by Anna Jacobs
Simone let out a long sigh of relief. It felt wonderful to have the house to herself. She did a slow tour of it and that made her even more determined to put away some of the myriad ornaments.
Every mirror that she passed reflected back a stranger’s face, the short, jaw-length hair made so much difference. She kept stopping to beam at her reflection. She’d take a selfie and send it to her daughters. She stopped moving and frowned at herself on that thought. It was they who’d pestered her to keep her hair long.
Why had she let them dictate to her in so many ways? That was going to stop from now on. Definitely! She sauntered round the rooms carrying out a detailed exploration this time.
The freezer didn’t have much in it and what there was verged on junk food in her opinion. There were a couple of frozen ready meals with so many ingredients listed on the back panel she grimaced. A cocktail of chemicals and artificial flavourings rather than nourishing food.
Since Harvey’s death she’d eaten very healthily and had discovered that she felt better when she ate fewer carbohydrates. She’d always loved fresh vegetables and salads but he’d liked ‘proper’ cooked meals.
‘I might have to go shopping today,’ she said aloud then got annoyed when she realised she was talking to herself again. That had to stop.
Only, where were the shops? She got out the folder that Linda had given her and found to her relief that this had been covered. Oh dear, she hadn’t even thought of doing that for them in her mad scramble to get ready. Still, they’d have their daughter to show them round.
She wished she had someone of her own here. ‘Oh, don’t be such a wimp,’ she muttered and went out to the car, a smallish vehicle, fairly new-looking. She grimaced at the garish yellow colour but remembered reading a few years ago that this was one of the safest colours for cars. After clicking the key tab to unlock it she got into the driver’s seat and adjusted it to suit her longer legs.
Might be worth driving round the hotel car park a few times to get used to it. She closed the door and something immediately started donging loudly at her. Ah, the seatbelt sign was blinking at her. When she fastened the belt, the annoying noise stopped and she was allowed to start the car.
She drove across to the hotel, round the nearby car park twice and then back to the house again. Piece of cake. Not a bad little car, actually, except for the colour.
When she got back she saw a man staring at her from the window of the house next door. He raised one hand in a greeting so she did the same. The Dittons said they’d told him about her but she couldn’t remember his name. He didn’t come out, so she didn’t go and introduce herself properly. If he didn’t want to get too friendly with the neighbours, that was all right by her.
She might as well get on with her first proper outing in the car. She wasn’t worried about driving it now that she’d tried it out, but she was more than a little concerned about finding her way around the countryside on her own because the Dittons didn’t have a satnav. She might have to buy one if she was going to do some exploring. Yes, why not?
She checked the boot for shopping bags and found a stash of them, just as she had in her own car in Australia.
When she went to get her handbag, she stopped in the kitchen to check the cupboards and fridge again, making a preliminary shopping list.
She felt distinctly nervous about driving about in a strange country and her heart began beating a little faster than usual. She was able to use her Aussie driving licence here, but it would be prudent to see if there was a set of road rules online, in case there were any significant differences.
Then she realised these cogitations were all delaying tactics and she was still standing there like an idiot at a fair. After checking that the house was locked, she got into the car again, took a deep breath and set off.
Linda’s directions were excellent and took her straight to a large shopping centre on the outskirts of town. There you are, you fool! she told herself. What were you so worried about?
Everything, she admitted. She was worried about every single new thing she was going to face here, because she would be facing them alone.
For the first time she was truly glad she’d taken on this house swap, worries or not. She’d needed pushing out of her comfort zone.
Inside the huge complex she strolled round to see what shops there were, watching people, getting her bearings. It wasn’t all that different from the shopping centre she used in Australia.
‘Idiot!’ she told herself.
She hadn’t realised she’d spoken aloud until a woman next to her scowled, clearly thinking this was aimed at her. ‘Oh, sorry. I was talking to myself.’
The woman didn’t reply, merely rolled her eyes and walked away.
Simone found somewhere to buy a satnav, which made her feel better. After that she went back to the food hall and had a good old spend-up in the fresh food section of the supermarket. Frozen ready meals, indeed! She was going to make a luscious plate of salad for tea, with a chunk of the ready-roasted chicken she’d bought for protein and fresh raspberries with ice cream for afters. She’d bought some bottles of white wine too. She’d sip a glass as she watched television afterwards and hopefully would manage to stay awake a little longer tonight.
As she arrived back at the leisure village, the words echoing in her mind were: I did it!
But her elation faded because the evening was very quiet and seemed to go on for a long time. It got dark a lot later here, too. Like many of the evenings since she lost Harvey the hours had dragged, but that felt worse here.
She’d have phoned her daughters for a chat only they’d be in bed asleep now, since Western Australia was seven hours ahead timewise.
The following morning Simone phoned her daughters. It was teatime in Australia and she assured them that she was coping just fine. She also had a quick word with her grandchildren. That brought tears to her eyes as she ended the call and it took her a minute or two to calm down afterwards. She was going to miss them dreadfully. They’d have grown so much by the time she got back.
