‘I bet it wasn’t.’
Beth got to her feet. ‘I’ll go get my cases.’ There wasn’t any point in continuing the conversation right now. She’d go to her room, have a lie down for a bit, and let Dulcie share the good news with her sisters. ‘Am I in my usual bedroom?’ she asked.
It was Dulcie’s turn to look shifty. ‘Not exactly.’
Beth winced as she heard her own words echoed back at her. ‘Oh?’
Were they decorating? Or had Otto moved his office from the small fourth bedroom?
‘You’re in the bedroom at the back. The other is being used. Or it will be tomorrow.’
‘By who?’ Beth asked, her imagination running wild. She hoped the room wasn’t being used because Maisie was moving back in. Beth had had such high hopes of Maisie and Adam’s relationship working out. Such a shame.
‘Walter.’
Walter?Wonderful! That was all she bloody needed.
‘I can walk to the car,’ Walter grumbled, as a nurse produced a wheelchair. He was supposed to sit in it for the journey from his hospital bed to the patient pick-up point outside the main door.
‘Humour me,’ the nurse said.
Walter inched his way forwards, turned slowly and sank into it with a grunt. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was relievedthat he wasn’t expected to walk – or should he say ‘hobble’ – out of the hospital. Even with Otto to carry his bag and Dulcie hovering beside him, just going from the bed to the wheelchair had exhausted him. And a trip to the bathroom laid him low for a good couple of hours.
That damned nurse had been right: hewasgoing to need some help. Which was why he would be staying with Otto and Dulcie for the duration. He would have someone to cook his meals and do his laundry, and, more importantly, make sure he didn’t fall down the stairs. Negotiating them, both up and down, was going to be interesting, and he had a feeling he might be using his bottom for both manoeuvres. It wouldn’t be pretty or graceful, but it would be the safest way.
Dulcie had suggested that they bring one of the beds down and put it in the living room, but Walter had flatly refused. As long as he took his time, he would be able to negotiate the stairs twice a day. And the room Dulcie had decided to put him in was the one nearest to the bathroom, so he wouldn’t have such a trek if he needed to go to the loo in the middle of the night. At his age if he only got up once for a pee, he considered himself fortunate.
Armed with a printed list of dos and don’ts, a small box of painkillers and an appointment to visit the fracture clinic, Walter left the hospital with a sense of relief.
‘Where’s Peg?’ he asked as Otto went to fetch the car, leaving him and Dulcie to wait by the main doors.
‘At the farm.’
‘I was hoping you might have brought her with you. I’ve missed her.’
‘She’s missed you, too. She hasn’t settled at all, bless her.’
‘She’s never left on her own,’ Walter said. The dog had been his constant companion since he had been forced to give up the farm. And when Otto had moved out of the cottage on Muddypuddle Lane and had gone to live with Dulcie at the farm, Walter had been glad of her company.
‘She’s not on her own,’ Dulcie told him. She hesitated, and Walter’s heart sank. Don’t tell me Maisie and Adam have had a falling out, he prayed silently. It was none of his business and he certainly wouldn’t say anything, but they’d seemed so well suited.
‘My mum is with her.’
‘Eh?’
‘My mother. She’s come to stay for a while.’
Walter’s mouth dropped open. He hadn’t been expecting that. No one had mentioned anything about Beth coming for a visit. The last thing he needed when he wasn’t feeling himself, was Dulcie’s flippin’ mother.
He tried to keep his tone neutral as he said, ‘That’s nice. Is she staying long?’
‘A few weeks.’
Damn. ‘Is everything alright?’
Dulcie rolled her eyes and sighed. ‘Where Mum is concerned nothing is ever alright. To cut a long story short, she’s decided to downsize and is moving into a smaller house. She was due to move in yesterday, but when she arrived at the property there had been a leak and one of the ceilings had come down. So she’s staying with us until the house is repaired.’
Walter prayed it wouldn’t take long; hopefully she’d be gone in a week or two and he could spend the rest of the time at the farm in peace, not seeing her again until her Christmas visit, which was a good few months away.
