Twenty-Eight
The ebb and flow of conversation surrounded Sally as she looked around the quaint little pub. Despite admiring it from the outside each time she’d passed by, this was the first time she’d been inside and it couldn’t have been more different to The Drover’s Arms where she’d had dinner with Nick Davies. As modern as that had been inside, The Inn on the Green prided itself on maintaining the traditional old English-style interior. Age-darkened oak beams were highlighted against white painted walls and the bar itself looked like it had been in situ since the dawn of time.
Matt and Flora had picked her up from the farm and filled her in on the eccentric landlady, Percy, and the history of the pub. It had stood on this spot for several centuries and had once been just a mere watering hole until a fire had caused the main inn in the village to close back in the 1800s. While travellers to the village were on the decrease due to the advancement of the rail services, they were still sufficient enough for the then owners of The Inn on the Green to move out of the rooms they’d occupied above the pub and upgraded the inn’s hospitality facilities by doing so. And it had continued to be thus to this day.
Sally, who was partial to a bit of history, had loved hearing this and vowed to bring her best friend, Karen, here for lunch the next time she came up.
‘Here you go, Sally, one lager shandy, light on the lager and heavy on the lemonade as requested. Our food will be over shortly and I’ve put us on the list for the quiz later. The good thing about arriving early is that we’ll have a table.’
‘Does it get very busy, then?’
‘Oh yes!’ Flora leaned across the table, clearly thrilled at the prospect of them joining in later. ‘Most of the village comes out for it. Even Sukie and Pete Wallace show up most weeks.’
‘What? Pete Wallace joins in with the local pub quiz? Seriously?’
‘He sure does, when he’s not away on tour.’ Matt took another drink from his pint before placing the glass on the table and licking away the frothy moustache from his top lip. The action gave Sally a surprising little jolt in her stomach.
‘The villagers all love Pete and Sukie. They don’t have any airs or graces and try to be a part of the day-to-day living as much as possible, which means everyone is especially protective of them and any strangers who come asking too many questions get short-shrift and sent on their way.’
‘I met them when I had to discuss the change of use for the farm. They were very kind and welcoming.’
‘I’ll also wager that Sukie was totally on board with your plans for the cat rescue. Her love of cats is well known.’
‘Yes, she was. Whenever she visits the rescue in the future, Pete has ordered me not to let her leave the premises without a full body search first as he doesn’t trust her not to try and sneak some of the residents home with her.’
This comment caused Matt and Flora to laugh and Sally found herself joining in.
While they waited for their meals, Sally realised that this was the first proper night out she’d had since Steve’s death. There had, of course, been the occasional family dinner celebrating her parents’ anniversaries or birthdays but they didn’t really count. This was a night out with non-family members and pretty much under her own steam. Okay, Matt had been required to bring in a little persuasion but she’d agreed to join him and Flora with no further coercion and she’d found herself looking forward to it when she’d been getting showered and changed.
‘Dad tells me he got these bruises coming to your assistance this afternoon, Sally.’
‘Er, yes, he did.’ She glanced at Matt, not sure how much he’d told Flora and what she could safely say.
‘It’s okay, she knows the full story. I told her everything.’
‘And the verbal flaying?’
‘Not as painful as I was expecting.’
‘Excuse me, you two, I am here! It’s not my fault I’m rather protective of my dad – I’ve already lost one parent, not quite ready to get rid of the other. Although,’ Flora sneaked a side-peek at her father, ‘there are some days when I could happily see the back of him.’
‘Is that so, young lady?’
‘Yes, it is, old man.’
Ribs were elbowed on both sides and Sally couldn’t help but smile at their antics and banter which only ceased when their meals were placed on the table.
‘Hi, Sally, how lovely to see you here. Are you joining in the quiz tonight?’
‘Sukie, hello. Yes, I am. Matt kindly invited me to join him and Flora.’
‘That’s wonderful. I’ve been wanting to pop over and see how you’re getting on but I didn’t want to come across as being all “lady of the manor-ish”, if you get my meaning? It’s so easy for these things to be misconstrued.’
‘Sukie, I would never think that and you will always be a welcome visitor. Please drop over anytime. Although, it’s still a bit of a building site at the moment, so bring a hard hat.’
Just then, three other women came over to join Sukie.
‘Sally, these are the rest of my team-mates. Jenny, whom you already know, Sam, who runs the tearooms and Molly, whose partner, Charlie, does most of the architectural work for the area.’
‘A ladies-only team?’
‘Yes,’ Jenny replied, ‘our respective “others” head up their own team. They’re called the “Rock ‘n’ Rowlands” and we’re “Sukie’s Sassy Cats”. What’s your team’s name?’
‘Oh! I don’t know.’
She turned to Flora and Matt.
‘We’re the “Three Bees”,’ said Flora, smiling.
‘Three Bees?’ Sally racked her brain trying to figure where that had come from.
‘Yeah!’ Flora laughed. ‘Bramblebush B&B. The Three Bees!’
A warm happiness flowed through Sally upon hearing Flora’s words. This small gesture of inclusion touched her more than she could have expected.
‘Well, Sally, you are now officially a member of our team. That’s the best result we’ve had for ages.’
Flora smiled at her over the table.
‘Oh, I didn’t do that much.’
