Eleanor awoke with a start.
With the sun having moved around to shine through the front window, it had to be mid-afternoon. She suppressed a yawn. She must have fallen asleep whilst researching wild flowers and their healing properties on her phone. The heat of the day didn’t help. It was slowing everyone down.
She stretched out on the sofa and enjoyed her sleepiness. But gradually she slowly came to the leisurely conclusion that she wasn’t alone in the room.
Expecting it to be her mum, and hoping she was bearing a cup of tea, Eleanor turned her face.
‘Hello,’ she mumbled.
And was startled to find herself face to face with Buttercup the goat.
Shrieking, she leapt up from the sofa. ‘Get out!’ she shouted. ‘Out!’
Buttercup bleated at her in protest before casually wandering out into the hallway towards the back of the kitchen.
Once her heart had stopped hammering in her chest, Eleanor ushered the goat outside and followed it into the sunshine.
Where she came face to face with the next surprise. Tom was fiddling with the latch on the back gate.
‘Hi,’ he said, smiling at her stunned face.
‘Hello,’ she replied, nonplussed. ‘What are you doing?’
‘You mentioned your mum needed a new gate,’ he said, as she realised he had his tool bag with him. ‘I thought it might be best if, er, well, these fellas didn’t get out.’
He gestured behind him to where his captive audience of the donkey, chickens and goat were watching.
‘Oh, well, thanks,’ she replied. ‘I didn’t know you were here.’
‘Your mum said you were asleep on the sofa.’
Great, she thought. ‘Yes, well, it’s been a bit busy since…’ Her voice trailed off.
‘Since three days ago,’ he said, finishing off the sentence.
Across the garden, his eyes bore into hers.
When you kissed me, she silently added. That kiss by the river. The feel of him against her. The realization that she was falling in love with him. She had thought of nothing else since then which was why she had found every reason under the sun not to go back to the hall since then
She desperately wanted to check what she looked like. Had she been drooling in her sleep? Was her hair sticking up in all directions? How much mascara gunk did she have in the corner of her eyes? But it would have been too obvious, so she just stood there, not knowing what to do next.
Thankfully her mum arrived at that moment.
‘All done,’ said Tom, picking up his screwdriver and tool bag.
‘Oh, you are wonderful, isn’t he, Ellie?’ Her mum beamed at her.
Eleanor nodded. ‘Yes, he is,’ she croaked.
‘Can I get you a drink?’ asked her mum.
‘Thanks, but I’d better get back to the hall,’ Tom told her. ‘Otherwise Dylan will have chewed up the place. Talking of which, you seem to have a few less animals these days.’
Her mum nodded. ‘Just these ones to go,’ she said, looking around the back garden.
Eleanor was pleased that she didn’t seem too sad when she told him. Perhaps she really was moving on.
‘Are you coming up to the hall today?’ asked Tom.
‘Tomorrow,’ she told him, avoiding eye contact. ‘I’ve got the girls coming over later. But I’ve managed to arrange the vet’s appointment for tomorrow.’
‘Okay,’ she heard him say. ‘It’s a date. I’ll see you in the morning.’
She started at the word ‘date’ and looked back to find him giving her a smile before walking away.
This was bad. She was like some kind of awkward schoolgirl around him.
She was grateful for the distraction of her friends coming over that evening.
*
‘So what’s the big news?’ she asked Megan, who had teased them both with a text earlier that morning.
‘Yeah, what gives?’ asked Annie. ‘Is it another baby?’
‘No!’ said Megan, laughing. ‘I think three really is enough for the time being.’
‘Well, you are positively glowing,’ said Eleanor, noting her friend’s smiling, relaxed face.
Megan leaned back on the chair with a wide smile. ‘That’s because my gorgeous, wonderful husband announced last night the reason he’s been working so many extra hours. He’s booked us a surprise holiday to Majorca!’
‘Wow!’ said Annie, leaping up to give her a hug. ‘That’s amazing!’
‘Isn’t it?’ said Megan, laughing.
‘When?’ asked Eleanor.
‘We go in a ten days’ time. And we’re going for two weeks! To a hotel! With a kids’ club! Bliss!’ Megan’s face dropped a little. ‘Which makes me feel even more guilty for what happened the other night.’
‘Nothing happened the other night,’ said Eleanor in a firm tone.
‘Exactly,’ said Annie, nodding fiercely.
‘Okay,’ said Megan, looking relieved. ‘The thing is, I don’t really have any clothes to take.’
‘Well, that’s not a problem,’ said Eleanor. ‘Come upstairs. I’ve got loads of stuff that you can borrow.’
‘Really?’ said Megan, looking amazed.
Eleanor smiled. ‘What else are friends for?’
So they spent a happy few hours bringing out all of Eleanor’s designer clothes and having a trying on session. Megan found quite a few tops and skirts that suited her colouring and fitted her.
‘What if the kids spill tomato ketchup on any of it?’ she asked, looking worried.
‘Then it’ll either wash off or we’ll throw it away,’ Eleanor told her. ‘It honestly doesn’t matter. Look at it all,’ she said, waving her arm around at the piles of clothes all over the bedroom. ‘I’ve wasted so much money and I hardly wear any of it. I’d rather you went out and enjoyed yourself, feeling good and confident about how you look. That’s better than having all of this stuck away in some suitcase.’
‘Don’t you want to keep some of it just in case Tom asks you out on a date?’ asked Annie in a sly tone, holding up a slithery piece of satin.
