Page 16 of Whispers from the Past

‘Who are you going on a date with?’

‘Tony.’

Luke nodded, but the ease of the fledgling conversation they’d been having had flown the nest. Leaving just an awkward silence behind.

‘Thanks for driving me back. You’d better go though, Holly won’t be pleased to have missed the chance for some retail therapy. I can’t remember the last time she went shopping without Natalie in tow.’

‘Good way to make me feel even worse about today Luke.’ But her gentle chiding didn’t have the desired effect for a continuation of their conversation.

He just winced as he got out of the jeep and had to take a few breaths before holding out his left hand for his keys. Once Rose handed them over, he made his way into the garage. He didn’t slow up or look back as he got to the door. Just opened it and stepped inside, kicking the door shut behind him.

The time for shopping with Holly had passed. Rose had worked out that they would have had a two hour window of opportunity whilst Natalie was at nursery, but that had long gone by the time Rose had got back into the village. Too embarrassed to tell anyone about the details of her fateful bird watching walk, she put on a brave face and breezed into the book shop, quickly making her excuses to a surprised Eleanor who must have thought she was still upstairs, and lost herself in a book for the rest of the day in bed.

That evening, Rose suddenly felt the exhaustion from the day’s events. She sagged back to her bed and felt the similar pull to the window as earlier. No clouds now as night was drawing in, but a small light beyond the woods drew her attention. She padded quietly over to the window (a force of habit from years of living in flats) to take a closer look. She realised that from this vantage point, she could just make out Luke’s garage. It didn’t go unnoticed again how ridiculous it was that she had got lost so spectacularly on her first proper day here. A pang of guilt struck her. She hadn’t thought to check up on Luke since they’d driven back to the garage hours ago. Glancing again at the light in the distance she realised she’d never sleep now for worrying, so she grabbed a coat and flashlight and set off for the footpath. This time, she made doubly sure that she was dressed appropriately. Even forcing herself to wear one of Eleanor’s old coats that she’d found at the back of the wardrobe. It was truly hideous, but it did look warm.

The five minute walk was not nearly so nice in the dark. It wasn’t so much that Rose felt unsafe. She was pretty certain there wasn’t a murderer or monster waiting for her in the shadows - although now that thought had invaded her mind she did quicken her step - it was more that her torch was rubbish. She could only see a few inches in front of her. So when she reached the garage door a few minutes later she was feeling somewhat jittery. She put her ear to the door to check for sounds of movement and she heard a chair scrape so she knocked. Luke opened the door a few seconds later with both a tired and confused face.

‘Rose? What are you doing here? And what are you wearing?’

‘I felt terrible for not checking up on you, and I don’t have your number so figured I’d just come up to see you’re ok. And although I don’t need fashion advice from you, I needed a warm coat and this is the best I could find at short notice!’ It dawned on her then, that she has been more worried than she’d realised.

‘On your own?’

‘Yes on my own. At 36 I’m capable of walking a few minutes in the dark.’

Luke sighed. ‘Still not the most sensible decision’.

Rose shook her head. ‘Well I can see you’re fine. So I probably needn’t have bothered. Night Luke.’ Rose turned to go, but Luke caught her hand.

‘I’m sorry. My arm is killing me and I’m tired and as you’ve been told; grumpy. It was nice, albeit foolish, for you to check in on me.’ Rose saw the ghost of a smile catch the corner of his mouth. And then he must have realised that he was still holding her hand and the smile vanished at the same time as his hand.

Rose focussed back on what he’d said. ‘You’re hurting? Have you taken anything?’

‘The pharmacy was shut by the time the pain started, so I’ll have to leave it until the morning. Don’t fret Rose,’ he paused, reacting to the obvious look of concern on her face. ‘ I’ll be fine.’

But the look Luke mistook for fretting was Rose mentally sifting through her glove box until she found what she was reaching for. ‘Wait right there’. She slipped past Luke, into the main atrium of the garage towards her car. Tucked right at the back of the glove box was a small pack of painkillers - her emergency stash. She returned triumphant. ‘Not such a foolish visit now,’ she beamed, handing the pills over to him.

‘Still foolish, but much appreciated. Give me twenty minutes for these to kick in and then I’ll walk you back.’

She was about to respond with how that wasn’t necessary. But she would much rather have company for the return journey. So she just nodded.

Rose used the time to explore Luke’s office. It wasn’t your stereotypical mechanic’s space. No semi-naked calendars adorned the walls for instance. Instead, she found the walls were a collage of vintage car adverts. Running her fingers over them, she could just make out where each had been pieced together. Hundreds of adverts that had once tempted buyers now stood proudly here. The office space was part of the old mezzanine level with frosted glass on one wall overlooking the garage space below where her car sat in pride of place.

‘How’s she doing?’

Luke sighed from the corner of the office. ‘Well, I’ve found the parts I need, but I’m looking at another few weeks before they’ll arrive. One is coming from Hamburg and the seller is away for a couple of weeks.’

‘I really appreciate the effort you’re making for her.’

‘It’s a pleasure. I’ve not had a chance to work on a Capri before.’

‘So what you’re really saying is that I’m doing you a favour.’

‘Not sure I’d go that far - just an opportunity to savour.’

‘Who does the VW Golf belong to?’

‘Me. Why?’