Chapter 31
Gina moved into the boathouse a week after they returned from Norfolk and Dorothy surprised herself with how happy this made her. She felt as if the two had made a close connection during that rollercoaster of a wedding week and to have her new friend by her side was wonderful. She didn’t want to admit it to her family, but it turned out she did need some help.
Miles carried Gina’s bags and cases up the stairs into the boathouse and then left to get started on the lunch they were all going to have in the garden.
‘I really should have cleared more of my things away so you can make it your own space,’ Dorothy said, picking up a vase from the walnut sideboard.
‘I don’t mind at all. I haven’t brought any soft furnishings or trinkets with me so it will be nice to have some lovely things around me. Douglas suggested we keep the house furnished until the sale goes through in case anything goes wrong. It’s never as easy to sell an empty house.’
‘Sensible,’ Dorothy said, although she didn’t really like to compliment the idiot who had let Gina get away.
‘We should leave you to unpack and settle in,’ Lavinia said. ‘Come on, Dot. Shall we go and lay the table?’
‘Lunch on the lawn in half an hour,’ Dorothy said and then left Gina to it.
Dorothy had decided to invite Erik round for lunch and was interested to see that he chose to sit next to Gina.
‘It’s Erik with a K,’ Dorothy said after she introduced them.
‘I’m not sure Gina needs to know that, unless she’s planning on writing him a letter,’ Miles said and everyone laughed.
‘Is it a Scandinavian name?’ Gina asked him.
‘Danish,’ he said. ‘My mother was Danish, but my father is Welsh and I grew up in North Wales, so I’m a fair mix.’
‘I love North Wales,’ Gina said with a smile, ‘such beautiful countryside.’
They tucked into the quiches and salads that Lavinia and Miles had made and Dorothy poured them all glasses of the cloudy lemonade she had decanted into a jug and stuffed with ice cubes and slices of lemon. It wasn’t as warm as it had been in previous weeks, but pleasant enough to sit outside.
‘Do you have a boat too?’ Gina asked Erik. ‘Is it obligatory when you live here?’
‘I do. I have a narrowboat like Dorothy’s,’ he said.
‘Do you take it out much, or is it just an expensive place to sit and have coffee?’ Gina asked and Dorothy watched as her cheeks flamed.
Erik laughed; a deep bass sound that rumbled from him and when he stopped, Dorothy noted that he locked his piercing blue eyes onto Gina.
‘It was just something Dorothy said when she showed me her boat,’ Gina said, seemingly desperate to explain her odd question.
‘Guilty,’ Dorothy said simply.
‘In truth, Gina, it is mostly an expensive place to sit and have a coffee and I’m lucky to have it, I know. I should take her out more. Perhaps you’d like to come sometime when you’re settled in?’
All eyes turned to Gina then and she took a long sip of her lemonade before answering.
‘That sounds lovely, Erik,’ she said. ‘I’d like that.’
Dorothy smiled to herself. It was a deeply satisfying feeling having these two people that she’d grown fond of, connecting like this. It was something she would be encouraging wholeheartedly.
When lunch was over and everything cleared away, Dorothy was pleased to see that Miles and Lavinia were leaving. Gina looked a little overwhelmed and probably just needed to settle quietly into her new space, alone.
‘I promise it won’t always be like this,’ Lavinia said. ‘We never just turn up unannounced. Dorothy doesn’t like it.’
‘Of course I don’t like it. It’s rude not to let someone know you’re coming,’ Dorothy said and it wasn’t lost on her that her son and his wife shared a knowing smile.
‘You all just do whatever you did before and I’ll fit in,’ Gina said.
‘Well, we’re both very happy that you’re here,’ Miles said. ‘Mum is incredibly independent, but everyone needs a helping hand from time to time.’
Erik said goodbye not long after the other two had left and then opened the little gate next to the boathouse and disappeared into his own garden. Dorothy and Gina settled onto the loungers under the willow at the water’s edge with a cup of tea each.
‘It’s really beautiful here, Dorothy,’ Gina said, looking out over the water. ‘You might never get rid of me.’
‘Fine with me,’ Dorothy chuckled and closed her eyes.
She must have nodded off, because when she woke her teacup was on the table, stone cold and Gina was chatting over the fence to Erik. Dorothy watched the two of them together and how Gina kept touching her hair and Erik stood straighter than usual with one strong arm on the top of the fence post. Dorothy smiled. They could be a couple of teenagers. Nothing changed with age when it came to blossoming attraction. It was always timeless.
Gina returned to Dorothy with a paperback in her hands.
‘Have you joined Erik’s book club?’ Dorothy asked her.
‘He’s lent me the latest Karin Slaughter and wants to discuss it when I’ve read it. I’m already thinking it might be a bit scary for me.’
‘Erik loves a book chat. I’ve not been too on board recently and can’t seem to settle to a story, but maybe with you here that might change.’
‘He suggested a bottle of wine and that a narrowboat book chat was in order. You’d be up for that wouldn’t you, Dorothy?’
‘That sounds fun,’ Dorothy said, but she already knew she’d find an excuse to duck out of it. Gina and Erik didn’t need her playing gooseberry. She decided not to say a word, though. She had a feeling that Gina might run a mile if pushed too hard and too fast. Nature had to take its course, nice and gently.
‘Have you decided to go on the cruise with Yvonne?’ Gina asked her as she sank back down onto the lounger.
‘I have. I phoned her yesterday to confirm. Do you know, for the first time in ages I feel a sense of adventure again. I know I’m an old lady and some things are past me now, but there’s some life in me yet and I feel open to some new experiences. Do you feel like that too, Gina?’
‘Um, a bit,’ she said.
‘Because there was something I wanted to ask you. There is something I’ve wanted to do all my life and for some reason I’ve never got around to it. I don’t want to ask Miles or Sophie to go with me because they’d fuss and besides, neither of them are keen on heights.’
Dorothy glanced across at Gina who looked alarmed.
‘It’s not as bad as it sounds. Perhaps you could look it up online for me?’