In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (071) – Maundy Thursday

April

 

The Old Manor stands in the middle of the village and is the oldest surviving building and it was the home of Andrew Lane, his wife Violet and their six unmarried daughters, Emma, Dorset, Hilary, Heather, Rosie and Merri.

Andrew and Violet loved their children very much but as they reached the time in their lives when they were nearing their sixties they had expectations for their daughters.

For Violet her hopes involved the grandchildren that were not forthcoming whereas Andrew just wanted them to spread their wings, but as Spring loomed there was no sign of either of them getting their wish, however they were a religious family, so the power of prayer was a wonderful thing and both parents prayed for their daughters. 

The sweetest of whom was 20-year-old Heather and the reason she was unattached was that she wasn’t sure that there was anyone worthy enough for her give up her good works for.

She was a shining girl, intelligent but not academically so, but she was inclined towards an unquenchable sense of public duty.

Not that she didn’t occasionally take time out to look for “the one” but she failed to locate him on the occasions when she did.

She was arguably the prettiest of the Lane girls, in fact Heather was very attractive but not showily so, very feminine, brunette and petite, and everyone who knew her was surprised that she had never had a steady boyfriend and since the time in year ten at school when she bloomed she had run the gauntlet of well-meaning friends, throwing what they considered to be suitable candidates in her path, but she side stepped them all.

There was something special in her nature, a simple goodness, she believed in goodness and not surprisingly, everlasting life and of course good and evil.

 

The problem with finding “the one” was that she was too fussy, apart from him needing to be tall and dark, “the one” needed to meet her usual criteria, handsome, kind, loving and be true of heart.

But in addition, she was searching for someone with a moral compass, a practicing Christian naturally, a church goer at least occasionally, though not someone permanently on their knees, a devout man but not a pious one.

She wanted a man who was worldly but not tainted, attractive but not vain, masculine but possessed of modesty.

A man with good dress sense, free of tattoos and body piercings, well mannered, and gentlemanly, definitely not someone who drank from a bottle.

However, with every passing week Heather had become convinced she was looking for someone who didn’t really exist.

 

At the beginning of Lent a new Choirmaster, Patrick Coad, arrived at St Agatha’s from nearby Sharpington after their existing musical director had a heart attack, and over the following weeks she realized that he met most, if not all, of her criteria, plus he was blessed with great kindness, a quality in her opinion unfailingly, underappreciated in the modern world, which was a quality that she had not bargained for.

But she soon dismissed him as a prospect and cleared him off her radar, firstly because he was seven years older than her, although that, in itself, was not a deal breaker, but he also spent a lot of time away from the village and was quite secretive about where he went.

 

Patrick too was searching, he was searching for a woman who shared his faith and who put others before themselves, a good woman and he had sought her all of his life and he had met several possible contenders over the years, not unsurprisingly given the fact that he was a significant member of the church and well respected among the ecclesiastical music field, but the ones who caught his eye always fell short of his ideals, so he ended up walking the righteous path alone.

He found several members of the choir met his criteria and none more so than Heather but that did not influence his decision to give her the solo, at the Easter service.

From the moment he arrived at St Agatha’s it was obvious she was the go-to girl when it was time for a soloist he could rely on, and her work ethic was exceptional, and he pushed her to her limits with each additional performance.

 

But as Easter approached, they had to intensify the rehearsals, as at the beginning of Holy week, her sister Hilary, who was also the church organist, tripped down the church steps and broke her arm.

Hilary was a very accomplished musician, and it took a couple of days phoning around the county to find someone of a decent enough standard to fill her shoes, luckily, they managed to find Wayne Challen who had just completed his master’s at Abbottsford.

But even though they found someone relatively quickly and of a suitable standard they still lost two days’ rehearsal which was time that had to be made up.

Everyone involved gave total commitment and worked diligently to make up for lost time and when it got to the evening of Maundy Thursday there was only Heather’s Good Friday solo that they had to polish, neither her or Patrick were in the best of moods as neither of them had intended to still be practicing that late into Holy week and they both had somewhere else they needed to be, and they didn’t want to be late.

Patrick made them even later when he insisted on her doing it one more time, and he did that because he became mesmerised by her angelic voice and was struck for the first time by the fact that not only did, she sound like an angel, but she looked like one as well.

