Chapter Ten
CHAPTER TEN
Ottilie peered at Stacey’s ankle, moving it this way and that. ‘I think you might have to give up trying to get fit. You’re going to end up doing yourself a serious mischief.’
‘And they say exercise is good for you.’
‘Good for most people; not you, apparently. How did you say you did this?’
‘Turned it on the lane while I was jogging earlier. It’s lucky you called round when you did. Should I go to the accident unit? I’d rather avoid it if I can, but…’
‘I think it will heal. Stay off it for few days, keep it elevated and put plenty of ice on.’
‘Stay off it – easier said than done when you’ve got Chloe and Mackenzie around.’
‘Chloe’s an adult; I’m sure she can manage without you until you’re back on your feet. And if she says she can’t, send her my way for some lessons. Have you got a bag of frozen peas or something you can use as a compress?’
‘I expect so…’ Stacey started to push herself off the sofa, but Ottilie let out a loud tut.
‘I’ll go – what did I just say about staying off it? Honestly…’
‘Thanks,’ Stacey replied with a sheepish grin. ‘I don’t expect you to wait on me, though.’
‘I’m not waiting on you; I’m nursing you.’
‘Well, you’re more than I deserve, either way.’
‘Don’t be daft…’
Ottilie went to the kitchen and rifled through the freezer, through last bits of loaves and half boxes of fish fingers and chicken nuggets until she found a bag of frozen sweetcorn welded to the side of the drawer and decided that would do the job just as well. With a tug, it came away and she wrapped it in a teacloth before going back to the living room. When she got there, Stacey was typing on her phone.
‘Speak of the devil,’ she said, nodding at it. ‘Chloe. She’s staying over at Ollie’s tonight with Mackenzie.’
‘That’s lucky,’ Ottilie said. ‘So there’ll be no excuse for you to be on your feet for today at least. Are you expecting Simon later?’
‘Yes.’
‘Even better – he can do your fetching and carrying.’
‘If I’m lucky, he’ll be carrying me somewhere,’ Stacey said, and then gave Ottilie such a saucy wink that she burst into laughter.
‘Just as long as he can work around your bad ankle, you go ahead and let him carry you wherever you like. I don’t think I want to know. In the meantime, do you want me to make you a drink or anything to eat. You might as well make use of me while I’m here.’
‘A cuppa would be lovely. You’re staying for one, aren’t you?’
Ottilie glanced at the clock on the wall and nodded. ‘I don’t see why not. Heath’s working over and he won’t be in Thimblebury for ages.’
‘Isn’t he sick to death of all the commuting yet?’ Stacey shifted to get comfortable as Ottilie pressed the cold compress to her ankle.
‘We’re both getting a bit fed up with it now, but we’re working on that.’
‘He’s definitely going to move here? What about his job?’
‘They’re working on a way for him to be based at home. He’d have to travel in for meetings, and he’d have to show up for the odd office day, but it will be a lot easier when they sort that for him. His boss has been great, actually. We’ll have to invite him to the wedding?—’
‘I’m so excited for the wedding. Who are you going to have as bridesmaid?’
‘Don’t know yet. I don’t suppose you’re up for the job?’
Stacey beamed. ‘Of course I am!’
‘I don’t know yet, it depends on how things go, but maybe I’ll ask Fion too.’
Stacey paused and then realisation seemed to hit her. ‘God, I’m sorry, Ott! You went to see your dad, didn’t you? I forgot! How did it go?’
‘It was horrible,’ Ottilie said, trying to shake the memory of Conrad’s looks of disdain. ‘I wish I hadn’t gone.’
‘He didn’t want to know you?’
‘He wasn’t what you’d call welcoming.’
‘So you didn’t spend much time with him?’
‘About five minutes.’
‘Ottilie…’ Stacey shook her head sadly.
Ottilie waved the sympathy away. ‘I don’t care. I’m better off without someone like that in my life. I’ll just go back to how I was before I knew and forget he exists. He was so rude I just…to tell the truth, I sort of stormed out.’ Stacey laughed lightly, and Ottilie was forced to smile in agreement. ‘I know. I’m sure it was the most pathetic storming out anyone has ever done. It’s not exactly in my nature.’
‘I’d still have paid good money to see it,’ Stacey said. ‘I’m sorry it turned out to be so shit. But on the bright side, you said it yourself – you were happy before you knew about him. So you can just go back to the way it was before. It’s his loss, not yours. He’s the one missing out by not getting to know you.’
‘I’m sure he doesn’t agree with you, but you’re right about the rest.’
‘Exactly. We all love you, so you don’t need that tosser.’
Ottilie smiled. ‘Thank you. That’s honestly what I needed to hear. I keep going over the meeting in my head and wondering if it was my fault it went so badly. Like, should I have been more patient, more understanding, cut him some slack. I suppose I could have handled it better. But then I remember how rude and cold he was, and I think nothing I did would have made any difference.’ Ottilie turned Stacey’s compress to the colder side. ‘I’m better off as I am. I’ve been to Penrith, I’ve met him and now I know I don’t want to meet him again. My dad who brought me up was my dad, and as far as I’m concerned, he always will be.’
