Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Clara couldn’t wait to tell Eleanora about her wonderful picnic and called her as soon as she got home.
‘I have to meet him. Please bring him punting as an excuse for me to have a nosy,’ begged Eleanora.
Since Eleanora had taken over the family punting business, she was always trying to get Clara down to the Magdalen Bridge Boathouse and, finally, she had the perfect excuse.
Whilst Clara and Tom had only been on two dates, somehow it felt right to introduce them this early on.
Eleanora was normally a good judge of character who always read between the lines.
She never stood for any nonsense. After all, she needed to be strict when she ran a business where a river and inebriated students sometimes merged.
Clara had to agree that spending an afternoon punting with Tom did sound rather nice so, on a quiet Tuesday afternoon, following a welfare visit to Janet who had fallen down her stairs, suffering a broken wrist, Clara finally arranged to meet Tom at the boathouse.
Eleanora’s punting business was busy from March through to October and by the time they reached the boathouse, Clara could see that there were only a couple of punts left.
However, before taking one out on the river, the moment had come where she had to introduce Tom to her beloved friend.
She had seen Tom get along famously with others, but she hoped the informal meeting would go well.
She would hate for the two of them not to hit it off.
Eleanora was energetically pushing a punt out when they reached the boathouse.
Her bright yellow waterproof gilet had caught Clara’s eye immediately.
She could watch her best friend at work all day.
She always thought it was as though Eleanora was in her natural habitat when she was down by the river.
Clara waved over as Eleanora noticed them.
‘Nora, this is Tom. A friend of mine.’ Clara tried to be casual in her introduction, but, truthfully, she was on tenterhooks.
‘Hello, Tom, friend of Clara’s.’ Eleanora reached her hand out to shake his.
‘Sorry if my hand’s a bit rough. Outdoor work will do that, even with the best hand lotions you can buy.
But you know what they say, rough hands, warm heart.
Oh, no, maybe it’s cold hands, warm heart.
Well, same sort of thing. Anyway, brilliant to meet you. ’
Eleanora wasn’t the type of person to babble and get nervous but Clara noticed that even she initially seemed to be taken aback by her first impression of Tom. It wasn’t surprising when he gave her a pearly white grin and laid on the charm.
‘What an honour it is to meet you, Eleanora. Clara’s told me so much about you.’
‘Oh, has she now? She’s told me a lot about you too.’
Eleanora gave Clara a knowing smirk and Clara gave her a playful warning look.
‘Seriously though, any friend of Clara’s is a friend of mine, Tom.’
Clara watched on proudly as the pair interacted.
So far Eleanora was laughing and her arms were flinging about as she chatted.
That was something Eleanora and Clara had always had in common.
They were both quite demonstrative, which could cause problems in a packed venue when they flailed their arms everywhere in conversation.
But, so far, Eleanora hadn’t managed to knock Tom out and it looked hopeful that she would give him the seal of approval.
‘Right then, let’s get you two out on the river.’
Not that Eleanora needed any assistance but Tom helped her as she placed two cushions on the seats of the punt.
‘I usually charge extra for comfort, but seeing as it’s for a friend . . .’ said Eleanora, winking at Tom. ‘Right then. All aboard. I won’t tell you how to use the quant. Clara’s heard me preach about that enough for one lifetime. You know where I am if you need anything.’
Much to Clara’s delight, Tom held her arm, gently assisting her as she sat down. Since Clara wasn’t the most nimble of people she was grateful for Tom’s strength to help her board. She noticed how Eleanora smiled at the gesture.
Eleanora waved them goodbye from the shore as Clara attempted to push them downstream.
She would never hear the end of it from Eleanora if she wriggled out of steering the punt immediately, so she tried to manage as far as she could.
She had only managed to pass the weeping willow beside the boathouse before her arms were tired.
Apart from her beloved bike, Clara was never one for too vigorous an activity.
‘Tom, you’re welcome to take over if you like,’ she said, once Eleanora was out of sight.
‘Of course. I’d be delighted to. Please do sit back and chill. Leave the work to me.’
As the punt levelled out and floated along with the tide, the ride felt smooth, leaving Clara to relax.
‘Ah, I could get used to this. I feel so spoilt.’
‘I bet you could. Me doing all the work. I know how it is,’ teased Tom.
From the comfort of her seat, Clara watched him smile, and how he navigated the water so confidently. For a moment she felt as though she were watching some sort of romantic movie. Surely, this wasn’t Clara Bennett being mollycoddled like this?
Tom steered the punt downstream through the countryside and past the pubs that lined the river. Clara couldn’t ever remember feeling happier.
‘Can you believe I’ve never seen the city from the water?’ said Tom, admiring their surroundings.
‘It’s gorgeous, isn’t it. But does that mean you’ve never been punting before?’
‘Nope. Never.’
‘Seriously? You make it look as though you’re a natural.’
‘Ah, it’s only because I’m trying to woo a beautiful lady. You have no idea how hard I’m having to work to keep this thing afloat. It’s taking every muscle, believe me. I’m going to be in agony tomorrow.’
Tom and Clara laughed and when she let out one of her honking giggles it made Tom laugh even more. They suddenly both became hysterical and Tom almost dropped the quant as he held his ribs while he chuckled.
‘Oh, Clara. How can you be so funny without even saying anything?’
‘It’s that laugh. Everyone tells me it’s more contagious than a case of the measles.’
‘And a lot nicer,’ said Tom.
