Branston made a funny sound from his basket – the dog was obviously dreaming but it had Nate laughing with his dad.
‘I’ll miss him, you know,’ said Trevor. ‘And you, of course. It’s been good having you both around.’
‘I’ve really enjoyed my time here. It’s gone too quickly. You’ll call me if you need me, won’t you?’
‘I’ve got plans, son. Jeremy has bus routes to goodness knows where, Gillian has already given me the date of the next card game which I’m invited to and Betty even said she’ll teach me how to make something called a Bundt cake to take with me. Apparently, Gillian loves it.’
‘How is that any different to a normal cake?’
‘Your guess is as good as mine. So what’s the plan when you return to Wales?’
‘Work, work and more work.’ He should be grateful; it would keep his mind from thinking about Morgan, likely with Ronan right now, starting their new life in Scotland. He should wish her well with the new job, but he couldn’t quite dig that deep. Not yet, anyway. And besides, she wasn’t even here to tell her as much.
‘And you aren’t going to worry about me, are you?’
Nate appreciated the directness. ‘I can’t promise that. But I give you my word I won’t hassle you until it’s necessary. You’ve got a good life here, Dad. I’d forgotten how much I loved this village myself. I shouldn’t be surprised you never want to leave.’
When the phone rang, Trevor answered it to a flustered Betty at the bakery. He quickly handed the call over to Nate.
‘You’ve tried unblocking the drain?’ Nate asked her. It seemed the issue wasn’t at the bakery but at their home in the en suite shower room and Peter had tried what he could to clear a blockage that was causing water to accumulate in the shower tray and start to spill over. It was the only shower they had and she was already catastrophising that it might get so bad, it would ruin the floor, leak through the ceiling.
‘Can you help?’ Betty pleaded.
‘I’ll come take a look. I don’t have all my equipment with me, but I’ve got enough and there are a few tricks I can try.’
Trevor turned the kettle off as Nate ended the call. ‘I’ll make you a cuppa when you get back. You’re in demand here.’
He pulled his boots on at the front door. ‘I can try a few things – high tech stuff. Actually, do you have a wire coat hanger?’
Trevor headed to the bedroom and came back with one.
‘I’ll try this first, then there are a few other things, but I can get quite a lot of debris out this way.’ He grinned at his dad’s face. ‘I wouldn’t think too carefully about it if I were you.’
He was there and back in less than forty minutes. ‘Coat hanger worked a treat,’ he called out after Branston gave him a warm welcome inside the front door, wagging his tail back and forth.
‘I don’t want it back,’ Trevor called from the kitchen. Nate could hear the kettle reaching its boiling point as he padded down the hallway.
‘Don’t worry, I left it with Peter so he can try it again if needs be. The job really needs high pressure water to give it a proper clean out. I told him I’d bring everything I need next time I’m here.’
Trevor brought the mugs of tea over to the table. ‘You’ve already decided to come back soon?’
‘I have. Is that all right?’
‘Of course it is. Having you and Branston here is wonderful.’ He gestured to the way Nate was toying with his mug. ‘What’s on your mind?’ He knew the action meant Nate was thinking heavily. He’d done it all through exam time at school, the tea often going cold before he’d even drunk half of it, his worries lurking in the murky depths of the liquid.
‘This is the first time I’ve found myself questioning my own arrangements. All the way out in Wales rather than being here, I mean. I’m not sure what’s the right thing any more.’
‘You know your mum fell in love with this village first. “Come and see it, Trevor,”she said to me after she’d come here to meet a friend for a summer picnic. “You’ll fall in love with it like I have,”she claimed. And she was right. She loved Little Woodville. She loved this house, she loved you, she loved me. She knew we didn’t have forever, nobody does, but despite her suffering, she treasured what she had and wanted to hold onto it. And she’d be telling you to do the same now. Memories of your mother are here but wherever you are, those memories will stay with you. You don’t have to be in the village if that isn’t what you want. You have a business in Wales, a home. Keep your mum in your heart and she’ll never leave you. You don’t have to be here to do that.’
But what if he wanted to be here? Was it possible that after all this time away, he wanted to return? He’d never felt the urge before, never.
‘May I ask,’ Trevor ventured, ‘did Morgan have anything to do with you finally uncovering the blanket box after all this time?’
‘You’re so nosy.’ But he was grinning from ear to ear. ‘Yes, she did. She had everything to do with it. She even helped finish it.’
‘I hope she charged for her time.’
‘Sure, Dad.’ He felt like the same little boy who’d sold those wooden coasters, his dad coaching him in what to say and what would be a fair charge for each of them.