However, stand in Organist Wayne Challen called a halt to proceedings when Patrick asked to go again.

“I don’t think that’s necessary, it’s getting late, and you can’t improve on perfection”

“No, you’re quite right” he agreed with his eyes still fixed on Heather

“Oh no” she said looking at her watch “Look at the time”

“Somewhere to be?” Patrick asked

“Yes” she replied and put her coat on but didn’t elaborate.

He supposed she must have a date or something equally frivolous, and then he looked at his own watch.

“Oh, dear it is rather late” he said, “Do you have somewhere to be as well?” she asked as he put his own coat on

“Yes, I do” he replied, “and I particularly wanted to be there on time”

“Oh, yes? What is it a new restaurant?” she asked

“Of a sort” he replied

“What about you?” Patrick asked as they left the church “Do you have a date?”

“Certainly not” she said with afront “I have more important things to do with my time”

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow at the service” he said as he was digesting her answer

“Quite so” she agreed “I hope you make it on time”

“You too” he replied and walked to his car as she headed in the opposite direction.

As she lived so close she was fed, showered, changed and on her way out the door before Patrick had even reached his front door in Pipershaven.  

When he did, he closed the door behind him and went straight to the kitchen and made himself a sandwich.

He ate it far too quickly to be good for him, in fact he was still chewing as he stepped into the shower and as he did so he knew he would have heartburn for the rest of the night.

He dried himself and dressed in warm clothes and was then on his way.

He drove into town and parked in the multi-story and checked his watch as he hurriedly walked toward his destination, as he was twenty minutes late.  

He looked through the window and saw it was quite busy, and a queue had formed so he walked around to the side door and walked in and undid his coat, and as he did, he said

“I’m terribly sorry I’m so late I was unavoidably detained”

“Well, they all say that” Heather said as she turned around and Patrick smiled when he saw that it was his angel.

And at that moment they both realized that their mutual searches for “the one” had come to an end and it happened at the Pipershaven soup kitchen.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (070) – Palm Sunday

March

 

The Old Manor stands in the middle of the village and is the oldest surviving building and it was the home of Andrew Lane, his wife Violet and their six unmarried daughters, Emma, Dorset, Hilary, Heather, Rosie and Merri.

Andrew and Violet loved their children very much but as they reached the time in their lives when they were nearing their sixties they had expectations for their daughters.

For Violet her hopes involved the grandchildren that were not forthcoming whereas Andrew just wanted them to spread their wings, but as Spring loomed there was no sign of either of them getting their wish, however they were a religious family, so the power of prayer was a wonderful thing and both parents prayed for their daughters. 

The eldest of whom was 32-year-old Emma and the only reason she was unattached was that the object of her affections was the locum Curate, Ross Hancocks, and he was painfully shy and was seemingly blind to her advances or more likely unable to act on his feelings.

But with Easter looming large she was determined to snag her man before Holy Week, she just didn’t know exactly how.

But then on Palm Sunday she got some divine inspiration during the service when a supplicant stumbled in church and Ross reached out an arm and prevented her from falling and then helped her to her pew.

However, her first emotion was not one of inspiration, it was a feeling of overwhelming ill will towards the congregant and intense jealousy because her man had his arm around the stupid clumsy woman.

But then after a brief prayer for forgiveness for her lapse of decorum in Gods house an idea began to germinate and by the end of the service it was fully formed.

 

When the service was over it was Emma’s job to return the hymn books to the shelf on the back of the pew, pick up the hassocks in preparation for the cleaners and to collect any discarded personal items and take them to the vestry.

Ross’s role as Curate meant that he would be outside the church with the vicar, talking with parishioners, after which he would himself go to the vestry to secure the church valuables to the safe.

It was in the vestry where Emma intended to put her plan into effect.

 

After finishing her work, she loitered about in the shadows until the congregation had finally dispersed before she emerged, but her strategy almost failed before it began when her father called from the door

“Come along Emma, lunch is waiting”

“Ok Dad I’m nearly done, you go on ahead and I’ll catch you up” she replied

“Alright” he responded and after listening to his footsteps recede, she proceeded to the vestry to find her quarry.

