The beautiful Downshire village of
Clerembeax St Giles was situated to the west of Abbeyvale located between Grace
Hill and Bushy Down and on the outskirts was the Clerembeax Palace Hotel and
Spa and it was the location of the St Patricks Day
party, and one of the guests was 54-year-old widowed Doctor Daniel Swann,
who was a resident of the village.
He was a local GP, who lived alone in a
house that was too big for him, but he kept it on because his children were all
grown up with families of their own and they were regular visitors.
When he wasn’t playing host to his
children and grandchildren he threw himself into his work, but on the night of
the St Patricks Day party, he wasn’t on call, so his colleagues persuaded him
to take full advantage of his night off and let his hair down.
So, taking their advice he did just that
and was drinking well into the small hours and it was after 3am before he
returned to his house and got to his bed.
The next day when he finally arose, he
walked downstairs to find
Anna Wachowicz hard at work with a
J-cloth, and Anna, it should be pointed out, was his house keeper and not an
exotic dancer, although he wouldn’t have minded watching her perform.
“Morning Anna” he said, having forgotten
it was cleaning day, and he usually made himself scarce when she was about as
she was a bit surly.
“I think you’ll find it’s nearer the
afternoon Doctor” she corrected him.
But even though she was a surly specimen
she was a marvellous house keeper and a wonderful cook, but even if she was
neither of those, the circumstances were such that he considered her to be very
attractive.
Anna was also widowed but was a few years
younger than he and she had no children, but he suspected that was regretful,
because she always made a great fuss of the grandchildren when they were
visiting.
But when it was just the two of them she
had the knack of making Daniel feel like he was in the way and he found her to
be incredibly intimidating, so he quickly made himself a coffee and made his
way to the study, to the echoes of “I haven’t done in there yet”
He closed the door and switched on the
computer and opened email and set about the oldest unread mail first.
After checking through his inbox there
were none of any interest or pressing importance, so he finished his coffee and
decided after a quick shower he would escape the house while Anna went about
her duties.
First of all, he went to the pub, Étienne
of Normandy, known locally as Ettie’s, and had a hair of the dog, then he went
for a long walk in the surrounding countryside, it was a grey overcast day with
a chill wind keeping the rain away, albeit temporary, but nonetheless he didn’t
return home until after four o’clock.
Because his feet were muddy he went around
the back of the house and entered via the boot room.
Having shed his outdoor clothes and his
dirty footwear he emerged into the kitchen when he found Anna standing by the
cooker and when she turned to see who had entered he saw her eyes were red and
her cheeks were wet with tears, so he went straight into concerned Doctor mode.
“My dear Anna, whatever is the matter?” he
said and put a reassuring arm around her “What on earth has upset you so?”
She opened her mouth to speak but he
pulled her towards him, so her face was buried in his chest, and as he made
encouraging noises her shoulders began to shake.
“There, there, let it all out” he said and
then she pushed herself away from his chest and she was laughing.
“I wasn’t crying” she said, and he looked
blankly at her
“I’ve been peeling onions” she explained
“They are really strong” she added and then roared with laughter and a split
second later he was laughing too.
When the laughter had subsided, he gave
her a handkerchief to dry her eyes, and she smiled and thanked him, but when
she handed it back the look that passed between them was of a different nature
and then they were kissing.
“Well I didn’t see that coming” Daniel
said as he lay half naked on the sofa with a similarly clothed Anna draped
across him with her head on his chest.
“No, nor did I” she agreed
“In fact, I always thought you didn’t like
me” he added
“That was just a smoke screen to hide
behind” she admitted
“To hide what?” he asked and then he felt
her tense and take a deep breath
“That I love you,” she said
“Steady” he said “you’ll make me blush”
“Oh God I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have…”
“Hush” he said and kissed the top of her
head
“I love you too”
“You do?” she asked and lifted her head to
look at him and this time there were genuine tears in her eyes “Truly?”
“Yes, I really do love you” he replied and
kissed her head again
“But…”
“Oh, please don’t let there be a “but””
she said sat up in alarm
“But” he repeated “I think we should move
to somewhere more comfortable”
“Oh yes Doctor” she said as she covered
herself up, and blushed “Whatever you say Doctor”
