How Laura Lewis Met Richard Brown

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Richard received the phone call at eight in the morning. He had just made Henry his toast and poured himself his second cup of coffee in an hour. Henry had woken late, his hair tousled but his stomach growling for food. So, when the phone rang, Richard had been tempted to ignore it. Probably cold callers. When it rang the second time, he had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that the news he would receive would be anything but good.

Now, Richard found himself sprinting down the lane towards the home, fearing the absolute worst. Linda had been calm on the phone and had done her best to reassure him that Gertie was stable and alert, but that it looked as if she had taken a turn for the worse and that it may be good for him to come in and visit her. Richard had cut her off mid-sentence. He needed to get to the home.

As Richard turned the corner of the playground, the home came into focus. He strode down the path, forcing himself not to run, and pressed the intercom. The door lock clicked open within seconds and Richard pushed himself in, and upwards towards Gertie’s room.

Should he have brought Henry with him? He had asked Linda this question and she had told him that it was his decision, that he knew Henry best. But Richard didn’t want to upset the little guy He had no idea what state he would find his grandmother in, and what Henry saw would stay with him for ever. Richard told himself that he would gauge the situation and then decide what to do with Henry. Luckily, Megan had answered her phone when he’d called, and had readily agreed to watch Henry. As soon as she had stepped through the door, Richard had left. He needed to see his grandmother. His stomach clenched at the thought of her being in pain or being weak. He ran up the stairs to her room, arms pumping, face pinched with fear for what scene was about to greet him.

Without thinking, he pushed open the door and lurched into the room.

‘Oh, hello, love,’ Gertie said from her bed. ‘Everything okay? You look like you’ve been running.’

Richard stood panting in the middle of the room. He hunched forward, hands on knees, both in relief and exhaustion.

Linda burst into the room. She looked at Gertie and then swivelled on the spot to face Richard. Her face was bright crimson.

‘I’m so sorry,’ she mouthed.

Richard looked from Linda back to his grandmother, wondering what was going on here. He had expected to find Gertie on her deathbed, not sitting up and talking.

Linda wouldn’t look at him.

How had she got the situation so wrong?

‘Whatever’s up?’ Gertie asked.

‘Nothing, nothing at all,’ Linda said quickly.

Gertie was not easily fooled and clearly knew that something was wrong.

Richard straightened himself up and took several deep breaths before he spoke. ‘I was just a little worried about you, that was all. I had a phone call this morning from . . .’ He paused, looked sideways at Linda and thought better of saying her name. ‘Well, I had a phone call to say that you weren’t feeling so good, so I came to see you.’

Gertie sighed and shot Linda a cutting look.

Linda blushed an even deeper red.

‘I’m fine, love. No real change with me. Just felt a bit off this morning, that’s all. A good rest is all I need.’

‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Linda said, backing out of the room.

‘See you later, Linda,’ Gertie said.

Linda shut the door.

Richard sighed once more. Poor Linda, she must have been worried to have phoned him. He pulled the chair from the comer of the room, placed it at the side of the bed and sat down.

He looked more closely at his grandmother, paying attention to her pallor, the lines on her face and the fact that there was an untouched cup of tea on her bedside table.

Gertie was good at covering her tracks, but she couldn’t completely fool him. She now appeared to be smaller, more shrunken in on herself. A spark had gone from her eyes. That mischievous twinkle had dimmed. Was it because they had solved the mystery of the intruder in her room? That she no longer had something to occupy her mind? But as these thoughts raced through Richard’s brain in quick succession, he knew that this was only part of the answer. His grandmother was seriously ill, he knew that, although he didn’t know her condition. She was deteriorating slowly before his eyes.

‘Tell me what Laura thought about those flowers,’ she said.

Gertie waited for Richard to answer the question.

Her grandson sat with his open mouth forming a perfect O.

‘Flowers,’ Richard said. ‘How do you know about the flowers?’

Gertie shook her head and tutted. ‘The question should be, how wouldn’t I know?’ She chuckled.

Richard continued to gawp. As if he had no idea what to say. Eventually he said, ‘I never mentioned anything about flowers.’

‘I never said you did,’ Gertie said, touching the side of her nose. ‘Anyway, how was she last night?’

Richard scratched his head. ‘Hang on a minute. I never said that I was going to see Laura last night.’

‘Yes, you did,’ Gertie said.

‘No, I didn’t.’

‘Yes, you did.’

‘No, I didn’t,’ Richard said.

‘I know, and it doesn’t matter how I know, does it!’ Gertie had raised her voice.

Richard said nothing.

‘So, what happened then?’ she asked. ‘Did she love the flowers? Did you ask her out on a proper date?’

Richard leaned forward in his chair and held his head in his hands. ‘What do you mean what happened?’ he asked, his own voice now rising — in exasperation.

‘Oh, you’re just full of questions this morning, aren’t you,’ Gertie said.

‘ Nothing happened. I went round to the cottage with a bunch of flowers and thanked her for helping us. That was all.’

Gertie nodded, knowing that there was more to this story. She just needed to wheedle it out of him.

‘How was Laura? Did she tell you anything?’

