‘Back. Rugby injury.’
Lisa winced. ‘I think you should try a few stretches.’
‘Oh, I stretch. My physio has given me plenty of those.’
‘And do they work?’
‘I don’t think anything will work, short of a new back.’
‘You should really try yoga. You don’t have to have a pink mat, you know.’
He laughed. ‘You offering to teach me some moves?’
‘I wouldn’t want to be responsible for inflicting injuries on you.’
‘You wouldn’t. It’s just twinges now. I’ve been assured nothing’s going to break. It’s annoying, but I can live with it.’
‘Should you be gardening if you’re in pain with your back?’
‘I’m meant to keep moving,’ he told her. ‘It’s not as bad as it was.’ He walked towards her, putting the trowel he’d been holding on top of a low wall. ‘Go on – teach me some moves.’
Lisa observed him for a moment, trying to gauge if he was being sincere or if he was taking the mickey. He looked pretty earnest.
‘Would a please help?’ he asked.
‘Shouldn’t you be working?’
‘Nah. I’ve finished for the day.’
Lisa looked around the garden as if she might discover a hidden camera or something because she wasn’t totally sure that she trusted him.
‘Hey – look – I didn’t mean to put you in an awkward position,’ he said with a shrug. ‘I shouldn’t have disturbed you. I’m sorry. I’ll leave you to it.’
Lisa instantly felt guilty. ‘No – wait!’ she called as he turned to go. ‘I’ve got time to show you a couple of nice stretches.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Yeah.’
He grinned. She really did wish he’d stop doing that.
‘Shall I kick my boots off?’
Lisa nodded. ‘You’ll get a better grip with bare feet.’
He bent, untying his laces and taking off his boots and socks. It suddenly felt rather strange and very intimate to be standing next to this stranger with bare feet. But he didn’t seem to notice Lisa’s awkwardness.
She took him through a series of moves and stretches, finishing with him lying on his back with his knees bent in semi-supine.
‘Bending the knees like this gives your lower back wonderful support if you have problems there,’ she told him.
‘It feels good.’
‘Yeah?’
She guided him through some deep breaths and then he stood back up, stepping off her mat and putting on his socks and boots.
‘Hey, you’re a pretty good teacher,’ he said.
‘Thank you!’
‘You do this for a living?’
‘Goodness, no.’
‘You should.’
She smiled.
‘You know, you look kind of familiar,’ he said.
She bent to roll up her yoga mat, doing her best to shield her face.
‘Have you been on telly?’
She sighed. ‘Once or twice.’
‘Really? I thought so. Remind me.’
‘It was a long time ago.’ She placed her mat in its carrier and looped it over her shoulder.
‘Go on – you’ve got to tell me now.’
‘It was just a soap opera. Long before your time.’
Suddenly, Alfie’s eyes widened. ‘You were that Melinda Blake from Gargrave Road, weren’t you?’
Lisa felt her face flush.
‘I’ve got it, haven’t I?’
She nodded and began heading back towards the priory.
‘I used to watch it with my mum. She used to love it. Used to love you. She was furious when they killed you off.’
‘Well, thank your mum for her support,’ Lisa said, not slowing down and hoping he’d drop by the wayside at some point.
‘So, what did you do after that? I mean, you kind of disappeared.’
‘Yes, thank you for reminding me.’
‘Oh! God. Sorry.’
‘It’s okay. I just don’t like talking about it, that’s all.’
‘I didn’t mean to put my foot in it.’
‘It’s okay, really. It’s just, well, the work I’m getting these days isn’t up to much.’
‘But you were really good,’ he added. ‘That scene in the bar when you walked out on Barry after finding out he was having an affair. Classic!’
‘Thanks.’ She felt the stirrings of a smile.
‘That was so cool.’
Lisa stopped and turned to face him. ‘How do you remember all that? You must have been really young when that aired.’
He shrugged. ‘I always remember a pretty face.’
