In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (064) – The Interview

 March

 

Candice and Anna Roberts needed the assistance of two knights in shining armour, Callum Gallocker and Jamie Gomm, to get them from Abbottsford to Pepperstock Green following a head on crash with a taxi.

They were staying for a couple of nights at the Shady Glade Guesthouse in the village and as Callum drove onto the drive Candice said.

“It sounds more like somewhere you would inter a loved one for their eternal rest than a B&B.”

“It’s not as bad as you think” Jamie said, “I promise.”

 

The boys were right; the Guesthouse was very comfortable and was run by a lovely lady called Deborah Barrington who made sure they had a full English before they left for their interviews.

The boys had shown them where Beechwood was, and it was only a ten-minute walk from the Guesthouse.

It was a cold bright morning, so they decided to walk, which helped their nerves, up until the moment Anna knocked on the door.

They thought they had a good chance with their qualifications, experience and the fact that they were practicing Christians.

They had already discussed the possibility that only one of them would be successful and promised that whichever of them got an offer they should take it.

After a moment the door opened, and Anna said.

“Hello, Mr. Phelps?”

“Yes, good morning, please come in” he said and after shaking hands he added “Come through to the kitchen.”

“Thank you” they said in harmony.

“Can I offer you a hot drink?” he asked.

“Thank you, a black coffee please” Candice replied then Anna added “Same for me please Mr. Phelps.”

“Call me Charlie, we’re very informal here” he said as they sat down at the large oak kitchen table.

“And I’m Toddy” his wife said as she suddenly appeared from behind them and shook hands with the girls.

“Are you both ok?” she asked with concern “Callum told us about the accident.”

“We’re fine thank you” Candice replied.

“Certainly, better than the car is” Anna added. 

When they all had fresh steaming coffees in front of them, Toddy said.

“I hope you don’t mind the informality.”

“Not at all” Candice replied for them.

“We didn’t see any point in conducting separate interviews as your CVs are identical and the intention is to employ both of you” Charlie said.

 

The interview lasted about an hour, after which Toddy said.

“We are very happy to offer you the therapist positions, subject to references and DBS checks, which we have every expectation will me more than satisfactory.”

“Wow,” they said in unison.

“The start date would be June the 1st but we won’t be opening the doors until a month later and don’t expect to be fully up and running until the beginning of August” Charlie explained.

“Does that suit?”

“Absolutely” Candice said, and Anna nodded.

They then spent another hour chatting about Toddy’s former life as a Nun up at the Convent and how she came to meet Charlie and what led to their subsequent marriage.

After which Toddy suggested they take a drive up to St Adelaide’s to view the site.      

 

“So, are you still interested in working here now you’ve seen it?” Charlie asked.

“Very much so” Anna replied.

“We’re looking forward to it even more now” Candice added.

“That’s good to hear” Toddy said and hugged them both.

“We just need to find somewhere to live” Anna said practically.

“Well, Pepperstock Green is a very popular place to live so the property prices reflect that” Charlie said, “So renting might be a better option.”

“We’re renting at the moment” Anna said.

“Well on the other side of the river, beyond those trees” Toddy said pointing.

“There is a row of cottages which are available for staff.”

“We can’t show you them at the moment as the bridge isn’t open yet and the farm track on the other side isn’t usable at the moment otherwise, we could show you around them” Charlie explained.

“We have photos back at the house though” Toddy said as they reached the car she said with a chuckle.

“Of course, the secret to finding the perfect place to live is to marry someone who already has a house.”

 

When they got back to Beechwood, they had another coffee and as they sat in the lounge Charlie’s phone bleeped to announce that he had a text, which he quickly read and then showed it to Toddy, and she nodded.

“We hired a car for you from Clarion Cars, and it’s just been delivered,” she said.

“It’s a one-way hire, so if you contact Clarion in Abbottsford, they will pick it up from you.” 

“That’s very kind of you” Candice said, “Thank you.”

“Thank you so much” Anna added.

 

The girls walked back to the Guesthouse feeling very pleased with themselves, the job was everything they wanted and more and their future employers were amazing.

The only negative on the day was unrelated to the job, they had hoped to run into Callum and Jamie, but they were working on a part of the site that they couldn’t access because they didn’t have any PPE.     

But on the plus side they were going to be living in the same village so there was always hope they would see them again.

 

They had a very pleasant evening meal courtesy of Debbie Barrington and were contemplating an early night so they could hit the road straight after an early breakfast when Debbie knocked on their door.

“You have some visitors” she said and smiled.

They assumed it must be Charlie and Toddy, in regard to their earlier interviews, however when they got downstairs the visitors turned out to be Callum and Jamie who were there to invite them out for a drink at the Deer Stalker.