Page 27 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

Katy looked across the path to the fields filled with neat rows of grey bushes which stretched out as far as she could see.

‘You know, Harriet’s got no confidence in herself,’ said Eddie. ‘Blame her parents for that. And yet this past summer was really something. You should have seen the lavender. It was glorious, a sea of purple nearly stretching out all the way to Cranbridge.’

‘Sounds lovely,’ said Katy, trying to imagine the sunny warm days of summer with the air filled with the sweet aroma of lavender.

‘But it wasn’t the lavender or even the sunshine that made the summer special,’ Eddie carried on. ‘It was the people. It’s been a bit quiet here for quite a few years now. People have moved on and nobody’s replaced them. But something about the lavender, or rather Harriet, brought them out of their homes and everyone began to gather once more. It was special. She had no experience with the lavender and yet it suddenly felt like a proper village once more.’

Katy thought about how welcoming Harriet had been since she had arrived and for a moment envied her friendly and open personality.

‘Of course, the night that we celebrated the end of the summer was the night that Rachel left.’ Eddie shook his head sadly. ‘My son was so shocked, more so than me, I have to be honest. She’d been miserable for a long time. But to leave a family behind with nothing more than a note?’ Eddie shrugged. ‘I think that it was…’

‘Cowardly.’ Katy hadn’t been able to stop herself from saying the one word which she always associated her father with. He too had left a note before running away from his debts and his family. Leaving her to try to support both her mum and herself. It had been the worst time in her life.

Eddie turned to look at Katy in surprise.

‘It’s a cowardly act to walk away from a family with just a letter,’ she said in a dull tone, continuing to look across the fields. ‘Because you know that you’re dropping the bombshell when you’ve already gone. Leaving someone else to pick up the pieces.’

That was why she felt so sorry for Bob, she realised. He was a kindred spirit. Another broken heart trying to find his way forward in a new and strange world that he didn’t ask to be a part of.

Her eyes suddenly filled up with tears and she blinked rapidly to try to get rid of them.

There was a short silence whilst she could feel Eddie studying her. ‘There’s probably some truth in that,’ he finally said, reaching out to take her hand in his rough, hard-working one to give it a squeeze.

She felt oddly comforted by that brief contact and gratefully squeezed it back. But she also hoped that he wouldn’t probe her for any more and thankfully he seemed to pick up on her needing her privacy.

‘Wind’s spun round to the east,’ said Eddie, letting go of her hand and looking out across the fields once more. ‘Going to start feeling a lot more like autumn soon.’

‘I guess so,’ replied Katy.

‘Nothing like the crunch of dried leaves beneath your feet,’ Eddie told her.

Katy glanced down at her high heeled boots. She had never really thought about the changing of the seasons. She had never really spent much time outside apart from going to and from work. But for a moment, she forced herself to look at the trees and could see that there was quite a bit of yellow and orange beginning to appear amongst the leaves, perhaps even more so than green. Perhaps it was as beautiful as Eddie had said, she thought.

She was thinking about getting up and starting the next round of tidying when Harriet’s dog suddenly appeared, rushing up to sit on her feet and gaze up at her adoringly.

Katy gave a jump and tried to edge her feet away, but the dog was an immovable object.

She looked at Eddie for support but he merely laughed.

‘That’s Paddington,’ he said, reaching out to stroke the dog’s head. ‘He’s a smashing lad and wants to be friends with everyone, as all golden retrievers tend to do.’

Much further down the platform, Harriet poked her head out of the door to the Lavender Spa and, with an eye roll, walked up to see them both.

‘Sorry,’ she said, with a smile. ‘He made a bid for freedom when I headed out to empty the bins. How’s Bob?’ she asked, looking concerned.

‘He’s going to be like Iron Man when they’ve finished with him, I reckon,’ said Eddie, with a grin. ‘Nah, he’s all right. They’ve rebuilt him with a few pins in the foot and he’s heading home after the weekend, fingers crossed.’

‘Oh, let’s hope so,’ said Harriet, glancing up at the windows of the apartment. ‘You know, if he’s recuperating, those steep stairs are going to cause him a bit of pain.’

Eddie nodded. ‘You’re right, lass. That’s why I suggested to Ryan that Bob stays with me for a while when he comes home. Now I’ve got that stairlift, he can sleep in comfort in the spare bedroom.’

‘Oh, that’s a good idea.’

Katy remained quiet. So not only had Bob hurt himself, now he couldn’t even come home to his own apartment and bed. The guilt washed over her once more.

‘Well, I must be off,’ said Eddie. He gave Katy’s arm a squeeze before standing up. ‘I’ll fill you in with any more news later.’

She nodded. ‘Please do.’