In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (090) – Soulmates United

 

June

 

On the moonlight walk back to the chalet Kenny and Chloe were holding hands and drinking in the heady atmosphere of the night, not wishing to forget a single second of it, and when they reached the door they kissed for the first time and it was a kiss that made the hairs stand up on the back of their necks and their skin tingled from head to toe.

“That was a first kiss to remember” Chloe said and giggled.

“Let’s try number two” Kenny suggested, and she obliged.

“Wow” Chloe said after kiss number two.

“I think we should sit down for a minute.”

“I think so too” Kenny said.

Chloe walked a few feet and sat on the wall and Kenny sat next to her, she immediately leant into him and rested her head on his shoulder, and he put his arm around her.

So, they sat there quietly in the moonlight, their hearts filled with a newfound love and their minds awash with previously undreamt-of possibilities.

Chloe kissed Kenny once more and it was the equal of its predecessors.

But as much as they wanted each other in that moment they resisted the desire until their minds were clear, and their desires not fueled by wine and Gin and tonics.

So, they reluctantly said goodnight and slept alone, though neither of them actually slept.

 

Kenny and Chloe were both up and about early next morning and both had made independent decisions on their futures.

The quandary was, had they both made the same one.

There were three possibilities, two of which could cost them their friendship.

Kenny was sitting on the terrace outside the chalet drinking his coffee when Chloe appeared.

Kenny smiled and stood up to greet her but remained frozen to the spot, she returned his smile and said. 

“Hello soulmate”

The relief Kenny felt at that moment was palpable.

He found he was able to move again, and he stepped forward and scooped her up in his arms and said.

“Hello, my perfect other half” 

And then he kissed her as he had the night before and the feeling was just the same.

 

Their complete and utter surrender to each other came that afternoon when they made love for the first time.

When love’s consummated passions reached the ecstatic heights of fulfilment.

 

To the untrained eye the remainder of the holiday appeared to go much the same way as the days before their epiphany.

Kenny and Chloe still appeared as if they were a couple as they behaved like a couple, a happily married couple.

Every evening the pair dined together, happy in each other’s company, but now unknown to everyone they did sleep together.

Kenny and Chloe had gone to Sharpington in search of love and romance, and it turned out they had actually taken it with them.

 

All too soon they were on the train heading away from the sunny seaside town, and looked back at the promenade and the pier, bathing in warm sunshine, the hills above, and the generous depth of sand, golden in the sun and glinting on the blue sea.

But most of all they would miss it because it would be forever the place where they fell in love.

Kenny and Chloe stood at the window, for one last look before it disappeared from view.

“Will we come back” Chloe asked with a tear in her eye.

“Oh yes” Kenny replied, “many times, but especially on our honeymoon.”

A smiling Chloe turned towards Kenny, and she kissed him.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (089) – Finding Soulmates

 

June

 

The sultry air was heavy in the middle of their second week in Sharpington, and as the sun was setting, Kenny and Chloe, sat on the terrace of the Ancient Mariner pub accompanied by the familiar symphony of evening birdsong.

“It’s been another lovely day” Chloe said.

They had ordered their dinner and were just enjoying an aperitif; the cracking of ice cubes was clearly audible in their Gin and tonics.

“It really has” he said, and they chinked glasses.

 

After dinner, and the best part of two bottles of wine, and a hilarious reliving of the afternoons crazy golf tournament, the subject of the conversation took a familiar turn.

“Of course, there is one thing that could have made today even better” Chloe said.

“And what’s that?” Kenny asked before draining his glass.

“Our perfect partners” she replied.

“Oh yes, I’d forgotten about that” he said.

“Of course, it would help if we could recognize them if we saw them.”

“Well yes that would help” Chloe concurred.

Kenny thought she looked lovely that night and he was particularly pleased to see she was wearing the gold crucifix he had bought her for Christmas.

“Ok then” he said, “do you have a pen?”

He already knew the answer; Chloe always had at least one pen in her bag, so she fished in her bag and produced one.

“So, what is your ideal?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” she replied with a puzzled expression.

“What would you want in a partner?” he elaborated.

“Tell me what qualities you are looking for and we’ll make a check list.”

“Oh, I see, ok” she said, “Well the usual I suppose.”

“Let’s write them down then” Kenny said and using a napkin he headed the list “The perfect other half.”

“Someone I can trust” she said.

“Dependable” he wrote followed by “trustworthy.”

“Someone who shares my values and my faith” she added.

Kenny wrote “Moral compass.”

“Someone who makes me laugh and laughs with me” Chloe said.

“Good sense of humour” he wrote.

