In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (006) Murder Comes to Oakvale

 

The village of Oakvale-On-Roe is in the north of the relatively small English county of Downshire, situated between the old market Town of Nettlebridge, and their more affluent neighbour Roespring, and in the affluent Shepherds Row area of the village was the 8 bedroom home of Dominic Mackay in which he now lived alone since his estranged wife Aurora and his son and daughter, Sebastian and Camilia left, and divorce proceedings had begun.

He did however have a live in housekeeper, Kitty Shepherd and a secretary, Erin Hope, who worked in the house Monday to Friday and occasionally on a Saturday when the need arose, and as a result of the divorce, Solicitor Addison Smillie was also a regular visitor to the house, as he was having her draw up a new will disinheriting his soon to be ex-wife and his selfish self-obsessed son and daughter.

However, one Monday afternoon at the beginning of August when he had failed to appear for lunch his housekeeper Kitty Shepherd found him dead in his bed with his throat cut. 

 

PC Ross Grant was the first on scene as he lived on a farm close to the village, and he was a congregant at St Nicholas Church.

He made all the appropriate calls to get things rolling and managed the scene until Detective Inspector Steve Cutler and Detective Sergeant Steph Baldwin arrived from Nettlebridge.

DI Steve Cutler had just turned forty and had been widowed five years earlier and his short sandy hair was greying at the temples, and there was sadness in his blue eyes, losing his wife almost broke him and he hadn’t had a relationship since.

But he didn’t want for offers, standing six feet tall, athletically built, a few pounds over his perfect weight, but it was clear he still kept himself fit.

“Who found the body?” DI Cutler asked as they stood in the dead man’s bedroom watching the SOCO’s doing their thing.

“The housekeeper, Mrs Shepherd” PC Grant replied “She’s in the kitchen, with the Curate, Toby Bishop”

“I’ll go and get her statement,” Steph Baldwin said “I know them both”

“Ok” the Inspector agreed

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (005) The Former Klutz

 

The village of Oakvale-On-Roe is in the north of the relatively small English county of Downshire, situated between the old market Town of Nettlebridge, and their more affluent neighbour Roespring, and in the affluent Shepherds Row area of the village 25 year old Luke Pettit was hosting a garden party at his parent’s house while they were on one of the more remote Greek islands on holiday.

They were supposed to be hosting it themselves, but they had fallen victim to a general strike which affected ferries and public transport and were at the time of the party stranded in Athens.

There were the usual collection of friends and neighbours who circulated at the various garden parties and BBQ’s hosted by the same collection of venues throughout the summer.

The invitations had already gone out, and all the arrangement had already been made, so all he had to do was meet and greet which was good for him as it meant he could focus all his attention on Jody Day.

She was late arriving because she worked at the Ramblers as assistant restaurant manager and on that weekend, it was her turn to work Saturday and Sunday.

 

She was wearing a short summer dress when she finally arrived, with her brunette hair tied in braids, she had her back to him when he first spotted her, although to be fair it was her small round buttocks, almost like a boys, that he spotted first, then she turned around and his gaze fell on her braless breasts sitting in perfect parity, small and pert, with nipples sensually erect.

He fell in love with her because unimaginably she seemed completely unaware of her allure, and oblivious to her beauty or the effect she had on him and other men or women for that matter.

 

She still saw herself as the klutzy teenager she once was, and was sceptical of any appeal she might elicit, and incredibly it seemed she didn’t see the woman she had become or the woman she has been for several years in his eyes.

When she came of age, she still wasn’t to all intents and purposes at ease with herself and ultimately thought she was in no hurry to squander her innocence, at 18 years of age her virginity was lost to someone undeserving.

So, two years after that relationship ended 22-year-old Jody had never trusted a man again but he was hopeful it could be him.

 

All though it was his parents’ home Luke actually lived in what had previously been the granny annex, and with the French doors open he had a great view of the garden and the swimming pool, and he watched as Jody walked his way.

“Hello, you look lovely” he said.

“Hi Luke” she responded, “Do you mind if I get changed here?”

“Of course, use the bedroom.”

 

While she was changing, he mused on whether she would be wearing a Bikini or a one piece, not that it mattered, she was going to look gorgeous either way, but when she returned, he still couldn’t tell what she was wearing as she had a towel wrapped around her.