Lisa’s mouth fell open at that. She truly didn’t know what to say and she was usually quite brilliant with the comeback quips, especially to a handsome man, and Alfie was more handsome than most. But she was also old enough to be his mother and that made him out of bounds as far as Lisa was concerned.
Anyway, it was the young Lisa he was fascinated with, she told herself.
‘Well, ain’t that something?’ she told him and, turning her back on him, headed into the priory.
‘I see you’ve introduced yourself to the gorgeous young gardener,’ Harrie teased as Lisa walked into the kitchen.
‘He introduced himself to me as a matter of fact,’ Lisa said.
‘So, when are you two going out, then?’
Lisa frowned. ‘I take offence at that kind of question. Just because there’s a man around, it doesn’t mean that I’m going to hop into bed with him at the first opportunity!’
Harrie looked visibly shocked by Lisa’s declaration.
‘I just thought . . .’
‘You know, why do you always assume that I’m going to go off with any bloke that just happens to come along?’
‘I don’t, Lisa!’
‘No? Are you sure?’
‘It’s just that – well – you’ve always been the first to spot a handsome man.’
Lisa realised that she was being unreasonable, but she couldn’t help being defensive because she felt so vulnerable. She was forty-six years old and still living in rented accommodation with no proper career to speak of and no man in her life. Being at the priory this summer with her two friends had made her realise what a mess her life really was.
‘Lisa? What’s wrong?’
Lisa put her yoga mat down and sat herself on the bench by the trestle table.
‘Sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I didn’t mean to lash out at you like that.’
‘It’s okay.’
‘No, it’s not.’
Harrie took a seat opposite her and reached across the dark wood to hold Lisa’s hands in hers.
‘I’m just – oh, god – I don’t even like talking about it.’
‘What?’
‘Feeling my age,’ Lisa confessed at last.
Harrie smiled. ‘Is that all?’
‘Isn’t that enough?’
‘I suppose. But it’s natural, isn’t it?’
‘I hate nature. And I hate this feeling of needing to measure up,’ Lisa said.
‘Then don’t do that to yourself.’
‘I don’t know how to not do it.’
‘You just ignore it and get on with each day as it comes, living it the best way you can.’
‘Blimey, listen to you! You sound like a new-age guru.’
‘Do I?’
‘Yes! It should be me coming out with those sorts of lines. I’ve been practising yoga for so many years now and I meditate every single day, and yet I’m still an ungrateful sod. I’m always a little bit dissatisfied with something.’ She shook her head. ‘But isn’t that part of being human – always to want more? To be forever pushing?’
‘I suppose it can be,’ Harrie said, ‘but you can change that mindset if you really want to and stop always pushing and decide to be happy with being exactly where you are now.’
‘Oh, I’m happy being here at the priory with you and Audrey. T
his is a real treat. But I know that the minute I get home that awful feeling of disappointment will settle over me again. That makes me sound so ungrateful, doesn’t it?’
‘No, it doesn’t,’ Harrie assured her. ‘It just makes you honest.’
‘I mean, I know how lucky I am in so many ways,’ Lisa said. ‘I was just thinking about my mum and how many more years I’ve had than she ever did.’
Harrie squeezed her hands. ‘You see? You have so much to be grateful for even with just that.’
‘And yet I can’t help this feeling that I’m doing it all wrong. Maybe I’m having a mid-life crisis or something. I don’t know. I’ve got all this time on my hands here and that’s kind of made me turn inwards.’
‘That’s one of the reasons I wanted to come here,’ Harrie told her. ‘I think we all need to do that at some point, don’t you?’
‘Yes, but I’m not sure it’s doing me any good. I just feel as if I’m brooding all the time.’
‘You’ll get through that stage.’
‘Yeah? How do you know?’
‘Because I’m going through it too.’
Lisa frowned. ‘But you’re so sweet all the time, Harrie, and I’ve done nothing but grouch.’
‘That’s not true! You’ve been so much fun to have around. I wouldn’t have invited you if I’d thought you’d be a grouch.’