Eleanor blushed and shook her head, suddenly tongue-tied.
‘This is so lovely of you to lend me all of this,’ said Megan, stepping forward to give her a hug. ‘I’m so grateful. But I will make it up to you, I promise.’
‘Just have a fantastic holiday,’ said Eleanor. ‘That’s enough thanks for me.’
But the conversation obviously played on Megan’s mind because the following day she rang Eleanor.
‘I’ve been looking up all the rules and regulations of selling beauty products at the fete,’ she said. ‘Because people are going to be paying you money, hopefully, and then putting your stuff onto their skin, we need to be able to comply with the law.’
Eleanor sighed as she looked around the workshop. ‘That all sounds very complicated and I’m rubbish with stuff like that.’
‘I know you are, but luckily I’m not,’ said Megan. ‘Leave it with me. I just need the full list of ingredients from you to upload it onto the assessment site. It all sounds very straightforward. I’ll get it done before I go on holiday.’
Eleanor was astonished. ‘Wow, really?’
‘Of course. That’s what friends are for, stupid.’
Eleanor was still smiling when she came off the phone. It was lovely to hear her friend sounding much more relaxed and happy. And perhaps between the holiday and the paperwork, maybe Megan would become more confident as well.
Which just left her mum needing a gentle nudge in the right direction.
Later on, as agreed, she took Tom along to the vet’s to have Dylan microchipped.
She felt herself tongue-tied sitting in the car as he drove and was actually quite relieved by the time they arrived at the vets. But at least it gave her time to think up a plan to talk to Ben about moving on his relationship with her mum. In the surgery, Ben checked the dog over.
‘Well, it’s great to see Dylan looking so well,’ said Ben, smiling as he stroked his head. ‘And getting him microchipped is vital, of course. We’ve not had anyone contact us regarding lost dogs. So it looks as though if you want him, you’re likely to be able to adopt him.’
Tom nodded. ‘I just need to sort through a few things first to make sure it’s the best thing for him.’
Eleanor felt a flutter in her stomach. Maybe he might even settle out in the countryside now that he was hoping to keep the dog. But she shook her head to herself, knowing that she was galloping ahead of herself.
‘Mum’s moving around much better without her plaster cast on,’ she said.
‘Glad to hear it,’ said Ben, as he washed his hands in the nearby sink.
‘In fact, she was beginning to go a bit stir crazy in the house,’ she carried on. ‘You know, having been stuck inside all of these weeks.’
Ben wiped his hands dry and looked across at her. ‘If you’re suggesting that I take her out for dinner one night, you can come right out and tell me, you know.’ He smiled. ‘She and I are old friends.’
‘Yes, I know you are,’ she said, giving him a rueful grin. ‘Sorry. I was trying to be subtle. Did she tell you that my dad graced us with a visit last week?’
He looked shocked. ‘No. I had no idea. Is she okay?’
Eleanor nodded and took a deep breath. ‘Actually, I think it did her the power of good. It made her realise that she has definitely moved on from him and all that pain.’
‘Good,’ said Ben. ‘She deserves to be happy.’
Eleanor remembered the conversation with Rose about how much Ben cared for her mother and decided to chance her luck. ‘In fact, she’s decided she’s ready for a new chapter in her life. You know, she’s decided to give up all her animals as well.’
He nodded. ‘I do. I’ve already told her how impressed I am by her courage.’
‘Well, that’s not all,’ carried on Eleanor. ‘She told me that she’d like to go out on a date some time.’
Ben’s eyebrows nearly shot up to the ceiling. ‘Really?’ he said, looking concerned. ‘She didn’t happen to tell you who with, did she?’
‘I’d only trust her to go out with someone who really cared about her and who would never hurt her. Obviously it would have to be someone that she really cared for as well,’ carried on Eleanor in a casual tone.
Ben stared at her for a beat before laughing with relief. ‘You’re many good things, Eleanor McCartney, but subtle isn’t one of them.’ He drew himself up. ‘Perhaps I’ll give her a call after my next appointment.’
She leant forward to give him a kiss on his cheek. ‘I think you should,’ she told him softly. ‘Maybe it’s a new start for both of you.’
‘What was that all about?’ asked Tom as they left the veterinary surgery.
‘Mum’s decided that it’s time for all the animals to leave the zoo,’ she told him.
‘Seriously?’ said Tom.
Eleanor nodded at him as they got into Sam’s Range Rover. ‘Absolutely. She’s ready to move on and I’m so proud of her.’
She was glad she had had the conversation with Ben and just hoped her mum would be brave enough to go through with the change from friend to romantic partner with Ben.
It seemed as if everyone was getting paired up but her, she realised before shooting a look across to Tom.
He still had the key in ignition but had yet to turn it. In fact, he was looking quite bleak.
‘Are you okay?’ she asked. ‘What’s wrong?’
He cleared his throat. ‘It was you talking about moving on. I think I need to do the same.’
She frowned. ‘What are you talking about?’
He turned in his seat to face her. ‘There’s something I’ve been putting off doing. Something I’ve been dreading. I couldn’t face doing it by myself. I was wondering whether…’
His voice trailed off and her heart lurched at the sadness in his face.
‘Of course I’ll help you,’ she told him, reaching out to touch put her hand over his on the steering wheel. ‘What is it that you need to do?’
He sighed. ‘I need to face my past.’