March
Justyna
Krajewska was the Locum Vicar at St Clara’s until the end of June while
Reverend Arielle Archer was on bed rest during her pregnancy and had been
offered the Curacy after Arielle returned to her duties and she had every
intention of accepting the job.
That was until
she received a letter from Charlie and Toddy Phelps in Pepperstock Green on the
mainland inviting her to interview for the position of Spiritual Head of the St
Adelaide’s Reflection and Healing Retreat.
She had no idea
how she came to the attention of the Phelps’ or indeed how they knew her
employment status, but she was well aware of them and their project to
repurpose the old Convent from Sam Richardson a Civil Engineer of her
acquaintance who had worked on the project as well as several on the island.
Justyna was
sufficiently intrigued that she decided she would go to Pepperstock Green, to
at least meet the Phelps’, even if she had no interest in the interview.
On the same day
that Justyna left the island, Dr. Deborah Woodward, Chief
of Medicine at the Bellevue Cottage Hospital, and GP Stuart Cameron were
enjoying lunch at the
They had known
each other for just over a year but had only been in a relationship since early
December.
They both lived
in Manor Row, which was made up of a dozen, one and two-bedroom cottages, for
the exclusive use of essential hospital staff.
Deborah lived
at number 6 Stuart lived only a few doors away at number 10.
Deborah had
been attracted to him right from the start and although he also felt an
attraction he was reluctant to get involved.
Before moving
to the island Stuart had been something of a womanizer, especially in his
younger days and wasn’t particularly discerning and went for quantity over
quality, but he changed after a near miss at a party with an underage girl.
So, he decided
on a policy of abstinence, and he thought living on a relatively small island
would aid that policy.
He did succumb
to her charms eventually and a strong friendship developed between them and
there appeared to be a status quo.
However, in
October the Pepperstock Bay Islands took a battering from an autumn storm,
which in the early hours of Wednesday morning brought part of an oak tree down
in Manor Row which ended up going through Deborah Woodward’s bedroom window.
Fortunately,
she wasn’t at home at the time as she was on the night shift, but she got a
nasty shock when she got home at 8 o’clock even though Stuart Cameron had
phoned her.
The damage was
much worse than she expected, the huge oak bough had indeed gone through her
bedroom window, but it had taken a big chunk of wall as it did so, and there
was substantial damage to the roof as well.
The fire
service secured a tarpaulin over the damage in order to keep the elements out,
but the tree was still in location as it was still partially attached to the
tree.
It wasn’t safe
for her to stay in the house, so she was asked.
“Where are you
going to stay?”
“The Hotel I
suppose” she replied.
“Nonsense”
Stuart interjected “I’ve made up the bed in the spare room.”
When she
received the report on the damage to the House, she learned repairs were going
to take four to six weeks, as a substantial section of the roof needed to be
replaced.
“That’s ok, you
can stay here as long as you need” he said.
“I can’t
possibly impose on you for that long” she protested.
“Nonsense, its
rather nice having company” he retorted and smiled.
It was towards
the end of that time during a power cut at the beginning of December when they
finally transitioned from friends to lovers and they spent the next few months
happily flitting between the houses.
“It’s been four
months now” Stuart said as they sat in the Orangery restaurant at the Beaumont
Manor Hotel
“What has?”
Deborah asked.
“Us”
“Does that mean
I get a present?” she asked and giggled.
“That depends”
Stuart replied.
“We've lived
together as friends for six weeks.”
“We've lived
together as a couple for four months.”
“I think it’s
time we moved in together for real” he said.
“With no safety
net”
“I've been
thinking the same thing myself” she said “The only question is which house”/
“Yours is
bigger” he said, “So it would make sense if we both moved into yours.”
“My thoughts
exactly” Deborah said.
Her house was
the bigger of the two and even more so after the forced remodeling of the roof,
it now had an additional room courtesy of a loft conversion.
“So, are we
really doing this?” he asked.
“Yes I rather
think we are” she replied and then they kissed.
They had a nice
meal in St Pierre at an Italian restaurant called the Gondolier to celebrate on
the Saturday night of the third weekend in March.
The
conversation flowed all evening, with no embarrassed silences, and on the
journey home the conversation turned to the impending clock change.
“I hate British
Summer Time” she said
“I don’t like
losing an hour of sleep, it really messes with my head”
“Well don’t
look at it so much as losing an hour’s sleep” he said “See it more as us being
able to see each other an hour sooner than we expected tomorrow”
“Ah that’s very
romantic” she said and kissed him
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