Lavender Lane (Larch Tree Lane #4)

Chapter Fifteen

Sean drove into the town centre and used the satnav to find a car park near the supermarket. He looked at Nina. ‘Where to first?’

‘Let’s walk round on foot and get to know the town centre a little better and after that we’ll do our shopping at the supermarket, eh?’

‘Fine by me. What do we need?’

‘Everything. There was no food whatsoever in the house after it had stood empty for a couple of years, not even old tins of food, so someone must have cleared it all out. We bought some stuff yesterday to tide us over but that’s just about used up now. We really do need to buy everything, not just fresh food but standard kitchen staples like flour and stock cubes. I vote to get the mammoth shopping job over and done with in one fell swoop and have nearly all of it delivered.’

‘Good idea.’

Once they had nearly completed a circuit of the central shopping district, they slowed down in a more open area to stare round again.

‘It’s rather an old-fashioned little town, isn’t it?’ she commented. ‘There’s only really Larch Tree Lane that’s big enough to call a main road and even that comes to a dead end at the top of the hill.’

‘Some people might say being old-fashioned is part of its charm and I’d be one of them. I don’t like most modern buildings and I loathe tower blocks. Most of them look like children’s building blocks piled on top of one another, some of them higgledy-piggledy or in garish colours that make them look even worse.’ He looked to one side and said, ‘Ah! Isn’t that little side street where Ilsa’s former employer’s dress shop is located?’

‘Yes, that’s it. Let’s go and take a closer look.’

The street was only about fifty yards long, so they were soon standing in front of the shop with its two big windows.

‘Hmm.’ Nina studied the one marked BIG SALE and pulled a face. ‘Well, they might be offering these clothes at low prices to get rid of them, but they’d still not tempt me. They’re such horrid, old-fashioned styles and badly arranged too!’

She grimaced and studied the shop again. ‘In fact, that window looks extremely amateur to me. They should have continued to employ one of the assistants for a while longer to arrange the sale items in the front window for them. Ilsa would have been an asset there, I’m sure.’

‘But if they’d kept her on, we’d not have gained her services and she’s already shown herself to be a really hard worker and an excellent organiser too. I definitely prefer to have her as our asset.’

She started walking again. ‘OK. Let’s get started. I bet as Ned gets better, he’ll eat us out of house and home. He looks like the sort of guy who eats heartily and never puts on weight. And you’re not a bad trencherman either.’

Sean stopped and pressed one hand to his chest. ‘Me? I have the appetite of a bird.’

‘Yes. A hungry vulture.’

He laughed, took her hand and they strolled back to the supermarket, where they bought not only enough food and supplies to fill two trolleys, but as an afterthought a dozen bottles of wine and a pack of beer, leaving most of their purchases to be delivered.

When they got into the car and he started driving home, he said quietly, ‘I’ve enjoyed this time with just us.’

She smiled at him. ‘I’m enjoying your company too.’ And they were off again, chatting happily about shared interests, finding out about one another as they had been doing since their first meeting.

He’d never found anyone as easy to chat to.

Nina was reminded of her early days of courting her husband.

Could she be this lucky again and meet another soulmate? She did hope so.

After Sean and Nina had left to do the shopping, Ilsa tidied up the kitchen then went to stand in the doorway of the room next door to see how Ned was. He looked so fed up, she said, ‘How about a short stroll round the garden, a very short stroll?’

He brightened up at once. ‘I’d love that. I’ve missed being outside.’

However, a few minutes of pottering around was enough and he had to lean against the wall as a sudden surge of dizziness made his head spin.

She was standing next to him and of course she noticed. ‘You’re feeling woozy again, aren’t you? You’ve been standing and moving about for too long. You need to rest again.’

He rubbed his aching forehead. ‘You’re right. I am feeling exhausted again now, though it was lovely to move around for a while.’ He hesitated then asked, ‘Can you help me back into the library? I don’t want to fall over and yes, I admit that I need to rest for a while now.’