To distract herself she looked through the pile of tourist leaflets the Dittons had left for her. Now that she’d bought a satnav, she could go for outings, first of all to nearby villages to get to know the area, then maybe longer outings staying overnight.
That would keep her busy during the day, but she would need other ways of filling her time during the next few months. She had never been one to merely sit around idling.
She went up to the snack bar at the hotel in the late afternoon, just for a change of scene, and got chatting to the young waitress, who was thinking of working her way round the world with her boyfriend. When she found out that Simone was from Australia, she eagerly asked questions until called across to serve another customer.
The lass didn’t seem to have any idea of how big Australia was. Very few Europeans did. Simone had found that before when chatting to tourists in Perth who planned to drive up to the north of the state ‘for a couple of days’, not realising it was a full day or more’s gruelling drive just to get there on roads which were not smooth motorways.
Simone had a very clear idea of how small Britain was in comparison to Australia, but even so it had already offered her a few surprises.
It was going to take time to get used to driving along narrow country roads between high hedges, and she had been surprised at how many huge thundering trucks there were on both major and minor roads. No, they called them lorries here, at least she thought they did.
She would take her time and get used to things gradually. No worries.
And maybe she could join the local library.
The next day Simone got up at six o’clock as usual, in spite of having had another wakeful patch during the night. It was an effort but it made her feel as if she was getting closer to a normal daily schedule.
She went out for a drive round the district at just after eight and was surprised at how crowded the roads leading to the M4 were. The rush hour
seemed still to be full on. She’d remember that in future.
When she got back, she didn’t let herself phone her daughters again but did have a quick chat with Libby. Ending it brought tears to her eyes.
She cried again when she saw a news item about some really bad bushfires in Australia. To her relief, they were in the eastern states, over two thousand miles away from her home and family, but her heart went out to the people who were losing not only their homes but personal treasures like family photographs. Some of them, who’d been taken by surprise, had lost every single possession except for the clothes they stood up in.
Every year some communities were affected but these fires were more widespread than usual. She’d have to contribute to the funds for helping them.
It put the life she was leading and her silly worrying into perspective.
That same evening, just before she went to bed, she at last got a response to her email to her parents who were again in an area with access to the Internet. They were delighted that she’d taken this opportunity to travel. They didn’t add ‘about time too’ but they’d said to her face that she should see something of the world, said it more than once, and she could read the same words behind what they were saying now.
The message ended: We’ve emailed our cousins on both sides of the family to let them know you’re in the UK. They’ll probably be in touch. They were very hospitable when we were over there. We’re just dashing off but will phone you soon to tell you a little about our family there.
She was glad about that – wasn’t she? Her parents had wanted her to travel and meet some new people – and she wanted it too now, didn’t she? Oh hell, she wasn’t even sure what she wanted at the moment.
She couldn’t remember any of these cousins’ names, so shot off a reply to her parents asking for a list of relatives. Then wondered again if she wanted to bother. These people would probably be her parents’ generation. That was fine but she’d also like to meet some of her own generation, give or take a few years.
She was going to miss Libby most of all, chats on the phone, coffee together at the shops at weekends, a sympathetic ear to life’s little problems.
She was definitely not going to even hint to her daughters that she was dreadfully homesick. No way.
Chapter Seven
The next day Simone went further afield exploring the countryside, using the new satnav. After successfully finding her way to and from a couple of picturesque villages, she ended up at the shopping centre buying another load of her own sort of food.
That took up most of the day, but she couldn’t settle when she got back. There didn’t seem to be anything she wanted to watch on television that evening so she looked outside. Still daylight.
After a fine day, surely it would be warm enough to sit on the patio for a while? Well, it might be if she put on her travelling jacket. It was rather similar to a sunny winter’s evening at home, actually.
The Dittons had a set of outdoor furniture but it was all carefully wrapped up in what Simone supposed to be its heavy-duty winter protection. She went across to unwrap some of it. When there were no clouds and the weather was warmer she’d be able to enjoy the night sky. She’d have to get used to a different set of constellations. She’d look it up online and find out what there was to see.
Good heavens, the coverings were hard to take off! She could usually cope with outdoor tasks but this one was taxing her strength and the shaped tarpaulin seemed designed to need two sets of hands to peel it off.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when a man’s voice nearby said, ‘Looks like you need a bit of help with that.’
She turned and saw her neighbour standing at the border of their two properties, which had a line of sparse baby bushes planted along it. This was the first time he’d bothered to speak to her. ‘Yes, I do. Would you mind?’
He moved across to join her. ‘Happy to be of service. I’m Russ Carden.’
He was taller than her, with a lithe look to him that usually said that person was into active pursuits, but he was walking rather stiffly, favouring his left leg slightly. He seemed uncertain whether to offer to shake hands and she had difficulty holding back a smile when she saw his right hand twitch upwards then fall back again.