She was suddenly very excited and almost broke into a run with her red hair flowing behind her, she just hoped he would still be there when she reached the vestry.

Emma stopped outside the door and took a deep breath before she opened it.

As she pushed the door open, she was relieved when she caught sight of him, and he was stood by the closet putting his coat on

“Hi Ross, still here?” she said, and he instantly blushed and looked at the floor.

“Erm hello”

Emma smiled because she had seen him standing in the pulpit and holding the attention of the entire congregation but in her presence, he could barely string a sentence together.

He buttoned his coat and without looking up he walked towards the door, which was the very moment she made her move, and she timed it to perfection.

Just as he passed her, she pretended to stumble and just as he had with the congregant at the service, he reached out an arm and caught her just as she had hoped he would.

Emma was a few inches taller than Ross even in flat shoes so she made her move and quickly got the better of him and using his own weight against him deposited him on the nearest chair and quickly parked herself on his lap where she proceeded to kiss him, and as she had been so desperate to taste his lips she thought it might have been an anti-climax, and when at first he went rigid she feared the worst but he gradually relaxed and when she let him come up for air she said

“You see that wasn’t so bad”

And he clearly agreed because he kissed her, and that was the long-awaited kiss she had imagined and when it was over she added

“And it’s even better when you join in”

That Palm Sunday may have marked the end of his shyness but the long-awaited kiss in the vestry was the beginning of a love that lasted into their golden years.  

 

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (069) – Mother’s Day

 March

 

On the western side of Pepperstock Green was the quiet residential estate known as Hill Bank, and in one of its quiet roads, was the home of Lauren Lewis, an ED doctor at the Pepperstock and District Hospital, and just a few streets away Keith Longmuir.

 

53-year-old Keith Longmuir was retired, and he had been since he turned 50, he was up until then a Quantity Surveyor for Cumberstone Ventures, but after his wife died, he decided on a life change.

His wife was gone; his children were all grown up and all living independent lives and his work had lost its appeal so that was why he retired.

In the three years of retirement, he led a largely solitary existence and spent his time enjoying the simple pleasures, and the two things that gave him the most pleasure, were birdwatching and fishing.

The only anchor he had to the real world was his elderly mother who was in the Sunny Pines Retirement Village and Nursing home in Pipershaven, which was run by a marvelous woman, Alexandra Barrileau, who was a tour de force, and it was through her that he was reacquainted with an old flame, Lauren Lewis.

 

He was at Sunny Pines to visit his Mum, for Mother’s Day, not that she knew what day it was, or indeed who he was, but he did and so he went, as he did on all the other special days and sat in her room reading to her.  

 

Alexandra and Lauren were old friends, and the latter was a regular Sunday afternoon visitor, when she was off duty, where they would sit in what she called her drawing room, where they would have tea.

She only drank tea on a Sunday afternoon, because it reminded her of her mother, and it became a bit of a ritual, and Lauren was more than happy to share in that ceremony.

 

After the ritual was complete Lauren and Alexandra left her private rooms on the second floor and walked towards the stairs.

“I’m working the next three weekends, so I won’t be over until next mon…” she began but stopped when she saw Keith Longmuir approaching the stairs from the opposite direction, and when he saw her, he stopped in his tracks.

 

It had been on another Sunday afternoon when they had their first providential meeting, although at that time it was a collision, it happened quite by chance on one damp miserable Sunday in a car park where they had a minor fender bender.

He was stunned that someone had driven into him, but when they both got out of their respective cars, and he saw her he was stunned again.

She was a very beautiful young woman, tall and willowy with long light ginger hair, and a smiling freckled face.

She was a year or two younger than him and considerably more attractive than the girls he had been involved with up till that date, and to be honest he thought she was way out of his league, but  looking at her merely as a casual observer, he thought she was perfect, beautiful, shapely and had a gorgeous smile, and she was dressed in such a way that did nothing to hide her assets.

After inspecting the damage they shared a laugh and a joke and while they spoke, she flicked at her hair flirtatiously and he was staggered, because he thought that him and her was a nonstarter, but her body language told a different tale, so he thought he would chance his arm and ask her out, it was worth a shot, so he did and she said yes.

