Chapter Twenty-One
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Heath had phoned while Ottilie had been with Stacey and Simon, and she hadn’t noticed until she was on her way home. She wasn’t drunk, but perhaps less guarded and less tactful than she might have been had she been totally sober, and so she phoned back with such carelessness that she could hear the shock in his voice.
‘Hi…I’m sorry, I thought…Well, I hate the way we left things earlier, and I know?—’
‘That it’s all your fault?’ Ottilie cut in. ‘I’m glad you can see that because it’s true and I’m not going to argue.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said again. ‘You’re right. It’s…You have to understand what I went through before?—’
‘Do I?’ she interrupted again. ‘What you went through? Yes, I need to understand what you went through because clearly that’s more important than anything I’ve been through. We all have a past, Heath, but some of us try not to live the rest of our lives according to it.’
He apologised again, and it was so full of heartfelt sincerity that Ottilie felt guilty for demanding it with such uncharacteristic bluntness. But at least the matter was settled, and they could say goodnight and leave things on a brighter note, and when she went to bed later that night, she was content that things were back on an even keel once again, and so she went straight to sleep with no bother.
The following morning was Monday and the start of another week. Ottilie’s first job, as always, was a visit to Hilltop Farm to check on Darryl and his mum Ann. When she got there today, to her delight she found Corrine sitting at the table sharing a cup of tea with Ann.
‘You’re out early!’ Ottilie said, giving her a hug.
‘That’s what a farming life does for you,’ Corrine said, glancing at Ann. ‘I’m right, aren’t I?’
‘I can’t remember the last time I slept in,’ Ann agreed. ‘And even without the farm I’d still have mister over there waking me up with the lark.’ She angled her head at Darryl, who wasn’t listening but poring over his two favourite books about trains. Both the one Ottilie had gifted to him and the newer one from Simon were open on the table, side by side, and he appeared to be reading them both at once.
‘How’s Victor and the girls?’ Ottilie asked Corrine as Ann went to pour another tea for her. Ottilie caught sight of her glittering ring, the one Victor had bought for her to show his affection in light of their close call. The sight warmed her.
‘Oh, they’re all good.’
‘And how are you?’ Ottilie added in a more significant tone.
‘Never better.’ Corrine’s smile was broad and full of genuine gratitude.
‘That’s good.’
‘How’s everything with you?’ Corrine asked. ‘How’s that man of yours?’
‘Oh, you know… lovely.’
‘You seem to be a magnet for lovely men,’ Ann said, offering her a freshly filled mug. ‘I hear the new doctor moved in yesterday.’
‘He did,’ Ottilie said.
‘I’m so glad he’s staying.’ Ann sat down at the table and ruffled an oblivious Darryl’s hair. ‘He’s been brilliant with us. Everyone likes him.’
‘I wonder if they’d have liked him quite so much if he’d been taking over from Dr Cheadle and not just going into partnership with her,’ Ottilie said, and all three of the women laughed lightly.
‘True enough,’ Corrine said. ‘Nobody much cares for change around here. I remember the fuss they made when you took over from Gwen.’
‘So do I!’ Ottilie said with such conviction that Corrine laughed again.
‘Is the new doctor married?’ she asked after it had died down. ‘I hear he’s moved into Charles’s old place alone – is that right?’
‘Yes. Not married, and before you ask, because I know you will, he doesn’t have any children either.’
‘There’s a surprise, a lovely man like him on his own. I wonder what happened.’
Ottilie wished people wouldn’t wonder – at least not out loud to her. She loved Corrine dearly and she recognised that neither Corrine nor Ann were gossips, but still, she knew things about Simon that she felt she ought to share out of friendship for them, even though her friendship with him deserved her discretion. She half wished she didn’t know and then she wouldn’t feel the burden of the secret in the way she felt it now. She wondered if he’d told Stacey yet. They’d seemed to be getting on well, and even as Ottilie spent a few hours with them the previous night it seemed to her they were getting closer, right before her eyes.
Corrine shot a shrewd look at Ottilie and then smiled brightly at Ann. ‘None of our business, though. I suppose if he wants people to know then we’ll know in good time.’