She offered hers. ‘I’m Simone Ramsey.’
They shook and she asked, ‘You’re walking stiffly. Have you hurt yourself? I don’t want to risk making it worse by asking you to move heavy furniture.’
‘It’s a long-term injury from a car accident. Believe me, I won’t do anything to make it worse because it’s well on its way to getting better, as much as it can, anyway. It aches a bit by the end of the day, especially when I’ve been more active than usual.’
He seemed to understand the arcane fastenings on the covers and she followed his directions. They soon had the outdoor furniture revealed and it looked fairly new.
‘Do you want it set out?’ he asked.
‘Yes, please. I love sitting outside.’
‘So do I. You must be able to do that more often in Australia, though. It’s still very chilly here.’
‘Yes. Mozzies can be a nuisance at home, though.’
He stepped back. ‘I’ll leave you to it, then.’
‘Can I offer you a glass of wine as a thank you?’
‘Not tonight, but another time would be nice. I’ve only just moved in and there’s a lot to sort out.’
Or maybe he didn’t want to socialise with the neighbours. She didn’t know him well enough to guess his true motive. He didn’t seem stand-offish, though, so perhaps he was simply telling the truth.
He turned to walk into the house, then stopped. ‘Damn! The wind’s blown my insect screen open. I’ve got to fix a better catch to it. Bye.’
She only wished the house she was living in had insect screens, as houses did in Australia.
Just as he started to hurry towards the three steps that led to his back patio, the wind blew more strongly and from nowhere a big plastic sheet came flapping at him, making him fall down the steps.
When he didn’t get up, she rushed across to help him.
‘Just a minute.’ He clung to her for a few moments, cursing under his breath. He started to pull away from her, but still seemed unsteady and grabbed her again.
She helped him slowly into the house and he kept using her to maintain his balance.
‘Thank you. I’m truly grateful. I’m going to have to do something about those steps. I have a slight unsteadiness sometimes as a result of the accident.’
‘Come over to a chair.’
‘I need to do some simple exercises before I sit down. They help.’
‘Shall I leave you in peace now?’
‘Why don’t you stay? In fact, how about I offer you a glass of wine?’ He gave her a wry smile as he added, ‘I could certainly do with one. I haven’t had that happen for ages.’
‘Are you sure? You said you were busy,’ she pointed out.
‘I was. But I’ve totally lost my concentration now and I’m definitely going to have a drink. I’d be grateful if you’d get the bottle out of the fridge and pour me a glass, though. Oh, and I’ve only got white.’
‘Happy to do that and I prefer white anyway. Do sit down.’
He moved slowly across to the nearest armchair but started doing some simple exercises.
She found the wine easily enough but didn’t like to search his cupboards, so poked her head out of the doorway again to ask, ‘Where are the glasses?’
‘The end wall cupboard.’
After handing one to him she sat down and raised her glass. ‘Cheers.’ She took a sip and rolled it round her mouth. ‘Very nice.’
He followed suit, but took a gulp not a polite sip, then let out a long sigh and wiggled his leg to and fro a few times. ‘So, what brought you to England?’
‘A sudden whim. The Dittons’ daughter offered me a house swap on their behalf. She’s expecting her first child, you see, and wants them nearby. In a
fit of madness I accepted, then I discovered a really great special offer on a flight cancellation website, business class. Only snag was it was leaving Perth the same night. So within a few days of accepting the offer I flew to England. I’m still a bit surprised at being here and I haven’t even begun to work out what I’m going to do with myself for several months.’
‘No relatives in the UK?’
‘Yes, a few, but none of them close and actually, I don’t know them at all. My parents have kept in touch with a couple of cousins of their own generation, but only in a casual way. I don’t know whether to make myself known to them or not.’ Which was more than enough about her, she decided. ‘What about you, Russ? You said you’d had an accident.’
‘It happened in Australia, strangely enough, but in New South Wales, not your side of the country.’ He explained about the idiot driver.
She whistled softly. ‘That’s rotten luck. I hope he got a prison sentence for that.’
‘He and his passenger were killed outright. I try to count myself lucky to have survived.’
She saw him look down at his left leg as he spoke.
He asked about her family. She told him she was a widow then on impulse tried to lighten the sombre mood by describing the dreadful school concert and how it had contributed to her decision to come here. That at least brought a genuine smile to his face and he started to relax visibly.
Wow, he was rather attractive when he smiled – and he looked vaguely familiar. Could she have seen him somewhere before? No, of course not. What was she thinking?
After she’d finished the wine, she refused another glass and claimed she was tired, because he was looking drained.
As she made her way back, she decided it was nice to know who your neighbour was. She stopped for a moment to admire her back patio, which looked attractive with the table and chairs set out on it. If she ever got to know people, she could invite them round for a barbecue. If the Dittons had a barbecue, that was.
That reminded her that she had yet to explore the garage attached to the far side of the house. The Dittons had said they didn’t store their car in it and she’d not bothered to check it out yet.