Chapter 21
21
Later that afternoon, having signed the indemnities and put them carefully back in the folder, Charlotte decided to call it a day. She felt flummoxed by Tristan’s visit to the observatory, as if its past and present had intersected like two lines on a star chart, and there had been a collision of worlds. He’d been friendlier, even if it was because he needed her to re-sign those forms, and she’d felt a definite stirring of attraction towards him. Perhaps it was the dearth of events in her love life that was making her respond that way: she’d noted to herself how attractive Nick Saint was too, or maybe it was the fresh country air, but whatever it was, she felt conflicted about leaning into it. She was fresh out of the break-up with Todd, and though Gemma would have told her that the best way to get over a man was to get under another one, she’d never reacted that way to the end of a relationship.
As she walked back down the sloping woodland to Nightshade Cottage, Charlotte reflected on how she was beginning to settle into Lower Brambleton and the observatory. She was developing a real desire to unravel its mysteries, before it was all lost to demolition, and she was looking forward to getting back up there on Monday morning, having already decided to spend Sunday putting the final touches on the computer-based filing system and organising her archive boxes, ready for transport up to the observatory. She’d asked for them all to be sent to Nightshade Cottage so that she could label them up in relative comfort, but it hadn’t escaped her that she was now going to have to move them up to the observatory herself.
Letting herself and Comet through the door of the annexe, Charlotte made a cup of tea and then settled down to answer some emails. There was a check-in from Professor Jim Edwin, her head of department, to which she fired off a cheery reply, and another email from Todd, which she ignored for now. She knew he had one of those trackers that would tell him exactly when she’d opened his emails and she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of thinking she was desperately waiting to hear from him. He could definitely wait.
‘Helloooo?’ Lorelai’s voice drifted through from the garden. ‘Are you back in for the evening, dear?’
‘Yup,’ Charlotte replied. She was getting used to Lorelai’s rather flexible notions of space and privacy, and was finding she didn’t really mind the casual enquiries. ‘I thought I’d treat myself to a pizza and a box-set on the laptop. There’s a new series of The Outlaws just dropped on iPlayer and I thought I’d spend a productive evening binge-watching it.’
‘Sounds good,’ Lorelai replied, but Charlotte didn’t miss the speculative pause. ‘But if you did fancy going out, the Lower Brambleton Astronomical Society is meeting in the local pub, the Star and Telescope, from six-thirty. There aren’t many members left now, but they do like to meet once a month and have a chat, especially now they’re not allowed to convene at the observatory.’
Charlotte thought for a moment. ‘Actually,’ she said, ‘I’ve been meaning to check out the pub anyway, and it would be nice for Comet and me to have a different walk and a change of scenery.’
‘If you like, I can run you down there so you only have to walk back. I don’t mind dogs in the car.’
‘That’s a lot to ask,’ Charlotte replied. Privately, she wondered just how great Lorelai’s driving was at her age. She wondered if walking, even down the narrow, tree-root lined lanes of Lower Brambleton, would be safer than being a passenger in Lorelai’s ancient Ford Fiesta.
‘Oh, it’s no trouble, dear,’ Lorelai replied. ‘And this little chap can still have his walk on the way home, then, can’t he? Or you can just leave him with me for the evening. As I said, I’m always happy to dog sit.’ She paused again. ‘Or Tristan could give you a lift down – he said he might pop in later.’
Charlotte got the impression that she was being led, but she was determined not to follow. ‘Oh, I’m sure Tristan’s got better things to do on a Saturday evening than give some scruffy academic a lift to the local boozer!’
Lorelai raised a wry eyebrow. ‘I take it he’s not endeared himself much to you, then?’
Charlotte grinned. ‘Well, the first time I met him, he bollocked me for trespassing, so I don’t think first impressions were very good on either side.’
‘He caught up with you at the observatory this afternoon, though?’
Charlotte nodded. ‘Yup. And I’ve got his forms signed if he does drop in later.’ She glanced down at Comet. ‘Perhaps I’ll take Comet with me to the pub. He likes a packet of cheese and onion crisps occasionally.’
‘Well, the offer of a lift still stands,’ Lorelai replied. ‘If you fancy it.’
‘We’ll take our chances on the lanes,’ Charlotte said. ‘But thank you – it’s above and beyond your duty as my landlady to offer to be my chauffeur as well.’
‘Anything to get me out of the house these days is very welcome,’ Lorelai replied. ‘Shout if you want me to cook an extra portion of dinner for you before you head out. It’s cowboy beans and sausage casserole tonight.’
‘Sounds lovely, but I’ll grab something when I get back,’ Charlotte replied. She was grateful for Lorelai’s attempts to nurture, but she felt as though she needed some space and a change of scene for a few hours.
‘Come on, old chap.’ She gestured to Comet. ‘Let’s get ourselves looking presentable and then we can go and check out the Star and Telescope, and maybe meet some more members of this soon-to-be-defunct Astronomical Society.’ As she said this, a sense of wistfulness came over her. For LBAS, it really would be the end of an era once the observatory was no more.