“Someone who loves me and will cherish me” she said.

He wrote “Romantic.”

“Someone who will be there for me” she said, “whenever I need them.”

“A friend,” he put.

“Someone who listens to me and understands me” she added.

“And who values me.”

Kenny thought for a moment before writing.

“A confidant, a kindred spirit” and for good measure “Open and honest”

“Someone I can grow old with” she said, “who will want to grow old with me.”

Kenny wrote “Soulmate.”

Chloe was silent for a moment as she gave it some more thought and then said.

“That will do I think.”

Kenny took another drink and then read down the list and his brow furrowed.

He read each item and mused over it, added the occasional word to it, and muttered under his breath as he studied it and, in the end, after what seemed to Chloe like an age, nodded his assent. 

“Are you ok?” she asked with concern.

“I agree with every single one of those” he said.

“Good” she replied.

“And furthermore, I know the person who has all of those qualities and more” he added.

“Really?” she said open mouthed.

“Who?”

“You Chloe” Kenny said.

“What?” she asked.

“It’s you” he said, “you tick every single box on this list; you are my perfect other half.”

“Don’t be daft” she said.

He didn’t say anymore but handed her the napkin.

Chloe took it from him and started reading down the list of her suggestions and his additions and was very thoughtful for a few moments and then she went down the list in front of her again.

“You’re right” she said finally “you are the perfect other half of me.”

Knowing smiles were exchanged and then they sat in silence as a confused turmoil raged inside them and thoughts raced in and out of focus.

“More wine sir?” the waiter asked breaking in on their silent deliberations.

“Absolutely” Chloe said and returned to her thoughts.

Both of them shared the same thoughts and were afraid, afraid to take a chance, afraid of being wrong, afraid of getting hurt but most of all afraid of losing their best friend.

The wine came and they drank in silence as they continued their internal struggle, until in a moment of perfect clarity Chloe looked at Kenny and smiled as it dawned on her that they had come to Sharpington looking for love but the romance they had searched for wasn’t in the town at all, they had brought it with them.

And when Kenny saw her smiling countenance, he was immediately entranced and all his doubts melted away and the deep passion for her that he had always harboured subconsciously, stirred within him and rose to the surface.

Her inner beauty exposed, Kenny reached his hand across the table and Chloe took it.

“All this time I was looking for Miss Right and she was there right under my nose.”

Kenny mused.

“Living next door” She added.

“Living in my spare room even” Kenny corrected her.

It was a miracle finding their heart’s desire so close at hand.

“How could we have been so blind?” Chloe asked as she caressed his hand.

“Love is blind” Kenny replied.

“Yes” she agreed “yes, it is.”

Neither of them could understand how it was possible they were both so short-sighted.

He had always thought she was lovely but now Kenny’s feelings for her were of love for his soulmate who lived in his spare room.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (088) – The King’s Birthday Parade

June

 

The Parker’s and the Wells’s had lived in Pepperstock Green for many generations and both families had been well represented in the Downshire Light Infantry over the years, and the latest were Sgt Joe Herriot and Lance Corporal Jade Wells.

The pair were not entirely unknown to each other, even though they were in different battalions and there were more than four years difference in their ages, because Joe had briefly dated her older sister, who was also in the Downshire’s, but Joe and Jade hadn’t seen each other since they broke up, until the day of the King’s Birthday Parade.

 

The parade was held on the same day as the Trooping of the Colour by the Household Guards, and it was held at the home of the Downshire Light Infantry in Nettlefield.

It was performed with less pageantry and was less grand than its London cousin, but was nonetheless as important, especially to the Downshire’s. 

 

On the day Joe was dressed in his best regalia complete with gleaming sword as he was part of the Honour Guard for the Colours, the Guard being formed by members of his own battalion, but the flag bearers were not, and they were late, well late by his standards at any rate, so he went to hurry them up.

He passed two of the bearers leaving the block as he went in.

“Come on get a move on you lot” he barked “Where’s the other one?”

“Still inside Sergeant” one of them replied

He went deeper inside the block without breaking stride and burst into the room and then stopped in his tracks. 

Jade was four years older than she had been the last time he saw her, but he recognized her instantly, she was always an absolute stunner with a lovely figure, but now she was even better.

She was beautiful like her sister but taller with longer, shapelier legs, but that wasn’t what caught his eye, it was the fact that Jade was only partially dressed, she was wearing her blouse and a tie, and underwear and tights and nothing else.

Joe stood staring at Jade’s lovely semi-dressed figure far longer than he should have but he struggled to draw his eyes away.