‘Hmm…’ Stacey regarded Ottilie in silence for a moment. ‘You’re really OK with it?’ she asked finally.
‘I’m already over it.’
‘Promise? Because you know I’m here for you if you want to talk.’
‘Promise. Now…’ Ottilie got up. ‘What about this cup of tea?’
Ottilie had discussed her meeting with Conrad with her mum on the phone. As it turned out, Francine hadn’t been all that surprised.
‘I did say he wasn’t like your dad.’
‘You weren’t kidding.’
Francine had told her one or two particulars of what he’d been like to work with, although she’d been careful to avoid very personal details about the affair, and then they’d both agreed not to discuss him again. Fion was a different matter. Francine was interested. She wanted to know as much as Ottilie could tell her. Ottilie wondered if she was trying to work out if the relationship was going to be good for her or not and whether she ought to say something. If that had been Francine’s intention, then she must have decided against it because in the end, she didn’t.
Heath, on the other hand, had been suitably furious on Ottilie’s behalf at Conrad’s treatment of her. He’d told her to forget him, and she assured him that she already had, and though he also seemed to have his doubts about Fion, he didn’t air them either.
Messages between Ottilie and Fion had been regular over that weekend. Ottilie had reassured her that she was completely unaffected by Conrad’s hostility, but reading between the lines, she didn’t feel that Fion was faring so well. She wondered if he’d taken his frustration out on her, angry that she’d engineered the meeting. She knew for a fact he was annoyed that Fion had searched out Ottilie in the first place. She was worried, but all she could do at this point was offer her support and remind Fion that she was on hand to help whenever it was needed.
The following Monday was a busy one. Ottilie had spent the morning carrying out routine weight and blood checks on some of her diabetic patients. By the time their communal lunchtime arrived, she was famished.
Fliss had brought beef-and-ale stew in, and it smelled amazing as Ottilie followed the scent into the kitchen.
‘It’s only leftovers,’ she said as everyone sat around the table and marvelled at how delicious it was.
‘Leftovers?’ Lavender shot a glance at her heaped bowl and then the pan on the stove where they’d reheated it, still half full. ‘How many people were you cooking for? There’s only you and Charles – even I couldn’t get my measurements that wrong!’
‘I did intend to batch cook and freeze it, but then I thought it would be nice to have something a bit heartier today.’
‘It’s certainly the weather for it.’ Ottilie looked towards the windows, where rain beat against the glass in silver needles. ‘Is this set to last? There haven’t been any warnings from the Environment Agency, have there? I checked, but?—’
‘I’m sure it will be fine,’ Fliss said. ‘I haven’t seen anything about flooding.’
Ottilie let out a sigh, but she couldn’t dismiss the risk entirely from her thoughts. Shortly after she’d arrived in Thimblebury she’d almost been driven away again by a flood that had destroyed a good deal of her cottage, not to mention the damage it had done in the rest of the village. Everyone said it was a one-off event and unlikely to happen again, but once bitten was twice shy for Ottilie. She could never settle during heavy rain, not until it had passed. In a bid to take her mind off it, she decided to work on the plans she’d been making to help Fion.
‘My sister’s looking for work,’ she said.
Simon reached for a slice of crusty bread from a plate at the centre of the table. ‘I keep forgetting you suddenly have a sister. That must be even weirder for you.’
‘It’s weird to be saying those words, but I’m getting used to it. I really like her. We’ve talked loads recently. Quite honestly, she worries me a bit too.’
‘You worry about everyone,’ Fliss said. ‘What’s it this time?’
Ottilie paused. ‘I hate to say it, but I don’t think Conrad is much of a dad. At least, I don’t think he’s a very nice one. He doesn’t seem to have encouraged her over the years – in fact, I’d say he’s done the opposite, so she’s not very confident. I’d go so far as to say she thinks she’s totally useless, which I don’t think is true at all. I think if someone did give her some encouragement, she’d find she’s actually quite capable.’
‘And you’re the person to do that?’ Fliss asked with barely disguised amusement.
‘I thought I ought to try and help,’ Ottilie said.
‘Of course you did. You know,’ Fliss said, the smile breaking free now, ‘I have the perfect epitaph for your stone, in the unlikely event you should pop off before me. Here lies Ottilie Oakcroft, who never met a problem she didn’t like .’
Lavender shook her head, and while Simon smiled, he looked as if he didn’t quite agree with Fliss’s summing up.
‘You do think it’s your job to fix everyone, Ottilie,’ Lavender said.
‘It’s not necessarily a bad quality,’ Simon put in.
‘Nobody said it was,’ Fliss replied serenely. ‘It’s saintly, but it must be exhausting. It’s my job to fix people and even I don’t want to do it all the time.’