“Are you cold?”

“No, I just can’t compete with that” she replied as she looked out towards the pool.”

“Do you mean Dakota?”

“Of course, look at her, tall and slim with her long legs, perfect arse and big tits” she said, “and all the men buzzing around her like bees round a flower.”

He stood behind her with his hands on her hips and said.

“You have nothing to fear from her.”

“Really?” she said doubtfully.

“Really” he confirmed.

“You’d rather have me than her?” she asked.

“I’d rather have you than anyone” he replied and she turned around and kissed him.

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (004) Pretty in Pink

 

The village of Oakvale-On-Roe is in the north of the relatively small English county of Downshire, situated between the old market Town of Nettlebridge, and their more affluent neighbour Roespring, and on the west side of the village, running parallel to Roespring Road was Shepherds Lane, lined on both sides by Victorian cottages, one side of the road backed onto open farmland and part of the other side backed onto the St Nicholas School playing field and on one Saturday morning Bernie Peak was at the end of the garden in one of them pegging washing on a rotary line.

That Saturday was the Annual Summer Fete so numerous people passed by the end of the garden, he knew a few of them, but most of them were strangers, as he wasn’t from the village, his home was in Sharpington.

He was staying at his older sister’s house for a few weeks, because she was newly divorced had moved into a new home, which was why he was using his annual leave to help her and her three teenage daughters.

That was the reason why he was helping out with the laundry, DIY, and unpacking among other things, but that morning he was doing the laundry first.

“Look at that, a real man, not” a commonly spoken young woman said.

“Don’t you know that’s women’s work”

He looked around and saw through the chain link fence three girls walking past, two girls were dressed in camel toe tight shorts, skimpy crop tops and were braless, and the third was more modestly dressed in a skirt and top.   

“Don’t let Germaine Greer hear you say that” he said

“German who?” one of them asked

“Never mind that look at the perve with his knicker collection” the second one said

“Do you like girls panties perve?”

“What’s your favourite colour perve?” the first one chipped in

“Definitely Pink” he said looking at the modest girls and she blushed deeply, so he smiled and then the girls moved away.

 

When he was pegging out the third wash of the day, he was once again disturbed by a voice from beyond the fence.

“How did you know?”

He turned around to discover it was the modest looking girl from earlier, so he took a moment to peruse her.

He guessed her age to be early to mid-twenties, with a sweet angelic face, which was framed heavenly with rich soft yellow curls, the colour of ripened corn.
As he perused her, she looked back at him with soulful eyes, warm and inviting, which were green with a hypnotic quality.

Her exquisite nose was small and button like and was the perfect punctuation for her pale pink lips, softly moist, with the hint of a smile playing around them.

“How did you know?” she repeated.

“How did I know what?”

“That I was wearing pink….” She began.

“Panties?”

“Yes” she replied blushing.

“You told me,” he said.

“Me?” she asked “How?”

“You blushed”

“But you looked straight at me when you said it” She pointed out.

“Well, I looked at you because I thought you looked sexier than your tarty friends” he explained.

“Oh” she mused.

“Oh, but they weren’t my friends, I know them from when we were at the same school” she explained.

“We just happened to pass your garden at the same time, and they were the sexy ones” she said.

“I don’t think so, you’re confusing tarty and sexy, they are the former you are the latter” He replied and she blushed again.

After a moment she asked

“Why do you have so much women’s underwear? are you a pervert?” she asked and she unleashed a full-bodied beam of a smile and her whole face lit up, bright enough to dazzle the stars which made her green eyes seductively beguiling.

He explained to her that he was visiting from Sharpington to support his sister after her divorce and then she and her three daughters seemed to possess an endless supply of underwear.

“I’m pleased that you are not a pervert” she said and smiled again before walking away.

“I don’t know your name” he called and she stopped and turned to face him.

“Armorel,” she replied “Armorel Delaney”.

“That’s a beautiful name” he retorted “is it French?”

“No, it’s Gaelic, it translates to "one who lives by the sea,"”

“That’s ironic” he said.

“How so?”

“I live by the sea, and you live in the foothills of mountains” he said and laughed.

“I don’t get it”.

“My name is Peak” he explained and then she smiled.