‘Like what?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Gertie said. ‘You know, just stuff.’

‘I just went round with flowers to say thank you. That’s all there is to it.’

‘But flowers always mean something.’ Gertie knew this to be true. There was no such thing as innocent flowers.

‘They don’t have to mean anything at all,’ Richard said, jaw clenched

Gertie knew that she was now annoying him, but she was enjoying this game far too much and she needed to learn the truth. ‘A woman always thinks flowers mean something and a man only gives flowers when he wants to say sorry or I love you. So which is it?’

‘Neither,’ Richard said slowly. ‘I went to say thank you.’ He pushed himself up and out of the chair. He strolled over to the bookcase and pulled out a random book from the shelf. He gazed at the cover. He wouldn’t look at her.

Gertie had hit the nail on the head. He had gone round to say sorry.

‘You are so stubborn, just like your father,’ Gertie said gently.

Richard turned to face her. ‘Well, I wouldn’t know, would I?’ he said, but his tone was gentle. A statement, not a criticism. ‘Let’s talk about something else, eh?’

Gertie nodded.

Richard sat back down.

‘Do you have any more news on Hazel?’ he asked.

‘All I know is that she’s gone,’ Gertie said. ‘Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say.’

* * *

Laura woke with a fuzzy head and a bad feeling in her tummy. She hadn’t slept well. She felt groggy from the lack of sleep and a long day stretched ahead, again.

When she entered the kitchen, she was bombarded by the scent of freesias and lilies. it was a smell she would usually love, but which now only made her feel desperately sad.

The flowers had been moved from the sink to a bucket. She didn’t own a vase.

Why had he brought her flowers? Why such a big bunch tied up in a pink ribbon? A bunch of daffs would have sufficed.

He hadn’t seemed happy to see her. In fact, he had seemed rather sad. More to the point, why was she making such a big deal about this? All he had wanted to say was thank you with flowers. But he hadn’t even looked at her. He hadn’t wanted to be anywhere near her. That much had been obvious. And that had felt like a slap in the face. Laura had thought they were friends.

Why had he looked so uncomfortable? Awkward? Like a caged animal that wanted to bolt.

What should she do with the flowers? Looking at them made her feel so unhappy. But she couldn’t bring herself to throw them in the bin, so instead she picked up the bucket and carried it down the hallway. She’d put them in the front garden.

With the bucket of flowers balanced on her hip, she flung open the door and the bucket very nearly slipped from her fingers.

Megan squeaked and jumped backwards.

Laura grabbed the bucket with both hands before it could topple to the floor and caught her breath.

‘My God, you nearly gave me a heart attack.’ Megan shrieked with laughter, her hand covering her mouth. ‘I hadn’t even rung the bell.’

Laura clutched the bucket to her chest. ‘I was just putting these outside,’ she said.

Megan stared at the flowers, still wrapped in cellophane and tied with the pretty pink bow. ‘But why are you putting them outside?’

‘I don’t want them in the house,’ Laura said, all matter-of-fact.

Megan reached forward to touch the petals and inhaled the floral scent. ‘Oh, they’re too pretty to put outside,’ she said. ‘Here, give them to me and I’ll take them home.’

Laura gave her the bucket. Why was Megan on her doorstep at this early hour on a Saturday morning?

Megan placed the bucket by the step. ‘I’ll leave them here and pick them up when I leave.’ She tilted her head to one side. ‘I didn’t realise you were allergic to flowers.’

Laura simply nodded. She’d let Megan think that she was. Far easier to say that she wanted rid of the flowers because they made her sneeze, as opposed to not being reminded of Richard’s sad face and obvious disdain for her. ‘Do you want a cup of tea, then?’ Laura asked.

Megan smiled and nodded. ‘That would be lovely.’

Laura made the tea and Megan chatted. She spoke about her work, in that she had a lot of writing projects on the go at the moment. She spoke about how she and Jack were planning to go to Italy for the first time this summer, and she spoke about Gertie. It was only a matter of time.

‘I’m so glad you helped Richard and that you caught that awful woman in the act. I’m glad I didn’t catch her as I would have killed her,’ Megan said. A dark look crossed her face.

Laura had no doubt that Megan had a temper.

‘Well, she’s gone now,’ Laura said, trying to change the subject. Talk of Gertie always led to Richard.

‘Who’s the manager now, then?’ Megan picked up her cup of tea.

‘Linda, for the time being, but I know she doesn’t want the role on a permanent basis. They’ll probably advertise for it next week sometime.’

‘You should go for it,’ Megan said.

‘What, me?’ Laura was shocked at the thought. ‘No, I haven’t been there long enough.’

‘Oh, well,’ Megan said. ‘It was just a thought.’

Laura picked up her tea and gulped a few mouthfuls.

Megan put her cup down on the table. She reached over and touched Laura’s hand. ‘We are still friends, aren’t we?’ she asked quickly. ‘It’s just the other night I know I offended you with all that Gertie prophecy talk and I didn’t mean to. I really didn’t.’

‘I know you didn’t.’ Laura gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. ‘It’s just that I’m capable of meeting people myself and making my own decisions in life. I don’t believe in psychics, or fate, or any of that nonsense. But Gertie does and that’s fine by me.’