The two of them had a very special year together but then came University, him in Portsmouth and her in Edinburgh, and it inevitably fell apart.

 

That first meeting was thirty plus years earlier, but he recognized her instantly even though all those years had passed.

She was still tall and willowy, and her light ginger hair was streaked with grey, and her face was a little more freckled.

But when she smiled in recognition he knew without a doubt that it was her.

“Lauren Cooper?”

“Used to be” she replied “Its Lewis now”

“Ah married then”

“Divorced” she corrected him “and you?”

“Widowed”

“I take it you two know each other then?” Alex said and they both nodded in affirmation without averting their gaze.

“Ok then back to my drawing room” she said, sensing the rekindling of an old flame “I’ll make another pot of tea, and you can both tell me all about it”

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (068) – The Spring Equinox

 March

 

Just a few miles outside Pepperstock Green was the Martlesham Park Industrial Estate and one of the biggest companies on that estate was Mitcheldean Merchandise.

Mitcheldean’s had begun life as a mail order catalogue goods business in the 1960’s, but in the 21st century they were exclusively an online company. 

The goods received warehouse supervisor was twenty-five-year-old Steve Selwyn, six feet four inches tall with dark brown hair and was a popular guy among the staff, in particular, by the goods dispatch supervisor, Nicki Piek, who was the same age as him and had had him in her sights since they were at school together.

She flirted with him shamelessly at every opportunity and she would incline her head to one side and play with her hair and behaved exactly like she did when they were still at school.

In was the same tactics she’d been employing for ten years, and it still wasn’t working, because he wasn’t interested he never had been and never would be.

Because he just wasn’t attracted to her, and he didn’t like her, he didn’t like the way she spoke, the way she laughed, even the way she walked, in fact she didn’t walk she slinked, and if that wasn’t enough he had another reason to rebuff her advances, Arianna Waters.

 

Arianna ticked all his boxes, he loved her voice, her laugh, and the way she walked was an absolute delight in fact there wasn’t anything about her that he didn’t like, brown hair, hazel eyes and Arianna was everything that Nicki wasn’t.

Arianna Waters lived at the opposite end of village from Mitcheldean’s and had only started working there a few days before Christmas and Steve was instantly smitten, and the attraction was mutual although they didn’t pick up on that, but Nicki did, and she did not like it one bit. 

Nor did she like that she was 4 inches taller than her and had longer shapelier legs, was 4 years younger and was prettier not that she would have admitted to the last part because Nicki Piek suffered from pretty girl syndrome.

Which is when an attractive girl thinks she is far more beautiful than all other women around her and for that reason she thinks that she deserves to get all the attention.

So, when Arianna met Steve and Nicki in the warehouse on her first day Nicki was at first shocked, then upset and finally angry when she realized Steve was more interested in Arianna than he had ever been in her.

 

Arianna was still in her probation period and was used as a bit of a gofer and she had to work in several different departments and had to work under both Steve and Nicki at different times of the day.

This was good for her because it meant she got to see Steve for a couple of hours every day guaranteed, but at the same time it was bad because she had to spend an equal amount of time working for Nicki and it was obvious that she didn’t like her and she really wasn’t very nice to her, and she couldn’t understand why, but she saw it as a price worth paying if it meant working with Steve.

 

As she walked through the village on her way to work on the first day of spring she had a spring in her step because it was the last day of her probation and when she had her meeting with Elizabeth Summers in HR she was going to request a permanent position in Steve’s department so she would see him all day, every day, even if he didn’t see her as she saw him she would at least be close to him.

 

Steve Selwyn glanced at the clock and pretended to be busy so as not to appear as if he was waiting for her arrival, he was trying to be cool.

She was always on time, in fact she was always ahead of time, and that day was no exception, the only difference being that she was even more bubbly and smiley than normal.

“Morning” she chirped

“Well, if it isn’t the soon to be “ex” probationer” he said

“Todays the day” Arianna retorted and crossed her fingers

“Not that you need it, but I got you something” he said and gave her a little gift box

“For me?” she asked and he nodded

Her hands were shaking when she opened the little box and then she gasped when she saw the little gold horseshoe charm.

