Page 68 of New Dreams for the Village Nurse
Stacey lifted her glass to her lips. ‘I can’t say I’m not even more intrigued now, but I get what you’re saying. I wish I’d known I wasn’t supposed to mention a family before I opened my big trap, though.’
‘I’m sorry – that’s my fault. I probably should have mentioned it, but I wanted to respect his privacy.’
‘Can we at least get a clue so I don’t put my foot in it again?’ Stacey asked. ‘I presume there’s something bad going on there? Is there anything else I ought to avoid mentioning?’
‘I think just steer clear of family for now,’ Ottilie said. ‘I expect in time he’ll tell people himself. All I can say is I imagine it’s a painful subject.’
‘Is it painful like your past was when you first got here?’ Stacey asked, and Heath looked at Ottilie so intently now she felt she might buckle under the scrutiny.
She didn’t want to give all this away – certainly not here and now – but Stacey was making it difficult not to. And she had a point – nobody wanted to be the person who put their foot in it and caused Simon distress, and that came from a place of kindness rather than nosiness. She also had a feeling Heath’s interest was more selfish than that, which didn’t sit quite so well with her. She wished she didn’t think it, but she got a strange vibe from him whenever Simon was mentioned. Ottilie knew details nobody else did – nobody in Thimblebury at any rate. That meant they’d shared at least one intense and personal conversation. What Heath might make of that she didn’t know, but she had another hunch that she might have to explain it to him sooner rather than later.
‘Yes,’ Ottilie said and was saved from further interrogation by Magnus coming over to talk to them about the next film club.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
It was Sunday. The week had felt like a very long one, but the bright spot on the horizon was that Simon was doing his final week as a resident of Liverpool and was due to move into the village ready to take up his permanent post. It would make life easier for everyone – not least Fliss because he’d be able to take a lot more of her on-call responsibilities from her, so she was in a very good mood. She had agreed to do the emergency cover for this weekend to allow him to move into Charles’s old cottage (and perhaps because she still felt a bit guilty for not being available when Mackenzie had been ill).
This morning, being at a loose end, Ottilie knocked at the door of Charles’s old place to see what she could do to help her new neighbour.
After a few moments, and with an expression of surprise, Simon opened the door. Ottilie could see rows of boxes, stacked up and lining both sides of the hallway so that the gap between them was probably only wide enough for one person to very carefully make their way down.
The décor was quite traditional – muted earth tones and dark wood. Ottilie had always thought it looked sort of manly, andshe’d often felt it needed a woman’s touch – though that woman probably wouldn’t have been Fliss, because her decor wasn’t all that different. The garden was neat, dense with hardy evergreens for minimum maintenance. It looked nice enough, but Ottilie preferred the more romantic wildness of her own. She wondered if Simon would make many changes.
‘I haven’t come at a bad time, have I?’ she asked.
‘Um…no. Of course not.’
‘I won’t come in,’ she added, glancing down the hallway again. ‘I can see you’re still upside down. I had wondered if you might have been able to get everything unpacked yesterday after your removal van had gone.’
‘Sadly not. And quite honestly if I wait until I’m straight in here to ask in a visitor then it might be years before I have company. Please – come in if you can get in.’
‘Are you sure? I don’t mind?—’
‘No, please…I’d actually really like it. My parents are always telling me I spend far too much time alone and they’re probably right. Some company would be nice, as long as you don’t mind the fact there’s barely anywhere to sit and the fridge isn’t plugged in yet for cold drinks. You’re my first visitor here, actually,’ he continued as he stepped back to let her cross the threshold. ‘I would have been a bit further along with my unpacking by now, but Charles was a bit behind moving out.’ Simon turned to her with a wry smile as she followed him down the narrow spit of hallway that was still accessible. ‘I got the feeling neither of them actually wanted him to move in with Fliss.’
‘God, no, I can imagine,’ Ottilie said with a light laugh. ‘I don’t want to alarm you, but Charles might be begging you to let him move back in with you by the end of the first week. Fliss has always said they get on better apart. The heart attack has really shaken things up.’
As they went into the kitchen, Ottilie saw that there were even more boxes in here, filling corners in teetering piles, spilling out under and on top of the dining table. Charles was reasonably neat but his decor was quite functional, with solid oak units that looked a little dated, magnolia walls and white tiles around the cooker and sink. Ottilie wondered whether Simon would do much to suit it more to his tastes, but she supposed it was early days yet.
There were odd bits of furniture and fixtures and fittings that she recognised as belonging to Charles. She assumed he’d left them here, partly to help Simon and partly because he wouldn’t have had much room at Fliss’s place to take them with him. She wondered if they were a help or hindrance, because she assumed Simon also had plenty of furniture of his own that he’d brought from Liverpool with him.
Ottilie held up the carrier bag she’d brought in with her. ‘You might think I’m interfering where I’m not wanted, but I brought some cleaning bits for you. It’s one of those things you don’t always think about when you’re moving into a new place, so if they’re of any use, you’re more than welcome to them.’
‘That’s actually brilliant, thank you. I’ve got some but probably not enough. The place needs…um…’
‘Don’t worry.’ Ottilie smiled. ‘I know what you’re too tactful to say.’
‘I’m sure Charles has been too ill to worry about spring-cleaning.’
‘Well, that’s true, but I don’t think he was very fond of cleaning before he was ill. I don’t think Fliss is either. Their minds are on more…how can I put it…?’
‘They’d rather be doing something more fun?’
‘Yes.’ Ottilie’s smile grew. ‘Although I was going to say they were occupied by more cerebral things than cleaning.’
Simon raised his eyebrows. ‘You mean like wine appreciation? Or sitting down in front ofCelebrity Gogglebox?’
‘Exactly!’ Ottilie replied, laughing now. ‘I see it hasn’t taken you long to get the measure of them. I mean, everyone here loves them to pieces, but they’re a nightmare couple – so chaotic. I don’t know how Fliss keeps it together long enough during the day to be such a brilliant doctor. And I can totally see why they needed to live apart for so long – imagine how chaotic each of them is living alone and then imagine putting all that in one house.’
