Trevor embraced the memory. ‘Didn’t matter what variety, she loved flowers.’
With the buttercups in view to one side of them, they meandered along until they reached the end of the fence and the natural woodland path took them back up towards the way they’d come. Nate had got lost plenty of times in here as a kid but he’d never been scared. It had been another part of the adventure and he’d always known he’d find his way home in the end.
Branston fell into step and they decided to head into the village for a bite to eat. They had a choice of the Italian restaurant, although that was a bit fancy for a quick lunch, the pizzeria, the café or a pub lunch, but his dad insisted on going to the Bookshop Café.
‘We have Branston, remember.’
‘They’re dog friendly,’ he told Nate as they made their way there.
‘Do you hear that, Branston? Dog friendly but you’ll need to be on your best behaviour.’
It was nice walking through the village and the more he did it, the more Nate remembered. He could recall going to midnight mass at the church with his parents one Christmas, dipping his toes in the stream on hot summer days, having ice-cream as they’d sat together on the village green watching the world go by. The memories had always been there, of course, but it was as though they were buried deeply under everything, every year that had passed, and were only accessible gradually over time.
When they reached the Bookshop Café, Belle opened the door to them and immediately announced their dog-friendly status when she saw Branston. ‘All we ask is that people with dogs are seated on the farthest side from the counter and obviously the dog and the owner need to behave.’
‘I appreciate the warm welcome. And he’s been in many a café with me, don’t worry; he knows the score, so do I.’
‘There’s a bowl of water I’ve set down by the side entrance at the back,’ she said as they led the way through. Sebastian gave them a nod as he served a customer buying a whole stack of books.
Branston was more than happy to find the water and once he’d had a drink, settled down next to their table. Belle had opened the side window so plenty of fresh air could circulate and with the summer day holding the promise of lasting sunshine, they ordered cold sandwiches and big glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice.
It wasn’t long before his dad grabbed Sebastian’s attention as he came past and asked him whether he had any good recommendations for a thriller that didn’t have too gruesome an ending. Nate wondered whether there even was such a thing.
‘I’ll grab a few options for you,’ said Sebastian, ‘but I’ll leave them at the counter, I’ve got to make a call and I need to do it before I get another customer.’
‘Trouble?’ Trevor asked.
‘Leaky toilet at the cottage. And do you think I can get a plumber? They’re like gold dust. I thought I’d secured one but when I said I had a second toilet, they bumped me to Monday. And I like to have the downstairs toilet operational for the next dinner gathering. Much easier than making guests traipse upstairs.’
‘You could ask me.’ Nate popped another piece of tuna and salad sandwich into his mouth.
Sebastian puffed out his cheeks. ‘Didn’t think of that. And now it looks as though I knew full well what you did for a living and I was hinting.’
‘No worries. I can head home and grab my tools and go over to Snowdrop Cottage once I’ve eaten this, if you like.’
‘Lifesaver. Thank you. Belle can mind this place. I’ll find those books for you, Trevor.’
When Belle came to take their plates, she said, ‘We’ve had a plumber under our noses all along. Might have saved an hour’s worth of phoning around earlier if we’d been clever enough to work it out.’
Trevor sat back in his chair. ‘I’ll stay here, choose a book from whatever Sebastian selects and I’ll take Branston home. He’s had a good walk.’
‘Cheers, Dad.’ The dog was tired enough that he wouldn’t mind being on his lead and he was unlikely to be too much for Trevor. Sometimes, if Branston had been cooped up for whatever reason, he could tug at the lead, be fractious until you let him run it off, but right now he looked as though he was ready for a sleep on the rug in his dad’s sitting room.
Nate ducked back to the house and got in his pick-up to drive to Snowdrop Cottage because it meant he had all his tools at hand.
After a quick inspection of the downstairs toilet, he emerged into the kitchen. ‘Good news is the problem is simple,’ he told Sebastian. ‘One of the seals has deteriorated – wear and tear, nothing more sinister than that.’
‘You can fix it?’
‘I’ve got some sanitary-grade silicone in my pick-up, so I’ll use that for now while we wait for the part I’ll put on order. Should keep it from leaking any more and in a couple of days, I’ll come and replace the part properly.’
‘Cheers, Nate.’ Standing in the kitchen next to the Aga, Sebastian took out his wallet.
‘No charge.’
‘You can’t work for free.’
‘It took me seconds to see what it was, it’ll take another few minutes to apply the silicone, not long to come put in the new seal.’