He knew that she had been given a charm bracelet for Christmas by her parents and that she hadn’t got many charms on it yet.

“It’s gorgeous” she said, “Thank you”

She didn’t want to simply say thank you, she wanted to kiss him, not that that was unusual, but at that moment she wanted to kiss him more than she had ever wanted to before.

In the end it was taken out of her hands when the claxon went off to signify there was a delivery.

“When are you seeing Elizabeth?” he asked

“In an hour” she replied

“Well, if I’m not done before you go” he said “good luck”

And the good luck was accompanied by a squeeze of her hand and at that moment she was convinced for the first time that his interest in her was more than just friendship or co-worker.

So, with his gift to her in her pocket she felt 10 feet tall as she left the warehouse for her appointment with HR.

 

When they had finished unloading a 40ft trailer he looked around the warehouse and expected to see her excited face, but she was nowhere to be seen so he returned to his office.

He had been sitting at his desk for about ten minutes when the phone rang, which took him a few seconds to locate.

It was part of the company phone system but was portable, so he wasn’t tied to the office when he was on a call, which made it convenient to use, but sometimes difficult to find.

He found it on top of the filing cabinet with Arianna’s fleece on top of it, which he thought was odd, she always complained about the cold in the warehouse, so she always wore her fleece and his as well sometimes.

With the fleece in one hand and the phone in the other he pressed the green button and said

“Warehouse!”

“Hello Steve”

“Is that Arianna?”

“Yes” she replied, and her voice cracked

“Are you ok?”

“No”

“Why, what’s wrong?” He asked with concern

“They’re not keeping me on” she replied

“What?” he asked in utter disbelief

“I’m leaving”

“That can’t be right, when?”

“Today”

“Today?” he asked as he left the office

“Yes, I’m leaving now” she said weekly

“Now?” He repeated with alarm “I don’t understand”

“I’m not good enough” she sobbed

“Where are you?” He asked when he left the warehouse and emerged into the main reception, but when he saw Nicki standing on one side of the entrance wearing a smirk he began to comprehend what had happened

“I’m outside, I’m waiting for a cab” she said just as he stepped out into the sunshine.

“Oh Steve” she exclaimed when she saw him

“Come here” he responded with his arms outstretched and she ran between them.

“What am I going to do?” she sobbed

“Hey its ok”

“It’s not though” she said “Because I won’t get to see you every morning”

“Well, if it comes to that, you’ll have to see me every evening instead” he assured her

“Really?” she asked as she lifted her head from his chest, and he answered by kissing her

 

The kiss only ended when the taxi pulled up, and he turned and looked into the smiling face of the taxi driver who was an old school friend of his brother, Billy Carlin.

He kissed Arianna once more on the mouth and then opened the back door, so she could get in.

“I will see you later” he said and squeezed her hand before he closed the door on the Taxi’s precious cargo.

He knew she would get home safely, but he still said

“Look after her Billy”

“No sweat” he replied then Steve blew Arianna a kiss and the cab drove away.

 

When he went back inside Nicki was still there and after watching him kiss Arianna she wasn’t smirking anymore, and she turned on her heels and stomped off.

Also assembled in reception were a group of half a dozen supervisors who had all had been part of Arianna’s probationary training and they were as perplexed as Steve had been when he first heard that the firm was letting her go.

Having seen Nicki’s delight at Arianna’s sobbing figure he was pretty sure that she had reported something to HR to paint her in a bad light.

After sharing his suspicions with the assembled group, they decided that they should pay a visit to HR and set the record straight. 

 

The delegation to HR met with Elizabeth Summers who was at first bemused, then confused, followed by horrified and then finally deeply apologetic. 

Frantic meetings between upper management and the whole HR department followed which resulted in the reinstatement of Arianna, providing she would accept it, and to that end Steve was asked to deliver the news to her.

 

After the taxi dropped Arianna at her parents’ house she had an up and down kind of day where she would be in tears one moment because of the loss of her job, because she loved working up at Mitcheldean’s, and then total elation because Steve Selwyn had hugged and kissed her, and in between the two extremes she dared to dream that she had imagined her dismissal but not the kiss.

