Page 21 of The Midnight Bakery
After a minute or so of low murmuring, the woman waved her phone, the conversation clearly ended. She slipped it back inside her pocket. ‘Right…Um, are you sure it’s okay to drop me home? It’s a twenty-minute drive and we live on a farm so it’s at the end of a pretty rough road.’
Tam nodded, smiling. ‘My car’s older than yours, so it’s no problem. Not like it’s a top-of-the-range sports car or anything. And it’s absolutely fine. I’m not due at work until lunchtime.’
‘Okay then…thank you.’ She held out her hand, suddenly shy. ‘My name’s Beth.’
Tam could see her run her tongue over the front of her teeth. It was something he did when he was nervous, too, his mouth too dry to speak.
He took her hand and shook it. ‘Pleased to meet you, Beth. I’m just over here.’ Although, of course, she already knew where his car was.
Opening the car door for her, he prayed that it didn’t smell too malodorous inside. He tried to keep it ventilated during the times when he wasn’t asleep, but that wasn’t at all pleasant when it was this cold, and he obviously hadn’t had a chance this morning so…He climbed into the driver’s seat, painfully aware of his situation. He really hadn’t thought this through. The rear of the car was full of his things, his sleeping bag still open where he’d only recently climbed out of it.
‘So, where are we headed?’ he asked.
‘It’s Beacalls Farm, near Lower Bettesfield,’ she replied, doing up her seat belt. ‘Do you know it?’
Tam knew it well. Not so long ago, it was a journey he made every day. He nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. Moments later they pulled out of the car park.
14
Tam
A thin, hazy sun broke through the clouds as Tam drew up outside Beacalls Farm. Beth was right, the track to the house would test even the most resilient suspension, but he didn’t care – just being back out this way soothed away any tension he had been feeling. He loved it around here, always had. He waited until Beth had climbed from the car before following suit, lifting his head to the sky and taking the morning air deep inside his lungs. He’d forgotten how good that felt. And the birds…He smiled, trying to sort out one joyful call from another.
‘There you go,’ he said. ‘Home sweet home. It’s a beautiful spot,’ he added, looking around him.
The journey had been quiet, the conversation a little stilted, but now Beth smiled, properly it seemed. ‘We love it,’ she said. ‘And I can’t thank you enough. Really, you’ve been very kind.’ She fished in her handbag. ‘Will you come in for a moment? My husband wants to meet you.’
Tam was torn. He felt as if he should, but staying here for too long would almost certainly leave him feeling maudlin. Too much of a good thing always reminded him of what he’d lost.
‘Please?’ she asked again. ‘I can at least make you a cup of tea after dragging you out here.’
‘Sure,’ said Tam. ‘Thank you, that would be lovely.’
He followed her inside to find a warm and welcoming farmhouse, with whitewashed walls and worn flags on the floor giving it an air of permanence. It was old, and a little tired-looking, but Tam thought it was beautiful.
Beth led him into an airy kitchen, gesturing at a well-scrubbed wooden table which sat in the middle of the room. ‘Grab a seat,’ she said. ‘And I’ll put the kettle on. Do you mind waiting a few minutes while I get Jack up? He can’t, you see, without me…’ She dumped her bag and coat on the table and hurried away, leaving Tam lost for words.
The kitchen had clearly been modified for Jack’s needs, or at least in part. The rest of it housed a collection of things which had been ‘cobbled together’ – furniture which didn’t really belong in a kitchen, but which had been repurposed. One of these was a large bookcase which stood against one wall. The top shelves were occupied by a selection of novels, but the bottom few had been put to use housing a whole range of things which Tam guessed might need to be on hand – a bowl of fruit, an opened packet of biscuits, a pair of binoculars, a notepad, pot of pens, iPad, headphones, reading glasses, toaster, and a stack of non-fiction books on their side. Out of habit, he peered at the titles, smiling in recognition at one of them which he pulled from the stack.
He was still leafing through it when a voice came from behind him. ‘It’s very good.’
Tam spun around, embarrassed to have been caught with one of their personal possessions.
‘Yes, I’ve read it,’ he replied. ‘Sorry, I was just…reminiscing. It’s been a while since I last looked at it.’ He replaced the book, standing awkwardly even though the man in front of him was smiling. He didn’t look in the least annoyed to find a perfect stranger rifling through his things.
‘I’m Jack,’ he said. ‘And apologies for the rather rough-and-ready appearance.’ He ran a hand through thick curly hair. ‘It takes a while to get up in the morning, as you can imagine.’
Tam nodded and approached him, holding out his hand. ‘Tam,’ he said. ‘Pleased to meet you.’
The hand which took his was warm, with a firm grip, while the other lay still in the man’s lap. He was wearing jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt and Tam relaxed a little, slightly more comfortable in his own clothes.
‘I’ll get the coffee on…you do drink coffee?’
‘Oh, yes, thanks. As long as it’s not too much trouble.’
Jack paused a second. ‘It’s an incredible faff, but then most things are. What’s important, however, is that the coffee is made because without it the day doesn’t start at all.’
Tam smiled. ‘I know what you mean.’ It was one of life’s small rituals that he missed. He waited while Jack’s wheelchair reversed and spun about before following him to stand in front of the kitchen window. ‘And it looks as if it’s going to be beautiful, after all.’ The sun, although still pale in its winter clothes, was gaining in strength, the sky beginning to lose the silvery threads of dawn and finding blue. ‘Cold,’ he added. ‘But give me sunshine over rain any day.’
