Page 82 of New Dreams for the Village Nurse
Ottilie was on her way out for her first call of the day, her usual visit up to Hilltop Farm to check on Darryl and Ann, when the knock came at the front door. With a puzzled glance at the clock to confirm it was as early as she’d suspected, and wondering who might want her at such an hour, she answered it to find Flo on her doorstep.
‘Morning, Flo. Everything all right?’
‘I’m all right,’ Flo replied gruffly. ‘I only wanted to check on you.’
‘Me?’ Ottilie frowned, but then her expression cleared. ‘Ah…Heath phoned you last night.’
‘Heath?’ It was Flo’s turn to frown. ‘No. Haven’t heard from him in days. I had thought I’d find him here, but no car, so…’
‘No, he hasn’t been over yet this week. Both of us have been a bit busy, you know.’
Ottilie gave a patient smile and allowed a beat of silence in the hope Flo might be inclined to say why she’d come out so early to see her. She wanted to be there if Heath’s grandma needed her, but she also had other people to see. But when Flo only shuffled on the doorstep and cleared her throat expectantly,as if she was waiting for Ottilie herself to offload, Ottilie spoke again.
‘Um…was that all? Not that I don’t appreciate you coming over, but I’m supposed to be up at Hilltop.’
‘Well, if that’s how it is…’
‘It’s not like anything,’ Ottilie said, keeping hold of her patience. With Flo, that could sometimes be a challenge. ‘I only wondered if there was something specific you needed me for. Because I could call at your house after work if you needed?—’
‘No, I wanted to see you were all right and I can see that you are. Nothing bothering you, all quite well.’
‘Is this because we haven’t been over for a few days?’
Flo paused for a split second too long before she nodded. ‘Yes, that’ll be it. Silly old woman, aren’t I? I expect you can both humour me for five minutes at the weekend, can’t you? If you can make time in your busy schedule, of course.’
‘Flo…’ Ottilie tried harder than ever not to frown. ‘You know it’s not like that. We love coming over to yours but sometimes it’s not that easy.’
‘I only live down the road,’ Flo huffed.
‘Yes, but…’ Ottilie finally let go of the weary sigh she’d been holding on to. Never mind that she worked all hours and then had volunteer projects too. Never mind that she was still early in a new relationship and that she had things from her past that needed her attention. Never mind that she was entitled to quiet time of her own in between all of that, that she had to sleep and eat and take care of herself too. ‘You’re right, we’ve neglected you.’
‘I’m not a dog you keep in the yard.’
‘Sorry, that didn’t come out the way I meant it to. We’d love to pop over, and when Heath gets here tonight I’ll make sure we do.’
Flo folded her arms and jutted out her chin. ‘I might be out. I might have plans – you can’t just turn up when you feel like it.’
‘We’ll phone ahead to check. Sorry, Flo, but I really have to get to Hilltop before work, so…’
Flo hesitated and then glanced up and down the street in a way that was suddenly so shifty Ottilie had to wonder whether there was something else going on here. Had Flo really come over this early just to complain that she hadn’t been visited in the past few days? Reading between the lines now, Ottilie was starting to doubt it. But if not that, then what?
The asking would have to wait.
Flo stepped back, glancing up and down the lane again, and then seemed satisfied with what she saw.
‘Tonight, you say?’ she asked as she made her way down Ottilie’s garden path to leave.
‘Tonight, I promise,’ Ottilie said.
‘I’ll make a bite to eat then. Remember, if you don’t come it’ll be wasted.’
‘We’ll be there.’
Ottilie shook her head as she watched Flo waddle down the lane towards her own house. She loved that old lady, but boy could she be hard work. You never knew quite where you were with her. But if she knew anything about Flo – and it wasn’t much, admittedly – it was that there was more than met the eye to this morning’s visit. Ottilie would have to find out what it was at some point, because she felt like it might matter.
Ottilie had to admit she was surprised that Simon’s housewarming actually went ahead the following weekend. She’d imagined it was a spur-of-the-moment idea, instigated by his strange mood the week before when he’d come to ask her about new starts and second chances and all that other deepstuff she hadn’t quite known how to respond to, but he’d been into her office a few days later to issue the invitation properly. It wasn’t anything big or fancy, he’d said, just a few new friends and neighbours being offered drinks and nibbles and an opportunity for them all to get to know each other better.
She was more surprised that Heath had agreed to go with her. Simon had invited him, of course, and while Simon had seemed keen to get to know Heath better, Heath appeared to have other ideas. There was no outright animosity, but Ottilie did get a strong sense of dislike and she couldn’t see a reason for it other than silly macho rivalry.