She had a vague recollection that he had said that he would see her later, but she wasn’t sure if it was the traditional farewell “see you later” or that she would actually see him later.

It was during one of her periods of reflection that there was a knock at the door, she was going to ignore it, because she didn’t want to see anyone, and when she looked in the mirror she thought it more likely that no one would want to see her, but she took a deep breath and opened it and to her surprise it was Steve, and she instantly forgot how she looked and kissed him.

 

They were sitting on the sofa after he had given her the news about her reinstatement 

“So, if I come back will I still be on probation?”  

“No” he replied “And you will be working full time in Goods in”

“So, I’ll see you every day?”

“Yes, every day”

“Oh”

“Well, you don’t have to” he said “you can choose whichever department you want”

“No, I want to but….”

“But what?”

“Well, if I see you every day, does that mean I won’t get to see you in the evenings?”

“No” he said and smiled “it doesn’t mean that”

“Oh good” she said, and she kissed him again

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (067) – Interviewees

March

 

Charlie and Toddy Phelps were delighted to have secured the services of the Robert’s sisters to work as therapists up at the St Adelaide’s Reflection and Healing Retreat, but they weren’t the only interviewees that March, nor were they the only successful applicants, one of whom was Emily Hemmings.

Emily was a native of Pepperstock Green, she was 29 years of age and was a pretty girl, with fine corn coloured hair and was only a tiny little thing, four foot eleven if she had her hair up.
Emily was the only child of a local couple, who were both surgeons who lived in a huge house poshest part of the village.
When she finished her very expensive private education she had no interest in following in her parents footsteps in the world of medicine, as her passion was horses so she got a job working in a small riding school at Carpenters Farm on the outskirts of village and her parents were outraged when she chose to be a stable girl, rather than go to university, her father offered to buy the riding school and let her run it, but she forbade him from doing any such thing and threatened never to speak to either of them again if he did.
She just wanted to work with horses and when she wasn’t working she could be seen sat astride a great Chestnut coloured colt called Hector.
But the most remarkable thing about Emily was that in spite of her parent’s wealth and snobbery she had no airs and graces whatsoever.

She worked at Carpenters Farm for five years before Mrs. Carpenter died and the Riding School closed.

Her father again suggested he buy the Riding School but again she declined and instead chose to cast her net further afield and got a job in the Dulcets, a collection of villages and hamlets comprising of Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet-on-Willow, Dulcet St Mary and Dulcet-on-Brooke, to name but a few, and of course Dulcet Green which was where Scott’s Farm was located and that was where she learned everything she knows about Equine Therapy.

It was her skill as an Equine Therapist that interested Charlie and Toddy but there were two things that interested Emily, firstly setting up a Riding School from scratch and secondly returning to Carpenters Farm which was now part of St Adelaide’s.

 

Another notable interviewee attended Beechwood, Justyna Krajewska a tall willowy forty-year-old woman, with shoulder length brunette hair, intelligent green laughing eyes, a broad toothy smile and a warm open manner and altogether a very pleasant demeanour and Toddy took to her immediately, and she and Charlie thought she would be perfect as the spiritual head of the Retreat.

“So, you are locum at St Clara’s on Beaumont Island” Toddy said, “So when does that end?”

“The end of June” Justyna replied “But they may offer me the curacy after that.”

“And how do you feel about that?” Charley asked.

“I’m not sure” she replied, “It difficult settling down to parochial matters after St Giles retreat.”

“You were at St Giles?” Toddy asked as she studied her CV “I didn’t see that in here.”

“I didn’t work there” she said and then went onto explain that she had spent a prolonged period at the retreat following a long battle with cancer.

“Then its sounds to me that you are the perfect person for St Adelaide’s” Toddy said.

“We’ve been telling everyone else that the start date would be June the 1st but as we won’t be opening the doors until a month later, we can extend it for you until July 1st although we don’t expect to be fully up and running until the beginning of August.”

“Does that work for you?” Charlie asked.

“Yes, I rather think it does” Justyna said and smiled.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (066) – The St Patricks Day Party

March

 

At the beginning of March, twin sisters Candice and Anna Roberts were in Pepperstock Green attending interviews for positions as Therapists at St Adelaide’s. 

After being successful they returned to the Shady Glade Guesthouse where 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.