Until he realized she was just standing there smiling at him, then he went pillar box red and blurted out,

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think, I’ll wait outside”

 

He was outside in the corridor muttering to himself when the door opened suddenly and Jade stepped out immaculately dressed in tailored skirt and tunic, brass buttons and polished belt, peaked cap and regulation tights.

“I’m…” he started to say, but she put a finger up to her lips gesturing

him to silence.

“Don’t apologize I’m pleased I’ve finally got you to notice me”

“You are?”

“Oh yes” she replied and before he could speak again, she took her cap off and kissed him.

It was only a brief kiss, as they had important duties to perform and were not able to follow up on it afterwards because she went off on a training exercise with the 3rd Battalion while he remained at Regimental HQ.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (087) – Searching for a Soulmate in Sharpington

 

June

 

Best friends, 32-year-old Kenny Barnhill and 29 years old Chloe Bulman, had moved in together and were saving hard to fund their dream holiday in Greece where they were hoping to find their soulmates.

Alas when they were ready to book, they found they had insufficient funds for a Grecian holiday so had to settle for two weeks in Sharpington.

They would have liked to stay at the Seaview Hotel for the two weeks, but they needed to strike a balance between comfortable accommodation and adequate spending money, so they decided on sharing a family Chalet on the Whitecliff Hill Caravan Park.

 

It was on the first of June when the successful candidates started their new positions at the St Adelaide’s Reflection and Healing Retreat.

It was also in the first week of June, with their bags packed, Kenny and Chloe splashed out on a taxi to Pipershaven and from there they took the train to Sharpington. 

 

As they walked into their chalet, they had travelled for a total of 4 hours door to door, but they enjoyed every minute and thought it would all be worth it when they met the person of their dreams.

 

The Chalet was very comfortable, and they quickly unpacked and on that afternoon, there was an informal get together of new arrivals, a kind of orientation meeting covering all the do’s and don’ts and a member of staff handed out information on places of interest, transport timetables, day trips and local entertainment.    

However, the two of them were less interested in the information than they were in their fellow guests as they were looking for romance on their holiday.

But as they scanned each and every face in the assembly they noticed there appeared to be no singles present.

Although Kenny and Chloe both noticed independently, they chose to keep it to themselves.

However, over the next 24 hours they both came to the conclusion that they had come to the wrong resort for romance because the visitors were all, without exception, already paired up.

 

Over an Al fresco breakfast next morning on the seafront, as they sat in the fresh morning air at a promenade café it was Chloe who broached the subject.

“Have you noticed they’re all couples?” she said.

“Yes” he replied.

“We’re not going to find them here, are we?” she asked and by “Them” she meant their soulmates, their perfect other halves, Mr. or Miss Right.

“I’m afraid not” he agreed.

“So, what now?” Chloe asked glumly.

“Now we just have fun” Kenny said.

So, they resigned themselves to the fact that they were not going to find who they were looking for and decided they should just enjoy every minute of their holiday instead.

Their search for love over, they spent a lot of time on the beach or in the water, or on a boat or in bars and arcades, and they filled every possible moment.

Walking the beach together, playing in the waves, swimming in the Lido, playing crazy golf and having fun, before finding a quiet sheltered spot or the pier to siesta under.

They took day trips to see the seals and took coach trips to several of the local places of interest.

 

Evening entertainments included cocktails at what had become their favourite bar, enjoying jazz at the Tainted Angel, dining at The Angels Tears or L'uccello canto, nightcaps at the Sandcastle Arms, dancing at the Palladium Ballroom, entertainment at the Bluebird theatre, and Beach BBQ’s

But most of all they spent their time during the day was in or near the water.

 

As the holiday drifted amiably into the second week, any casual onlookers could have been forgiven for thinking that Kenny and Chloe were a couple, they behaved like a couple and a happily married couple at that.

Every evening the pair dined together, and they were happy in each other’s company but unknown to everyone they slept alone.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (086) – Getting Noticed

June

 

In the village was the Shady Glade Guesthouse owned and run by divorcee Debbie Barrington.

She was a native of the village, as was her husband, and they started the Guesthouse together, but he did not share her passion for it, but he did have passions, but those were mainly for the female guests and it was with one of them that he chose to leave Pepperstock Green and Debbie, undeterred divorced him and continued to run Shady Glade alone and as she approached her forty seventh birthday she had been doing so for twenty years.

There had been men in her life over those twenty years, but none were worthy of her because they didn’t share her interest in the Guesthouse or have the same work ethic as she did.

