Seeming to snap out of whatever had got hold of her, Beth snatched up another towel and stepped towards him. He appreciated that she kept her eyes averted, as she held out ahand. Grasping it, Walter got his good leg into what he hoped was the correct position to bear his weight.
‘One, two, three,’ Beth chanted, and on ‘three’ she leant back and heaved.
Walter emerged from the bath like Neptune rising from the waves, only with considerably less grandeur. Water cascaded over the floor, but he was upright and that was all he was concerned about.
Feeling more foolish than he had ever felt in his life, he perched his scrawny backside on the edge of the bath and swung his legs to the floor. Beth, he noticed, had her head turned away and was steadfastly gazing at the ceiling.
Without looking at him, she handed him the dry towel. ‘Can you take it from here, or do you need me to help you get dressed?’
‘I can manage.’ His voice was hoarse. ‘Thanks’
A smile teased the corners of her mouth. She looked so much nicer when she smiled. She should do it more often, he thought.
She said, ‘You’re welcome. I’ll be downstairs. Shout when you need me.’
When. Notif. It seemed that Beth was just as aware as Walter that he needed far more help than he cared to admit.
The last thing Beth had expected to see when she returned to the cottage was a naked man stuck in a bath. She had toadmit that she had felt acutely embarrassed, but probably not as embarrassed as Walter! His face had been a picture, she thought, as she basted the pork chops she was cooking for their tea. But his face was the only thing she had looked at. The rest of him had been strictly out of bounds.
However, she had caught a glimpse of his chest and the smattering of grizzled grey hairs covering it. The sight had given her a bit of a pang. It was a long time – many years – since she had been within touching distance of a bare male chest
She had quickly looked away. Such pangs belonged in her past, when she had been young enough to have done something about them. These days she didn’t have the energy nor the inclination.
Companionship wouldn’t go amiss though. That was what she had missed when the kids were growing up: someone to share her worries with at the end of a difficult day, or to share the joys when good things happened. She even missed washing up whilst someone else dried. Not that her husband (God rest his soul) had wielded a tea towel very often. Or listened when she needed a good grizzle. He’d not been there for many of the good times either, now that she came to think of it. So what was it exactly, that she missed? How could you miss something that you’d never had?
Beth shook her head to clear it of such fanciful thoughts. It wasn’t surprising that she was out-of-sorts, considering the stressful few days she’d had. And there were likely to be more stressful days to come.
Beth suppressed a snort: her day hadn’t been half as stressful as Walter’s. He’d had a right old time of it. At one point she had honestly feared she wasn’t going to be able to get the door open by herself – unless she used the sledgehammer.
But try explaining a smashed door to Otto. He was bound to notice, although maybe they could have kept it from him long enough to convince him that Walter didn’t need looking after. Beth hadn’t wanted to take the risk though, and neither had Walter. He wanted her gone almost as much as she wanted to leave. Although he might change his mind when she plonked a nice pork chop with roast potatoes and veg in front of him. She bet he wouldn’t manage to cook a meal like that whilst balancing on one leg!
The evening meal wasn’t as uncomfortable as lunch had been, despite the events of earlier, and Beth began to relax.
When Walter asked, ‘Did you get what you needed in the village?’ she didn’t go looking for a hidden meaning or disguised sarcasm, and took the question at face value.
‘Yes and no. I called into the estate agent because I checked on the house and noticed they hadn’t started on the repairs. I didn’t get much joy.’ She spooned out a portion of apple sauce and popped it on her plate, before offering the bowl to Walter.
He tasted the sauce and his eyes widened. ‘Did you make this yourself?’
‘I did. And the stuffing and the Yorkshire puds.’
‘Very tasty.’ Beth inclined her head in acknowledgement.
She had always been a dab hand in the kitchen, and it was a pleasure to see someone enjoy her cooking again. These past couple of years, Maisie, although still living at home until recently, had been out more often than she’d been in, and Beth had stopped cooking tea for her because she’d hated wasting food. This meal definitely wasn’t going to waste, she was pleased to see, as Walter tucked in with enthusiasm.
‘That’s the no bit,’ he said. ‘What’s the yes?’
‘You’re eating it. I also bumped into Lena, and we had a coffee.’
‘Lovely woman, Lena. Amos has got a good ’un there. Mind you, she hasn’t done too badly herself; Amos is the salt of the earth. He’d do anything for you, would Amos. Gotta take it easy though – angina. We’re a couple of old crocs. Although at the moment I’d say I’m more croc than he is.’ He gestured to his broken leg with his fork. ‘Just you wait until I get this cast off – I’ll give him a run for his money. Talking about casts, I’ve got an appointment at the fracture clinic the day after tomorrow. Can you… Do you think…?’
‘Yes, I’ll drive you there.’
‘Thank you.’
Beth wondered if it had hurt him to ask. She knew how much he hated being reliant on her, but Dulcie and Otto were busy; she wasn’t. It felt rather good to be needed again, even if it was Walter who was the one needing it.
Surprisingly, he hadn’t needed help getting dressed after his bath, and neither had he needed her assistance in getting down the stairs. He’d inched down on his bottom, although Beth had held his crutches. It would be handy if he had a pair for upstairs use, she’d mused, and she’d made a mental note to ask Lena if she knew where she could get hold of a spare pair.
