Page 64 of A Fresh Start at Bramble Cottage
“That’s good. If you don’t mind me asking, you said there were personal reasons why you left your previous job?”
Vicky smiled wryly. “It’s not a good idea to be engaged to your boss. If you decide to break off your engagement, the job goes, the flat goes — everything goes!”
“Oh dear — it does sound like it could be unwise.” Lisa laughed. “That’s something I’ve been very careful to avoid!”
Vicky kept her smile in place. She couldn’t quite imagine Lisa working on the farm, milking the cows and mucking out the barn. But it was all too easy to imagine her snuggling up on the sofa with Tom in the evening...
A little desperately she pushed that thought from her mind. “It’s funny, in a way — it wasn’t just because I inherited the cottage. I began to realise that I wasn’t living the life I wanted. And finding out about Molly, all the amazing things she did, made me realise that being sensible was just a waste. It gave me the courage to think about what I really want.”
Lisa laughed. “Sensible?”
“That’s my mother’s thing.” Another wry smile. “I suppose it’s understandable — mothers worry.”
“We do. But you’re right — being sensible isn’t always the best way to live your life. Anyway, tell me more about Molly.” Lisa leaned forward with eager interest. “My mum told me that she used to go swimming in a purple swimsuit, every day, right through the winter, until she was well into her seventies.”
Vicky rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t surprise me at all!”
* * *
Vicky’s mind was still swirling with thoughts of Tom and Lisa as she walked up the hill from the hotel. Tom and Lisa. If she was going to stay here, living next door to them, she was just going to have to get used to it.
She could do that — of course she could. It was just a matter of... self-discipline. And finding other things to distract herself. Like working on her book. She really needed to get on with that, while she had this opportunity.
There were a few bits of shopping she needed, so she stopped at Brenda’s. The shopkeeper greeted her with a friendly smile. “Hi, Vicky. How are you?”
“Great, thanks. And you?”
“Tray beeyun, mercy.” Brenda laughed. “I’ve got French in the house morning, noon and night! Linda, this is old Molly’s niece I was telling you about,” she added to the plump woman waiting at the counter.
“Oh, ah — I heard someone had got her cottage. So you be her niece, then?”
“That’s right — well, her great-niece. My grandfather was her older brother.”
“She talked my Bethany into going for university,” Brenda declared proudly.
Vicky laughed, shaking her head. “She talked herself into it. I just gave her a bit of a nudge. Sometimes a kid’ll take more notice of a stranger than their own mum.”
“Well, anyway, she’s really keen. I used to have to nag her to do her homework, but now I don’t have to say a word.”
“It’d be a good thing, her going to university.” Linda nodded sagely. “I wish one of mine would have a bit of ambition. They don’t want to leave Sturcombe. Can’t budge ’em.”
“I don’t blame them.” Vicky smiled. “It’s a lovely place.”
“So are you going to stay after all then?”
“I hope so.”
“That’s good. Morning, Arthur,” Linda added as the old man appeared in the doorway.
“Morning, ladies.” He chuckled mischievously. “Having a good gossip, are we?”
“Of course.”
He picked up a wire basket and pottered off around the shelves. Vicky watched him a little anxiously. He seemed steady enough on his feet, if slow, and he was clearly very independent.
She wandered around the shelves herself, selecting a loaf of bread, some cheese and two pints of milk. Arthur had stopped at the shelves of tinned soup, studying them closely. He stretched up, but the one he wanted was too far back for him to reach.
“Here — let me,” Vicky offered. “Just one, or two?”
