Page 44 of The Beekeeper's Cottage
‘Well, I’m on my way back, Maria, this was going to be my last stop before home.’
‘But?’
‘Things have altered a little from when I first got here and I think I could be a bit longer now.’
Another pause. ‘And?’
Amos wasn’t quite sure what to say. ‘And I’m not sure that’s a good thing…’ He almost whispered it, hoping that Flora was far enough away in the kitchen so that she wouldn’t hear him.
‘Why would it not be a good thing? Besides… Since when have you ever given me any indication of how long you were going to be in one place or another… What’s going on, Amos?’
He swallowed, knowing that Maria would jump on his next words with excitement and he would have to explain himself. ‘That thing you said would happen to me one day which would change my life forever. I think it might have happened.’
‘Oh…’ There was a soft sigh. ‘Well in that case it won’t be good to see you at all. Don’t you dare come home.’ He could almost hear her thinking and then: ‘Oh no, no, no you don’t, Amos, don’t you dare run. Amos, this is agoodthing. People have got to find out one day. And you know I’m only saying this because… well, probably because I’m the only one who can, but you’ve kept this inside for long enough. It’s time for you to realise that you’re the only one who thinks the way you do. It’s time to give someone else a chance to understand, someone that isn’t me. And I know you’re terrified there won’t be anyone else, but do yourself a favour and find out.’ Her voice rose as she spoke. ‘Amos?’ she prompted into the silence that followed.
Now it was his turn to sigh. ‘You’re not supposed to say things like that. You’re supposed to say, “Yes of course, I understand, come home as soon as you can.”’
‘No, I’m not. I’m your friend and what kind of a friend would I be if I told you to ignore the one thing that could bring you happiness?’
‘So, anyway,’ said Amos lightly, and slightly louder. ‘I was just ringing to let you know where I am and that if you need me for anything, to ring the farm.’
There was an exasperated laugh from the other end. ‘No you didn’t. You rang because you want me to invent some plausible excuse for why you need to leave, I know you too well. So, save your breath, Amos, because I’m not going to, not this time. But what I will be doing is rooting for you, because I believe in you and I want to see you truly happy.’
Amos smiled. ‘Well, that told me then.’
‘Yes, it did,’ replied Maria. ‘Come home, but only when you’ve done what you need to do… Oh, and bring her with you. I’d like to meet the woman who’s finally mending your heart. Does she have a name?’
‘She does…’ He paused, wondering whether to share this information. ‘It’s Grace…’
Her name felt soft upon his lips and he smiled as he hung up. He could go for months without speaking to Maria, but it was always the same when he did; she had him sussed in seconds.
He moved away from the phone, heading back towards the kitchen to claim his drink. But he had only taken a couple of steps when he realised that the door to the dining room was partially open. On his way to make his phone call he hadn’t been able to see into the room because of the direction the door opened, but now, walking back on himself, he was able to look directly in to where Fraser was sitting at the table, poring over some paperwork. For a moment he thought he might have got away without being noticed, but then Fraser raised a hand in greeting as he passed.
Amos could have kicked himself, but it never occurred to him that anyone else might have been in earshot. He tried to recall his conversation with Maria, focusing on the thingshehad said rather than her words, which Fraser would never have been able to hear. He’d said Grace’s name, that was all. He had probably got away with it.
16
Grace hadn’t been able to shake the feeling all morning and now, as she waited for Amos to arrive, if anything it was becoming stronger. With all the plans that had been made and all the work that had been done it should have felt like a beginning, but it didn’t, it felt more like the end of something, and Grace couldn’t understand why. Perhaps it was just the inexorable passing of the weeks; the summer had swelled to its height and was now beginning its descent through August and, following that, the slide into cooler days. Autumn was a season that Grace loved, but she always felt a certain sadness at seeing the end of the summer coming closer. But that was weeks away yet and still the feeling persisted.
They had all been madly busy over the last few weeks, and none more so than Amos as he tried to fit in work on her house as well as on the farm. It wasn’t really surprising therefore that today was the first day that he was actually going to get a look at the hives. There simply hadn’t been time for any more visits, not together anyway, and Amos knew no more about beekeeping now than he did when he had first suggested the idea. Still, it was better late than never, and Grace knew that he was very excited to be finally meeting her bees.
She checked the kitchen clock again just as Amos appeared in the patio doorway, a bunch of flowers in his hand. He grinned when he saw her and placed a finger across his lips.
‘Shhh,’ he said. ‘Don’t tell anyone but I might have… erm, appropriated these on my way up.’ He handed her the bouquet.
Grace laughed. ‘You pinched them, you mean.’
Amos pretended to be hurt. ‘I was merely tidying up. They’re the stragglers from the ends of the rows, I’m afraid.’ His expression softened as he looked at her. ‘Still beautiful though.’
She blushed slightly and turned away on the pretext of finding a vase. There was no mistaking what Amos had actually meant, he wasn’t referring to the flowers at all, and it was just the sort of lovely thing he would say. But he didn’t mean anything by it, how could he, when he would be leaving in a matter of weeks? Unbidden, her hand went to her cheek as her nose began to smart and she took a deep breath to try and quell the rise of her emotion. Because that’s what the problem was of course; Grace had got very used to having Amos standing in her kitchen, or sharing a meal with her, their laughter ringing around the room. She had got used to standing at her bedroom window for a moment before she went to bed, saying a silent goodnight to the man she knew would be sleeping somewhere in her garden. But, more than anything, Grace had got used to how Amos made her feel and she couldn’t bear the thought of him going away.
She tried to gather herself. If she wasn’t careful she would ruin the day by being maudlin and Amos was here with her now and that was all that mattered. She blinked rapidly and brightened the expression on her face before turning back around.
‘Aren’t they just. And they’re not stragglers any more either, that role has fallen to the next in line. Now these are in pride of place, from zero to hero, just like that. I don’t know how you do it, Amos, but you even make the flowers feel better.’
Now it was Amos’s turn to blush. He looked away, embarrassed, no, not embarrassed… something else that Grace couldn’t quite determine. She groaned inwardly. Oh, for goodness’ sake, they had better get on or the day was going to go from bad to worse.
‘Well then, are you ready for this?’ she asked, deliberately grinning. ‘I have told the bees to expect a visitor this afternoon and warned them to be on their best behaviour.’
