Chapter 7 #2
‘Well, I’ve already had my yogurt,’ Constance commented, and again I was appalled by her lack of sustenance, ‘but that does sound tempting.’
‘I’ll get it started then,’ I said, before she could change her mind, ‘and after we’ve eaten, would it be all right if I did my ironing in your kitchen? There’s more room in Fernside.’
‘Yes, that will be fine,’ she nodded.
I thought it would be easy to include her pile in with mine but didn’t say that was my plan in case she objected.
‘Perhaps Rick might fancy a bacon sandwich?’ I suggested instead. ‘Got to keep the workers happy.’
Constance looked at me. ‘What did you make of him?’ she asked. ‘He’s not your type, is he?’
‘Constance,’ I laughed. ‘What are you like?’
‘Well, is he?’
‘He’s certainly easy on the eye,’ I said, as he suddenly appeared from the shed, pushing a lawnmower and still looking a little damp around the edges.
‘Well before you fall completely in love with him,’ Constance said, leaning on my arm as she levered herself out of the chair, ‘I should tell you that as well as being wickedly attractive, he’s also gay.’
‘Does that mean you think he’s easy on the eye, too?’ I risked asking, as I wondered how far I could push her sense of humour.
Quite far as it turned out.
‘Anyone with a pulse would think he’s a beautiful man,’ she said seriously, and I laughed again and so did she.
‘What are you two cackling about?’ Rick stopped to ask.
‘Never you mind.’ Constance smiled and gave my arm a conspiratorial squeeze.
‘Eggs and bacon in around half an hour?’ I offered Rick.
‘Count me in,’ he grinned. ‘I hope you’re staying for the whole of the summer, because I don’t usually get offers like that!’
I hoped I was going to be there that long, too, but not so I could supply him with breakfast on a regular basis.
The rest of the day flew by, even though I didn’t seem to do a lot.
Once the breakfast things had been cleared and the ironing done (stealth mode was a total success), I explored more of the garden which, compared to some other places I had seen in the village, was still looking verdant.
I guessed that was because of the shade the tall trees surrounding it offered.
There were ferns, fatsias and hostas in abundance and, in the long beds closer to the house which got more sun, salvias, delphiniums and roses thrived.
There were lots of other plants I didn’t recognise and I thought I should ask Constance to teach me on a daily tour.
Rick was certainly keeping it all in tiptop condition, so he was worth whatever she paid him.
I had already started to suss a few things out and one of them was that Constance might not have been particularly active for a while and that her sureness, when she was on her feet, had taken a knock because of that.
Her reluctance to walk down to the river the day before had felt more like a confidence issue than inability and I wondered if her sore hip was the result of not being used rather than being worn out.
I hoped my presence at Fernside might help with that, if it was the case.
‘I thought I might walk down to the village and stop at the store,’ I told her, when I popped into the sunroom towards the end of the afternoon and found her dozing in a chair. ‘Can I pick anything up for you?’
‘I hope it isn’t too quiet for you here?’ she asked, which took me by surprise. ‘You aren’t bored, are you?’
‘Absolutely not,’ I asserted forcefully. ‘Fernside is perfectly peaceful. Exactly the sanctuary you cleverly worked out that I needed.’
She looked pleased about that.
‘Well, that’s all right then,’ she nodded. ‘There used to be a television in the sitting room, but I had it taken away when I realised how long it had been since I’d last watched it.’
‘Who needs television when you’ve got this garden?
’ I sighed dreamily, looking out at it and noticing how many birds were flitting about.
‘And Rick told me while we were washing up that you’ve got quite a library, too.
’ I hadn’t seen the house beyond the kitchen.
‘Reading and birdwatching, that’s enough entertainment for anyone, isn’t it? ’
‘I certainly think so and I’ll have to introduce you to my blackbird. I haven’t seen him yet today, but that’s probably because of the furore Rick caused this morning.’ She said it with a smile in her tone. ‘He comes with his whole family sometimes.’
‘Rick does?’
‘No,’ Constance laughed. ‘The blackbird, as you well know.’
‘And what about the piano?’ I asked. ‘I didn’t know if I was listening to a recording or someone playing, the evening I scattered Dad’s ashes. Is that your entertainment here, too?’
She didn’t answer for a second.
‘Something like that,’ she said ambiguously. ‘What are you picking up from the store? I could do with some milk, but I’m not sure you’d want to carry that all the way back.’
For some reason, she didn’t want to fill me in on the piano situation, and remembering how she’d cut me off the evening before, I didn’t press her about it.
I did however think that it must have been her playing the evening I scattered Dad’s ashes because had she been listening to a recording that would have been simple enough to say, wouldn’t it?
I wondered why she didn’t want me to know.
‘I can pick up some milk,’ I said. ‘How much do you need?’
In the end, I decided to drive down because between us there were quite a few things we wanted.
‘Tilly!’ Melody greeted me. ‘How are things? How are you settling in?’
‘Very good and wonderfully,’ I was thrilled to be able to tell her. ‘The apartment is a dream and I’m spending quite a bit of time with Constance, too. She’s so lovely.’
