest you in a Chicken Kiev, dear? There are two in a packet, and I so hate to open something and have to have it two nights running.’
Charlotte smiled. ‘Thank you, but I tend to eat a little bit later.’ It was barely six o’clock, and she was a bit of a night owl. It went with the territory, she supposed. Her academic career had entailed staying awake into the early hours, observing the patterns in the sky and making sure she noted down every change and nuance. She often joked that she was more at home in the darkness than the light.
‘Well, I can keep it warm in the Aga for you if you’d like to eat it when you’re peckish,’ Lorelai said.
Something told Charlotte that the older woman was trying to bridge the slight distance that had sprung up between them when they’d been talking about the observatory. She smiled. ‘That would be lovely. So long as you don’t mind my being in the kitchen? I don’t tend to eat until about nine o’clock.’
‘That’s fine,’ Lorelai replied. ‘As I said, you’re free to use my kitchen when you’d like to.’ She looked mildly concerned for a minute as Comet came padding towards them. ‘You don’t make this chap wait so long for his dinner, I hope?’
Charlotte laughed. ‘No! He gets his dinner at six-thirty on the dot, and if it’s not ready, he reminds me with those eyes that no one in their right mind could ever resist!’ Right on cue, Comet looked up at her, and she stroked his ears affectionately. ‘Half an hour longer, old chap,’ she said, placing a kiss on the tip of his nose.
Charlotte rose from her chair and picked up her teacup, as well as Lorelai’s, to take through to the main kitchen. Something still niggled at her about the way Lorelai had responded to talk of the history of the observatory. Everyone has secrets , she thought, and she wondered exactly what Lorelai wasn’t telling her.