‘Well, my apologies if I’ve been a bit down.’
‘You don’t need to apologise.’
‘I’m just feeling sorry for myself, I guess,’ Lisa confessed.
Harrie took a deep breath. ‘You know what?’
‘What?’
‘I think what you need is a wonderful summer fling.’
‘What?’ Lisa all but screamed.
‘I couldn’t help noticing the way that young gardener was looking at you.’
‘Don’t be daft!’
‘I think he has the hots for you, Lisa. I could definitely see it in his eyes.’
‘No, no, no! He’s way too young. Definitely off limits.’
‘Says who?’
‘Anyone with a conscience,’ Lisa told her.
‘You mean you’re not tempted?’
‘Nope!’
‘Oh, well, if you’re not, maybe I’ll chat him up next time he’s here.’
Lisa gasped. ‘Don’t you dare, Harriet Greenleaf! I saw him first!’
‘So, you do like him?’
‘Well, of course I do! You’d have to be crazy not to. But it’s simply not going to happen, okay?’ Lisa suddenly laughed. ‘He used to watch me in Gargrave Road with his mum! Talk about ageing a person.’
‘Some guys like older women,’ Harrie pointed out. ‘He obviously has very good taste.’
‘I don’t think he’s interested in me. Maybe he’s a little star struck, that’s all. And he might want me to help him with some stretches. He’s got a rugby injury.’
‘Then help him stretch,’ Harrie said, ‘and who knows what could happen on that yoga mat!’
‘Oh, don’t!’
They giggled together and Lisa instantly felt better.
‘You’re such a good friend, Harrie,’ she told her. ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you in my life. I know we sometimes go months and months without seeing each other, but I always know you’re there if I need you.’
‘I feel the same,’ Harrie said.
‘You’ll always be there, won’t you, Harrie?’
There was a pause before her friend answered. ‘Of course I will be.’
Lisa breathed a sigh of relief and then stood up from the table. ‘Right, I’m going to sneak into Audrey’s room for a cold shower. All this talk of hot young rugby players on my yoga mat and I’m overheating!’
Harrie watched her friend leave the kitchen and then got up to make a cup of tea. Not for her – for Samson. She hadn’t seen him for a few days and thought it was time to catch up with him. She was enjoying the slow progress of making friends with this man. Perhaps it was because he knew so very little about her and she didn’t feel that weight of pressure at having to reveal her condition to him. The thought had occurred to her, briefly, but what would be the point? No, she liked this light summer relationship – this casual talk about stone over a cup of tea and the knowledge that she needn’t divulge anything about herself that she wasn’t totally comfortable with.
With cup of tea in hand, Harrie left the kitchen and walked through the cloisters to the tower. The oldest part of the priory still gave her goosebumps of delight whenever she ventured out there. You could almost smell the history. Well, you actually could when Samson was knocking centuries of dust about. But there was something timeless and magical about the very air in that part of the priory and walking there felt like a kind of time travel.
‘Hello there!’ she called as she walked towards the scaffolding. ‘It’s me, Harrie, with your cup of tea.’
He paused in his work momentarily and glanced down towards her, giving a little nod. ‘I’ll be down in a minute,’ he said, his voice a little warmer today, she thought. Perhaps he was getting used to her.
‘No rush, but I might take a sip if you take too long.’
Harrie walked across to the other side of the tower and perched on the ledge of a stone alcove. She could get a good view of Samson from there. He was wearing a blue-and-green checked shirt today and the sleeves were rolled up to expose his strong, tanned arms. He was also wearing goggles and a dust mask, which wasn’t the best of looks, she had to confess. Still, with clouds of ancient dust and bits of sharp stone flying around, she suspected he didn’t much care what he looked like when it came to protection.
She watched him work for a few moments and then he removed his goggles and mask and came down the ladder.
‘I’ve just lied to one of my best friends,’ she told him as she handed him the cup of tea.
His eyes widened perceptibly, but he didn’t say anything.
