Page 10 of The House at Hope Corner
‘I love Hannah to bits,’ said Caroline, her back to Flora while she filled the kettle. ‘She’s like a second mother to me, I suppose, and has a heart of pure gold. But…’ She leaned heavily into the word, ‘but… she lives, eats, breathes this place. She hardly ever goes out. It’s not healthy. I know it, Ned knows it, Fraser knows it, but there’s no telling Hannah. Consequently, the only time she feels comfortable is when everything is just so… Over the years we’ve all just fallen in with it and try to make sure it stays that way.’
‘Oh…’
Caroline turned at the tone in her voice.
‘Shit, I’m sorry, that just all rather poured out, didn’t it? I didn’t mean it to.’ She smiled at Flora’s shocked face. ‘I really do love Hannah, and I’m not being disloyal, honestly. I can just see how difficult it must be for you coming into a strange house. I grew up with Ned and I’ve never seen him so happy as he is now. He finally meets the love of his life and if we’re not careful Hannah will chase her off again. You won’t leave, will you?’
Flora blushed again, taken aback by Caroline’s words. Today was turning out to be full of surprises.
‘Well, I wasn’t planning to… but I admit, yesterday was a little tough. It can’t be easy for Hannah, though, having a strange woman arrive in your house.’
‘And Hannah knows that, really she does. Which is testament to how lovely a person she is. She doesn’t want to make things difficult for you, so whatever she said to you this morning would have been absolutely genuine but, nonetheless, she’s going to need a little… encouragement, shall we say, to embrace the change. I’ve known her all my life so I can say these things, whereas you can’t, and I told her that Ned’s future happiness depends on you being here. Therefore, if she wants to ensure that continues, she’s going to have to adjust, however hard.’ She turned back to the kettle. ‘Do you have sugar in your tea?’
‘Er, no. No thank you, just milk.’ Flora stared at Caroline’s face, looking for any trace of subterfuge, but it was entirely without guile. ‘It must have been a bit of a shock for you all though,’ she added. ‘Me suddenly coming along, I mean.’
‘I suppose it was, a little. But that’s Ned all over for you. He’s always kept things rather close to his chest, even as a child, so the fact he was hiding a girlfriend was a surprise, yes, but not unusual. Anyway, now that you’re here, I think it’s the best thing that’s happened in a long time.’
Caroline came to stand beside the table, where she stared down at the mess Flora had made.
‘And while homemade bread is lovely, I really don’t see why occasionally Hannah can’t unchain herself from the kitchen and let everyone eat shop-bought bread instead. The village store sells it wonderfully fresh from a local bakery.’
Flora stared at her hands. ‘I seem to have made a bit of a dog’s dinner of it,’ she said. ‘I rather foolishly said I knew how to make bread yesterday, which was rather rash seeing as how everyone is going to expect to be eating it today.’
‘No problem,’ replied Caroline. ‘I’ll finish it if you like. No one will ever know it wasn’t you that made it. And I’m certainly not about to tell them…’
Flora didn’t know what to say. It was an extraordinarily generous thing to do. ‘It might be beyond repair. I’ve been faffing with it for quite a while.’
Caroline grinned and peered at the dough. ‘Do you want to finish off making the tea and I’ll give it a go? I doubt it’s ruined; I just don’t think you’ve kneaded it enough. That’s why it’s so sticky.’
Flora didn’t need to be asked twice, escaping to the sink and finally pulling off the bits of dough from her fingers that had begun to harden around them like concrete.
‘I really can’t thank you enough,’ Flora said, once her hands were clean and she’d brought the mugs of tea over to the table. She watched as Caroline expertly scooped up the mess she had made and somehow pulled it all together into a ball, whereupon she began to knead it so fast it was almost a blur. Within a few moments Flora could see that it was changing consistency.
‘This is what you get for living in the country,’ said Caroline, continuing the motion. ‘While everyone my age in the city knows the ingredients and exact measurements for the perfect cosmopolitan, all I learnt was how to make bread and suet puddings. Oh, and ride of course, that goes without saying.’
Flora giggled. ‘I’ve never evenbeenon horse,’ she said.
Caroline stared at her. ‘No, really? You’ve never been on a horse before? Well, we’ll have to change all that.’ She cocked her head to one side. ‘I tell you what, why don’t you come over and meet Samson soon. He’s an absolute darling and Hannah would love it if you were able to ride. Everyone around here does.’
‘Samson?’ echoed Flora. ‘He doesn’t sound like a darling…’
‘The name’s ironic, I promise you. He’s a big softy really, and he’ll take good care of you.’ She looked down at the table. ‘Now look at this wonderful loaf you’ve whipped up. Hannah will beveryimpressed…’
Chapter Four
The village shop, if Hannah were to be believed, was a treasure trove for local produce and, as such, frequently visited. This at least was something that Flora approved of and she was interested to explore it herself. Besides, it was high time she started to get out and about and an abundance of eggs gave her the perfect excuse.
To her delight, as soon as she mentioned her intention at lunchtime, Ned announced that he would accompany her. He had a couple of hours before the afternoon milking and he would enjoy showing her off in the village.
‘There’s someone I want you to meet,’ he added, tapping the side of his nose and refusing to say any more.
‘You’ve got work to do, lad,’ said Fraser, gruffly, looking up. ‘And it won’t get done if you’re off gallivanting around the village.’
Flora’s heart sank and she was about to say that she would go by herself when Ned got up from the table.
‘I’ll be an hour and a half at most, Dad. There’s nothing that I can’t see to when I get back. And I want to show Flora around. She lives here now, it’s important that she gets a feel for the place.’
There was a long pause. ‘Aye, well don’t make a habit of it. Sneaking off in the middle of the day. I know what you young ones are like.’
