Page 7 of A Helpin g Hand for the Village Nurse

‘You’ve read it?’

‘Ages ago. Please don’t quiz me on it because I can’t remember all that much about it now.’

‘Did you like it?’

‘Yes. At least, I think I did. What about you?’

He made an uncertain face. ‘It’s the book club read, but I can’t say I’m sold on it so far. Give me a Jilly Cooper any day.’

Ottilie raised her eyebrows slightly. ‘Jilly Cooper? Did not see that coming. I’d have said Lee Child, if you’d asked.’

‘You like Lee Child?’

‘No, I mean I would have had you down as a Lee Child sort of guy.’

The shopkeeper was pensive for a moment, as if the notion that he might look like a Lee Child reader demanded some consideration, but then he looked up as if he’d decided it didn’t matter after all. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘I need a few odds and ends.’ She went to the fridge and examined a glass bottle of milk. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d bought milk in a glass bottle – it was always plastic when it came in the supermarket delivery. No supermarket delivery this week, though. She’d decided that buying locally would be a good way to get to know the village and would send a signal that she wanted to be part of it.

‘On holiday?’ he asked cheerfully. ‘Picked a good week for it. Bit off the beaten track here, though. Where are you staying?’

‘I’ve actually just moved into Wordsworth Cottage.’

‘Ah! The new nurse!’

‘One and the same. I’m Ottilie.’

‘What-a-ley?’

‘Ottilie Oakcroft. It’s a mouthful, I know. Blame my mum. Well, for the Ottilie bit at least.’

‘Ottilie…pleased to meet you. I’m Magnus.’

‘And this is your shop? I mean, you own it?’

‘With the other half. He’s out at the cash and carry getting stock. He’ll be sorry to have missed you.’

‘I expect I’ll run into him at some point soon. What’s his name?’

‘Geoff.’

‘Geoff. I’ll try to remember. So you’ve lived here all your life?’

‘Geoff has; not me. I moved here from Iceland in the nineties.’

‘Ah…I thought you had a slight accent but I didn’t know what it was. You can hardly tell though…if you hadn’t mentioned it to me, I wouldn’t have known. So what brought you to England?’

‘Geoff.’ He gave a broad, soppy grin. Whatever charms Geoff had held back in the nineties clearly hadn’t worn off, even all these years later.

‘True love, eh? You could not ask for a more noble cause than that.’

Magnus’s smile grew broader and brighter. ‘The Princess Bride! I love that film!’

‘Me too,’ Ottilie said. ‘I watch it every Christmas. At least I used to…’

Her smile faltered as she recalled Christmases past, the ones she’d spent with Josh where they’d cuddled on the sofa beneath fleecy blankets with wine and crackers while they watched a movie they knew far too well but would put on every Christmas anyway.

‘You know, if you’re into movies we have a film club. Geoff converted one of the outbuildings here into a bijou and rather darling cinema. It’s tiny, but plenty big enough for our little band. You’re more than welcome to join us any time you like. We only show old stuff, but it’s fun and you’d get to know a few of us.’

---