‘True enough,’ Ann agreed. She turned to Ottilie. ‘Now then – bacon sandwich this morning? There’s plenty to spare.’
‘That sounds amazing. I ought to be a bit more restrained, though. You might start to think I only turn up here to get my breakfast cooked for me.’
Ann laughed. ‘Heck of a trek up this hill to get a sandwich! But even if you did, I’d never complain. There’s nobody save my Darryl I’d rather cook for.’
‘That reminds me,’ Corrine said. ‘Ottilie, are you down for the community kitchen this week?’
‘I think so. Thursday night, if memory serves me. Why?’
‘I thought I might lend a hand and it’d be nice to do the same time as you. Give us a chance to catch up. We don’t see you so much these days.’
‘Too busy being in love,’ Ann said.
Ottilie forced a smile. She was in love all right, but she couldn’t say the same about Heath. He still hadn’t actually said the words, and after their argument the night before she had to wonder if he even felt them in the way she’d hoped and believed he did.
‘I’m sorry, I’ve been so busy time keeps getting away from me. Before I know it, a new week has started and ended, and I’ve done nothing I meant to do with it. I’ll make an effort to come up to the farm and see you and Victor this week, I promise. But if you still want to help out at the kitchen I’m sure Janet would be grateful.’
‘I’ll give her a tinkle later,’ Corrine said. ‘Wouldn’t be a bad thing to cook for someone other than Victor once in a while.’
‘Don’t let Victor hear you say that.’ Ann wrapped Ottilie’s sandwich in some greaseproof paper and put it on the table in front of her.
‘Thank you,’ Ottilie said. She looked at Darryl. ‘Everything all right this morning, Darryl?’ she asked. ‘Insulin done?’
He glanced up and nodded once, and then went back to his books again.
‘Not very talkative this morning,’ Ann said apologetically. ‘Some days it’s like that.’
‘That’s all right,’ Ottilie said. ‘As long as he’s content and well, nothing else matters.’
‘Seems to be. It’s nice for things to be on an even keel for once.’
‘I’m sure,’ Ottilie said, wishing her own keel could be nice and even for a while too.
Ottilie bid Corrine, Ann and Darryl goodbye and headed out to work, her sandwich tucked into her satchel and smelling so good she could have torn it open and devoured it on the spot. But it would have to wait, because she was already running late and if she didn’t get a move on she’d walk into a waiting room full of annoyed patients. She often wondered if half of them had anything to do other than visit her, because they always arrived far too early, treating the waiting room like some kind of social club where they could catch up with the latest gossip. On more than one occasion she’d even walked in to find Lavender serving cups of tea to the older ones while they chatted away to whoever else was in there.
As she made her way to her car, her phone pinged the arrival of a text. It was Heath.
My mate has some spare tickets for that band you wanted to see. Thursday night in Salford. A bit short notice but I can buy them from him if you fancy it. X
Ottilie frowned. She couldn’t think which band he meant, but even if she’d been desperate to go she’d already committed to helping out at the community kitchen on Thursday evening. She supposed they’d manage without her if she explained the situation, but the idea of leaving them short-handed didn’t sit well with her.
Sounds great but I can’t. I’m so sorry, I’ve already told the kitchen I’ll help them on Thursday night. X
Can’t you get out of it?
Ottilie could have replied, but she really didn’t have the time. Besides, she’d said she couldn’t go. Heath knew how important her community projects were to her and how she felt about letting people down. But she also understood that perhaps he was trying to make up for his mistake the previous night more than anything else. She’d call him when she got a moment and reassure him that all was well, the incident had been forgotten and he didn’t need to shower her with gifts for them to move past it.
She got into the car, tossing her phone onto the seat before she started the engine, and as she did she noticed a follow-up text from Heath. That one was going to have to wait too.
For one reason or another, Ottilie hadn’t seen Heath that week. Thursday night arrived, and although they’d spoken on the phone and she’d asked him if he might like to help out at the kitchen and had been perfectly transparent about the fact that Simon had offered his services and would be there, Heath had declined and sounded a bit miffed about it all. She wondered if he was sulking about her refusal of concert tickets or whether he was annoyed she’d chosen the community kitchen over his offer, or if she was simply imagining it.
