Page 67 of Happy Days Ahead in the Cornish Village

‘Are you sure?’

‘Aye.’ Nodding, Percy pulled the daily paper towards him, apparently immediately engrossed with the goings-on in Trestow.

‘Okay.’ Standing up, Megan picked up Cindy’s lead from where it was hanging over the back of her chair. ‘Come on then, Cindy. Let’s go out for a wander.’

Clipping her lead on, Megan took another look at Percy, who was still seemingly reading the paper. Had she said the right thing to him? Should she have encouraged him to ask Flora to dinner? Maybe she wasn’t cut out to be a matchmaker after all.

Stepping outside into the courtyard, Megan loosened Cindy’s lead and she matched her pace as they made their way towards the grass. The air was cooler today, still warm, but the storm had cleared the humidity a little.

As she walked towards the bottom paddock, she noticed that Ginny was in there with Rex.

‘Hey,’ Ginny called across to her when she saw Megan approach.

‘Hi.’ Megan joined Ginny on the other side of the gate and lengthened Cindy’s lead in her hand.

‘You look deep in thought.’ Ginny threw a tennis ball she’d been holding and little Rex ran across the paddock chasing it.

‘Oh, I am. I’m not sure if I’ve said the right thing to someone who asked for advice.’

‘Ah, do you want to share?’

Megan looked down at her trainers. ‘I’m not sure if I should.’ She glanced towards the reception area. The last thing she wanted was for Percy to step outside and see her chatting with Ginny after speaking to her in confidence. ‘But I’m honestly not sure if I said the right thing to them or not.’

‘You’re welcome to tell me. I won’t mention it to anyone else and you don’t have to use names.’ Ginny bent down and retrieved the ball from Rex’s mouth before throwing it again.

Looking up at Ginny, Megan nodded. It couldn’t hurt to get someone else’s perspective, could it?

‘Thanks. Well, in that case, someone asked me to try to find out if the person he liked… loved… fancied…’ None of those words seemed appropriate, not when she was talking about Percy and Flora. ‘Whether they would be open to dating or not.’

Crossing her arms, Ginny leaned on the gate. ‘Open to dating them or in general?’

‘Just in general. Anyway, they basically said they would but think their time has passed for starting another relationship, so I relayed the conversation back to him, and he asked if I thought he should ask her out.’ Megan frowned. ‘I just said they should do what they think is right, but I’m pretty certain there’s a connection between the two of them and I’m pretty sure he’s never going to act on it because he hasn’t for years. So, yes, I don’t know if I should have told him to go for it.’

‘Umm…’ Ginny frowned.

‘Sorry, that was a big old waffle, wasn’t it?’ Megan shook her head.

‘No, it’s not that. I understand what happened. It’s just I have a feeling I know who you’re talking about.’ Ginny grinned. ‘It’s not Percy and Flora, is it?’

Megan nodded.

‘Well, you’re right on both accounts. There is a connection between the two of them. We all see it. I even assumed they were a couple when I first arrived here and I’m pretty sure everyone who meets them for the first time thinks so, too. And you’re right about Percy never plucking up the courage to ask her out. If he hasn’t after all this time, then why would he now, right?’

‘That’s just what I was thinking.’ Megan leaned against the gate next to Ginny, Cindy circling the grass to her right. ‘What do we do then?’

‘Let me have a ponder, but I think we need to come up with a plan. If we leave those two to their own devices, then they’ll never do anything about it. It reminds me of Elsie and Ian over at the bakery in Penworth Bay. They didn’t get together until a few years ago and I’m pretty sure they were in a similar situation too, both having feelings for each other for years.’

‘If it worked out for them, it might just do for Flora and Percy.’

‘Exactly.’ Ginny grinned and tapped the top of the gate. ‘Let me have a think. I can feel a plan brewing.’

Megan laughed. ‘I’m glad I told you now.’

‘I’m glad you did, too. This toing and froing between them has been going on for far too long now.’

Megan watched as Ginny threw the ball again before pulling a poop bag from her pocket and walking across to Cindy. ‘Come on, you. Let’s go and check on Percy.’

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