Page 16 of Starting Over at Halesmere House
‘Could you make some more tea and take it outside please? I’m sure they’ll be ready for another, and I’ll be getting a bad reputation as a host if I don’t keep the drinks coming.’
Alice sliced onions, garlic and chilli and slid them into a pan, filling the kitchen with a gorgeous aroma as they softened. Sandy was taking her time in the garden and Alice saw her chatting to Neil, who’d stopped stacking branches on his wheelbarrow and was nodding at something she was saying. Alice turned away to stir the contents of the pan and Sandy was back a few minutes later.
‘What a nice man; we had a lovely chat,’ Sandy exclaimed as she closed the patio doors against the chill. ‘Turns out he loves walking too and he’s planning to do Grey Friar and Dow Crag while he’s here.’ She picked up her mug of tea and tried it, pulling a face. ‘Cold. I’ll stick it in the microwave – no point wasting it.’
‘Maybe you should go with him, Sandy. Neil might appreciate a bit of local knowledge and some company.’
The microwave pinged and Sandy carefully removed the mug. ‘Well, he’s already suggested it and I said I would.’
‘How brilliant!’
Her aunt was a lively and attractive woman who’d had her share of dates down the years. She refused to settle for companionship just yet, especially with five parishes to look after. She’d always said to Alice if she met someone they’d have to be understanding, patient and kind as she simply didn’t have time to be a glorified housekeeper for a person incapable of looking after themselves.
‘When are you going?’
‘We thought Saturday. Maybe I’ll see if Neil would like a drink in the pub afterwards.’
‘Why not? You’ll have fun.’ It sounded so easy to Alice, and she wondered why she seemed to be creating her own complications when it came to dating. Was it just as straightforward as sayingHey, we both like walking, let’s do it together one day? It didn’t quite feel that way for her.
‘As long as he doesn’t mind the company of a rector pushing sixty with aStrictlyaddiction and a passion for pottery.’ Sandy was leaning against the sink as she sipped her tea.
‘I doubt he’d have suggested you go walking together if he did. Just enjoy it; he seems very nice. And go for that drink.’
‘What about you?’
Alice was pouring boiling water over a stock cube in a jug. ‘What about me?’ She had an uncomfortable feeling she knew what was coming. Sandy was very perceptive and shrewd, especially when it came to people. Alice lifted the tray of squash from the oven and slid it into the pan. She added the stock, stirring everything together before putting the pan in the simmering oven and removing a pot of crème fraîche from the fridge.
‘I saw the way you and Zac were looking at each other the other night, in the pub.’
‘I wasn’t looking at him in any way and he definitely wasn’t looking at me either,’ Alice protested. She yanked the plastic lid from the pot and a blob of crème fraîche shot onto the workshop. Sandy tossed her a cloth from the sink and Alice caught it.
‘This is me, remember? Don’t forget I’ve known you all your life and you’re incapable of telling tales. What are you going to do about it?’
‘What am I going to do about what, exactly! Sandy, are you seriously trying to set me up with a man who is younger than me and leaving Halesmere at Christmas?’
‘No, I’m just suggesting you have some fun for a change. Zac’s good company, the life and soul of everything I’ve ever seen him at. Not that I don’t believe there’s more to him than he lets on. There’s a story somewhere, one I don’t think he wants to share.’
‘You sound like Kelly now.’ Alice ignored that last bit; she had enough emotional history of her own and she didn’t want to barge right into someone else’s as well.
‘We’d both like to see you happy again, although I’m not for one minute suggesting dating is the key to that. Happiness and contentment are something I think you need to find for yourself.’
‘Agreed.’ She was determined to get her aunt off the subject of dating with one final comment. ‘And when,if, I ever start dating again it’ll probably have to be online like everyone else. Not with someone I know vaguely and am likely to keep bumping into.’
‘I’m not sure online dating would suit you. All that swiping and delving through the dross in search of a pearl.’
Alice laughed as she chucked the cloth back into the sink. ‘Knowing me, I’d probably land a clam, not an oyster.’
Sandy roared, before continuing more gently. ‘You’re so like your dad, Alice. Kind, like he was, trying to see the best in everyone. He always stepped in when somebody needed him and you’re the same. That’s why you had such great people working in the business; they knew it was a two-way street and you’d both support them if you could.’
Alice was about to refute it, saying she’d done nothing more than anyone else might have but her dad had been special, and she’d made sure to continue his legacy of looking after his staff like they were family. They’d both gone to more weddings, christenings, funerals and parties than they could count. With each year that passed, she’d felt more acutely aware of time slipping away, her own family life standing still as others around her expanded.
She’d often sent a driver home to sort out a family concern or a poorly child and taken their place behind the wheel to get a lorry and its load to where it needed to be. Those long hours driving were always a reset after days behind a desk with a laptop, and she missed them.
‘Alice?’ Sandy’s fingers were light on her shoulder. ‘Please don’t doubt your intuition. What happened with Gareth was extraordinary and no one saw it coming, least of all those of us who thought they knew him. I know how difficult the IVF treatment was for you both, but he didn’t give you any reason to suspect you weren’t on the same page.’
Chapter Six
Alice’s mind leaped back twelve months to the overnight stay she and Gareth had planned. They were due to meet friends at a hotel in Derbyshire and at the last minute he’d cried off, pleading a virus that had been plaguing him for a day or two. She wasn’t sure she wanted to go on her own but he persuaded her, saying he was going to lie low and there was no point in wasting two places instead of just one.
