Chapter 9
Erik and I walked back towards Nightingale Square together and carried the conversation on as we went. I couldn’t help noticing that a couple of people who walked around us nudged one another as we passed them, but Erik didn’t react to his star attraction and that made me like him even more.
‘So,’ I surmised as we walked along, ‘you’re as smitten with living where we do as everyone else, are you?’
‘For the most part,’ he said, ‘I do love it.’
I was intrigued by his answer.
‘What’s the part you’re not so taken with?’ I asked curiously.
‘Oh, it’s nothing major,’ he shrugged.
‘Please tell me,’ I insisted. ‘So I know what to look out for.’
‘It’s nothing terrible,’ he said, rather reluctantly. ‘Just something that I’ve become increasingly aware of.’
‘I see,’ I nodded, though of course I didn’t. ‘Well, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.’
‘No, it’s okay,’ he said. ‘I think I will.’ I waited. ‘The thing is,’ he explained, ‘that everyone who lives in the square and obviously at Prosperous Place, is one half of a couple.’
‘And you’re not?’ My heart suddenly did that annoying racing thing again, but as I was having to walk quickly to keep up with Erik’s lengthy strides there was no need to attribute the sensation to anything else. ‘You’re single?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I’m single.’
‘But you don’t want to be?’ I swallowed.
‘Oh, I want to be single,’ he insisted and my heart thumped again but to a different beat. ‘Happy to be single, because I’m in no position to look for a relationship. I’ve still got so much to come to terms with. Throwing love into the mix would be a disaster. I’m more than content on my own, but…’
‘But?’
‘But sometimes, when I’m at a Grow-Well party or helping out with a garden open afternoon or something, I do feel it a bit, well… you know?’
‘Yes,’ I nodded, because when I had taken some rare time off and gone out after Reuben and I had ended our relationship, I’d also experienced the occasional awkwardness of flying solo. ‘I do know.’
‘You’re single too?’
‘I am and I’m in the same boat as you, Erik. I’m not currently looking for love, either,’ I said honestly. ‘Not with everything else in my life having only just changed. A romance would be disastrous for me, too.’
‘In that case,’ he nudged, ‘you can share my oars if you like and we’ll paddle the same boat together.’
‘Thank you.’ I smiled and nudged him back. ‘In fact,’ I suggested, ‘why don’t we take it a step further and buddy up at any future events? That way, neither of us will feel rudderless or out on a limb.’
‘That’s a brilliant idea,’ Erik laughed. ‘We can be each other’s platonic plus one.’
‘I love that!’ I laughed. ‘Platonic plus one. Brilliant! I’ve never been a PPO before.’
With that agreed and feeling astounded that a conversation and a shared bowl of chips could have transformed our relationship to such an extent, I left Erik at the turn into Nightingale Square. I crossed the road feeling far more optimistic than I had in a long time.
It had felt cathartic to talk to someone who was facing such big changes to their own life and Erik’s were even more dramatic than my own.
That had helped to give me some perspective, because I knew that once I’d had a break, I could return to the role I loved whereas Erik was unable to play professional rugby ever again.
Not that he seemed too downcast about that now, but I could tell he’d been to hell and back to reach his current optimistic and hopeful viewpoint.
We might have got off to a rocky start, but Erik now felt like just the single friend I was going to need, and I hoped he felt the same way about me, too.
With a spring in my step and feeling full of bonhomie, I didn’t duck out of sight when I spotted Lisa corralling her clan up their garden path.
In a complete attitude turnaround, I decided to no longer put off saying sorry for my lacklustre conversation the day I arrived in the square and she had been so affable.
‘Lisa!’ I called before she disappeared into the house. She turned to look at me as I hurried along the pavement. ‘Have you got a minute?’
She came back down the path and opened the gate.
‘Skylar,’ she smiled warmly, as welcoming as the day I’d met her. ‘How are you, my love? Are you all settled?’
‘Pretty much. The house was left in such great shape; we only had to unpack.’
I knew the previous owners, Heather and Glen, were good friends of hers and had played an active part in the Nightingale Square community.
‘I’ll tell Heather that,’ Lisa grinned. ‘She was vacuuming as she reversed down the hall for the last time, so she’ll be delighted her efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.
If we ever left here,’ she laughed, with a look back at her own house, ‘well, let’s just say, it wouldn’t be quite as pristine as your place was. ’
‘I’m sure it would be just fine,’ I smiled back.
‘Mum!’ someone bawled from the hallway. ‘Archie’s got the biscuit tin!’
‘You can have two each,’ she hollered back. ‘Just two and remember, I’ve counted how many are in there!’
‘Have you really?’ I laughed.
