CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
At the next stop, Primrose Wood, Bob the postman was one of our first customers.
‘Wednesdays are the highlight of the week here now,’ he told us with a smile. ‘The women’s institute used to have their monthly meeting on a Wednesday morning but after rave reviews of your service from a few of the members they’ve decided to switch their meetings to Tuesdays instead.’
‘Really?’ Ellie laughed. ‘That’s wonderful.’
I nodded. ‘It’s great to know you’re wanted.’
‘Well, you are. I came along early today to beat the rush and looking at that fruit cake, I’m very glad I did. I’ll take two slices, please.’
At the sound of shouting, I turned to find a chocolate-coloured dog bounding towards me. It was Twix, and his owner – the lovely Judy – was jogging after him, calling out his name and waving his lead.
She arrived breathless but smiling. ‘This dog will be the death of me,’ she said, tickling Twix’s ears. ‘You don’t fancy being a doggy dad, do you, Bob? Take this reprobate pooch off my hands?’
Bob gave her an awkward smile, looking as if he didn’t really know what to say. He obviously knew, like we did, that Judy was only joking.
‘Right. Thanks, girls.’ he said. ‘See you next week.’ With another stiff little smile at Judy, he held up his hand and walked off.
Judy watched him go with that same wistful look we’d seen the last time.
‘Bob’s really nice,’ said Ellie. ‘I thought he was shy but he was chatting away to us today.’
‘He’s just a bit stand-offish with me, although I can’t imagine why,’ said Judy sadly. ‘We’ve been friends for years but ever since I lost my husband, he’s been a bit odd with me.’ She laughed. ‘I keep thinking maybe he imagines I’m on the look-out for a replacement hubby and he’s worried I might be considering him. Which of course I’m not!’
‘He might just be shy with you?’ I suggested.
‘But why?’ Judy shook her head, looking mystified. ‘As I said, we’ve known each other for years. We used to sit next to each other in class and he was always hiding my pens and making me laugh so much I used to get told off.’ She smiled, remembering. ‘The sad thing is I could do with more friends now that my husband’s gone. But hey-ho. People can be strange, can’t they?’
As we left Primrose Wood, we chatted about how Judy and Bob were such lovely people.
‘They’d make a great couple but Bob doesn’t seem keen,’ said Ellie.
I looked at her in surprise. ‘Is that how you see it? I actually think the opposite. He’s awkward and shy around her because he really likes her.’
Ellie nodded thoughtfully. ‘You could be right.’
‘He couldn’t wait to get away once Judy arrived and I can’t imagine it’s because he doesn’t like her.’
‘That’s true.’ She smiled. ‘So how do we get them together?’
‘What?’ I laughed at the idea of us trying to blatantly matchmake. ‘I don’t think we should interfere in such a delicate matter. We should just let nature take its course, don’t you think?’
‘Boring,’ laughed Ellie. Then she glanced across at me worriedly. ‘Hawksley Rise next. Let’s hope Richard doesn’t show his face this time.’
‘Oh, don’t!’ My heart was already starting to thud faster against my ribcage and we were still three miles from the village. ‘Hopefully he’ll be at work today.’
Luckily, Richard didn’t appear. But as we were serving customers in Hawksley Rise, I noticed that Ellie was looking peaky again and I said as much when the queue died down.
‘I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather over the past few days. Exhausted and really achy. And last night...’ She stopped, a bleak expression on her face.
‘Last night?’ I prompted her.
She sighed. ‘Well, I noticed some bleeding.’
‘Oh, Ellie. Was it very much?’
‘No, not really. And it hasn’t happened again.’
‘Well, that’s good. What did Zak say about it?’
She grimaced. ‘I didn’t tell him because I knew he’d be really worried and he’d want to cart me straight off to hospital.’
‘Well, maybe you should get checked out?’
‘The thing is, when I Googled it, I found out that it’s actually fairly common to have “spotting” during pregnancy and it’s not usually anything to worry about.’
‘But isn’t that just during early pregnancy?’
She sighed. ‘Look, it was just the tiniest amount – hardly anything at all, really – and there’s been absolutely nothing since. But I’ve promised myself that if it happens again – even just a hint of it – I’ll ask Zak to take me to get it checked out.’
I nodded. ‘Good. Well, make sure you do. Sorry, I don’t mean to nag but you’re very precious and so is this little one.’ I patted her bump very gently. ‘Perhaps you should think about cancelling your house-warming do?’
She smiled. ‘Thank you for worrying, Katja, and I promise you I’ll see about it if it happens again, okay? And besides, I can’t cancel the party. I’ve already bought the booze.’
‘I think we should probably do the china another night? Or maybe at the weekend, when you’ve had a chance to rest up a bit?’
But Ellie shook her head. ‘I’m fine. Honestly. It would be a real weight off my mind if we could get it done today. You’d be helping me feel less stressed.’
‘Well... only if you promise to let me do most of the work, okay?’ I still wasn’t entirely happy about it. Zak really should know about the bleeding, however slight it was. But if sorting her mum’s china would make Ellie feel better – it would likely be quite a sentimental task for her – I’d happily help to do it later...
I gave her a stern look. ‘Do you promise to relax while I do it?’