‘I’m not saintly,’ Ottilie said, uncertain now whether she ought to be offended or not. ‘And I don’t do it all the time. I’m just trying to be nice to someone who needs it.’
‘I know.’ Fliss dunked a corner of her bread into her bowl. ‘So what’s your plan?’
‘Plan?’
‘To get your sister on her feet, so to speak. I’m assuming we’re having this conversation because you have a plan and you want to get our take on it.’
‘Not as such. I’m going to teach her how to drive.’
‘Right. I suppose that’s a good start. A woman of her age ought to be able to drive.’
Ottilie wasn’t entirely sure she agreed with that, but it was the sort of practical thing that would figure high on Fliss’s list of priorities for a successful life. Fliss was just like that. ‘She’s only twenty-six.’
‘Exactly. If I had my way, driving would be part of the high school curriculum.’
‘Yes,’ Lavender said with obvious sarcasm in her tone. ‘Imagine all those sixteen-year-old boys driving slowly and carefully down our roads. That would definitely end well.’
‘They’d be taught how to drive carefully from the very beginning,’ Fliss said.
‘With respect,’ Lavender said, ‘that’s the sort of thing someone who has never been in close contact with a teenage boy would say.’
‘I know plenty of teenage boys,’ Fliss said. ‘I have two nephews for a start.’
Simon exchanged a brief look with Ottilie that seemed to agree that this conversation wasn’t going where she’d intended it to. ‘I was going to teach Chloe to drive,’ he said. ‘Perhaps we can pool our resources and teach Chloe and your sister at the same time.’
‘That might be an idea,’ Ottilie said, though she doubted that having Chloe and Fion in the same car would be pleasant for either of them. Chloe was blunt and cynical and had no time for small talk, while Fion, despite being older, would undoubtedly find her intimidating and probably off-putting as well. Ottilie and Simon might be able to pool their resources, but she wasn’t sure teaching the two younger women at the same time in the same car was the way forward. It was something to think about, however. Simon’s help in some capacity might be very welcome. ‘I don’t suppose,’ she added, thinking in those terms, ‘you know of any jobs she might be suited to.’
‘I don’t know of any jobs at all,’ Simon said.
‘What’s she suited to?’ Lavender asked.
‘She’s worked in a shop, but she just got made redundant.’
‘I suppose you’ve already asked Magnus and Geoff and at the newsagent?’ Lavender said.
Ottilie nodded. ‘Not that they were likely to have anything, but I did ask, yes. To be honest, even if they’d been able to help, I’m not sure it would have been ideal because, of course, Fion lives in Penrith, and it would mean her travelling over every day.’
‘And she doesn’t drive,’ Fliss said.
‘Exactly. In the end, what she earned might have been swallowed up by what she spent coming back and forth.’
‘There must be jobs in Penrith,’ Lavender said.
‘I…well, I suppose there are, but I thought?—’
‘You thought you’d get involved anyway,’ Fliss said.
Ottilie couldn’t help but feel that Fliss didn’t approve of her efforts to help Fion, though she couldn’t see why. More to the point, it was none of Fliss’s business.
‘It’s not like that,’ she began, but Simon cut in.
‘I can see why you’d want to, given what you’ve told us. I can’t promise it’ll be any use, but I can keep my ear to the ground, and if I hear of anything that sounds suitable, I can let you know.’
‘That would be great, thanks,’ Ottilie said.
‘Me too,’ Lavender said. ‘Although, I’m not sure who I’d be able to ask that you haven’t thought of already.’
‘We couldn’t…’ Ottilie hesitated. ‘Never mind.’
‘What?’ Fliss asked. ‘You might as well say it now.’
‘I don’t suppose we could use her help here?’
‘At the surgery? Doing what?’
‘I don’t know, filing or something.’
Fliss shook her head. ‘I can’t afford to take her on. And if I was going to take on another member of staff, it would be a midwife.’
Ottilie frowned. ‘But we already have a district midwife.’
‘Yes, but we also seem to have something of a baby boom in Thimblebury at the moment. Must be something in the water. In any case, I’ve referred five new mums just this week and the midwifery service is stretched as it is. I’m sure they’ll be taken care of, but sometimes I wonder if we ought to have our own midwife here.’
‘They wouldn’t have enough work.’
‘If we put some kind of arrangement in place so they could service a few of the neighbouring villages and farms, it might make it worthwhile. I’d have to talk to someone at the health authority.’
Ottilie realised that her discussion of Fion was over. Fliss had moved on and had made it clear there was nothing she could offer Fion in the way of employment. To confirm this, the conversation turned to who was pregnant and why there might be a sudden uptick in the local birth rate, which soon descended into surreal comedy scenarios involving Magnus and Geoff sneaking around putting hormones in the water supply to increase the future membership of their film club. And while Ottilie found it amusing enough, her mind was still with Fion. Her sister had been let down enough in her life – it seemed that way to Ottilie at least – and Ottilie wasn’t going to do it to her again.