They spent a very enjoyable couple of hours with the boys at the pub which resulted in an invitation for the upcoming St Patrick’s Day Party at the Mablethorpe Spa Hotel.

 

So, two weeks later they were back in the village and staying at the Shady Glade because Callum Gallocker and Jamie Gomm, had persuaded the twins to join them at the party, not that it took much persuading.

 

During the relatively short drive from the village to the Mablethorpe Spa Hotel the four passengers, dressed in green outfits, chatted incessantly.

But when they got to the party the twins no longer had the undivided attention of the boys as they seemed to know everyone.

Candice and Anna looked at each other as if they had both come to the same conclusion, namely that they weren’t going to accept any other outcome than getting their undivided attention back again.

The Roberts’s were determined not to let their chosen quarry out of their sight and they in turn had resolved not to let the girls out of view.

When Callum first saw Candice in Abbottsford after the fender bender with her bobbed brunette hair, olive complexion and hazel eyes he was smitten and Jamie felt the same about Anna who was identical to her sister but was two inches taller and had longer hair, but at the party they were wearing low cut St Patrick’s party outfits, so they were doubly smitten.

So, they spent most of the night on the dance floor and during the time that they were not dancing they were at the bar with the exception of spending a penny.

 

As midnight approached, Anna was dancing with Jamie to a slow number by Karen Carpenter when Anna kissed him and he responded in kind.

Candice was standing at the bar and looked across at her sister kissing Jamie and then she looked at Callum and thought “why aren’t we doing that?”

She smiled at him, and he smiled back, but no kiss, she smiled again and still nothing happened, so she said.

“Have you seen what Anna and Jamie are doing?”

He turned to look at the kissing couple.

“Oh yes”

“Can I ask you a question Callum?”

“Of course,”

“Why aren’t we doing that?” she asked and before she could press her point further, he was kissing her.

 

As things turned out that night didn’t just mark St Patrick’s Day for the two couples it marked the end of their old lives and new beginnings.

 

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (065) – Mothering Sunday

 March

 

St Agatha’s Primary School was where Georgie Devereaux worked as a Teacher after making a home for herself in the village following her divorce three years earlier.

In those three years she had made herself part of the community, as a well-respected teacher, a volunteer at the Church and as an enthusiastic member of an amateur dramatics group, but all her busyness was merely to fill the lonely hours of her life. 

 

However, one day in March something occurred that set her on a different path.

It was after morning break when the children were making their way back to their classrooms when one of the children, Emily Robinson, tripped and fell down the last three stairs and banged her head.

Although Emily didn’t lose consciousness, she did cut her head badly and the sight of the blood upset the onlooking children, which in turn upset Emily.

 

Georgie knew Emily outside of school as she and the child’s mother, Anna, did am dram together, and she therefore was also aware that she worked in Pipershaven and would not be able to get back to the village in time, so as the first aider stemmed the flow of blood, it was decided that an ambulance should be called.

Also, Georgie phoned Anna and said that she would go to the Hospital with Emily and meet her there. 

 

When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics were very cool, calm and efficient and they were soon on their way to Pipershaven, and Georgie was in the back-holding Emily’s hand while Paramedic Rich Thomas looked after the patient and spoke reassuringly to her.

 

When the ambulance arrived at the Pepperstock and District Hospital, Anna was already there waiting for them and she took over the hand holding duties and the paramedics took Emily straight into the emergency department and she was immediately attended to by Doctor Lauren Lewis and Nurse Mia Lawson, and Georgie sat down heavily on the nearest chair.

 

Georgie sat in reception watching the comings and goings for a couple of hours, flicking through old magazines to amuse herself, then she needed to spend a penny and decided she needed a drink and a sandwich, so she went to find the shop.

 

It was at the shop that she bumped into Rich Thomas, the Paramedic, who had had the same idea as she had.

“Hello” he said

“Oh hi”

“How’s Emily doing?” he asked

“Not sure, her mum hasn’t come out yet”

“I’m going in now, so I’ll find out for you” he offered

“Thank you, that’s very kind”

The remainder of the conversation on the way back to reception was fairly banal, but she did find that by the time they got there the conversation had definitely got a bit flirty, particularly on her side, and then she saw Anna appear, so she said goodbye to Rich and went and hugged her friend.

