Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
N athan watered his plants on Monday morning with extra enthusiasm. Rain wasn’t forecast for another week, so he thought he’d give the plants some love in the meantime.
He’d enjoyed his weekend; dinner with the Applebys, seeing Lacie on video, and then a rainforest walk on Sunday to soothe his soul.
His mood was also boosted knowing that when he messaged Lacie at this time of day she was more likely to respond, with it being the later part of the day overseas. When he heard the ping from Messenger, he smiled and glanced at his phone. He’d told her how much he’d enjoyed dinner with her family, and seeing her face on the video, and said maybe they should do a video call sometime.
No time like the present , she’d replied.
Nathan’s heart beat a little faster. When the screen showed her call coming in, he turned off the hose and answered.
‘Hey, stranger,’ he said, holding the phone in front of his face. Her smiling face appeared, and with her hair splayed out to the sides it looked like she was nestled against the back of a couch.
‘Hello yourself. I see it’s a bright, sunny morning in the land of Tarrin’s Bay.’
‘Indeed. Another early start for me.’
‘Off to the house?’
‘Not today. I’m working on Gloria’s garden makeover, the prize she won at the trivia night.’
‘Oh yes, I’m sure she’ll love that. She looked to be enjoying herself at the meal.’
‘She sure did. It gave me a chance to speak to her about what she wanted done too, so I could get prepared. I’ll do what I can today, then get anything else I may need and go back sometime this week to finish things off.’
‘You’ll have to send before and after photos. If she doesn’t mind, of course.’
‘Sure, I’ll ask.’ He waved away an insect then walked onto his back porch. ‘How was your weekend?’
‘Great. Watched a friend sing at a club, caught up with another friend, and had a nice lunch out by the river today. It’s beautiful here this time of year. Oh, I took some photos, I’ll send some through after the call.’
‘Awesome. Sounds like you lead a busy and fun life over there. My weekends are usually much less social: pottering around the house and garden, a hike up in the hills, and going with the flow.’ He smiled.
‘That sounds awesome too. I also like my downtime, though living in a small apartment I don’t potter around much, so I usually prefer to get out and about.’
‘I can imagine.’
‘So, what’s today’s question?’ she asked, and he loved the way her eyes narrowed slightly with curiosity.
‘I hadn’t thought of one, but now that I’m on the spot…’ He tapped his temple. ‘Oh yes, I haven’t asked what’s your favourite movie?’
‘We haven’t discussed that yet? I can’t believe it. Anyway, that is a hard one, there are so many I love and so many I’ve worked on in the make-up department – some of which weren’t that great to be honest,’ she said with a lower voice, as though her employers might hear. ‘I could say Titanic , or Mary Poppins , but you know what, I actually love those gorgeous little films that take you to a different place and help you escape for a while, nothing too dramatic or violent, nothing too sappy either. One that stands out is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society .’
‘Hang on, the Potato Literary what?’
She chuckled and spoke slowly. ‘ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.’
‘Ah, I’ll have to google that one. But it does sound… unique.’
‘It is. Based on a book. I love watching books become movies. If they do it justice.’
‘The only other book to movie I can think of is Harry Potter.’
‘Well, that’s great too of course, defined my younger sister’s teenage years. Anyway, maybe check it out if you want to try something different. You might like the scenery in it.’
‘Will do. And as for my movie, hmmm, most of my favourites are documentaries, but I’ll try to cast them aside in order to think of a fictional one…’ He ran through the options in his head, though he didn’t watch many films. ‘This is hard. Oh, I do love The Shawshank Redemption . The victory at the end, so rewarding. But if I think of another one that trumps it, I’ll let you know!’
He could enjoy watching films if he had someone to chill on the couch with. Movies were best watched with company. Probably why he hadn’t seen many since he was with Tess. He sat on the wooden armchair on his porch for a moment, and something caught his eye in the young potted olive tree next to it.
‘Lacie, check this out.’ He angled the phone to face the trunk of the tree. ‘Can you see it?’
There was silence, and then, ‘Oh, a ladybird! How nice. Your favourite too.’
Nathan shook his head in awe. He hadn’t seen one for a while, it was winter but they often liked to camp out on tree bark and between rocks. He held his finger near the ladybird and it crawled onto his skin. When he tilted his hand, it flew off, and he returned to face the phone screen. ‘Just like you; here briefly in all her glory, then off she flies!’
Lacie chuckled. ‘Well, I hope the ladybird comes back for you.’
He hoped another lady would come back too. But by the looks of things, she wouldn’t be back for another year, and even then it would only be for two weeks. Anyway, he couldn’t change the way things were. A least he was having fun chatting to her regularly, and that’s all it would ever – could ever – be.
When Nathan arrived at Gloria’s small duplex, she had a cup of tea and scones waiting for him. ‘The least I could do, after your generosity in helping me with my garden.’
‘Gloria, you shouldn’t have,’ he said, taking a seat at the outdoor wrought-iron table for two. ‘Although, I’m glad you did.’ He smiled, and Gloria seemed excited to have a visitor. ‘I make them with a dash of lemonade, the scones. My secret trick.’ She waited for him to take a bite and he nodded his approval.