‘Oh, what a day. It should be illegal to have this much fun together.’
As their laughter tapered off, a punt headed towards them.
Clara recognised the boys on board and suddenly panicked. The last thing she wanted was to be gossiped about by them.
‘Oh, drat. It’s some of the more vocal students.’
‘That’s okay.’
‘No, no. It’s not. I don’t want them assuming anything about my personal life. It’s not really anyone’s business. I like to keep things professional.’
Clara ducked down quickly. The punt was far too small for her to hide properly. Even though he didn’t necessarily see why she should be so concerned, Tom sensed her unease and protectively threw his hacking jacket quickly on top of her.
‘Is that Reverend Clara in there?’ said a voice from one of the boys.
She recognised it as Matthew, a second-year history student she had spoken to a couple of times, who was friends with some of her churchgoing students.
She thought it was him she had spotted on board.
Why did she always get caught out when she didn’t want to see anyone from the university?
‘Is there someone else in there? I can’t see them,’ said another of the boys.
‘I swear I’m not seeing things. The Rev was in there. That’s so weird. Have I been studying so much that I’m hallucinating now?’
The other student laughed and splashed water at him.
‘You need to take it a bit easier, mate.’
Tom ignored the comments as he tried to pass by as quickly as he could.
‘Good day, lads,’ he said, and then whispered for Clara to stay down.
It felt like forever that Clara was cramped on the damp floor of the punt, but once they were gone, Tom let Clara know that the coast was clear.
‘Oh, Tom. Thank you. I know it’s silly . . . I just don’t want my private life made public. Gosh, this feels so clandestine.’
‘It’s okay. You don’t have to explain anything to me. I understand. I wouldn’t want you being uncomfortable with people knowing about us this soon. Apart from your friend, of course. She seems like a trusted person you confide in.’
‘Yeah, she is. We tell each other everything.’
Tom nodded. He was deep in thought and Clara watched him as he drifted into one of his daydreams again.
‘I’m lucky to have the best friends in my life,’ she added, trying to get his attention.
‘Oh . . . Yes. It’s nice to have a friend like that. Women are lucky in that respect. Men don’t always form those types of friendships. Stiff upper lip and all that.’
‘That makes me sad, Tom. Well, please know you can always confide in me and I won’t tell a soul. Not even Eleanora. I might tell her everything about me, but not other people’s secrets.’
‘Thanks, Clara. That’s very kind.’
His brain shouted at him to tell her a few things about his past now. It would be the perfect time. He could trust her not to tell anyone else. There was nobody around to overhear and she had practically told him to spill the beans, but the words wouldn’t come out of his mouth.
‘Shall we turn back then?’ said Tom.
‘Yes, we’d better get this back to Eleanora so she can lock up.
I know how she likes to leave on the dot.
I think she might have a hot date tonight.
She’s met some chap on a dating site. I don’t know why she bothers though.
They’re always hopeless and she ends up disappointed.
Not that I’d say that to her. I try to live in hope that one of them will turn out to be half human. ’
‘I could never imagine being on a dating site. It sounds so depressing.’
‘Yes, I suppose some people strike it lucky on them though.’
As they drifted back to the boathouse, Clara thought how fortunate she was. Long ago she had dabbled with the Christian site but that had been a waste of time. It was such a different experience meeting Tom, who was busy getting them back safely after a blissful trip down the Cherwell.
Eleanora was packing up by the time they arrived back.
‘How was it? Did you have fun?’
‘Brilliant, thanks again for being so generous. We definitely needed the cushions,’ said Tom.
‘Oh yes, we did. Does anyone actually sit on them without one? I think I’ve pulled a muscle getting out,’ said Clara rubbing her thigh that had gone to sleep.
‘Oh, you’re such a wimp, Clara! Now, come on. Give me a hand to put some stuff away in the boatshed.’ Clara noticed Eleanora making a face to summon her away from Tom.
She spoke again once they were out of earshot. ‘Sorry to drag you away from him but I have to say, he’s a keeper. Does he have a brother? Please tell me he does.’ Eleanora gave Clara a celebratory hug.
Did he have a brother? Clara had no idea, although she was thrilled that he had been given Eleanora’s approval. It felt like the perfect end to another wonderful date.
‘You never know, if your date works out tonight, we could end up as a foursome.’
‘I doubt it, but you live in hope,’ said Eleanora.
Clara left Eleanora to lock up as she returned to Tom, who gently steered her up the steep path to the bridge where they had to say goodbye.
As they reached the top, Tom hugged her and leaned in to kiss Clara lightly on the lips.
Kissing her like this was earlier than he had planned but it felt so right, and Clara certainly wasn’t complaining.
Although she felt relief that nobody she knew was around, she couldn’t help feeling that it was all very cloak and dagger.
Despite the irresistible charm of Tom and finding it hard to control her emotions, she wasn’t ready for anyone to find out.
What would the congregation say if they saw the reverend kissing the chorister who came to practise in the church?
It could make the front page of the chapel newsletter!
No, she must remember that as much as being with Tom was the best feeling in the world, she was still someone in a very responsible role and, no matter what, she must show a little more restraint.
It was very early days in their relationship and Clara certainly didn’t want a scandalous reputation at this stage in her life.
Meanwhile, Tom understood that there would be a time when he could no longer hide the truth. What if Clara found out about him before he had told her himself?
Between the both of them, there were secrets among the spires that nobody must discover.