 

That wasn’t the last time he was to see her after he watched her walk away because a couple of days later he and two of his nieces boarded the mobile library parked by the village green and once inside he discovered that the Librarian was Armorel.

“Well hello Armorel,” he said, “These are my nieces Lily and Daisy, they are new to the village and would like to join”.

“Hello girls, let’s get you signed up then” she said.

 

While the girls filled in the forms Bernie browsed the shelves and Armorel walked past him and whispered

“I’m afraid we don’t have any lingerie fetish books at the moment, but I can order something suitable for a Lingerie Expert”.

 

The girls finished signing up and chose a book each and said goodbye and went down the steps and as he prepared to follow, he said.

“I wouldn’t say I was an expert, just a gifted armature”.

“Ok then what colour am I wearing today?” she asked wearing a wry smile.

He closed his eyes and put his fingers to his temples for a moment and replied.

“Ivory” he replied and went down the steps.

“How do you do that?” she called after him

 

On Friday evening he took a walk into the village and called in at the Ramblers for a pint, and as it was a warm day he sat at an outside table and while he was enjoying his beer, he read his book.

“Do you mind if I join you?” Armorel asked

“Yes, please do” he said and closed his book.

“What brings you here?” she asked as she sat.

“I’m just enjoying a quiet pint” he replied.

“And you?”

“I’m meeting my sister” Armorel replied, “But I’m early”.

There was a brief period of small talk regarding their family and she asked.

“So, if you are not a lingerie fetishist or a full-time pervert what do you do for a living?”

“I own the Vanguard cinema in Sharpington” he replied and that prompted another prolong period of small talk but then she could wait no longer.

“So, are you going to tell me?” she asked.

“What about?”

“How you knew what knickers I was wearing on the Mobile Library” she said in a hushed whisper

“Do you think it’s the dark arts?” he teased.

“Tell me, put me out of my misery” she begged.

“Theres no mystery, I caught a glimpse of bra strap when you were dealing with the girls, and I figured someone as classy as you wouldn’t wear mismatched underwear” He explained.

“That’s how I know you’re wearing jade tonight” he said.

“Unbelievable” She exclaimed and checked her neckline “They’re not even showing”.

“I only need a glimpse” he said.

“Wait a minute” she said, “You think I’m classy?”

“Very” he confirmed and sipped his beer as she blushed.

 

They went on their first date the following evening and he took her into Nettlebridge for dinner at the Jewel of India and two days later they went back and went to the Penny Odeon to watch an Alfred Hitchcock double bill and returned twice more over the two weeks following.

 

But on the evening before he was due to return home to Sharpington they had a couple of drinks at the Ramblers and then went for a walk, crossing the River onto Stone Bridge Lane and then along the path up the wooded hill and Bernie began to talk about the future as they walked but Armorel stopped and turned to face him and said solemnly. 

“I really like you, despite your lingerie fetish, but it won’t work because I live here, and I can’t move away because all my family live here, and you live in Sharpington.”

“Well, about that” he said enigmatically.

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’m selling up in Sharpington and moving to the village” he said, “I’ve bought a cottage in Stone Bridge Lane.”

“Really?”

“Yes” he replied and she threw her arms around his neck.

“And you’re not going away?” she whispered.

“I still have to leave tomorrow” he replied and she pushed herself away from him and there was fear in her eyes.

“But I’ll only be away for a month or so.”

“So, you’re really coming back?”

“I’m really coming back” he replied and she wrapped herself around him again.

 

As they walked back towards the village they paused in front of the cottage he was buying, and she asked.

“What are you going to do for a living?”

“The same as I did in Sharpington” he replied and in response to her blank look he added.

“I bought the Penny Odeon.”

“You’re really coming back” she squealed and kissed him.

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (003) The Bookish Girl

 

The village of Oakvale-On-Roe is in the north of the relatively small English county of Downshire, situated between the old market Town of Nettlebridge, and their more affluent neighbour, Roespring and Chris Thorn, head of Thorn publishing, lives in a Large Victorian house on Nettlefield road on the southern side of the village.  

He inherited the company after his father’s sudden death, and it had taken him five years to drag the business into the 21st century and to employ the right people to run the various divisions because he wanted to run things from arm’s length.

Of all the facilities and offices in the Thorn publishing family he decided on making the Nettlebridge Book repository as his base of operations and he bought “Red House” in Oakvale.

