Chapter 5 #2
‘We can have them tonight, if you like,’ Rafe offered. ‘Rumour has it, there’s a great place in the city that delivers.’
‘I’m tempted,’ I swallowed, my mouth watering at the thought, ‘but will they complement the whisky you promised me?’
‘Only one way to find out!’ Grandad George grinned.
‘Oh well,’ I said. ‘Knowing what a connoisseur you are, if it’s Grandad George approved, fish, chips and Laphroaig it is.’
With that settled, it was time for us to go, but not before Beth came to find us and gave me a simple looking map of the walk she took to and from the square to the care home.
‘This looks easy enough,’ Rafe said, when I gave him the paper. ‘How about I head back on foot,’ he suggested, ‘and we’ll see if I’m back before you get there in the car?’
‘No chance!’ I objected. ‘I’m not making that journey on my own.’
‘Fair enough,’ Rafe accepted. ‘It wasn’t really fair of me to suggest it, I suppose. We’ll go back together and I’ll see if I can use my phone to offer some different directions to your satnav to avoid the ring road.’
‘Whatever you do, don’t listen to him, Skylar!’ Grandad George shouted. ‘He couldn’t find his way out of a paper bag. Heaven knows where you’d end up.’
‘Hey!’ Rafe grumbled. ‘I’m not that bad.’ I gave him a look. ‘Well, perhaps I am…’
‘We’ll stick to whatever the satnav says just this once,’ I said. ‘But thank you for the map, Beth. We’ll use that the next time we come.’
‘You won’t leave it too long, will you?’ Grandad George asked.
‘I won’t leave it many days at all,’ I promised him.
‘And neither will I, Dad,’ Rafe smiled. ‘And we’ll have to see about getting you to the house soon, too.’
‘Oh, yes,’ I said. ‘It will be lovely to show you around.’
‘And introduce you to the Grow-Well,’ Beth suggested. ‘Then you’ll be able to compare notes about what it’s like with Freddie, won’t you George?’
‘We’re yet to introduce ourselves to the Grow-Well,’ Rafe told her. ‘But I’m planning a visit tomorrow.’
‘I’ll probably see you there then,’ Beth smiled, then had to rush back to the day room where someone had started playing ‘Great Balls of Fire’ very loudly on the piano.
‘That’s Freddie,’ Grandad George tutted. ‘He’s such a show off, but he does have a knack of keeping everyone’s spirits up and joints in working order!’
I tried not to imagine the scene that would meet Beth’s return, but I was grateful for Freddie’s timely musical performance because it meant there had been no opportunity for her to ask me if I would be joining Rafe in the Grow-Well the next day.
I had been feeling shy about meeting everyone before but wondering if the guy who had challenged my presence in the garden might be there too was now my main reason for not wanting to go over.
That said, I’d have to face it soon, because the lure of the garden was beckoning…
Citing my desire to try out the new vacuum cleaners and give the house a good dust and airing – the fish and chips the evening before had been delicious, but the smell lingered – as a reason for not wanting to accompany Rafe to the Grow-Well, I shut the cats in his sitting room once he’d gone and set to.
With my summery Spotify playlist filling my ears and plenty of rooms to clean, I soon wasn’t thinking about what my father was doing, or who he was getting to know.
The only rooms I left were Rafe’s bedroom and en suite.
He’d insisted that he’d sort those himself, and when I reached it, I decided I wouldn’t touch his writing room, either.
Now the muse had retuned, I didn’t want to do anything that might send it packing.
‘Come on then, you two,’ I said to Socks and Plato who shot out of the room the moment I opened the sitting room door.
I’d double-checked all the windows were closed again and the bifold doors locked before releasing them and then shut the pair in the kitchen in case Rafe returned while I was vacuuming and I didn’t hear him knock.
I didn’t think he’d be too much longer because the smell of the beef joint he’d put in the slow cooker at the crack of dawn was now temptingly permeating every nook and cranny and it would soon be time for him to start making the crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside roast potatoes he was an expert at.
My mouth watered at the thought, and I resisted the urge to lift the lid on the beef.
I’d just put the vacuum on to charge when he returned looking wind-blown but very happy and carrying a jute bag.
‘How did you find the garden?’ I asked him.
He held up the bag. ‘It’s amazing! Fruit, veg, hens, honey, cats and the loveliest mix of people.’
‘You met some more of the neighbours then?’
‘I did,’ he nodded. ‘And you must soon, too. Not everyone was there, but our nearest neighbours Carole and Graham were, along with Beth and the head gardener, Freya, and her partner, Finn. He was a sight to behold, but nothing like as fearsome as he looked.’
‘What do you mean?’ I asked as I wondered if he might have been the guy I’d run into.
‘He’s pure Viking,’ Rafe grinned. ‘Really long braided hair, arm ring, the lot.’ That didn’t sound quite like who I was thinking of. ‘But surprisingly quiet. I had to coax the little conversation we had out of him. Everyone asked after you, Freya especially.’
‘She did?’
‘Yes, she asked me to ask you if you’d like to go over tomorrow afternoon and she’ll show you the Grow-Well. She also said to tell you that there likely wouldn’t be anyone else there, unlike today, if that makes a difference. Does it?’ Rafe frowned.
‘No, but I might take her up on her offer anyway.’ If I was with her, I’d be less likely to be confronted again. ‘Did she say what time?’
‘She gave me her mobile number,’ Rafe said, handing me his phone so I could find it, ‘and said she’d call round after she’s had her lunch tomorrow and the two of you could go over then, if that suits you. How does that sound?’
‘Ideal,’ I said rather distractedly, because I’d spotted a notification and email on my phone that I hadn’t been expecting as I keyed in Freya’s number. ‘I’ll message her later and say yes.’
‘Great,’ Rafe said and drew in a breath. ‘Now, that beef smells good. I better get the potatoes on and maybe you could wash these?’ He held up the bag.
‘What’s in there?’
‘Freshly dug carrots and just picked French beans,’ he told me with a grin. ‘Prepare yourself for a flavour sensation and our first taste of the good life in Nightingale Square!’