‘Sure you did,’ Matt said, ‘don’t sell yourself short. Have you had a nice evening?’
‘Matt, thank you so much for inviting me along. I’ve had a great time. I can’t recall the last time I laughed this much. Even though everyone is super-competitive, listening to all the patter and chatter this evening has been so much fun.’
‘Hey, you didn’t just listen. Telling Pete Wallace that just because he had the sharpest cheek-bones in the room didn’t make him the sharpest knife in the drawer was brilliant!’
‘Oh gosh! I can’t believe I came out with that. I must go and apologise…’
‘Hey, don’t you dare, lady!’
Sally looked up to find Sukie grinning down at her.
‘That has to be one of the best lines I’ve heard delivered to my husband and don’t you dare take it back.’
‘But I was rude.’
‘No, you weren’t. You just joined in with the flow of the evening. Everyone takes little pot-shots at each other but it’s never nasty or malicious and we don’t ever take the words exchanged to heart.’
Sukie bent down and whispered in her ear.
‘Don’t worry so much. You’re doing great. You’ve got this.’
She straightened up, gave a small wink and then, with much noise, went off to locate her husband.
The kind words of support were more than Sally had expected and she felt tears well up in her eyes. She looked down at the table, blinking hard to prevent them from falling.
‘Hey, Sal, you okay?’
She glanced over to Matt who was looking at her with concern.
‘Yes, yes, I’m fine, thank you. It’s been quite a day and Sukie being so lovely has just tipped my occasionally wayward emotions slightly over the edge. I’ll be alright.’
He watched her for a moment before giving a small nod.
‘Fair enough. It has been rather action-packed so maybe it’s time we all headed home.’
When they got back to the farm, Matt opened the car boot and pulled out a large duffle bag.
‘Dad, what are you doing?’
‘I’m making the barn a little more secure for Sally.’
‘Excuse me?’ Sally looked at Matt with surprise.
‘Sally, all you have on these two wicket gates are silly little Yale locks which couldn’t keep out a cold, never mind anyone with intent to harm.’
‘Thanks, Matt, for that lovely thought. It’s really going to help me sleep tonight!’
‘By the time I’m finished, Sally, it’ll be like the Tower of London in there and you’ll be completely safe.’
‘Sally, just let him get on with it. We won’t get to leave here until he’s done whatever he has planned. He’s stubborn like that.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with being cautious.’
‘Fine! Fine! Just do what you need to do!’
She threw her hands up and walked over to the barn, Flora, and Matt behind her. Using her phone torch, she unlocked the little gate and stepped inside, flicking the light switch as she entered.
‘Would you like a drink of something while you’re doing whatever you’re doing, Matt?’
‘No thanks, I’m good. This’ll only take me fifteen minutes.’
‘Flora?’
‘No, thank you, Sally. I’m good too.’
She turned to see what Matt was up to and did a double-take when he pulled a cordless drill out of the duffle bag at his feet.
‘Matt, what ARE you doing?’
‘Just putting some bolts on these doors, Sally, to make them sturdier against any unauthorised access.’
‘While I appreciate your concern for my well being, and I really do, your actions are not exactly helping me. I’ll be lying awake all night now, shaking under my duvet, while waiting for some form of evil to come and get me.’
‘Then you can take comfort from knowing that nothing and no one will be getting through these gates unless they’re invited. There, that’s the first one done already. See, no time at all.’
And sure enough, while they’d been talking, Matt had put two good sturdy bolts onto the first of the wicket gates in the barn doors. He walked across to the one in the back doors and repeated his actions.
‘There you go. Now you can sleep sweetly and have happy dreams. And I will too because I’ll know you’re safe.’
Sally walked over to the back doors where Matt was standing.
‘Would you mind putting this bolt down for me, please. It’s rather stiff and I usually leave it undone because it’s such a bother.’
‘No problem.’
He did as she asked and when he’d forced the bolt into the notch in the concrete floor, he simply said, ‘I’ll bring some oil over for that tomorrow.’
She watched as he checked the other set of thick wooden doors on that side of the building and made sure the bolts were fully engaged. This small action calmed her skittish insides as she became aware she was now completely safe.
When Matt and Flora stepped out into the courtyard to leave, Matt turned back to her.
‘Just so you know, I’ll be installing a couple of security lights out here tomorrow. I should’ve done it sooner. Sorry about that.’
‘Matt, please don’t apologise for anything. My security really isn’t your concern though I am deeply grateful that you have made it so.’
‘Nothing wrong with looking out for folks, Sally, and I’m looking out for you. Sleep well and I’ll see you in the morning.’
‘Sure, see you in the morning. Good night, Flora, and thank you again for a great evening. I really did enjoy it.’
‘Good, because I’ll be expecting you to do it all again next week.’
Sally closed the little door, snibbed the lock and threw the two shiny new bolts into place. Even though Matt had just checked the other barn doors, she went round them again and, satisfied that all was good, stepped inside Marvin, locked his door, and got ready for bed.
She’d only been under the quilt a couple of minutes when Herbie came up and curled into her stomach. With his little warm body pushing against her, and knowing the barn was quite secure, she soon drifted off into a deep and dreamless sleep and didn’t stir until her alarm went off the next morning.