He loved books but he wasn’t interested in publishing per se which is why he carefully selected a team of key men and women to embrace the old and the new.

He was 25 when he took the reins and after five years of hard work, he was ready for him to focus on his personal life, and he had someone in his sights.

22-year-old Katherine Lewis had worked at the repository since she was 17 and was the youngest of the 25 employees by about 30 years.

She was taken on as a general dogsbody and as a result she had become a jack of all trades, and therefore indiscernible.

She was a shy, socially awkward bookish girl, who appeared to lack self-confidence, but was a bright intelligent girl, with no personal attachments as she was much more in tune with the romantic characters in the literature she read and she was an only child who still lived with her parents.

Outside of work she rarely went out, she certainly wasn’t a party girl and her sexual awakening didn’t hit her until her late teens and although there were times when she couldn’t stop abusing herself to deal with her urges there was no one in her social circle, such as it was, that measured up against the romantic heroes in her books, and even if there was someone she was clueless  .

She was not beautiful, though she was not unattractive to look at, but she wasn’t bubbly or outgoing and always wore a knee length skirt, white blouse and tailored jacket, she had her short brunette tied in a bun, Katherine was tall, slender with nice long legs, but was far from being well endowed in the bustline, and had a habit of peering over her half-moon specs.

However, when she first saw Chris Thorn, she was smitten, he was only at the repository on Monday and Tuesday and she really looked forward to seeing him, but she didn’t show any sign of it.

Chris also noticed her and was impressed by her quiet efficiency and thought there was something about her, but it was the former that made him give her a bit of a promotion, on the days he was there she was to act in part as his PA and as she also lived in Oakvale on the days he worked from home she would act as a courier for him between the repository and his house. 

Katherine had been ferrying books and documents to him for a few months, and he really liked her but he had no idea what he should do about it, he didn’t want to be unprofessional, he certainly didn’t want to abuse his position of authority and he definitely didn’t want to scare her into leaving, so he took the only course open to him, do nothing.

 

As it turned out fate took a hand on a sunny August Friday afternoon, when Katherine took the decision to wear heels in order to make the most of her legs, she normally wore flats because she was tall.

She changed her shoes in the car and then tottered up the path that led up the side of the house, but as she was unaccustomed to heels, she tripped and fell heavily as she stepped onto the patio where Chris was sitting.

“Owwww” she exclaimed

“Oh my god, are you alright” he said as he scrambled to help her up

“Stupid shoes” she cursed

“Are you ok?” he asked with concern as he got her to her feet

“Ow, it’s my knee” she winced “But I think it’s just a graze”

“Well come and sit down and I’ll have a look” he said gently

He sat her on a patio chair and then sat on the chair opposite and gave the leg a cursory glance, her tights were shredded but the wound looked like it was just a graze as she thought, but it would need a clean.

“I need to clean it and make sure there are no foreign bodies in their” he explained

“Firstly, I need to get to it, so you have a choice, I can either cut one leg off your tights, but it might look odd going home with one bare leg, or you can take your tights off”

“Tights off” she responded

“Ok, let’s get you inside, but first let’s take your shoes off” and lifted the undamaged leg up and removed her shoe 

“These are not your usual footwear”

 “I know” she said sheepishly “It’s a long story”

“Well, it might be better if you don’t put them back on today” he advised

“Ok, I’ve got flats in the car” Katherine said as he helped her stand and offered his arm to help her into the lounge.

“Ok give me your car keys and I’ll get your other shoes while you take your tights off”

“Ok thank you” she said meekly “I’m so embarrassed”

“Don’t be” he said and squeezed her hand

 

He retrieved the shoes from her car, got cotton wool, a towel, some warm water and a tube of antiseptic cream then knocked lightly on the lounge door

“Are you decent?”

“Yes” she responded and he walked in to find her sitting on the sofa, so he set the things down on the seat beside her.

“You really don’t need to do this I can easily go home and do it”

“Nonsense” he retorted and pulled up the pouffe and sat in front of her

“I won’t hear of it”

Adam lifted her right leg so it was resting on his lap and with his left hand supporting her knee he began cleaning the graze with a cotton wool ball and warm water and found himself absentmindedly caressing the back of her knee lightly with his fingers as he cleaned the wound, then he dabbed her leg.