‘Actually, I’ve lied to both of them now. Is that awful of me?’ She looked at him, awaiting a response, but he simply sipped his tea. She hadn’t planned on telling him anything; it just kind of blurted out and she found that, once she started, she couldn’t stop.
‘I hate this subterfuge,’ she went on. ‘I wish I could just be open and honest with them, but I can’t, you see? Not yet anyway. It’s horrible, trying to keep the pain away from them.’ She paused. She was saying too much, even though Samson wasn’t really listening. Or maybe he was, in his own quiet, thoughtful way.
‘Subterfuge is never a good thing,’ he suddenly said.
Harrie started. So he was listening. She smiled and then sighed.
‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘there it is. A problem that I’m not going to solve today.’ She gave a little shrug and Samson held his empty cup towards her. She took it from him and wrapped her hands around it. It still felt warm. ‘I’ll leave you to it, then.’
He nodded and turned to go and she watched as he climbed back up the scaffolding.
‘Thanks for the tea!’ he called down, and she smiled.
He might not have said anything much, but it had sure felt good talking to him.
Chapter 7
It was a rather surprising fact that, even though she’d celebrated forty-six years on the planet, Harrie had never had a large birthday cake. Even as a child, she’d never been given one of those jaw-dropping beauties all smothered with icing and lit with candles. Her mother simply hadn’t liked baking and she’d never thought to get a store-bought cake. Harrie wouldn’t have minded that. In fact, she’d have loved one of those cakes she’d secretly spied in bakery windows, but there simply hadn’t been the money for such frivolities and so they’d celebrate with a quarter of pick-and-mix instead.
‘Sweets for my sweet,’ her mother would say.
Of course, Harrie had gone on to spoil her own daughter, Honor, with beautiful, decadent cakes to mark each and every one of her birthdays. They’d had everything from girly creations smothered in pink icing to a
cake in the shape of a Shetland pony when she’d been going through her horsey stage, and another which looked like a fairy-tale castle with fondant princesses dancing across it.
Perhaps Harrie was living her childhood again through her daughter and perhaps that was why she was doing what she was doing right now. Anyway, she wasn’t going to overanalyse it. She wanted to do it and that was enough of a reason.
She’d arranged the cake weeks before their stay at the priory, choosing a small family-run company in the area and speaking to them on the phone after looking at their unique creations on their website. It was to be delivered at the end of the second week at the priory. Harrie had figured they’d have relaxed into a routine by then and they had, with Mrs Ryder taking the sting out of self-catering with her delicious meals and the occasional trip to a pub for lunch. It was time, she believed, for a wonderful surprise.
It was due to be delivered in the afternoon and Harrie had left instructions with Mrs Ryder to hide it in one of the cupboards.
‘You don’t want me to put it out on the table for you?’ she’d asked.
‘Oh, no!’ Harrie had said. She wanted to do it all herself.
Harrie had arranged for them to visit a nearby town and they happily browsed the shops and an antiques centre with Audrey treating herself to a china cup and saucer and Lisa buying postcards for her father and housesitter.
Harrie could barely wait to get back to the priory. She was filled with a nervous kind of excitement that came from hiding a really delicious secret.
‘Anyone for a cup of tea?’ she asked as they entered the kitchen, picking up the kettle to fill with fresh water. She was desperate to check the cupboard for the cake, but it would be suspicious if tea wasn’t offered after an outing.
‘Please!’ Audrey said. ‘If I wash my lovely china cup and saucer, I’ll have mine in that.’
‘Good idea,’ Harrie said.
‘I’ll just go and freshen myself up first.’
‘Me too,’ Lisa said, and the two of them went upstairs.
Harrie washed her hands in the downstairs cloakroom and, when she was quite sure she was alone, went to check the cupboards. It was in the second one she tried. Mrs Ryder had pushed aside some pans and there sat a great white square box tied with a fat red ribbon. Harrie reached out to touch it. Oh, the anticipation.
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