After some consideration Ottilie decided she might be reading too much into the situation and so thought no more about it, but the fact she hadn’t seen him and so she didn’t feel they’d truly been able to clear the air nagged at her. She was too busy for it to worry her for long, and when she realised she wasn’t worrying enough, that worried her even more. If she could so easily set it aside, what did that say about her relationship with Heath? Was it less than she’d imagined? Was it more fragile? Was it built to last after all?
When she arrived, Magnus and Stacey were already there.
‘Hello,’ she said, going over to them both as Stacey peeled some potatoes and Magnus chatted to her.
Then the door to the kitchen opened and Simon walked in, immediately greeted with enthusiasm by those closest.
‘Am I late?’ he asked, looking round. ‘Sorry if I am – paperwork, you know…’
‘It’s never too late here!’ Janet, the organiser of the community kitchen, smiled at him. ‘Even if you arrived after service there’d be cleaning down to do. Any help is welcome, no matter if it’s three minutes or three hours.’
He glanced over at Ottilie with a nod of acknowledgement, but when Stacey looked up, he broke into a warm smile. It was then Ottilie noticed that Stacey seemed to be wearing more make-up than usual. She didn’t have her usual jeans on either but wore a flowing dress beneath her apron. Something was definitely going on between these two – there was no denying it now. Ottilie exchanged a look with Magnus. She wondered if he could see it too. Ordinarily he and Geoff had a radar for budding romance and went out of their way to facilitate it, but she couldn’t see any signs he’d noticed it yet. Perhaps he was too preoccupied with other things.
‘What would you feel comfortable doing?’ Janet asked.
Simon turned back to her and cleared his throat; he looked guilty, as if he’d been caught doing something he wasn’t meant to. ‘I don’t know. I can probably handle most tasks. Point me to whatever needs to be done and I’m sure I can get on with it.’
‘Brilliant…why don’t you help Stacey with the potatoes?’
‘Sure, I can do that.’
Stacey looked up and blushed. ‘I could do with the help too – there’s thousands of these things.’
Janet went to get Simon an apron.
He turned to Ottilie and Magnus. ‘What duties did you get?’
‘I’ve only just arrived myself,’ Ottilie said. ‘I expect Janet will find me something suitably mind-numbing to peel or shell.’
Simon laughed as Janet returned with his apron. ‘If you’re all right with peeling and chopping then I’ve got plenty to be going on with. Onions, perhaps?’
‘Watch out,’ Stacey said. ‘If Flo gets here she’ll have you sucking on a spoon.’
Simon looked confused.
‘It’s supposed to stop your eyes from watering when you chop onions,’ Ottilie said.
‘Oh.’ Simon frowned slightly. ‘And does it?’
‘I’m not entirely sure.’
Simon rooted in a nearby drawer and pulled out a paring knife. ‘I won’t do the spoon thing, if it’s all the same to everyone.’
‘While I’m here, Doctor,’ Magnus said. ‘Geoff and I have been saying for weeks we ought to invite you over for supper. We’d love it if you could come over one night soon.’
‘That sounds good,’ Stacey said, even though the invite hadn’t been for her. ‘I’m quite free for the next few days, so…’
Janet had wandered over to another station before the conversation had got underway, and she beckoned Ottilie over now.
‘Sorry, I’ve got to make a start,’ she said to the others, more than a little disappointed that she wasn’t going to hear where this was going. ‘Catch you all later?’
‘Absolutely,’ Stacey said before turning her quite undivided attention back to Simon.
Ottilie grinned as she walked away. Magnus had to have noticed by now. Much as she loved the idea of Stacey and Simon as a couple, perhaps she ought to have a word with him. He and Geoff had pulled a cupid stunt on her and Heath and it had very nearly backfired. If they tried it again with Simon, it might ruin everything. If anyone asked for her opinion (and they likely wouldn’t), she’d say to let things run their course. If Stacey and Simon were meant to be together they’d find a way to make it happen all by themselves.