Chapter 13 #2
‘I was hoping you’d say that,’ Beth beamed. ‘There’ll be various safeguarding and reference checks to undertake, but as long as you’re in the day room with other staff around until that’s done, we can make a start straightaway.’
‘In that case, I’ll come in on Thursday then.’
Beth was delighted.
‘If you could be here around ten, we could get the ball rolling with the forms and so on and then there’ll be time to talk to Mabel for a while before lunch.’
‘Yes,’ I confirmed. ‘I can easily manage that.’
With just the party details to prepare, sparing a few hours on a Thursday wasn’t going to pose a problem. It didn’t strike me then but given that I hadn’t hesitated to accept Beth’s offer, it said a lot about what I was really thinking about the one Mr Fuller had made me.
‘See you Thursday then,’ Beth said as a bit of a hubbub broke out in the day room. ‘Unless I bump into you in the Grow-Well before then.’
‘Either way, I’ll see you soon,’ I said, as she rushed off. ‘Thanks, Beth.’
Rafe was ensconced in his writing room when I arrived back and by the time I’d zoned back in after a stint of party planning, I realised that the noise that had made me jump was the front door closing and him heading out.
‘It doesn’t look like I’ll get to talk to him today then, does it?’ I said to the cats as I read the note Rafe had left me telling me not to expect him back until the next day. ‘Let’s just hope he doesn’t bump into anyone from the garden before he comes home.’
Before I had arrived in the square, I had wondered how the pair of us were going to rub along living under the same roof.
Were we going to get on, or find the proximity too intense?
That was obviously wasted worrying time because often we were proving to be ships that passed in the night, rather than in each other’s pockets.
I supposed that was no bad thing as it gave us each some space, but it was frustrating now I wanted to talk!
The next morning, I checked the calendar and realised there were just eight days left until the equinox. I had already come up with some affordable but meaningful ideas for the party and needed to get on with some of them if I was going to get the things I needed in time.
I had wondered about running what I had in mind by Kate and Luke but then remembered that Erik had offered to help and sent him a text asking if he was free to meet me in The Dragon for lunch the next day.
He had messaged back within minutes, and with that arranged, I read the job offer from Mr Fuller again.
I wasn’t sure when the shift had occurred, but I couldn’t in all honestly say that it felt as appealing as it had initially.
He hadn’t written that there was an expiration date to the offer, but it didn’t feel fair to keep him hanging on now I’d decided.
With the paper resting on the arm of the chair in my sitting room, I opened my laptop ready to formulate a reply and just at that moment my father rushed into the room.
‘Crikey Rafe!’ I gasped.
With one hand I’d slammed the laptop shut, while the other slid the sheet of paper between the arm of the chair and the cushion so it was out of sight.
‘What are you up to?’ Rafe laughed as he came far enough into the room to face me. ‘You look positively furtive.’
‘Nothing,’ I said guiltily. I could feel my cheeks were blazing but I could put that down to him making me jump. ‘When did you get back? I didn’t hear you arrive.’
‘Just now,’ he said. ‘I suddenly remembered it was D-Day and wanted to make the most of it as the weather’s decent.’
‘D-Day?’
‘The boys can go outside today,’ he said brightly. ‘It’s a fortnight since we arrived and as they’re so settled, I thought we’d give them access to the garden. Supervised though, of course. Do you want to watch how they react when I open the doors?’
‘I’d love to,’ I said as my heart rate settled and I stood up. ‘I don’t know about you, but I actually feel like we’ve been here far longer than a fortnight.’
‘I feel the same. And I’m delighted to hear you say that because it hopefully means that you’re feeling as content as I am.’
‘The transition has definitely gone smoother than I expected it to,’ I told him, while I remembered how I had been worried about being hemmed in by so many houses and nervous about driving on busy roads.
Though that said, I hadn’t driven since our trip to see Grandad George.
‘The garden at Prosperous Place and the Grow-Well have really helped and I’m sorry I snapped just now,’ I said sheepishly.
‘While we’re keeping an eye on the cats, I’ll tell you what I was doing when you made me jump. ’
Or my tweaked version of it. This was the ideal opportunity to explain about the party and hopefully allay any lingering suspicions he might have had about my shifty reaction to him unexpectedly arriving.