“That looks ok, I can’t see anything that shouldn’t be there, so I’ll just put some antiseptic cream on”

“Oh ok” she replied quietly

“Now this might sting a little” he said, and she winced briefly as he rubbed the cream gently in while still caressing the back of her knee.

“How’s that” he asked

“Lovely” she replied wistfully

“Good” he said and smiled “Now would you like a drink”

“No, I’d better go; my mum will wonder where I’ve got to” she replied regretfully

“Another time then” he suggested

“Yes, I would like that” she replied gleefully as she stood up and then her leg almost gave way and he had to steady her.

“Are you ok?” he asked with concern

“My leg just went to sleep” she replied unconvincingly “I’m ok now, just a bit tingly”

 

Two days later Chris attended St Nicholas Church, and he caught sight of Katherine with her family, and he intended asking her about her leg but lost sight of her at the end of the service so it would have to wait until Monday at the repository.  

He decided to have Sunday lunch at the Ramblers before heading home for a relaxing afternoon.

 

Back at the house he had just finished making himself a coffee and was about to take it and his book out to the patio when Katherine appeared at the back door wearing a floral summer dress.

“Hello” he said with genuine warmth “Would you like a drink?”

“Tea please” she replied

He made her drink and then asked

“Do you want to sit inside or out?”

“Well, its spitting of rain” she replied

“Inside it is then” he said “you know the way”

Kathrine put her mug down on the coffee table, but before she sat down, he said

“How is the war wound?”

“It a bit sore, but the bruise is coming out” she replied

“Do you mind if I have a look?”

“Oh ok” she responded and he crouched down to take a look and she lifted the hem of her dress to oblige.

“It’s a very attractive colour scheme” he said and then put his hand behind her knee and her leg went wobbly.

“Are you ok?” he asked with concern as he stood up to support her 

“It just went tingly” 

“Oh, it went tingly again” he mused

“And what keeps making it tingly?”

“It’s not a what” she replied enigmatically “It's a who”

“What do you mean?”

“Your hand on my knee made me tingly” she said shyly

“Really?” he said, “Are you sure?”

“Yes”

“So, what else makes you tingly?” he asked and kissed her naked

“Oh yes” she replied and stiffened

“So, what about this?” he said and kissed her neck

“Erm very tingly” she remarked and her hands gripped him tightly  

“Perhaps we should try a kiss

“You want to kiss me?”

“Of course, I do” he said, “But only if you wa….”

He never finished the sentence as she was kissing him rather enthusiastically, and they spent the following couple of hours on the sofa kissing between short conversations because Katherine was mainly interested in the kissing, being new to the sport, but then he took her upstairs and made her tingly all over.

In the village of Oakvale-On-Roe – (002) Garden Girl

 

The village of Oakvale-On-Roe is in the north of the relatively small English county of Downshire, situated between the old market Town of Nettlebridge, and their more affluent neighbour, Roespring.

It was in the kitchen of a large, detached house in Church Lane where 40-year-old Adam Power was making himself a sandwich, then in response to a knock on his front door he grabbed his stick and hobbled down hall to open it.

As the door swung open the late spring sunshine spilled into the hall and he got his first look at the person who had disturbed his lunch preparation.

From his vantage point on the threshold, he looked down and saw a broad brimmed straw hat, with what he assumed was a woman beneath it, judging by the folds of floral material rippling in the breeze. 

“I was wondering if you needed any gardening doing, or odd jobs, whatever you need” a quiet feminine voice said, but she said it in a monotone run on sentence.

“Ok let’s try that again more slowly, with punctuation” he said and the front of the straw hat slowly rose and a pale face, framed with red hair appeared.

“I was wondering if you needed any gardening doing, or odd jobs, whatever you need” the girl repeated as instructed but her eyes never left the ground 

“Are you Liams cousin?” Adam asked

“No, I don’t have a cousin” she replied and raised her eyes for the first time

“Oh, I’m sorry, Liam cleans my car and said his cousin was looking for some gardening work, I just assumed you were she, but I guess it’s just a coincidence” he said

“Well, I don’t have any cousins, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles or grandparents, just me and my mum”, She explained and began to walk away

“Well thanks anyway”

“Where are you going?” he asked and she stopped and turned around

“I didn’t think you needed me” she replied timidly “What about the cousin?”

