Chapter 7
Waking in the Fernside garden apartment that first morning, it felt like all my Christmases had come at once.
Moving day – I felt justified in calling it that even though it had only involved one suitcase, a rucksack, a box and a few bags – had been perfect, and the best thing was, Constance was as blissfully happy with our arrangement as I was.
‘Time to swim,’ I said excitedly, as I stretched out in the bed and pushed back the light summer floral sprigged duvet and opened the matching curtains.
I was still extremely keen to forge ahead with my plans for the Willowell Woods, but my new landlady had insisted more than once the evening before that I should take a break before I got further into it and, deeming it would be rude to upset her, I was going to wholeheartedly embrace her suggestion.
‘Cold,’ I gulped, as I stepped into the river. ‘Really, really cold!’
I’d got my water shoes and shorty wetsuit on – knowing I was coming to Willowell and that I might enjoy some wild swimming here, I hadn’t put these things into storage and had planned to leave them in my car when I left the country – but the chilly river temperature still took me by surprise.
I’d also got my tow float, and I’d told Constance that I would be taking an early dip every morning.
Dad had drummed it into me from an early age that when it came to swimming, safety always came first and especially if you were swimming alone.
The water felt silky soft against my skin, and having dipped my shoulders under, I let the river gently carry me further downstream before swimming back.
The slow flow meant that the return strokes to the Fernside jetty weren’t a stretch, and I took my time and the opportunity to admire the overhanging willow trees that gracefully bowed and dipped their leaves into the water.
I could see right to the bottom of the riverbed, and it was a joy to know that the water was as clean now as it had been when I was growing up.
However, that hadn’t helped me to persuade Constance to take an early morning swim with me.
‘You must be joking!’ she had protested when I suggested it. ‘I’ve got better things to do of a morning than take a cold bath.’
‘Such as?’ I blinked, as I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing at her shocked expression.
‘The Times crossword, for a start. That’s taking me far longer to complete now than it used to.’
That had been the end of the topic, but the look on her face when I’d offered to find her bathing suit was still making me smile.
‘You don’t know what you’re missing, Constance,’ I said aloud, as I climbed out of the river, wrapped myself in my changing robe and then sat with my feet dangling over the edge of the jetty while I started to dry off.
‘You do know this is private property, don’t you?’ said an irate voice behind me that didn’t belong to Constance, but did make me jump.
I twisted around to see who sounded so put out and found myself in the presence of a sun-bronzed god.
What was it with this part of Suffolk? I’d had interactions with just two men – not including my brother – since I’d arrived and they were both stunning to look at!
This one was tall, blond and, if his calf muscles were anything to go by, very toned.
‘I do know that,’ I said, shielding my eyes from the sun as I looked up at him. ‘Do you?’
The sun had created a sort of halo around him, which further emphasised his god-like appearance. It was then that the penny dropped.
‘Oh, you’re Rick, aren’t you?’ I squinted. ‘The gardener.’
‘Yes.’ He frowned down at me. ‘That’s me. But how do you know my name and who are you?’
‘Melody in the store mentioned you when we were talking about… Well, never mind what we were talking about,’ I backtracked. ‘And I’m Tilly. I’m renting the garden apartment from Constance.’
I kept my explanation simple and didn’t mention my interest in the woods.
‘She never said the apartment was up for rent,’ Rick frowned, looking back towards the house.
‘I don’t think it was officially,’ I told him. The subject of what I was going to pay was one I needed to broach with Constance again. ‘It was a spur of the moment thing, really. I needed somewhere to stay and Constance offered.’
‘Crikey,’ he said, sounding surprised. ‘You must have made quite an impression.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, Constance is a very private person,’ he said, running a hand through his golden hair, which was slightly curled, collar length and ruffled. ‘And she’s fiercely protective of Fernside, so she wouldn’t open it up to just anyone.’
‘She must have decided that I’m not just anyone then, mustn’t she?’ I smiled.
‘I guess so,’ he said, as he looked me over again.
‘And don’t worry,’ I told him when it became obvious that he was as protective of Constance as she was of the house.
‘I’m not secretly planning to sell Fernside out from under her or anything like that.
I’m completely trustworthy. Though,’ I added, ‘I do appreciate that someone untrustworthy would say that…’
Rick laughed at that.
‘What’s the temperature like?’ he asked, with a nod to the babbling river, having decided that I wasn’t intending to make off with the Clarke family silver. Assuming there was any.