Megan nodded, saying nothing. She sipped her tea.

‘I really didn’t mean to offend you either. I know you care about Gertie and Richard, and so do I,’ Laura told her gently.

Megan looked up, expectation written all over her face.

‘Which is why I’m going along with all of this,’ Laura added. ‘Making Gertie happy — there’s no harm in it, I suppose. But it’s far too soon for me to get involved with any man. I like Richard, but all we can be at the moment is friends, and, to be honest, I really don’t think he likes me that much.’

‘What?’ Megan’s face was a picture of shock. She shook her head. ‘No, you’ve got the wrong impression of him. I have no idea why you would think that.’

Laura thought about how she could explain what had happened without getting Megan’s hopes up. If she knew about the flowers . . .

‘Hang on a minute — he sent you those flowers, didn’t he.’

It wasn’t a question.

‘Yes,’ was all Laura could say. How was she going to get out of this one?

‘And you wanted to throw them the bin ?’

Oh no. Megan looked really upset. This was bad.

‘No, no, you’ve got it all wrong.’ Laura had to keep calm. She needed to explain. ‘I wasn’t going to put them in the bin. Just outside the door, that’s all. Just so that I wouldn’t see them in the house.’

‘Why were you throwing them out?’ Megan asked eventually.

Laura took a deep breath. ‘He came around last night to say thank you and he brought me those flowers. Which are beautiful. But it was also as if he was saying goodbye with them, not thank you. He wouldn’t look at me. He wouldn’t drink his tea and he left within about five minutes of sitting down exactly where you are now.’ She could see Megan’s expression had softened. ‘He looked so sad, Megan. And awkward. And looking at those flowers makes me feel so sad, too, because I don’t honestly know why he gave them to me. I’m more confused than ever.’

Megan nodded. ‘Well, that makes two of us. Do you know the last time he bought anyone flowers, other than Gertie?’

Laura shook her head.

‘No one, that’s who.’ Megan sighed, then shrugged. ‘Perhaps he’s worried about Gertie, has other stuff on his mind?’

But Laura didn’t think it was that at all. She thought that he had realised he had made a massive mistake getting to know her and that he no longer wanted to have anything to do with her.

* * *

Laura wrapped up well for her walk to the home for her afternoon shift. She had been rostered to work on Gertie’s floor, alongside Adrian, so the afternoon would pass by in a blur.

A persistent drizzle followed her as she walked through the village, past the shop then onwards towards the playground. Her pink woolly hat was pulled down low over her ears and a scarf wound tightly around her neck. She picked up her pace, not wanting to be late.

As she approached the playground, her breath caught in her throat.

She stopped and looked at the scene in front of her.

Hazel was standing by the gate that led into the playground. Laura had to walk past her. There was no other route that she could take. She thrust her fists into her coat pockets, lifted her head, jutted out her chin and strode forward with purpose.

She had done nothing wrong.

The person who should be feeling guilty was Hazel. Not her.

Laura’s heart hammered in her chest. She would not let this woman intimidate her.

Just as Laura was about to walk past, Hazel flung her arm out, blocking the path.

Laura had no choice but to stop.

She would be brave. She would speak her truth.

‘I’ve been sacked because of you and that bloody man.’ Hazel spat the words out like venom.

Laura folded her arms across her chest. She looked directly at her. ‘You got sacked because you stole from old and vulnerable people.’

You stupid woman.

‘It’s your fault. I know your type, with your bloody airs and graces. You swan in here from the city thinking you’re so much better than us country bumpkins.’ Hazel pointed her finger at Laura’s chest, stabbing at her with every word.

Laura tried to control her breathing. In and out . In and out . She did not want, nor have the time, to have an argument.

‘I’m late for work, Hazel. Just let me pass.’

‘Oh, you’re late for work, are you?’ Hazel’s voice dripped with sarcasm, her face now inches from Laura’s. ‘Well, at least you have work, you stuck-up cow. I am a single mum. How am I going to feed the kids now? Pay the rent, the bills? Afford the bloody school uniform and shoes? You have no idea what it’s like for me. No bloody idea at all.’

Hazel’s words struck Laura like a blow to the chest. She was a single mum? What would happen to the kids now that she’d lost her job? What if she lost her home? Laura felt sick to her stomach.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry you thought you had to steal to make ends meet.’ She meant every word, she was sorry, but that didn’t change what had happened or that Hazel shouldn’t be punished for her actions. But still, the kids . . . ‘Is there anyone who can help you? Family, friends—’

‘I have no one,’ Hazel spat back.

But Laura saw a weakening in the woman’s defences. A vulnerability that hadn’t been there before. ‘I can help—’

‘I don’t need your help,’ Hazel said, but her words lacked conviction.

Laura opened her mouth to offer help once more but Hazel cut her off.

‘I checked your references, you know. I wondered why a trained nurse would choose to work in the middle of nowhere as a care assistant. What exactly are you hiding?’

‘Nothing, nothing at all,’ Laura said quietly to herself before walking away. You wouldn’t understand.