Page 38 of The House at Hope Corner
‘I really think we should have taken the drawers out or something,’ she huffed. ‘It would have been an awful lot easier.’
Flora clapped a hand to her head. ‘Oh, God, you’re right!’ she said, turning away to hide her grin. She stood back to survey the positioning of the piece. ‘Never mind, it’s done now. Ah, that looks so much better.’ She motioned to the empty space. ‘Everything needs a bit of a clean, but we can put the beds there, coming this way, the table in between and an armchair in the corner.’
‘Yes, I suppose,’ answered Caroline. ‘Although it does seem weird seeing the room like this. In fact, I can’t remember when it was last used. Almost certainly at Christmas, but it would have been years ago; Ned and I were considerably younger, that I do know… And I seem to remember that Ned did suggest once upon a time that this be used as a more cosy sitting room, because of the fire, but of course Hannah wouldn’t hear of it. I’m not sure why this room is sacrosanct but I’m glad that Hannah has come to her senses; this would seem a much better use of the space under the circumstances.’
‘Sacrosanct…’ faltered Flora. ‘I didn’t know that…’
‘I think it’s something to do with the dining table. Her mother’s maybe? I can’t quite remember. But I guess it doesn’t matter much where the furniture is at the end of the day, just that it’s still around.’
Flora could feel her heart sinking. The dining table. The one she had dragged unceremoniously down the hallway and hidden behind a door in the other room. But there was absolutely no way she was going to let on to Caroline that she hadn’t even asked Hannah about moving the room round. They had sort of discussed it the other day, and even if Hannah hadn’t actually agreed to it, it would still be a nice surprise, wouldn’t it?
She nodded and rubbed her hands together as if they were dusty. ‘Right then, did you want a cup of tea, Caroline?’
But Caroline shook her head, scowling as she inspected a manicured fingernail which hadn’t taken too kindly to manhandling furniture. ‘No thanks, I’d better get going actually, but I’ll try and visit Fraser tonight. I expect he could do with seeing some friendly faces.’
‘No—’ The word was out of Flora’s mouth before she could stop it. Caroline looked up sharply.
Flora winced. ‘Sorry, what I meant was it would be better if you didn’t go this evening… or possibly for a couple of days actually. Ned hasn’t seen his dad yet, but apart from that, Fraser’s not really up to visitors at the moment. He’s still in intensive care for one, but I also think you might be better to wait until he’s a bit more…’ Flora still couldn’t get the image of Fraser from this morning out of her head. ‘…He looked awful, Caroline,’ she said bluntly. ‘You’d hardly recognise him.’
She wondered whether Caroline might take offence at being contradicted but to her relief she looked more grateful than anything.
‘No, well then, I’ll wait. Maybe even until he’s home. I don’t… well I don’t reallydoillness, I…’ She broke off and shuddered. ‘I’ll get going then and let you get on. Give my love to everyone, won’t you?’ She edged towards the door. ‘And I’ll see myself out, don’t worry.’ She was almost out the door when she suddenly paused and turned. ‘You know, you really should come riding with me tomorrow.’
Flora looked up, horrified. ‘Oh, I don’t think…’
‘No, you should, honestly. A few hours out in the fresh air, instead of being cooped up in the house, worrying about things.’ She looked Flora up and down. ‘You’re looking peaky actually. I think it would do you the world of good.’
‘It’s not really a good time, Caroline, and I don’t ride, I think I mentioned that before, and—’
‘Then it’s the perfect opportunity to learn. I can see how stressed you are and with everything that’s going on you need to look after yourself too, Flora – have a little bit of “me” time.’ She patted the side of her hair. ‘I’ll pick you up at eight tomorrow which will give us plenty of time.’
‘Yes, but the hospital…’
‘Oh, we’ll be back well in time for visiting, don’t worry.’ She backed out of the door. ‘I’ll see you then!’
And then she was gone, leaving Flora standing in the middle of the room, her heart sinking rapidly. She had no desire to go riding, not now, and certainly not with Caroline. She heaved a sigh and stared around the half-empty space. As if she didn’t have enough on her plate. What on earth was she going to do with the room?
She had honestly thought she was helping by trying to create somewhere more suitable for Fraser, but now she was seriously questioning her motives. She knew how much Ned’s mother hated change, particularly when it included any alteration to the domestic arrangements, so why hadn’t Flora included her in her decision making and chosen to do it on an afternoon when Hannah was around? Was it to do with the fact that she didn’t want to spend the afternoon alone with her own thoughts? Or because she wanted to be the one who was holding everything together in a time of crisis? Was she trying to carve a role for herself as the perfect prospective daughter-in-law and would-be wife as an alternative to the life she wanted, the one that was slipping away from her? But if not that, then what? Where would she go, if not here? No money, no home. She shook her head angrily. No, she mustn’t think like that. This change was for Fraser; it was the right thing to do.
She crossed to the sideboard and yanked open the top drawer, pulling out the wooden box that held the cutlery. She had started now so she might as well finish, and if Hannah hated what she’d done, then she’d just blooming well put the room back to how it was before, and Hannah could come up with something. Flora carried the box through into the sitting room and, removing the cloth from the blanket box, opened it up to lay the cutlery inside. Then she doubled back and collected the bottom drawer to repeat the exercise so that all that was left to do was move the tablecloths and other linens and Fraser would have several drawers at his disposal.
She reached inside the drawer and lifted a handful of the cloths, pulling them out towards her. They were heavier than she’d anticipated and she felt something slip from within. Trying to stop it from sliding with her knee, she realised it was a file of some sort, which must have been wrapped inside. But with her hands full she was hampered and she watched helplessly as it crashed to the floor. It landed edge on, bounced slightly, and out slipped a sheaf of papers which fluttered in all directions.
Damn.
Dropping to her knees, Flora set down the linen and picked up the blank cardboard file. Darting a look to the door, she began to pick up the loose papers, anxious to retrieve them as quickly as she could. Whatever they were, they’d obviously been hidden from someone, and she didn’t want to be the one caught with them. As she gathered them together, she couldn’t help but notice that they looked a lot like bills, and she quickly averted her eyes before she could be accused of snooping.
Carefully stowing them back in the file, she made sure all the pages were face down, and arranged them neatly so it wouldn’t look like they had been rifled through. Then she wrapped them back up again inside the bundle of cloths and carried them through into the living room.
Another half hour or so later and she had manoeuvred an upright armchair into the corner of the room and even found a small side table which could sit beside it. A lamp completed the trio and she gave an affirmatory nod. She didn’t even know if Fraser liked reading, but he would need something to occupy him over the coming weeks, and now at least he had somewhere to sit which would either have good light from the window during the day or be a cosy spot of an evening.
All that was needed now was to move the beds in here and Ned could help her with that later. She gave the room one last look. It was the best she could do for the moment. Later on, when Fraser was home, she’d put some flowers in here of course, and Hannah could bring some of his personal things if he wanted them, even some cushions and a throw for the chair. It would be warm and comfortable, but more importantly, close to them. She tried to regain some of the feeling she’d had earlier when she first started; a positivity. But it was gone. Since Caroline’s visit she’d started questioning her motives, and now there was no denying she had meddled, plain and simple. And in doing so she had seen things she wasn’t supposed to see, and given Hannah twenty different reasons to be annoyed with her.
She closed the door quietly behind her as she left.
* * *
‘What have you done with my table?’