But there was one man who she hoped might fit the bill, Civil Engineer Sam Richardson, who had been a regular guest while the work was going on at the old St Adelaide’s Convent, but he was splitting his time between the village and Beaumont Island where there were some other projects going on.

She really liked him, really liked him, he was a gentle goodlooking man, who was sadly widowed the year before, he was also a kind man who helped her out went he was staying, with repairs and maintenance.

The problem was that he was a little backwards in coming forward on the personal front, and she hadn’t been able to get his attention.

 

One morning in June she had to call on him for help because the shower in her ensuite bathroom wasn’t working, and there was a dripping tap in one of the rooms, which he was happy to do, but he was his usual bashful self, so she went on about her morning, dealing with the guest’s breakfasts, which kept her busy for the next two hours and at the end of it she noticed Sam coming down the stairs, so she went to intercept him.

“All done?” she asked brightly

“I’m afraid not” he replied “I just need to go and get a new pump”

“Oh, you don’t need to do that, I’ll get the plumber to do it” she said

“Nonsense, it’s no problem” he replied

“Oh, ok I’ll see you later then?” Debbie said

“Yes, I shouldn’t be too long” he replied and went out the door.

 

When the guesthouse was busy, which was pretty much all the time, Debbie employed two local girls to clean the rooms and the common areas, so with them gainfully employed, breakfast finished with and Sam off at the plumber’s merchants she had a couple of hours to spare before she had to think about lunch, so she decided to go and have a bath in the guest bathroom as her own was out of commission.

She had told the girls what she was doing so she knew she wouldn’t be disturbed, and she had a long hot soak in the tub.

She really enjoyed it, but she knew she couldn’t stay in there forever, so she pulled the plug out and got to her feet, before stepping out and wrapping a fluffy white bath sheet around herself and wrapping a smaller one around her head.

 

Once she was dry, perfumed and powdered she wiped the steam off the full-length mirror and then loosened the towel wrapped around her and stood with her arms outstretched and the towel stretched behind her like a victory flag and admired herself in the mirror

“Not bad for an old bird” she said to her reflection, “Not too bad at all”

And then the door opened and startled her, and she turned towards the door, still with her arms outstretched with her full nakedness on display, to find Sam Richardson standing in the doorway with his mouth open.

Debbie was not as surprised as he was, and she knew she should probably have covered herself, but he just stood staring at her and was clearly struggling to draw his eyes away, and she liked that.

“I appeared to have got his attention at last” she thought and then he said,

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t think, washer… tap… drip…”

And then he closed the door and headed hurriedly across the landing, so she covered herself and opened the door and could hear him repeating

“Sorry, sorry, I’m so sorry” Until he reached the sanctuary of her bedroom, and by extension her ensuite.

 

Debbie replaced her towel with a toweling bath robe and crossed the landing and was smiling broadly to herself.

She slowly opened the door and stepped in and found the room empty, but she could hear muttering and what she assumed was the sound of him putting his tools away, so she just stood her ground and waited, and she didn’t have to wait long.

He stepped through the door from her ensuite and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her.

 “IIIII’m…” he started to say but she put a finger up to her lips gesturing him to silence, and then she undid the belt of her robe, and it fell open briefly before she dropped the toweling dressing gown to the floor revealing her dry, perfumed and powdered nakedness, before she walked towards him and kissed him, and he made no protest.

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (085) – Whit Monday

 June

 

July 1st marked the official reincarnation of the former St Adelaide’s Convent with the opening of the St Adelaide’s Reflection and Healing Retreat, although it wasn’t expected to be fully up and running until the beginning of August.

Over the month prior to its opening new employees came on board and one of them was Jake Cox who was taken on as one of the gardening team, but he didn’t join until after the Whitsun Bank holiday.

The reason for that was that he and a group of University friends were on holiday at the traditional seaside resort of Sharpington-by-Sea.

Which was a popular destination for visitors with its Victorian Pier, seafront hotels, crazy golf, The Palladium ballroom, well maintained gardens, promenade, theatre and illuminations, and has all the usual things to have a great time by the seaside, as well as amusement arcades and of course the Sharpington Fun Park.

They were staying in a Caravan Park up at Whitecliffe Hill for a week ending on the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend and were blessed with warm clement weather, which brought many more visitors to enjoy all the seaside fun.

He and a couple of friends got there a day and a half before the rest of them arrived and among them was his sister India and her best friend Cheryl Leman.

Jake had fancied her for years, but she had always given him the cold shoulder, but suddenly they were both at the same resort, at the same time and with no romantic attachments, so he thought he would chance his arm one more time.

