Page 34 of The Forever Cottage

Tess and Dilly started giggling, their laughter infectious and every time they came up for air and caught each other’s eye again, it would set them off again, until they both had tears running down their faces.

Tess was struggling to gather her breath when she became aware of the back gate opening and Barney came bounding towards her, leaping up into her lap.

‘Oh, Barney, I’ve missed you,’ she cried, wrapping her arms around the dog, who was overcome with excitement, his tail thumping against her leg. ‘My best boy! I hope you’ve been behaving yourself for Rob.’

‘Ah, I could hear you two from down the bottom of the lane,’ Rob said with a grin. ‘The holiday clearly did you a power of good.’

‘It really did; it was just the tonic I needed. I’ve been telling Dilly all about it,’ she said to cover up their schoolgirl giggling. ‘I can’t thank you enough for looking after Barney. I’ve been admiring all your hard work out here in the garden. And the front door! Oh my goodness, it was the first thing I spotted when we pulled up outside. It looks amazing, doesn’t it? It’s the perfect colour. Just as I’d imagined it to be.’

‘I love it too! I might have to get you to do mine one day,’ Dilly said hopefully. ‘Lavender Cottage should definitely have a lavender-coloured door instead of a green one.’

‘I enjoyed doing it,’ said Rob. ‘It was quite therapeutic. Hollyhocks is a proper little oasis,’ he said, gesturing around him, ‘and once you get out here, it’s easy to forget everything that’s going on outside in the big wide world.’

‘Well, that’s until some mad woman from next door comes running around disturbing the peace,’ Dilly said.

‘Not at all. I was glad to help,’ said Rob sincerely.

‘Look, I’d love to stay and chat,’ said Dilly, glancing at her watch, ‘but I’ve a client arriving in ten minutes so I should go and get ready. See you soon.’

Tess and Rob exchanged a smile as Dilly dashed off.

‘She was singing your praises just before you arrived,’ Tess told him. ‘I’m so glad you were here to help out, as I wouldn’t have had a clue as to what to do.’

‘It was one of those situations that looked a lot worse than it was and it was actually quite an easy fix. Anyway, I’m pleased you had a good break.’

‘Yes, it’s made me realise I need to push myself a bit more. I think I’ve been guilty of staying in my lane and not looking outwards.’ She gave a nonchalant shrug as she looked into the empty mug she was holding in her hand. ‘Would you like a cuppa or maybe… should we have a G&T or a glass of wine?’

‘Well, I don’t want to stop you from getting on… but a G&T sounds pretty inviting after that walk.’

‘Definitely! You deserve one. Sit down,’ Tess offered, gesturing to the bench, ‘and I’ll go and fetch them.’

So Tess might not have the old reminders of home around her any longer, but she could appreciate the new people that had come into her life, even Dilly, who at one time she might never have imagined being friends with, but whose company she appreciated more each day. Rob also had brought a new dimension to her life and she certainly valued his masculine presence around the place. As she plonked ice cubes into tumblers and cut slices of lemon, a frisson of excitable anticipation ran around her body. She was still feeling the full effects of the holiday vibes.

‘So how are things with you?’ Tess asked Rob, when she rejoined him in the garden. She handed him his glass and sat down beside him.

‘Great. I’ve seen the kids this week which has made me feel pretty positive about the future. They’re full of plans for going off to university and travelling, and just hanging out with them felt good. I think we’re in a decent place now and I’m looking forward to spending more time with them once I’ve found somewhere more permanent to live.’

‘You know you could have invited them round here.’

Rob latched eyes onto hers and gave a nod of his head.

‘That’s kind of you, but I don’t want to intrude any further than I already have.’ He took a sip from the chilled glass, closing his eyes briefly in a moment of satisfaction. ‘That hits the spot perfectly,’ he said with a seductive smile. ‘In other news, we had the inaugural walk of the men’s mental health group, which went well. There were only three of us, but they both said they enjoyed it and will come along next time. I’m expecting the numbers to grow when word gets around.’

‘That’s really good and something that I’m sure would be of interest to a lot of guys. If you have any leaflets or posters, I can distribute them around the village if you’d like me to, in the village hall and in the doctor’s surgery.’

‘That would be great. Thanks. We’re going to put some posts up online too, so anything will help.’

Tess didn’t like to push Rob on his plans or how his job hunt was going, because she didn’t want him to feel that she was exerting pressure on him to move out. It didn’t matter to her if he stayed another month or six months. She had her plans to let out the annexe but there was no urgency on that. If Rob wanted to tell her what was going on in his life, as he had confided in her about his children, then she would be there with a listening ear, but she had no intention of prying into his private life, however much she might be interested to know.

‘Ooh, I’ve just remembered, I’ve got something for you!’ Tess jumped up from the bench and went dashing off to the house, looking over her shoulder with a grin on her face as she deliberately ignored Rob’s questioning expression. Moments later, she was back and handed him a small gold box tied with an elaborate gold ribbon.

‘Just a little something to say thank you for keeping an eye on the place and looking after Barney.’

‘What? You didn’t need to do that, but thank you, anyway.’

Rob, eyes wide, pulled apart the ribbon to open up the box to reveal some delicious-looking chocolates. He held the box up to his nose and inhaled the mouth-watering aromas.

‘Mmmm, my favourites,’ he said with a look of glee. ‘How did you know?’

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