Chapter 18 #2
James looked mutinous again for a moment, but then his expression softened. ‘I can’t believe it’s you,’ he whispered.
His eyes met mine again and this time I could see that they were shining with tears.
‘And I can’t believe it’s you,’ I responded, feeling a mutual rush of upset.
‘What are the chances?’ He pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes.
‘Constance only very recently told me that she still had a living relative,’ I said quietly, ‘and that she was estranged from them. Given the state of the house when I arrived and the fact that she wasn’t eating properly, I was shocked to discover she had anyone at all, but then if you’d fallen out—’
‘She wasn’t eating properly?’ James baulked and looked at me again, appalled.
‘No,’ I said, and given his shock, I felt bad for mentioning it, especially now the situation was so much improved. ‘But she is now.’
‘Well, that’s a relief to hear.’
‘Could you not have reached out before?’ I ventured and James laughed, which made me jump. ‘If it was me, no matter what had happened, I could never have left—’
‘Is that what she told you? That I abandoned her?’
‘Not in so many words, but—’
‘Tilly,’ he cut in again, ‘I think we need to drop this. You don’t know anything about what’s gone on and right now, I have no desire to tell you.’
‘Oh, well, if that’s how you feel…’
‘It is,’ he said more gently. ‘And discovering you here… it’s all still so raw. I’d never forgive myself if I said things to you now that I’d later regret.’
‘You don’t feel that you can talk to me now?’
‘I hate that you sound so upset.’ He swallowed and ran his hands through his hair. ‘But in this moment, I don’t honestly know what I feel.’
Given what I’d discovered in the last few minutes, coupled with the fact that I was now going to have to fight a battle I couldn’t in a million years have predicted to secure buying the woods, I could relate to that.
‘Me neither,’ I sighed and my shoulders dropped.
I felt as limp as a wrung-out dishcloth as I thought back to the moment James and I had met in the lay-by not all that far away and I wondered if he had come to the house that day or been visiting the woods.
And the time after that, when our cars had passed on the road.
Had he been to visit Fernside then, too?
Constance had told me she and her relative were estranged, but perhaps James had been trying to reach out.
I wanted to ask what he’d been doing in the area on those occasions, but there was a more pressing question to address first, and it landed just as I was trying to imagine how Constance was going to react when she discovered that her nephew was my meet-cute.
‘Where is your aunt?’ I frowned.
‘In the garden.’
James stood up and went to look out of the door. It was then that we both tuned into the sound of a dog barking.
‘Is there a dog out there?’
‘Buddy!’ James shouted and dashed outside. ‘Aunt Constance!’
I quickly followed him towards the jetty where a large Golden Retriever was standing next to something on the ground.
‘Aunt Constance!’ James called again and I realised that the thing on the ground was his aunt. ‘Tilly call an ambulance,’ he shouted over his shoulder to me.
‘No,’ came Constance’s reedy protest. ‘I don’t need an ambulance. I just need you to call this blasted dog off and help me get back on my feet.’
‘Buddy,’ James tutted and gently pulled the dog away.
The dog, whose name I recognised, looked extremely pleased with himself as he panted and his tongue lolled.
‘I don’t think you should try and get up,’ I said, as I knelt next to Constance and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. ‘Don’t try to move her, James.’
‘I wasn’t going to,’ he snapped. ‘I’m not a total idiot.’
‘Well, you’ve just made yourself sound like one,’ I bit back.
Constance gave us both a look. ‘If the pair of you could stop sniping,’ she commanded, then winced as she tried to shift her position a little, ‘we might be able to work out what to do.’
‘Sorry,’ James and I said together.
‘How did you fall?’ James asked. ‘Buddy didn’t trip you up, did he?’
‘No,’ she said. ‘It wasn’t him. I realised Tilly was back and I wanted to introduce the pair of you before she came across you with no idea as to who you are. I rushed to move and slipped over on the wet wood. Nothing to do with your fool of a dog, James, and I’m sure I’ll be fine, once I’m up.’
‘No way,’ said James. ‘As Tilly just said, we’re not moving you.’
‘If you’ve done some damage we can’t see,’ I said, offering an explanation as to why, ‘then we’ll do more harm than good.’
Constance didn’t say anything.
