Page 33 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

‘I’m okay,’ Bob told them, sitting up in the hospital bed. ‘I’ve got a long list of exercises to get through once I’m up and moving, but they reckon I’ll mend.’

‘That’s good,’ said Ryan.

‘And you’re going to stay with me for a while,’ said Eddie, helping himself to the bag of grapes that they had brought with them.

Bob nodded. ‘Sounds good, Dad. I’ve been thinking that it might be good to have a break anyway. Not another leg break, but a change of four walls.’

Ryan and his grandad exchanged a look of surprise.

‘Well, the company will be nice,’ said Eddie cautiously.

‘I’d have thought you wouldn’t want to leave home,’ Ryan told his dad.

‘I’ll only be moving a few doors along,’ said Bob. Then his smile faded a little. ‘You know, I was lying there for a long time in pain yesterday. Not much else to do but think at times like that. About how it was my own fault that I ended up on the floor.’ He looked at his son. ‘I reckon it’s time to get the station sorted, don’t you? With Katy’s help, of course.’

‘Okay.’ Ryan broke into a shocked smile. ‘Well, that would be good.’

Perhaps there was that glimmer of hope after all, thought Ryan. Because once the downstairs was clear, then maybe selling the place would be easier than he had originally thought. Although what he really wanted to do was save it and not have the family leave at all.

But he still had no idea how they would generate enough income to do that. He just hoped an idea came to him before they had to sell the station and break all of their hearts, especially his dad’s.

18

When Ryan came back from visiting Bob later that afternoon, Katy was shocked by what he had to tell her.

‘Your dad really said that he was happy to get the place sorted downstairs?’ she asked, sinking down onto the sofa in stunned amazement.

Ryan sat down on the sofa opposite her. ‘He really did,’ he told her with a grin.

He really was far better looking when he smiled, she found herself thinking.

She tried to concentrate on what he was telling her. ‘So the clear-out can go ahead when he comes home?’ she asked.

Ryan nodded. ‘At last,’ he replied.

‘Well, that is a surprise.’ Katy leant back against the cushions. ‘But a huge step forward too. I wonder what changed his mind?’

Ryan shrugged his shoulders. ‘He just said that he had time to think after his accident.’

Well, at least there was one positive to come out of it, thought Katy.

‘I saw you heading over to Flora’s farm this morning,’ Ryan said.

‘Grams was kind enough to cook me breakfast,’ she told him. ‘Flora, Harriet and Libby were there too. Everyone seemed very nice.’

‘They are,’ he replied. ‘You should take the time to get to know them better.’

‘They’ve invited me to a gin night tomorrow night, but I’m not sure we have much in common,’ she told him.

He frowned. ‘Does it matter?’

She hesitated, not wanting to admit that she didn’t really have friends.

‘What do you do when you’re not working?’ he suddenly asked.

Katy blanched at the unexpected question. She looked up at Ryan. ‘Well, I, er, well…’ she stammered. ‘I guess I just work too hard most days and weekends as well. That doesn’t leave me much room for anything else.’

She thought back to what Libby had said about not having a life outside of work and had to admit that it was true.