‘It feels like if I give up the car, it’s another piece of independence lost. And then what? What comes next? My marbles?’
Nate put a hand on his shoulder. ‘You seem pretty with it to me. And giving up the car will be a wrench but there’s a bus that goes plenty of places – and you’ll see other people on the bus.’Rather than on the road, leaping to get out of the way, he didn’t add. He also didn’t tell him that he and Sebastian had spoken about this the day he’d been at the cottage sorting the plumbing. They’d agreed perhaps it was time someone hinted to Jeremy about giving up the car and had thought it should be Sebastian, then perhaps Trevor, who was closer in age. But now Nate had the perfect opportunity to bring it into casual conversation here.
‘I didn’t think of that. I could chat to people while someone else did the driving.’
‘Exactly.’ He knew from his dad that chatting was often what put Jeremy off his game when he was driving. Never mind his eyesight. He’d turn and look at his passenger, which Nate suspected was due to him being hard of hearing too. ‘You might find the bus gives you a whole new lease of life in many ways.’
Jeremy patted the bonnet of his car. ‘I’ll miss the old girl if I let her go.’
‘You’ll save money too, remember. No maintenance costs on the car, you’re at an age where you get a free bus pass, no more messing about with oil.’ He indicated Jeremy’s filthy hands. ‘Water’s back on now, safe to use. I’ll leave you to it.’ He sensed this was a significant, emotional decision for the man to make and sometimes those things needed thinking about alone.
‘Thanks again, Nate. Can I interest you in a pint at the pub at midday to show my appreciation?’
‘Bit early for me.’ But he didn’t want to disappoint Jeremy. ‘How does four o’clock sound?’
Jeremy brightened. ‘I’ll see you there.’
‘Leave the car at home. Dad and I will meet you and we’ll all head over together.’
‘Right you are.’
Back at the house, Nate said a brief hello to his dad and Branston and made for the workshop. He was glad he’d been called out by Jeremy because it stopped him thinking too hard about Morgan when he was busy. The way they’d almost kissed outside Snowdrop Cottage was difficult to ignore. And in the garden afterwards, he’d caught her watching him more than once, but she’d looked away every time. And she’d made sure not to be on her own with him, sure to stay with others as everyone chatted well into the evening.
In the workshop, Nate found the wood he needed to provide another distraction from thinking about Morgan and the fact she was with someone else. He’d been to the timber merchant in the week and picked up enough to make another side table like the one he’d already sold. It was versatile for the home, which was probably why they were popular – light and easy to move around, could be casual or formal furniture. And it wouldn’t take forever to make. He was confident it would sell easily enough and if not, well, he’d take it back to Wales with him. The original idea might well have been to whittle down stock, but he was embracing this intense urge to keep on making things.
* * *
The pint with his dad and Jeremy was definitely welcome come the end of the day after he’d measured, cut, sanded and varnished. All three of them talked animatedly about Jeremy’s dilemma – car versus the bus. Jeremy was obviously getting his head around the idea. Kiara, the pub landlady, joined in with the debate, as did landlord Logan, and Jeremy seemed to be enjoying himself so much that Nate left both men in the pub, declaring he needed a good long walk after working all day. He’d go along the street at the top of the green all the way to the end, then head down to the high street and walk back towards the humpback bridge. He’d offered to take Branston with him but his dad said they’d take him home with them when they left in another hour or so. The dog had waited patiently while they ate and seemed in no rush to move.
Nate couldn’t help but pause as he got to Forget-Me-Not Cottage. He hovered outside. Should he knock? Say hello to Morgan?
But the decision was taken out of his hands when he heard a scream come from inside the cottage.
He tore up the front path and was about to knock when he saw Morgan through the open window. And she spotted him. She was clearly okay, so he waved and turned to walk away, but her voice stopped him before he’d reached the end of the path.
‘Did you hear me scream?’ She appeared in the doorway.
‘Kind of why I was coming to the door. It sounded like someone was being attacked.’
‘I was. By a shelf.’ Her hand was clasped against her chest as though she was still calming herself down. ‘It scared me half to death. It fell down on top of me.’
‘You all right?’ She was rubbing the back of her head.
‘Might get a bruise but it was the fright that was the worst.’
‘Want me to take a look?’
‘Are you a doctor now?’
He smiled wryly. ‘At the shelf, not the head.’
‘Oh…’ She stood back. ‘Sure.’
He went inside and her proximity reminded him of how close they’d been outside Sebastian’s place.
The shelf was still on the sofa and he could see it had fallen from the wall behind, the one that faced the fireplace. On closer inspection, he could see the screws that had held up the brackets had worked their way loose, presumably over time. ‘Not the best screws for this shelf.’ And when he looked at the pot plant, the magazines, the books, a couple of photo frames and an ornament strewn on the sofa, he suggested, ‘You might have overloaded it too. I’d suggest making new holes in the wall above the existing ones – the foot of the shelf bracket will hide the old hole.’
‘Right…’
