Page 4 of New Dreams for the Village Nurse
‘It does work!’ Flo shot back. ‘My old mum swore by it. She never cried once cutting an onion.’
Stacey wagged a carrot at her. ‘I don’t know about your old mum, but it certainly didn’t do me any good. I mean, a spoon in your mouth? How’s that meant to work? It makes absolutely no sense.’
‘You don’t need to know how it works. Plenty of things work even if you don’t know how.’
Ottilie decided the best course of action was to humour her. She’d seen what a riled Flo could look like before and she wasn’t about to wind her up now, even if Stacey delighted in it. And so she pulled out a teaspoon and held it up.
‘Will this one be all right?’
Flo nodded. ‘You’ll see.’
Whether it was purely a placebo or whether Flo’s strange and archaic remedy actually worked, Ottilie couldn’t say, but as she began to chop, sucking on the spoon as she went, her eyes didn’t even so much as water. The downside to Flo’s less than scientific triumph was that it also prevented her from joining in the gossip. She’d just decided that she’d rather cry and be able to chat than persevere with the spoon when the door to the community centre’s kitchen opened and Heath looked round it, chestnut hair curled at his collar where it was getting a little longer than usual and his soft brown eyes full of mischief.
‘This is where you’re hiding, is it?’
‘I’m not exactly hiding,’ Flo said, and Ottilie had to hold in her laughter again, because she was fairly sure Heath was talking to her. They’d arranged to meet later that evening, but perhaps he’d found himself at a loose end and decided to come over early.
‘Hello, Gran,’ he said, going over and giving her the sweetest kiss on the cheek.
Ottilie watched, smiling, tummy doing cartwheels of anticipation. She was hoping her kiss would be rather less sweet and a bit more spicy, but that would have to wait because as much as she craved it, she wasn’t going to embarrass everyone else in the room with such a display.
Four months had gone by since they’d sort of unofficially got together. They’d taken it slowly – Heath certain that was what she’d needed and Ottilie sure of the same for him, an unspoken agreement by them both. Slow and steady, and slowly and surely, Ottilie was falling for him.
Things had been tentative at first – though she’d had no doubts about Heath, she’d had doubts about her own emotional state – but there were signs that things were growing more serious. Ottilie had tried not to think about that too much because if she gave herself a moment to consider it, she might frighten herself away. She’d given her heart completely once before and had lost everything. Lightning couldn’t strike twice like that, she told herself, and to find otherwise would be more than she could bear.
Thimblebury now felt like home too, properly and forever. While Heath was still living in Manchester, Ottilie had no pull to the city she’d once called home. Everything and everyone – other than Heath, but he drove over often enough – she needed and wanted was here.
‘Go on,’ Flo said, waving Heath away and going back to her tea. ‘I know you’re not here to see me.’
‘Of course I am,’ he replied gallantly. ‘The fact that I get to see Ottilie is a bonus.’
‘Gawd.’ Flo shook her head impatiently. ‘You must think I fell off a Christmas tree. I think it’s more likely the other way round.’
‘If it is, you only have yourself to blame. You did try to get us together after all.’
‘I did no such thing!’
Ottilie and Heath exchanged a grin. Flo could deny it until the alpaca of Daffodil Farm came home, but they knew the truth. Shehadbeen matchmaking, and she’d done a terrible job of hiding it. And she hadn’t been the only one, as Ottilie was forcibly reminded when the name of one of the other matchmaking culprits was shouted out.
‘Magnus!’ Janet called through the kitchen doors into the main hall. ‘How’s it going out there? Are you and Geoff nearly done?’
‘Nearly!’ Magnus called back.
Flo looked at Heath. ‘As you’re here, you could give them a hand.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘Why are you here, anyway?’
‘We’ve got plans,’ he replied, looking at Ottilie.
‘Not for ages,’ Ottilie reminded him. ‘I did say I had to do a couple of hours here first. In fact, as I recall, I said I wouldn’t be able to spare much time tonight at all…’
‘I know, but can I help it if I want to see you whenever I can?’
‘Be still my heart,’ Stacey cut in from across the room. ‘Please, God, or Cupid or St Valentine or whoever, please find me a man who will drive all the way from Manchester just to watch me cut onions while I suck on a spoon.’
Heath grinned. ‘So Gran’s got you doing the old spoon thing?’
‘Oi!’ Flo huffed. ‘Even Ottilie has admitted that it works!’
‘She’d never dare say anything else to you, Gran.’
