The following week was very
difficult for Stuart and Deborah, the reason for their angst was not the kiss
in isolation, they both rather enjoyed that, no, what had them both tied up in
knots was the fact they had jeopardised their friendship.
There were a number of
occasions over that week when their paths crossed at the hospital or in Manor
Row, but they had adopted a distanced stance and only spoke to one another,
when necessary, they had also adopted an attitude of deliberately avoiding each
other on a day-to-day basis.
After
a couple of weeks at the farm Natasha Baker said
“You’re
a really hard worker, the Beaumont’s could use your energy and enthusiasm with
the harvest if you’re interested”
“Really?”
“Yes
really” Natasha said
“Then
yes I’m interested” Sheridan Tilbrook said
October
The following weekend, when
they would normally have been out and about together, on a very pleasant Sunday
morning, they spent it alone walking aimlessly hoping not to bump into each
other.
Their intention was an
invigorating walk to clear their heads and not to keep thinking about the
other, which of course was the complete opposite of what happened.
It was damp and drizzly by
midmorning but an hour later the drizzle had turned to persistent rain, and
they made the decision that enough was enough and turned for home, by the
shortest possible route, which for both of them was through Bellevue Woods.
They were both rushing along
the path, head down and aware only of the fact that they were getting wetter
with every step when the paths converged and they almost collided.
“Oh it’s you” he
said in a surprised tone.
“You frightened
the life out of me” she said and failed to suppress a laugh
He stood and watched rivulets
of rain running down her face and she stared at the large droplets on the end
of his nose.
Then they simultaneously
exclaimed
“I’m sorry” and then they
hugged, it was a long comfortable hug, and they were oblivious to the rain,
they were just so happy they had their friends back.
They restrained themselves
from kissing again even though that was the opposite of what they wanted to do
and contented themselves with the hug.
After the hug they trapsed
less urgently back to Manor Row and had lunch at his house.
The problem was that the kiss
had opened a “Pandora’s Box” of emotions in him and now he was desperately
attracted to her, Deborah was now coming to terms with the fact that she had
fallen in love with him, and had he ever known love before in his life he would
have recognised the fact that he loved her.
As they sat in his lounge
enjoying a hot chocolate she suddenly said
“Perhaps in future we should
wait to be invited before we do any more kissing”
“Good idea” he concurred
This was reassuring for both
of them as it meant that kissing was very definitely not off the menu.
The
Beaumont’s were every bit as impressed with Sheridan Tilbrook as Natasha Baker
was, but they weren’t able to keep her on more than a couple of weeks after the
harvest.
“I’m
sorry” Natasha said “I wish I could keep you on longer”
“That’s
ok”
“But
I have a friend at the Beaumont Manor, and I recommended you” She said
“Really?”
“Yes,
she’s emailed me an application form for you” she said
“Oh,
I can’t do it then” Sheridan said
“What
do you mean?” Natasha asked
“I
can’t fill in forms”
“Why
not?”
“I
can’t read or write very well” she said quietly and started to cry
“Don’t
cry honey” Natasha said
“It’s
ok, I’ll help you with the form”
“Will
you?” she asked as she wiped tears off her cheeks with her sleeve
“Yes
of course”
“But
what if they ask me to read something, or fill something in while I’m there”
she said in a panic
“You’ll
be making beds and cleaning bathrooms” Natasha said “All you need to be able to
do is recognize room numbers, and I know you can do that”
“But…”
“And
I will help you improve your reading and writing in the meantime” Natasha said
“Honestly?”
Sheridan asked and began crying again
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