In his disillusionment David decided to make a fresh start. His father had once told him that his mother had come from a village in Cheshire called Willowmere, and shortly after his engagement to Caroline had ended he met James Bartlett’s sister Anna in the company of a doctor from the village practice. They’d been involved in a near drowning incident in a village called Willowmere and the way they described the place made him keen to find where the other part of his roots belonged.
When he’d found his mother’s childhood home the discovery of it pulled at his heartstrings so much that he decided he wanted to live in Willowmere, and as if it was meant he was offered a position in the village practice.
What was left of the house stood in the centre of a field on the way to Willow Lake, a local beauty spot, and as he’d stood beside it he’d felt that this was where he wanted to be, where he wanted to bring up his children if he ever married, and at the same time contribute to the health care of those who lived there.
All that remained of it was four stone walls, the roof having long since fallen in, and he remembered his father telling him how his mother had left it as a bride and gone to live with him in Cornwall where his home had been.
David found no reason to regret his decision to move to the Cheshire countryside. He was totally happy there, but supposed it might not be everyone’s choice. For instance, there was the girl he’d met at the station, he thought as the day took its course. She’d taken a dim view of the place.
So far he hadn’t found a property that appealed to him and knew it was because every time he went back to the ruins of his mother’s home the idea of restoring it was there.
Laurel and Elaine had had an omelette for their evening meal with chips and fresh green runner beans out of the garden, and when she’d placed the food in front of her niece she’d said, ‘I know it’s not exactly the fatted calf but it’s something that I know you like.’
‘I love your omelettes,’ Laurel told her. ‘I used to dream about them when I was in hospital.’
‘Yes, I’m sure you did,’ Elaine said laughingly. ‘You must have had better things to think about than my cooking.’
‘It was the only thing that cheered me up,’ Laurel insisted. ‘Darius was in the process of ditching me slowly, the skin grafts weren’t a bundle of joy, and neither was my leg that they’d had to pin all over the place.’
‘I know, my dear,’ Elaine said soothingly. ‘I tisn’t surprising that you’re feeling low with all that has happened to you but, Laurel, it could have been so much worse.’
‘Yes, I know,’ she said flatly, ‘and I really do want to like it here and get fit again. I look such a sight.’
‘Not to me you don’t.’
‘Maybe, but your Dr Trelawney kept looking at me as if I was some peculiar specimen under the microscope. I wish my hair would grow more quickly.’
‘Have patience, Laurel,’ she was told. ‘What has grown so far is still the same beautiful colour.’
‘Yes, the colour of fire,’ she said with a shudder as she ate the food beneath the watchful gaze of her hostess.
‘I think an early night would be a good idea,’ Elaine suggested when they’d tidied up after the meal, ‘but how about a breath of good country air first? Perhaps a short walk through the village, past the surgery where David and I spend our working lives, and where you might be joining us when you feel like going to see James.’
‘Yes, sure,’ she agreed, ‘and if that is where he works, where does he live?’
‘David lives in a small cottage nearby. He’s staying there until he finds a property to buy. I know that he’s house hunting quite seriously but hasn’t mentioned finding anything suitable so far.’
‘And will he be living alone when he does?’ Laurel asked.
‘Yes, as far as I know, unless he has a wife tucked away somewhere, and I doubt that.’
David was returning from his usual nightly stroll to gaze upon his mother’s old home when he saw them coming towards him. Elaine, trim as always in slacks and a smart top, and the strange young woman he’d met at lunchtime still in the same outlandish garb as before that looked totally out of place in the setting.
‘Hello, there,’ he said when they drew level. ‘Have you been showing your niece the sights of Willowmere, Elaine?’
‘Yes, some of them,’ she replied, ‘such as the surgery and your spacious accommodation.’
He smiled. ‘It’s all right for one, two at the most.’
‘And are you still house hunting?
‘Er, yes, sort of. I’ve got something in mind but it won’t be a fast solution.’
He was aware that Elaine’s companion hadn’t spoken at yet another unexpected meeting and thought that maybe now she was established in the village she was keeping a low profile, but he was to discover there was nothing wrong with her vocal cords.
‘I don’t remember thanking you for coming to my rescue when I was getting off the train,’ she said in a less abrupt manner than the one she’d used then.
‘Think nothing of it,’ he said easily, as if the whole episode had been a pleasant break in the day. ‘The main thing is how are you feeling now?’
She smiled and David was struck at the transformation.
‘Improving,’ was the reply, ‘and once Elaine has shown me the lake it’s off to bed for me. It’s been a long day, but not as long as some have been recently.’
As they moved off in opposite directions David was thinking how pale she was. James had said there was a health problem of some kind regarding Elaine’s niece, and he wondered what it was.
CHAPTER TWO
WHEN Laurel awoke the next morning she found herself looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling dappled by a summer sun and for the first few seconds couldn’t think where she was, but not for long.
She was in Elaine’s quiet backwater, she thought, with birdsong the only sound breaking the silence. Recalling how she’d asked her aunt what they did for fun in Willowmere, she wondered why she’d brought up the subject. That kind of thing wasn’t going to be on her agenda with a broken engagement behind her and some unappealing scarring.
But now here she was and glad of it in spite of her lack of enthusiasm for country life. As sleep had stolen over her the night before she’d vowed she was going to make an effort to fit in and if she got the job at the surgery at least she wouldn’t be moping around all day.
‘Does anyone in Willowmere know what happened to me?’ Laurel asked of Elaine as they ate a leisurely breakfast out on the sunny patio.
Her aunt shook her head. ‘No. At the time I was too distressed to talk about it, my beautiful niece caught up in the stupidity of others, and if anyone around here saw it in the papers they wouldn’t see any connection.
‘Right from the start I’ve felt it would be an invasion of your privacy to discuss you with others even though I’ve been bursting with pride every time I thought of what you did. But as far as I’m concerned, that is how it will stay, Laurel. If you should want to tell anyone, that is a different matter.
‘And now what would you like to do today? If you’re not over the moon with our lovely village we can go into the town and shop if you like, but I would rather we saved that sort of thing for when you’ve had some rest and relaxation, which could be in short supply when you’re working at the surgery.’
‘You mean if I’m working there.