Page 64 of A Christmas Celebration
‘We’ll worry about that when you’ve turned into a prune,’ I said, hoping it wasn’t going to be an issue. ‘How is it?’
‘Bloody lovely!’
‘Albert Price!’ I gasped. ‘Language, please.’ He chuckled. ‘I’ll leave you to it.’
Who would have thought that something so simple as running someone a bath could give so much pleasure and satisfaction? And not just to Albert. I was feeling pretty pleased about it myself. Had Molly known, she would have been thrilled.
‘I hope you don’t mind, Stella,’ I said, as I tentatively opened her bedroom door. ‘I won’t be a moment.’
Almost before I had taken the room in, Bella shot between my legs and jumped up on the bed, purring loudly. The sight of her circling and settling on the pillow where her mistress’s head would have once rested brought a lump to my throat.
‘Don’t get too comfy,’ I told her, looking at the crocheted doilies which adorned every surface and the bottles offlowery Yardley scent lined up along the dressing table, ‘I’ll be closing the door again in a minute.’
The airing cupboard was a paragon of tidiness and I easily found a neatly ironed bed set with lavender scented sachets tucked in between the shelves.
‘How are you doing in there?’ I called to Albert once I’d re-made his bed, flicked the feather duster about and closed the window again.
There was still snow on the ground so it was chilly in the room, but it would soon warm up again and it felt all the better for being aired. The whole cottage did. It was finally getting back to being what I imagined it once was.
‘Grand,’ Albert said dreamily. ‘I’ve topped the hot water up, so I might as well have a few more minutes, if that’s all right?’
‘You take as long as you like,’ I told him. ‘I’m going to make another brew.’
I had a feeling he would be exhausted by the time he was dry and dressed so topping up his blood sugar would help combat the toll the exertion would take. Having refreshed the pot, I nudged Bran aside to clean out the fire, laid it again and then immediately lit it, all still with one ear on what was happening upstairs.
‘The tea’s made,’ I then told Albert through the bathroom door. ‘Do you want it in there or downstairs?’
‘I’ll have it downstairs please,’ he said, sounding a little less buoyed up than before. ‘That’s assuming I can get down there again.’
‘Are you stuck?’
‘I think I might be,’ he said shakily. ‘I can’t work out how to get out.’
‘Can I come in?’
‘I think you’re going to have to, but you have to promise you won’t look.’
I opened the door a couple of inches.
‘I’ll have to look a bit,’ I told him. ‘Otherwise, I won’t be able to pass you the towel.’
It took some working out and some discreet towel manoeuvring, but we got the bath emptied and Albert out in the end. I made him sit on the toilet seat to get his breath back while I put his socks on and helped him into a clean shirt and pullover. I tried not to look at him or say anything beyond what I needed to while I was doing it.
‘Well,’ he eventually said, ‘that was far from dignified, wasn’t it?’
I looked at him and bit my lip.
‘I’m so sorry, Albert,’ I apologized. ‘I didn’t think it through, did I? I was so keen to get you in there, I didn’t spare a thought about how we’d get you out.’
‘I can’t believe,’ he said, his shoulders starting to shake, ‘that within days of letting you into the cottage, you’ve seen me naked! I’ve had romantic relationships that have moved slower.’
‘Oh, Albert!’ I said, with a smile. ‘Are you laughing?’
‘How can I not?’ he chuckled.
It was a relief that he could see the funny side. If I’d been in his position, I’m not sure I would have been able to.
‘But we’ll have to do something about this situation,’ hesaid, pointing at the bath as he got to his feet. ‘I wonder how hard it would be to have one of those bath chairs fitted?’
