Three
Lara did a double take as she drove past the welcome sign informing her that she was entering Bluewater Bay and requesting visitors to drive carefully.
Did that sign really say what she thought it did?
Where strangers become friends and friends feel like family.
She glanced in the rear-view mirror. There were no others vehicles in sight so she put her car in reverse and sped back to the other side of the sign post.
Yep. That’s what it said, as clear as day.
Please drive carefully. You are about to enter Bluewater Bay, where strangers become friends and friends feel like family. We hope you enjoy your stay.
She couldn’t help but laugh. And she couldn’t wait to tell Jenny. Who on earth had thought of that?
Then again, it was quite sweet, really. They certainly wanted people to feel welcome. It must be new though, because it wasn’t there the last time she had been here. Mind you, that was fourteen years ago, so maybe not that new.
She checked the rear-view mirror again and seeing that the road was still clear, she put the handbrake on before searching her handbag for her phone. Having found it she snapped a photo and typed a text to Jenny.
‘It’s a sign. In more ways than one.’ She attached the photo and pressed send.
She didn’t have to wait long for a response.
‘Not sure if that’s cute, or creepy. We’ll go with cute. Does this mean you’ll be introducing yourself to your neighbour? And eating out tonight?’
Lara snorted a laugh and pinged off a reply. ‘Let’s not go mad.’
‘Too late,’ was Jenny’s riposte.
Lara grinned and tossed her phone back in her handbag. She’d call Jenny later.
Releasing the handbrake, after checking the mirror once more, she drove past the welcome sign again.
She had printed off a map which she had stuck to her dashboard with sticky tape, having thought better of trusting her car’s navigation system which had got her lost on a previous occasion. She wasn’t risking a repeat of that. Lara believed in the old saying of, ‘Once bitten, twice shy.’
Yet, as she drove along, and checked her bearings with the map from time to time, the road bore little resemblance to the one shown on the print-out. She hoped she was heading in the right direction. Woking sat to the west, so by rights, her cottage should be closer than the village. She would need to keep her eyes peeled for the turn off to Old Oak Lane.
Before she knew it, the village itself came into view about a mile or so ahead. Great. She must’ve missed the turning.
Luckily, she spotted an elderly man shuffling along a narrow path on one of the grass verges that edged each side of the road. She pulled up beside him and pressed the button to open the window on the passenger side.
‘Excuse me!’ she called out, but the man walked on.
She edged forward and called out again. Louder this time. ‘Hello! Can you help me, please?’
Was he deaf? And blind? He might be hard of hearing but her car was right beside him so he must be able to see it. And yet he continued on his way as if she and her vehicle weren’t there.
She drove forward several feet ahead of him, put the handbrake on, pressed the start-stop button off, and got out of the car.
‘Hello.’ She gave him a friendly wave and her best smile as she stepped on to the verge, stopping a few feet in front of him. ‘Sorry to trouble you but do you know where Old Oak Lane is, please?’
He was hunched over slightly but now he straightened himself up a fraction, although judging by the expression on his ruddy face, the movement caused him some pain. He wore a cap on his grey hair, and his coat was clearly old, and threadbare in places. His red nose was hawk-like and he narrowed his rheumy eyes at her.
‘Where did you spring from?’ He pouted his lips in a grumpy expression, as he attempted to wave his walking stick in the air, but the action seemed to make him unsteady on his feet and he thumped it back on the ground as he wobbled slightly.
Lara stepped closer. ‘Are you okay? Do you need help?’
He raised heavy grey brows at that.