‘I bet she’s enjoying that,’ Melody said. ‘I’ve often wondered how she copes rattling around in that huge place on her own. It must be lonely at times, even if she’d most likely say otherwise.’
‘So, she is completely alone then?’
‘I’ve never heard any different,’ Melody shrugged.
‘It does seem like a lot of space for one person,’ I said as I roughly guessed the size of the house beyond the kitchen, ‘but then as she’s lived there her whole life, she probably doesn’t think anything of it.’
‘We know you’ve been swimming in the river,’ Kaya, who had been listening, then chimed in. ‘Because Rick filled us in when he was in here earlier. He thought you were mad.’
‘Did he?’ I laughed. ‘Well, that’s probably because he didn’t enjoy his impromptu skinny dip as much as I enjoyed my swim with the right kit on.’
Kaya’s mouth fell open. ‘Was he completely…’
‘No,’ I told her. ‘He kept his trunks on.’
‘And how did he, you know… look?’
‘So,’ Melody loudly interrupted as a customer came in, ‘what can I get you, Tilly? You can serve Mrs Benson, Kaya.’
We moved further towards the back of the store.
‘Any more thoughts on buying the woods?’ Melody asked as I handed her the list of things that Constance wanted.
‘Not yet,’ I said. ‘But I’m hoping you’ve got some notebooks. I could do with one to start jotting down my thoughts and plans in.’
The first thing I’d make a record of was Rick’s name as he might just be the right person to help assess the state of the trees in the woods.
‘Going old school.’ Melody smiled. ‘I like it. I’ve got a few,’ she added and led the way. ‘They’re over here.’
She stocked more than I would have expected and left me to choose one while she found the things on Constance’s shopping list. All the notebooks were lovely.
The handmade, hemp covered selection were perfect for my project and I picked up a green one and then treated myself to a beautiful hand-turned wooden pen to go with it.
In the past, I’d favoured pencil over pen when starting a new notebook for fear of making a mistake, but those days were over and I was attempting to embrace the ethos that there are no such things as mistakes.
‘I think that’s everything,’ I said, once I’d filled two baskets with enough food to see me through the next few days.
At some point, I was going to have to visit a supermarket, because the store didn’t carry a couple of things I was going to need.
‘I don’t suppose there’s a cashpoint anywhere in the village, is there? ’
‘Sadly not,’ Melody confirmed. ‘You’ll have to go to town if you need a bank and then I daresay you’ll be hard pushed to find an actual branch.’
‘I just need some cash,’ I told her. ‘But I might have to go to my bank at some point. I’ll look online to find out where the nearest one is.’
‘I’ll tell you where you can go around here without having to look it up first,’ said Kaya, who had now finished serving Mrs Benson and had even helped load her shopping into her car.
‘Go on.’
‘The pub,’ she grinned. ‘We’re heading down to The Greenman tonight. Why don’t you join us? You can fill us in properly on Rick’s swim session.’
I ignored that suggestion.
‘How did I not know there’s a pub in the village?’ I frowned.
‘Didn’t you read about it in the cottage welcome pack?’ Kaya tutted. ‘I told you that thing was a waste of time,’ she said to her sister. ‘You put in far too much information.’
‘I didn’t look at the pack,’ I quickly said, because Melody looked hurt, ‘because I’d come to Willowell with a task to do and my time was accounted for. I’m sure the pack’s fine.’
‘Well,’ said Kaya, ‘the pub details are in there, but as you missed them, I’ll give you directions.’
‘It’s a bit off the beaten track and slightly out of the village,’ Melody said, letting her sister’s criticism go, ‘but totally worth looking for.’
As well as directions, the pair also drew me a map.
‘How does it survive?’ I asked, as I tried to fathom the route. ‘If it’s this hard to find, it can’t have many customers.’
‘Oh, it has.’ Melody smiled as she turned the paper around in my hands, so I was looking at it the right way up. ‘Word of mouth is a wonderful thing and it’s always packed in the evenings.’
‘Once found, never forgotten,’ Kaya laughed. ‘And of course, it’s the only place to get a pint for miles, which gives it an obvious attraction.’
‘Right,’ I said, thinking it sounded rather interesting, especially now I’d worked out the track I thought it was up and had more of an idea of the location. ‘Well, I don’t think I’ll make it tonight, but I’ll visit at some point.’
I took out my card to pay my bill.
‘I’ve put Constance’s bits on her tab,’ Melody told me and keyed in what I owed.
‘No,’ I said. ‘Don’t do that. Stick it all on my bill.’
‘She won’t like that,’ Melody winced.
‘Well, we won’t mention it then,’ I shrugged. ‘And if it does come up, I’ll say I hadn’t realised or something and she can give me her amount in cash.’
Melody was reluctant to go ahead and I realised that, what with sorting the laundry and already cooking extra meals, perhaps I was overstepping.
‘On second thoughts,’ I said. ‘You’re right, I will just pay for what I’ve got.’
‘And as you can’t come to the pub,’ Kaya asked, as I gathered my bags together. ‘Does that mean you’ve already got plans?’
‘I have,’ I grinned. ‘A hot date.’
‘Surely not with Rick?’ she gasped.
‘No,’ I told her with a wink, as I walked out. ‘With my brand-new notebook.’