Page 8 of Coming Home to Roseford Villas
‘Oh, that’s such a shame about Hyacinth Cottage,’ Stella said as Rory finished. ‘I know how lovely it is, and I’m sure the owners wouldn’t have meant to cause a problem. But at least you found something else.’ She paused. ‘I’d have offered you a room here, but we’re fully booked right through until the new year, I’m afraid.’
Rory smiled. ‘If I’d had the wherewithal to look you up earlier in the year, I’d definitely have booked onto a course.’ She glanced around the pretty back garden, which led onto a walled garden behind, and thought again what a beautiful place this was.
‘If you want to come back next year, I’ll sort you a mates’ rates discount,’ Stella smiled. ‘It would be great to have you to stay.’
‘Thanks.’ Rory smiled. ‘I might take you up on that. By that time, I should have at least a first draft!’
Stella regarded her carefully. ‘Don’t push yourself,’ she said. ‘You’ve carved out this time, which is great, and routine can be a brilliant thing, but you’ve probably had a busy year at school. Take time to relax as well as write.’
Rory nodded. ‘I will.’ She must have looked downcast, though, as Stella raised an inquisitive eyebrow. ‘I guess I’m still having trouble letting go of Hyacinth Cottage. Especially because…’
‘Because…?’
Rory suddenly did have the urge to explain what it was like to come face to face with Leo again. It was as if she and Stella had gone back in time during their coffee and chatter, but it seemed so juvenile to be focusing on him again now, even under the weird circumstances.
‘Oh, nothing,’ Rory replied hastily. There was no point brooding over it all when she was enjoying spending time with Stella. ‘At least Roseford Villas seems like a nice place to stay,and because I’m not in the main house, I do have a lot more freedom to do what I want.’
‘You know, it’s weird,’ Stella mused, taking a last sip of her coffee. ‘The guy who’s running Roseford Villas B&B… he’s had a bit of a tricky time, from what I hear.’
‘Really?’ Rory tried to keep her tone neutral. ‘In what way?’
Stella paused. ‘Well, you know what it’s like in villages. People tend to talk, but the word is that he came back from Australia to help out his aunt and uncle after a lot of, er, bad luck. Had a God-awful car accident, split from his wife and lost his career, and now he’s here, stuck in the back end of beyond, running the family business. Bit of a culture shock, by all accounts.’
Rory’s stomach gave a little flip. She couldn’t help feeling a stab of sympathy for Leo. What a terrible set of circumstances to have to endure. As teenagers, they’d been so unprepared for the difficulties life might throw at them: it seemed that Leo had suffered more than most.
‘Are you all right?’ Stella’s inquisitive tone brought Rory back to earth with a bump. ‘You’ve gone a bit pale.’
‘I’m fine.’ Rory smiled quickly, realising that she’d zoned out of the conversation and got lost in her own thoughts. She finished the dregs of her coffee as they continued to chat. Stella filled her in on how she’d come to live with her partner, Chris, and his son, Gabe, and Rory realised that it had taken a lot of work for all three of them to get to this point in their lives. Eventually, as the sun began to fade from the patio where they sat, Rory realised it was time to get back to Roseford Villas and put some of Stella’s advice into practise.
‘It’s been wonderful to catch up with you, Stella,’ she said, as they both rose from the garden table. ‘Hopefully we can hang out a bit more while I’m here.’
Stella smiled. ‘I’d like that. Did you want to see around the house before you go?’
Feeling the sudden need to be alone with her thoughts after everything that Stella had just told her, Rory shook her head. ‘I’d love to,’ she said, ‘but maybe another time? I really do need to get back and crack on with some writing.’
Stella looked quizzically at Rory for a moment, but then smiled. ‘Of course. You must pay attention when the muse comes calling.’ They walked back out to the front of the house, round the side of the building this time, so that Rory could appreciate the sweeping curve of the countryside that ran in a generous panorama in front of Halstead House. As Rory was about to say goodbye, Stella added, ‘I know I said we’re fully booked, but if you wanted a hot desk here, just text me – I’m sure I can sort you out one with a better view than the chalet for when you might want a change of scene.’
Rory’s heart expanded with gratitude. ‘Thank you,’ she said, smiling again. ‘That would be wonderful. I might just take you up on it if I get too claustrophobic in the shed at the bottom of Roseford Villas!’
‘You’re welcome any time,’ Stella replied. ‘Stay in touch, yeah? Let’s make the most of your visit here.’
As Rory began the walk down the drive and back to the main road, she felt a confusing mixture of emotions. It had been wonderful to see Stella, and to see how well she was. But she was also mulling over what Stella had told her about Leo, and she couldn’t help being curious about what had happened to him in the intervening years since their relationship had ended. It sounded as though he’d really been through it, and Rory found herself aching with compassion for the young man she’d once known, and the horrors he’d experienced since they’d lost touch. Life happened: she knew that, but it seemed as though Leo had had more than his fair share of hard knocks.
11
Mind buzzing with information, Rory pushed open the garden gate of Roseford Villas and breathed in the mixed scents of a garden in full summer bloom. The floral aroma of the honeysuckle, which came into its own at this time of day, was sweet and heady, and mingled with the heavier scent of the lavender that sprung up in the raised beds to one side of the long expanse of lawn. There was a greener, woodier scent of pine balsam in the air, too, and as she rounded the back end of the chalet towards its front door, she realised why. There were piles of hedge trimmings littering the back lawn, from where someone had been giving the garden a summer haircut.
The sound of the hedge trimmer started again, and, as Rory headed towards the chalet, she caught sight of Leo off to the left-hand side of the garden. Leo had his back to her and was trimming slices off the conifers that created the boundary. She could smell their herby aroma, even from here. They’d clearly got a bit out of control in recent years, and Leo’s attempt to tame them was long overdue, if the huge pile of foliage that lined the lawn at his feet was anything to go by.
Before she could stop it, her heart had done one of those crazy backflips that she’d read about so many times in fiction. She found herself briefly wondering why the hell Leo had felt the need to remove his T-shirt to do the trimming, before she gave in to the impulse just to stand there, observe and admire until he noticed she was in the garden. After all, she thought, she wouldn’t want to startle him into chopping off a limb, would she?
Careful not to disturb him, she settled herself in the nearest garden chair outside her chalet. The late afternoon warmth wrapped itself around her like a shawl as she took breath after breath of the wonderful scents of the garden. Just being here was soothing her in a way she’d never imagined it would when she’d first rocked up at Leo’s front door. She’d got past the awkwardness and was finally starting to relax and enjoy being in Roseford.
She also appreciated a few moments to observe Leo and try to get what Stella had told her about him straight in her head. Reconciling the two pictures felt tricky. He seemed to be wielding the hedge trimmer with ease and was clearly recovered from whatever injuries he’d sustained in the car crash, although she’d noticed his slightly uneven gait as he’d walked back from the chalet last night. Lost in these thoughts, it was a few seconds more before Rory realised that the hedge trimmer had stopped. Leo was striding back up the garden towards where she was sitting on the patio, a look of surprise on his face.
‘Hi,’ he said as he reached her. ‘How are you doing today?’
Rory swallowed before she replied, the sight of his bare torso being more than a little distracting up close. ‘Well, thanks,’ she stammered. ‘I, er, went over to Halstead House to see an old friend from university – Stella Simpson. We had a coffee but I’m thinking about dinner now.’And you, half naked in front of me, she added to herself.