‘Chilly to start with,’ I said, as I wrapped my robe tighter around me. ‘But not unbearable. Fine once you’re in and swimming about.’
Before I knew it, he was pulling off his boots, stripping down to his trunks and wading in.
‘Shit!’ he shouted and I inelegantly snorted and laughed as he bobbed up and down. ‘It’s not fine, it’s bloody freezing!’
‘It is not.’ I laughed harder. ‘Just keep moving and you’ll soon warm up.’
‘Are you coming back in?’ he asked playfully and splashed my legs.
‘No,’ I said, lifting them up and tucking them under me. ‘I’m not and don’t soak me because I’ve only just got dry.’
‘Aah!’ he shouted again as he floated like a starfish on his back. ‘When will it get any warmer?’
‘Like I said before, as soon as you—’
‘Richard Brown!’ a voice suddenly bellowed from further up the garden and cut my instructions off.
Had I not turned around and seen Constance standing there, I never would have believed the sound could have come from her.
‘I do not pay you to frolic in the river with young women,’ she scolded. ‘I pay you to tend to my garden. Now, get out of there and get on.’
I stuffed the sleeve of my robe into my mouth to stop myself from laughing as she turned back to the house.
‘That was your fault,’ Rick said as he nimbly jumped out and shook his wet hair all over me.
‘How do you work that out?’ I protested at both the accusation and the soaking. ‘Don’t!’
‘Because if you hadn’t lied about the temperature of the water, I never would have been tempted to go in.’
‘Well, I didn’t think it was that cold,’ I shrugged. ‘So, I definitely didn’t lie.’
‘Lend us your robe,’ he said, pulling at a corner of it.
‘No chance,’ I said, wrapping it even tighter around me. ‘Run about in the sun for a bit like you probably did when you were a kid, that’ll soon dry you off.’
He stuck his tongue out and I shook my head. He was hilarious.
‘Unbelievable!’ he shouted after me as I stood up and walked back towards the apartment, but he was laughing and so was I.
I ran what I had intended to be a quick bath, but then found myself lingering in the bathroom which, though old-fashioned, was very beautiful.
With Laura Ashley wallpaper above the waist height tongue and groove panelling and a deep cast iron bath on feet, it was a huge step up from the shower room I’d previously shared with housemates who had far lower hygiene standards than me.
The thought of keeping this wonderful room with its nostalgic decoration, just for me, felt like a total luxury.
As the water cooled, I realised how long I’d been in, so I pulled the plug, got dry and dressed and headed to the sunroom where I spotted Constance sitting with a newspaper folded on her lap.
There was no sign of Rick, which was probably just as well.
I wouldn’t have wanted to get him in trouble again.
Not that I thought the first time had been my fault.
‘Good morning, Constance.’ I smiled. ‘It’s going to be another beautiful day.’
‘Though perhaps not a peaceful one,’ she said, looking at me over the top of her glasses.
‘I’m sorry about that,’ I quickly apologised, because she looked fearsome.
‘You’re not the one who should apologise,’ she tutted. ‘It was that boy. It’s always that boy.’ Her expression softened despite the admonishment. ‘But that’s just his way,’ she said and shook her head. ‘He’s always been the same.’
‘Have you known him for long?’
‘Since he was born and he’s always been one for getting into mischief. His father was the gardener here before him and he also used to do the tree work in the woods.’
‘Is Rick an arborist, too?’ I asked, my mind suddenly working overtime even though it wasn’t supposed to be. ‘He might be able to make a more detailed assessment of what needs doing in the woods than I can, if he is,’ I pondered.
‘He is,’ Constance confirmed. ‘And I suppose we could consider that.’ I rather liked how she had said we instead of you. ‘But he doesn’t come cheap. I can barely afford to keep him on here…’
Her words trailed off and I switched to talking about breakfast, though I wouldn’t forget that Rick might be able to make himself useful in the woods at some point.
‘Do you fancy some eggs and bacon?’ I asked, holding up the packet of local streaky that Melody had given me and which I’d grabbed from the fridge on my way out.
I had roughly totted up the cost of her welcome care package, and I definitely owed her.
‘I know you’ve got eggs in the kitchen, so it can be a joint effort.
I’m ravenous after my swim and long bath. ’
‘Was the bath all right?’
‘Utter bliss, thank you. It’s such a pretty room. So, how about this breakfast?’