I could tell him about the befriending service I was going to be a part of at Cavell Care, too.
I now had more reason than ever to start putting down roots in Nightingale Square and the sooner I sent that ‘thanks, but no thanks’ email the better, but it would have to wait for now. Cat freedom beckoned.
‘Come on then,’ Rafe said cheerfully. ‘Who do you think will be first out the door?’
‘You’re not really expecting me to answer that, are you?’ I said and rolled my eyes.
‘Come on boys!’ he called as he walked out. ‘It’s time to expand your horizons and we’re sure it will be Socks who’s first to explore!’
Having assumed it would be Socrates who made a bolt for freedom the second he had the chance, we were both wrong because it was Plato the tabby who tentatively stuck his nose out and joined us on the patio while his unusually cautious companion watched on.
I remembered that Plato had also been the bolder of the two the day we moved in.
‘He’s all talk,’ Rafe said to Plato but with a nod to Socks, which made me laugh. ‘You better not let him forget your bravery, Plato, my pal.’
It didn’t take long for Socrates to creep out, and Rafe and I watched as they prowled around the walls of the garden which currently had a thin border running down each side, a large patio the width of the house outside the doors and a square block of lawn.
I imagined it had been functional for a growing family with toys, bikes and play equipment but knew Rafe would be eager to make changes the second spring arrived. If not before.
‘What are your plans for out here?’ I asked.
‘I haven’t made any yet,’ I was surprised to hear him say, ‘because I’m still trying to decide whether to have a garden office installed somewhere towards the end of the lawn.’
If he did go ahead, that wouldn’t leave much space for plants but then with the acreage across the road, I supposed that didn’t matter. It would certainly mean less to maintain here.
‘What do you think?’ he asked.
‘I think that whatever you decide will be wonderful and with that huge oak in the garden behind us, I think you’ve hit the jackpot.’
‘Yes,’ he agreed and looked admiringly up at it. ‘I certainly intend to make the most of what the professionals call “borrowing the landscape”.’
I told him about my plan to take a photo of the tree every month and showed him the first one.
‘We could have them printed on a calendar to use the following year,’ he suggested.
‘I like the sound of that. As long as I don’t forget to take a photo one month!’
‘Put a reminder on your phone,’ he said sensibly. ‘And when you’ve done that, you can tell me what you were beavering away at earlier.’
Once I’d done as he suggested, I put my phone down and looked at him.
‘Well,’ I said, still choosing my words with care despite Grandad George’s prediction that Rafe would be thrilled, ‘I’ve taken on a bit of a… project.’
‘That’s not your way of saying you’ve found a job, is it?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘Absolutely not. At least not in the sense that you’re thinking.’
‘Go on.’
‘It is event planning,’ I conceded and he opened his mouth to object, but I pushed on without pause, ‘but for the Grow-Well,’ he closed his mouth again.
‘They have various celebrations throughout the year and it’s the autumn equinox one next.
Everyone usually chips in and some neighbours still are, but generally no one has the time to do much now, so I said I’d take it on. The finer details, anyway.’
‘I see.’
‘So, it is work, but nothing like—’ I began to justify my decision.
‘I think it’s a brilliant idea,’ Rafe cut in. ‘I do appreciate that it must feel strange trying to fill so many hours when you’re used to not having any to spare and this is something you can really get stuck into. Like working in the Grow-Well.’
He sounded over the moon and that made me feel even happier and even more certain that turning down Mr Fuller was the right thing to do.
Perhaps Grandad George was right and that doing something in a similar vein, but not exactly the same as I’d done before, might open up other avenues for me to consider.
‘And as of this morning,’ I carried on, ‘I’ve got something else to do, too.’
Rafe loved the sound of the befriender service and that my kindness to Mabel had been noticed.
‘Not everyone’s like me and your grandfather,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘I suppose we take change a bit more in our stride than some other people, don’t we?’
‘Me included.’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ he said, then jumped up because Socrates had leapt to the top of the back wall and was looking interested in the garden on the other side. ‘I think you’ve taken to living here like a duck to water.’
I was surprised but very happy to acknowledge that I actually had no reason to disagree with that!