‘Of course you do. You’re not Superman. I think you’ve done brilliantly just now, considering how weak you still are. Put one arm across my shoulders.’

He did that, joking, ‘We’re just the right height to walk together.’ Then he hesitated. ‘There’s an old couch in the dining end of the kitchen. I’ll rest on that, if I won’t be in your way. I don’t like being left out of things.’

‘Why does that not surprise me?’

He accepted her help to ease down into a sitting position and, once there, he let out a groan of relief and leant back, but refused to lie down. ‘I hope I’m never, ever this weak again, because it’s been the most frustrating time of my whole life.’

‘It must be. You’re getting better, though. I can see slight improvements even since yesterday.’

‘You can? Really?’

‘Yes. I’d not lie to you, Ned.’

‘It was touch and go at one time whether I’d recover,’ he told her suddenly.

‘I’m glad you did.’

‘So am I.’ He was surprised that he’d confided in her, but she was so easy to chat to.

She gave him one of her lovely smiles. ‘I’ll get you a drink of milk, shall I?’

‘ Milk ?’ he asked scornfully.

‘Yes. I’m a big believer in milk for building up strength – milk and red meat, I reckon.’

He was studying her face and said suddenly, ‘You’re an incredible woman, Ilsa.’

‘ What ?’ She gaped at him. ‘You must be the only person who’s ever thought so.’

‘I’m sure I’m not because you are. Didn’t anyone try hard to persuade you to sign up to re-join the army?’

‘Um, yes. My commanding officer did. In fact, she made quite a big fuss.’

‘I’m not surprised. She’d not have bothered with an inefficient soldier.’ He let that sink in then added, ‘And don’t think I haven’t noticed how quickly and efficiently you organise anything you have to deal with – even where the everyday crockery goes in the kitchen here. I think you must have an innate sense of logic about that sort of thing.’

She went bright red. ‘Oh. Well. Glad you think so. Things seem to work better in patterns, which always seems obvious to me but other people often don’t figure them out.’

He smiled at her and nodded. ‘I rest my case.’

She went across to the back door, muttering, ‘I’ll just have a quick look outside. I want to make absolutely certain they haven’t returned.’

She opened the door and vanished from sight. Then there was silence broken only by faint noises as she looked round outside. After that she came back and went across to the fridge, then one of the cupboards.

She came back to him with a glass of milk and some chocolate biscuits. ‘There you are. I raided their supplies till they bring some food back.’

He had a weakness for chocolate and couldn’t resist picking up one of the biscuits from the plate she’d set temptingly close. ‘You’re playing on my weaknesses.’ He grumbled but it didn’t stop him from eating two biscuits and enjoying them hugely. His sense of taste seemed to be returning as well as his ability to move about more steadily.

Once he’d finished, she picked up the plate and glass and moved across to put them in the sink.

He sighed and slid down till he was lying nearly flat on the sofa again, feeling desperately sleepy all of a sudden.

Ilsa didn’t continue chatting, just sat quietly and smiled as she watched him try not to doze off, then succumb suddenly to sleep. This sofa was smaller than the one in the library but he could just manage to lie down on it. She stayed there resting quietly, keeping an eye on him and waiting for the others to return. Let him have a nap. He’d pushed himself hard for a man who should be convalescing and being pampered.

And she was due a little rest, too. She sat in an old armchair and leant back, wondering if this house was often a target for thieves and burglars. She and the others would have to keep a better watch on it from now on.

It seemed a long time till Sean and Nina came home, and brought in a couple of bags of food.

‘The rest is being delivered later,’ Sean said. ‘Someone put the kettle on. I’d like a big mug of tea, the biggest one you’ve got, not one of those fiddly cups they serve it in at cafés.’

That woke Ned, who jerked upright, staring round warily for a moment or two, not seeming to quite know where he was.

Ilsa saw the moment he realised but she put one finger to her lips when he would have spoken.