‘No,’ she said resignedly. ‘No point, they always pinch more than two so the inevitable scolding after the daily raid is justified.’
‘I love that you have a system in place.’ I grinned but didn’t want to hold her up. ‘I better let you get on,’ I said, backing off.
‘No,’ she said, ‘you’re all right. Is there something I can do for you?’
‘Actually,’ I said, ‘I wanted to do something for you.’
‘Oh?’ she frowned. ‘What’s that?’
‘I wanted to apologise.’
‘Apologise?’ she blinked. ‘Whatever for?’
‘The day I arrived,’ I said, feeling shy. ‘I know I came across as—’
She put up a hand to stop me and shook her head.
‘You were fine,’ she said seriously. ‘More than fine given that you’d just endured the journey from hell. I was the one at fault—’
‘No, you weren’t,’ I cut in. ‘You were being neighbourly and kind and—’
‘Far too Lisa!’ she interrupted again, this time with a chuckle.
‘I don’t think I usually go full-on Lisa so soon, but I was so excited to discover that I’d got Rafe Harding and daughter for neighbours that I let myself get completely carried away and let the full-on version of myself out before either of you had got used to the tame one! ’
‘Oh, Lisa!’ I laughed out loud.
‘I’m being serious. I try so hard now to ease my larger-than-life personality in when I meet new people but where you two were concerned, I completely failed. If there’s anything I can do to make it up to either of you, just say the word.’
‘Rafe’s fine,’ I told her. ‘He thinks you’re just the author chum he needs.’
She flushed scarlet when I said that.
‘So, his message to say he’ll walk at Whitlingham with me wasn’t a sop then?’ she asked. ‘He really does want to come?’
‘Believe me,’ I told her, ‘Rafe doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to and has no qualms about saying so. If he’s said he’s up for lakeside walks to talk about all things writing related, then he means it.’
‘Excellent!’ she nodded. ‘But what about you, Skylar? Is there anything I can help you with?’
‘There is,’ I said, grasping the nettle Erik had handed me.
‘Name it.’
‘I was wondering if you’d introduce me properly to the Grow-Well team so I can make a start helping with whatever needs doing. With some strict guidance of course, so I don’t get anything wrong.’
‘Well, that’s just made my day!’ Lisa clapped. ‘I’ll let Graham know and we’ll go over in the morning. He’s the best person to get you up and running. We all have various roles we take on but he’s the one who’s ultimately in charge, so he’ll be best placed to tell you what’s what.’
‘Excellent,’ I said. ‘Thanks Lisa.’
‘I’ll come and meet you at yours at ten,’ she said as a louder argument in the house broke out. ‘That’ll give me just about enough time to get this lot back under control and hand over the reins to John.’
With the arrangement made, I headed home and waited until Rafe had shouted me the ‘cats all-clear’ signal before slipping inside.
It was just a few more days until they could start to explore the garden and I felt as though my future, the immediate one anyway, was happily aligned with my feline friends.
We were all destined to explore more of the great outdoors this autumn.
I was feeling a bit jittery the following morning as I waited for Lisa. I hadn’t told Rafe what I was planning to do because I didn’t want a fuss and the second I spotted Lisa crossing the square, I shouted a quick goodbye to him and went out to meet her.
‘Ready?’ she asked.
‘Ready,’ I said. ‘Though I haven’t got any gloves or tools or anything. Will that be a problem?’
‘If Graham sets you straight on with a job, you can borrow a pair of my gloves,’ she generously offered. ‘I’ll show you where they are in the bothy and there are tools there too, that we all share, so no need for you to have your own.’
‘Okay,’ I said and let out a breath. ‘Great.’
‘Are you all right? You seem a bit nervous?’
‘I am nervous,’ I told her. ‘I’ve never done anything like this.’
I’d laid awake half the night swinging between cursing and thanking Grandad George and Erik for their encouragement to try something new. Fingers crossed by the end of the day I’d only want to thank them, but time would tell.
‘You’ve never gardened?’ Lisa asked. ‘Or grown anything before?’
‘I haven’t so much as pulled up a weed,’ I told her. ‘I couldn’t even identify one. Which is why I’ll need very detailed instructions about everything.’
‘Don’t worry,’ she said, as she keyed in the gate code and opened it. ‘Graham will gladly take you under his wing.’
She was right, too. He was kindness itself and delighted to have an apprentice. His rather bossy wife was also lovely and supplied endless mugs of tea between telling her husband to pace himself and not get carried away.
‘So,’ Graham said, once he’d given me a more official tour than the one with Freya, and told me what was what, ‘we’ll get you started on something right away, shall we?’