‘Right,’ said James, to break the impasse. ‘I am calling an ambulance.’
James made the call from nearer the house where he could pick up a signal and then came back with a couple of cushions and a blanket.
‘I can’t believe this is how the pair of you have met,’ Constance tutted, while James gave me the quickest look and then solicitously made sure she was warm and as comfortable as she could be. ‘I didn’t expect you back so soon, Tilly.’
‘I had good news,’ I told her. My conversation with Helen in The Greenman felt like an age ago now. ‘And I wanted to share it with you.’
‘Go on then,’ she said. ‘It will pass the time.’
‘It doesn’t matter now,’ I told her, having looked at James and the concern etched across his face. ‘Let’s just focus on you, shall we?’
‘I’m all right,’ she said, but I didn’t think she was. ‘You can get off if you need to, James. You’re needed back in Cambridge, aren’t you?’
‘Yes,’ I said, then faltered. ‘How’s that… journey? How do you find the journey from here?’
I went so hot, and my heart started to beat so fast because I’d already almost tripped myself up. I had been about to ask James how the case was going, but given that we were pretending we’d only just met, I shouldn’t have known there was a case or even that he was a barrister!
‘It depends on the time of day,’ James blagged and I saw that his cheeks were burning as brightly as mine. ‘And whether I’m needed or not, Aunt Constance, I’m not going anywhere now. Not until I know you really are okay.’
‘I’m fine.’
‘Well, whether you are or not,’ he told her, ‘we’ll soon find out, because I can hear a siren.’
‘I’ll go and get my things,’ I said and stood up.
‘What for?’ James asked.
‘I thought I’d go with Constance, so you can stay here with Buddy.’
‘I appreciate the thought,’ he said, ‘but I’m a blood relative, so it will make more sense for me to go, won’t it?’
‘Oh yes,’ I conceded. ‘I suppose it will. Shall I look after Buddy then?’
The dog bounded over at the sound of his name. I loved dogs, but I’d never been responsible for one and found the prospect a little daunting.
‘If you wouldn’t mind,’ James said.
I put my hand out and Buddy plonked his paw in it.
‘I don’t mind,’ I said bravely as the siren got louder. ‘We’ll be fine, won’t we Buddy?’
He seemed happy enough with the arrangement and James looked relieved.
‘Would you fetch my bag from the kitchen please, Tilly?’ Constance asked me.
‘I’ll show the paramedics in and find it for you.’
Buddy willingly followed me up the lawn, said hello to the ambulance crew and then tagged along to the house, where I shut him in the sunroom after I’d found Constance’s bag.
‘She won’t need this,’ James said, when I handed it over.
His voice was a little shaky.
‘Is she okay?’ I asked. ‘Are you?’
I went to lay a hand on his arm but then changed my mind.
‘The paramedics think she’s fine but it’s standard practice to get checked over at the hospital in a situation like this.’
‘That makes sense.’
‘Can you tell her that?’ James smiled. ‘Because she’s having a bit of a moan.’
‘Your aunt, your problem,’ I said, and he laughed.
It felt good to hear.
‘I’ll just go and say goodbye to Buddy.’
He gave the dog a fuss as the paramedics pushed Constance in a chair up the lawn. I hoped she hadn’t noticed the marks they were leaving in the turf.
‘I need you to stay with, Tilly, okay?’ James said to his dog. ‘I won’t be long.’
‘You’ll be hours,’ I corrected him.
‘Probably,’ James said. ‘But I can’t tell him that.’
‘Do I need to do anything with him?’
‘There’s some food in a container on the table in the kitchen. He can have two scoops of that around six and he’ll let you know if needs the loo. He’s good at asking and knows where to go.’
Constance obviously hadn’t realised, but James had clearly been planning on staying as he’d brought Buddy along and some food for him. I wondered, given that James was mid-case in Cambridge, what the reason behind his surprise arrival was.
‘Okay,’ I said, knowing it was a question for another time. ‘Well, you’d better go.’
I didn’t expect him to, but he gently drew me to him for a hug and, with Constance now out of sight, I didn’t resist. It felt both comforting and confusing to feel myself back in his arms. I had no idea how we were going to resolve the problems we now faced, but one thing I did know, was that I would be devastated to lose both him and the woods.