 

They were sitting down while Anna filled her in on what had happened, scans, x-rays and sutures, and what was happening, namely that she was being admitted.

“I got you a sandwich and a drink” Georgie said

“Oh, bless you, I am hungry”

 

As they sat and ate Georgie suddenly said

“I’m sorry”

“What for?”

“For flirting with the Paramedic, very inappropriate behaviour, I don’t know what came over me” she said

“Did you get his number?” Anna asked

“No”

“Well then you need to try harder” she retorted and laughed

Georgie wasn’t sure it was funny, after all it was something of a moral dilemma on whether it was appropriate for her to “hit on” a man while she was representing the school during a medical emergency.

“It’s not funny, it was unprofessional” Georgie said

“It’s no wonder you’re still single” Anna said

“What do you mean?”

“If you like him, which you obviously do, just go for it, before someone else does” she replied

“Really?”

“Really” she said “Especially as he likes you”

“Do you think he does?”

“Well put it this way, you weren’t the only one flirting”

 

As Emily was being admitted, Anna was going to stay at the hospital, so she persuaded Georgie to take her car and go home.

“Are you sure?” Georgie said as they stood by the entrance

“Yes” she insisted

“Ok, I’ll come back tomorrow, text me with a list of things you want me to bring from the house”

“That would be great, thanks”

“Everything is going to be fine” Georgie said as they had one final hug.

 

Emily made good progress over the following few days, but she was still in hospital on Sunday, so Anna was with her daughter all day on Mother’s Day.

 

Georgie had also visited on Mothering Sunday before going to spend the rest of the day with her mum, she was in the lift ready to go down and was just waiting for the doors to close when Rich Thomas stepped into the lift, he wasn’t wearing his green uniform, but it was definitely him.

 “Mrs. Andrews?” he said

“Oh hello” she said feigning surprise

“Have you been visiting Emily?” he asked

“Yes, she’s on the mend” She replied

“Yes, I know I popped in to see her myself yesterday”

“Oh?”

“Yes” he confirmed “I like to look in on my former passengers”

“Is that normal?” she asked knowing full well that it was not

“It’s just something I like to do” he replied

“That’s a good thing that you do” Georgie said genuinely impressed

“Not really” he said modestly

“Is that why you’re here today?” she asked

“No, I’ve been visiting my sister, she’s just had a baby” he replied proudly as the lift came to a halt and the doors opened.

“Well it was nice to see you again Mrs Andrews”

“Please call me Georgie” she insisted “I only stick to formality in the classroom”

“Ok then, it was nice seeing you again, Georgie” he said

“Do you have time for a coffee Rich?” she asked hopefully

“Absolutely” he replied and led the way to the Hospital Café

It was one of those awful cold and sterile, impersonal self-service places, selling everything pre-packed, that have sprung up all over the Health Service, which had squeezed out the old WVS Cafes that offered homemade cakes and a friendly smile along with your cup of tea.

Rich suggested that Georgie find them a table while he got the drinks and a brief discussion about who should pay followed, Georgie was adamant that it should be her, but Rich insisted.

 

They were sitting at a table, drinking coffee and chatting when they were interrupted.

“Well hello stranger” said a man in surgical scrubs.

“Oh” she said, and her face hardened

“Well fancy finding you here, I thought you’d run off to the country” he continued “Does this mean you’re back?”

“Not really” she said uncomfortably which Rich picked up on.

“Perhaps introductions would be in order” the doctor said

“This is Ian, my Ex-husband” she said “and this is Rich...”

“Her next husband” Rich said and stood up to shake his hand.

Ian was not a tall man but even standing less than six-foot-tall Rich still towered above the diminutive Doctor, who quickly took his leave of them.

“That was kind of you” she said relieved to see her ex go.

“Not at all” he said “I had an ulterior motive as it happens”

“Which was?” she asked suspiciously

“Simply to have you in my debt so that you would be obliged to say yes when I ask you out” he said

“Well, that’s very calculating” she retorted

“So, has it worked?”

“You’ll have to ask for a date to find that out” Georgie said with a grin.