Page 101 of A Year at Appleyard Farm
‘She’s in hospital,’ he enunciated. ‘With a broken hip and wrist.’
‘She’s lucky to be alive,’ added Millie.
Laura stared at both of them, trying to wade through the fug in her brain. ‘But I only saw her yesterday…No, not yesterday…what day is it today?’
‘It’s Saturday, Laura,’ replied Stan, with a worried look. ‘The accident happened on Monday, but none of us knew until Tuesday night when her daughter came round.’
Laura tried to piece her week back together. ‘That’s right, I came to see you all, on Tuesday…except Blanche wasn’t in.’ Her hand flew to her mouth. ‘Oh my God.’
Stan patted her arm. ‘Don’t upset yourself dear, none of us knew. She’d been in hospital over a day before we found out.’
‘But is she okay?’
Laura studied their faces, but neither of them said anything, just a glance flickered between the two of them.
‘It’s…difficult,’ said Stan eventually, ‘because of her age. The bones will heal, but the shock, well, you can imagine…and the doctors are worried about the risk of blood clots.’
The pit of Laura’s stomach fell away. ‘I’ve got to go and see her, where is she?’
Stan looked nervously at Millie. ‘Up in Hereford, but, Laura…will you be all right? The police are still investigating what happened, and you know how nervous you still get around folk. There were reporters there too we heard, to start with, although maybe not now…’
‘Police?’ asked Laura, shocked. ‘Why were the police involved? When you said she’d broken her hip, I assumed she’d fallen—’ She stopped as she caught sight of Millie’s face which was starting to crumple.
‘What happened Stan? Tell me.’
‘They’re not sure, they think she was hit by a car.’
A slice of pain shot through Laura’s head. She thrust the bag she was carrying at Stan. ‘I’m sorry, I’ve got to go.’
Somehow, she stumbled back down the path to the front of the house, where she leaned heavily on the gate post, breathing hard. There was a wild rushing sound inside her ears, something which always happened when she was really stressed, but it was disorientating, it made her feel sick. She took several deep breaths waiting for the panic to subside. How could it be Blanche? Her lovely neighbour who had never harmed anybody. It was happening all over again – why was it always the good ones who got hurt?
If she thought she was angry yesterday, it was nothing compared with the boiling rage that hit her now, a wave of adrenaline-fuelled fury. And it was directed towards one person only: Giles Drummond. Her legs started to move of their own accord, flying first across the tarmac and then the open fields beside the church. She ran through the churchyard and out towards the Witley Road. By the time she got to Freya’s house, her chest was burning, but she carried on. She hadn’t reached her destination yet.
* * *
‘All right, all right,’ Stephen grumbled, fumbling with his trouser leg. ‘Will you give me a minute, or I’ll be bloody well naked.’
His wet feet refused to slide through his jeans, but eventually they made contact with the floor, and he stood up. He jogged down the stairs, doing up his fly as he went. The doorbell was still ringing.
‘For pity’s sake, what’s so urgent,’ he started, as he yanked open the door, the words dying on his lips when he caught sight of the figure standing there.
Laura was breathing heavily, eyes wild and darting, bleeding slightly from a cut on her cheek, the very last person he expected to see. A sheen of perspiration gleamed across her forehead as she stood there, her tiny figure diminished by the grand dimensions of the porch she stood under.
She held out a trembling arm. ‘You’ve got to help me,’ she said, the rest of her breath rushing from her in an anguished gasp. She looked like she was on the point of collapse.
Without thinking, Stephen pulled her through the door and into his arms. He realised too late that he would probably receive a swift and excruciating knee to the groin, but as Laura sagged against him, the seconds stretched out, and the threat of imminent pain receded. Instead, he gently rested his chin on the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her, fingers splayed but unmoving, as her tiny body shuddered against him.
He stared at the opposite wall in the hallway, focusing on the creamy expanse of paintwork and willed his body not to respond. But her fingers felt so good against his bare back, her hair against his chest…No! He sucked in a breath and thought about a song he had heard on the radio a few minutes ago, trying to repeat the words. Gradually, as Laura’s breathing eased, and what Stephen realised were tears trailed off, he found himself relaxing. He had no idea what had brought her to his door, but whatever it was, she had asked for his help, and right now that’s all he needed to give her. Whatever comfort she sought, Stephen would provide it.
It was an unusual feeling for Stephen, offering comfort to another, and not one he’d had much experience of before. Of course, he had held women in the past, snuggled up to them, but it had always been either a prelude to sex, or during its aftermath, and he could never understand the accusations levelled at him:Why does it always have to lead to something else? Why can’t we just have a cuddle?As he felt a peaceful calm envelop him and his breathing match that of Laura’s, he suddenly got it. He understood what he had been missing all these years, and despite the rather unpleasant memories of yesterday, he would stay like this forever if he could.
Whether he liked it or not, this little spitfire of a woman had stolen a march on his heart, and as this thought struck him squarely, he also realised that he would never be the kind of person who Laura deserved in her life. With all she had gone through, and the hurt that she was still suffering, his loud opinions and crass behaviour would overpower her. So, on the day that Stephen discovered a tiny glimmer of what it was like to fall in love, he also realised that Laura must never ever find out.
* * *
He’ll think I’m an absolute nutter, thought Laura, and it was this which finally made her pull away from Stephen’s warm embrace. When she had heard the news about Blanche, she had thought only of getting to Stephen, to tell him, to ask for his help. The anger that had engulfed her had long since gone, but in its place was a steely determination.
The Drummonds had ruined her life and stolen David’s, but to leave an elderly lady for dead was more than Laura could bear. She had fought against Stephen yesterday, shock and fear replacing calm reasoning, but the last few days had taught her one thing. Just as the Drummond family had a hold on her past, the Henderson family seemed to have an equal hold on her future. She was waking up from the self-imposed sleep she’d been in for years, and although she didn’t understand why things had changed, she certainly recognised that they had. There was only one person who could help her bring Blanche’s assailant to justice, and that was the very man she had kicked out of her house…