“She’s not here, and you are” he said and as he brandished his stick he added “And I need someone now, so come through and tell me if you’re interested in the job”

“Really?” she exclaimed and was beaming as she followed him

“You might not be smiling when you see it, the garden is a real mess”

He said as he stepped gingerly through the French doors onto the patio

“Oh Gosh!” she exclaimed

“I did say it was a mess; there’s a lot of work there” He said “If you decide not to take the job on, I won’t think any less of you”

“Oh no, I want to do it, but…” she responded

“Ah there’s a but” he said sardonically

“I’m a carer for my mum” she explained

“She has MS so I can only work a couple of hours at a time and as I’m her carer I can only work in between…. caring”

“That’s not a problem, it will take as long as it takes and if you can’t work every day then that’s ok too” he said “it’s been more than two years since I’ve been out there, and I wasn’t much of a gardener even then”

He manoeuvred himself into a chair and sat down

“Pull up a chair” he said and the floppy hat wearing red head did as requested

“Introductions are in order I think, I’m Adam, Adam Power”

“Lorna Budd” she responded and offered her hand and as he took it and he made an appraisal of the girl.

Lorna was about 5’4 or 5 slim but shapely, long red curly hair, stunning blue eyes but her face was on the attractive side, except when she smiled.

Estimating the age of women was difficult for him so he guessed she was somewhere between 18 and 25, when she was on his doorstep speaking to her feet, he would have pegged her nearer 18 but when he showed her the task in hand, she showed more maturity, so nearer 25.     

“So, Lorna what are you going to charge me?”

“Oh, I don’t know I hadn’t thought that far ahead” she replied uncertainly

“Well would you like an hourly rate or a flat fee?”

“Oh Gosh, I don’t know” she replied “I’m not very good at this I’m afraid”

“Well how about you make a start, and we’ll talk again at the end of the week, he said “Does that work for you”

“Yes, yes” she squealed

“Good I’ll put the kettle on”

“I’ll do it” Lorna said eagerly

 

While the kettle was boiling, he took her into the garage so she could see what tools he had.

“My goodness!” she exclaimed when she saw the array of tools hanging on the walls.

Then when they were satisfied, they had everything required they repaired to the kitchen and when they were seated at the kitchen table with mugs of tea in front of them Lorna said timidly 

“There are a lot of saws and axes,”

“Yes, there are one or two” he agreed

“Are you an axe murderer?” she asked and laughed

“No, you’re quite safe, I’m a Tree Surgeon, my brother and I have our own tree surgery business, Power Brothers, although I'm little help to him at the moment, and won’t be for a while more I suspect” 

“Is that how you hurt your leg?” she asked

“I wish it was”

“Oh?”

“The truth if far more embarrassing” he admitted

“Really?”

“Yes, I was putting the Christmas decorations away in the loft” he explained

“And?”

“My foot slipped and went between the rungs and I broke it in multiple places”  he said and winced “I spent months in hospital, numerous operations and now two years later all I can do is physio to build up the muscles, I had a session today which is why it hurts so bad, but it is getting better, although I doubt I’ll ever get back up a tree”

“That’s really awful” she said sympathetically, “But why is it embarrassing?”

“Well, I’ve spent 20 years climbing 40- and 50-foot trees and I manage to fall off an 8-foot ladder”

“Oh gosh I see what you mean” she said and giggled

She finished her tea and looked at her watch

“I’m sorry I have to go and see to mum”

“Of course, off you go, it was nice to meet you”

“Yes, and you” she responded

“I will see you tomorrow”

“Ok just let yourself in through the side gate” he called

 

Lorna’s mother had MS and she’d been caring for her since she was 12 years old and as a result, even though she had 4 A Levels, a university education was not an option for her although her mother wanted her to go, but such was her sense of duty Lorna would not hear of it.

Her caring duties also curtailed school friendships as she could never attend the cinema, parties or festivals so she stopped being asked and it was a similar story with relationships, boys were attracted to her but she always put her mother first, and that was the reason she was still a virgin at the age of 23, but she had no regrets.