‘Delicious,’ he said. ‘How long have you lived here?’
‘About eight years. We – Leonard and I – downsized in the hope of having an easier retirement. After four years, though, he got sick. And another four years have gone by and things are exactly the same as when he passed. A little garden makeover will be just the thing to freshen things up and bring a little joy.’
Nathan was glad she had won the prize; it was clearly meant for her.
They finished up the scones and Nathan helped her take the plates into the kitchen.
‘Now, I know you have other gardening jobs during the week so I don’t want to keep you. Whatever you can manage today is fine.’
‘I’m happy to come back again to finish anything up, or acquire anything else you may like. I was thinking a birdbath even, though they can be costly. But the free plants and pebbles included in the prize will go a long way to bringing some colour and joy to the garden.’ Thankfully, he was able to secure some donations from the plant nursery he spent so much time at. Anything else Gloria wanted would be at her expense, but he’d do what he could with what was provided.
‘I was thinking perhaps a cute row of pansies along the border of the bed here,’ he said, pointing it out as they walked around the tiny grassed area which had a few small trees and shrubs, but not much colour. ‘Pebbles too, along the border. And then in this corner here, perhaps some cornflowers. If I plant them now, you’ll have nice blooms in spring.’
Gloria’s face lit up. ‘Oh, that sounds wonderful. Leonard was more of a green thumb than me, though he couldn’t do much in his later years.’
‘Do you have someone who cuts the grass?’
She nodded. ‘A young chap from up the road, gives him some pocket money.’
‘I used to do that here and there when I was a young chap too.’ He smiled.
‘And now look how far you’ve come.’
Nathan waved away her compliment. ‘Ah, I just do what I enjoy, nothing to it.’
‘Martha tells me what a gift you’ve been in helping her with the gardens of South Haven, especially after her husband died. And she enjoys your company.’
‘The Applebys are great. They’re more a family than I’ve ever had.’
‘Oh?’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘You’re not close with yours?’
‘None left, as far as I know. Dad disappeared when I was a baby, Mum died and she was estranged from her parents, so I was in foster care by the time I was four years old.’
‘Oh my goodness.’ Gloria held a hand to her heart. ‘Well, you should be even more proud of yourself for how you’ve taken hardship and created a positive life out of it, making a contribution to society.’
‘Thanks, Gloria.’ Nathan’s cheeks warmed. He’d never had anyone say he should be proud of himself, never had anyone say they were proud of him. He’d just done what he needed to create a life for himself.
‘And there’s no… special person in your life?’ She eyed him with a curious tilt of her head.
‘There was, but it wasn’t to be. And…’ He thought of Lacie. ‘There’s no one with any promise at this stage, unfortunately.’
‘Oh well, I’m sure that person will come along. But don’t you wait around for it to happen, go out there and make it happen. Meet new people, take some risks. Don’t overthink things. Goodness, it took so long for Leonard to get the guts to ask me out, I thought I would die an old spinster by the time he did!’ She smiled, then her face turned solemn. ‘And to think we could have had a couple more years together if he’d been confident enough to ask me sooner. Back then, it wasn’t proper for a young woman to pursue a man. Some did of course, but it wasn’t how I was brought up. So I waited.’
‘I’m glad you finally got together. And I’ll definitely try to be more… gutsy. Thanks, Gloria.’
‘Anytime.’ She wandered to the side of the garden that had an old, splintery bench. ‘Nathan, if I may ask, could you also help me set up some kind of memorial for Leonard? I mean, not as part of the free makeover, but a special thing for down the track, when I’ve saved up some money to purchase a few things, like a new bench?’
‘Of course,’ Nathan replied. ‘And we could even do a plaque at the end of the garden, next to the seat if you like, with perhaps a small tree planted in his honour?’
Her eyes lit up. ‘Yes, and I could add some of those stones, you know, with the words on them, like love and peace?’
‘Great idea.’
‘Oh and why not, add a birdbath. I can sit on the seat and remember him, talk to him, and watch the birds.’
‘Sounds like a beautiful way to keep his memory alive. I’ll get onto it after today and get back to you with a plan and a quote.’
‘Wonderful. Now, what colour will the cornflowers be?’ She rubbed her hands together.
As he explained more about what he planned to do, took some ‘before’ photos, then got busy weeding, trimming the grass and shrubs, and adding some fresh soil and fertiliser before planting some seedlings and arranging the pebbles, he wondered if it was wasted energy getting close to Lacie. She was delightful to chat to, and they had a strong connection, but how could he be gutsy with her when there was no way it could become serious with her living overseas? He didn’t want to mess her around either. Or was he overthinking things? As he worked, he had an idea. She loved flowers, tulips, to be precise. Maybe it was time to move on from just chatting and show her how special he thought she was. So it might not be able to go anywhere, but life was short and he may as well let loose and make some memories. Even if that’s all they’d be.