It took the best part of three days, but she eventually weakened and agreed to go to the Palladium Ballroom with him to see an ABBA tribute band.

It was a great night, they sang and danced and cheered, and afterwards they went to the bar and drank and talked for a couple of hours, before they walked along the beach together, hand in hand in the moonlight.

The beach was deserted and silent but for the gentle breaking of the waves on the shore.

When they reached the pier, she stopped and turned toward him and smiled and a moment later their mouths met in a kiss that was a delicious taste of tender passion.

It was a kiss he had dreamt of for years, but the reality of it far surpassed his wildest imaginings, but for Cheryl it was a revelation, an unexpected delight, and her senses were heightened, her perception altered, as the kiss had opened her eyes and her heart.

“Wow, it looks like you finally got me” Cheryl said with her head on his shoulder

“I was beginning to think it would never happen” Jake admitted

“I was certain it wouldn’t” she replied “But what do I know”

She added and giggled and then she kissed him again before she ran to the water’s edge where she began splashing in the breaking waves.

“I was wrong” she shouted to the moon “I was wrong”

Then she ran back up the beach giggling to where Jake was standing

“I was wrong” she said quietly and hugged him “All these years I was wrong”

Jake was speechless as he held her, and he prayed that it wasn’t just a vivid dream and then she whispered.

“But I’m not wrong anymore”

In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (084) – Ascension Day

May

 

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 the Lawson’s, where Nurse Mia lived with her Parents and her younger siblings.

She was the oldest and, as her mother kept reminding her, was still single, which wasn’t for the want of trying on her part.

The problem was when you worked shifts it was difficult to have a social life and meet new people, but although she wondered sometimes why she was alone she wasn’t unhappy, she didn’t feel diminished by her unattached status.

But there were many times when she wished she could change her Facebook status to “in a relationship”.

She had plenty of friends and two sisters, all of whom took turns at throwing single men in her direction, but she evaded most of them and of the ones she didn’t evade, none of them turned out to be keepers.

As she was a Nurse at the Pepperstock and District Hospital, Doctors always tried their luck of course, but news and reviews of doctors travelled fast along the nurse’s grapevine, so they generally knew who to avoid and working in the Emergency Department meant that patients weren’t an option.

She liked the ED though, and there was one regular visitor that she had her eye on, PC Jamie Osborne, and she had been applying some intense flirting for several months, however she had not been able to get anywhere with him, but she was determined to persevere.

In fact on one Thursday evening in May, Mia, who was tall, skinny and freckly with straw coloured hair, thought she had made a breakthrough, his partner PC Koenig, was taking a statement from a mugging victim and Jamie was stood by the nurses station, and as she had just finished stitching a nasty scalp wound, Mia decided to go and flirt with him again.

As she was tall it made a nice change for her to talk to a man who was taller than her as Jamie was six feet plus and she had always had a weakness for red hair, and his was very red.

It was a very busy shift in the ED and she should have felt a bit guilty under the circumstances, and very unprofessional, because she was flirting with him shamelessly and she couldn’t help herself, as she inclined her head to one side and played with her hair and behaved like she did when she was still at school, and fully expected it not to get her anywhere, when his demeanour changed and it looked like he might be about to say something that was giving him a dry mouth.

So, she held her breath expectantly, but before the words came out a group of rowdy drunks came in and he had to leave her to go and separate two scuffling revellers, and she had to return to cubicles, and that was that.

 

But by the end of a busy shift he returned and this time he sought her out.

“Hi Mia, I’m looking for a Mrs. Tweed, Emily Tweed”

“Hello Constable.…” she began, and was about to start flirting, when she had another thought “She’s been admitted”

“Do you know which ward?” he asked

“I’m going up myself, so I can show you if you like”

“Great” he responded

 

Thankfully the lift was there waiting, it was only three floors, but she was feeling a bit leg weary.

“Thanks for doing this” he said

“No problem, my pleasure” she retorted and was momentarily distracted by thoughts of pleasure as the lift began to ascend

But her unprofessional thoughts were abruptly halted when the lift started rattling and shaking and threw the pair of them, nose to nose, into one corner.

“Well, this is fortuitous” she said and kissed him.
“That was so much better than flirting” 

“I can’t argue with that” he said “especially as I’ve wanted to do that for a while”

“Really? me too” she concurred “Seconds then?”

His reply came in the form of a kiss, and it was even better than the first and only came to an end when the lift started moving again.

By the time they had reached the floor they wanted and emerged from the lift they had a dinner date for Saturday evening.

And after showing him to Mrs Tweed’s ward she returned to ED, but not in the lift, she skipped down the stairs instead.