 

Lorna was back at Adam Power’s house just after 9 o’clock on Tuesday morning and had made a good start by the time Adam appeared at the back door with two mugs of tea

“Good morning” he said more cheerily than he felt   

“Morning” she called back and walked towards him when she saw the tea

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you arrived” he said “The leg kept me awake”

“I’m sorry to hear that” she said as she took the tea “have you got pain relief”

“I have but I only take it when I absolutely need it” he replied and sat down on a patio chair

“Well, it sounds like you needed it last night” she pointed out  

“That’s what my father said”

“Very wise, is he a tree surgeon as well?” she asked

“Oh no, my mum and dad are both doctors, and they were GPs in the village, they are retired now and live Spain, they check up on me regularly”    

“I remember Dr Power, she diagnosed my mum MS, I liked her very much”

Lorna said

“She wouldn’t be best pleased with me if she could see the garden, it was her pride and joy, especially the roses” he said

“Did your parents live here then?” she asked

“Yes, it was our family home, and when my parents retired, they left the house to my brother and I” Adam explained

“Does he still live here?”

“No, I love my brother very much and he I, but…” he began

“But?”

“We love each other more when we don’t live under the same roof” he explained

“So, as I love living in Oakvale, and I love this house, and as he has no particular feeling about either I bought him out and he lives in Roespring with his wife and children”

Adam put his mug down on the table he moved his leg and winced in pain

“Why don’t you try massage?” Lorna suggested “Mum has one that comes to the house, she’s very good, I can give you her number if you like”

“Yes please, that would be great”

She got it up on her phone and showed it to him and he typed it in his own,

“Thank you, I suppose we should exchange numbers, don’t you think?” he suggested

“Yes, I do” she replied and took his phone and typed in her number and then sent herself a text message “Done”

“Great, now I should let you get on” he said and shakily got to his feet “I have a call to make”

 

It wasn’t the last chat they had sitting on the patio drinking tea in fact it happened several times a day, they both enjoyed the company, but despite that Lorna made good progress by Friday afternoon when they sat down to discuss payment.

Adam was in good spirits because he’d had his second leg massage of the week and was feeling the benefit and he’d booked more to follow his next three physio sessions.

As he put the drinks down on the table he heard her sigh.

“What’s the matter?”

“I still don’t know what to charge”

“Well, I’ve given it some thought” he said “I don’t think a fixed price will work because you don’t know how long the job will take, you don’t even know how long the garden is yet”

Lorna laughed at his joke, but her frown soon returned  

“So, what should I say then?”

“Well, I’ve done some research on the typical hourly rate for a gardener in the UK” he said “And there isn’t one, they range between £14 to £45 per hour depending on experience, location, and the type of work”

“Oh Gosh what does that mean?” she said in despair

“Well, I suggest and hourly rate of £25 while you’re clearing the jungle”

“No that’s too much” she protested

“And £20 when you’re maintaining it” he added

“You want me to stay on as your gardener?”

The thing Lorna was worried about was not seeing him, drinking tea and chatting once the job was done.

“Only if you are agreeable” he said

“Definitely” she exclaimed “Thank you”

“So, in that case here is this week’s money” he said and handed her an envelope of cash

“Oh Gosh” she exclaimed

“I’ll do it straight into your account going forward” he said and smiled

 

Although he couldn’t climb trees or do the manual stuff, he still worked for the business, writing reports, placing orders, quoting for jobs and some accounts work.

He had a good view of the garden when he was sat at his desk in his study which he had found quite depressing when it was a jungle, but now since Lorna had got to grips with it, it was a much more pleasant view, especially when she was busying about, but she was a terrible distraction particularly when she was bending and stretching, which was actually terribly delicious.

 

By the end of June Lorna had reached the end of the garden and was using the woodchipper to deal with the huge pile of shrubbery, it was a bit boring, but it was all part of the job.

 

As she was walking along Church Lane it started to rain so she ran the rest of the way and when she got through the kitchen door, she tripped over her own feet and went sprawling and had Adam no been there, she would have hurt herself.

However Adam reaches out and caught her, but his handholds were problematic, his right hand was on her breast, and his left gripped her buttock, that in itself was less of a problem, it was the fact that her gave both of them a squeeze and his grasp lingered too long to be decent.

“I’m so sorry” he said as he manhandled her to her feet “that was unforgiv…”

Before he could complete his apology, she had thrown her arms around his neck and kissed him vigorously.