Page 29 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

‘It certainly is,’ he replied.

‘In fact, it looks almost perfect weather for my first swim of the year,’ she said. ‘Care to join me?’

He glanced at the water and it looked very inviting, he found himself thinking. But still he hesitated. Surely he was trying to get away from swimming, running and cycling?

‘Give me a good reason why not?’ said Dotty, who had always been somewhat gung-ho in her attitude to life. ‘The water would be great therapy and as you’ve not got your leg in a cast, what have you got to lose?’ She burst into a grin. ‘Long as you don’t try to make it into a triathlon, of course.’

Alex found that he couldn’t find a single reason to refuse her and she took his silence as a positive response.

‘Excellent,’ said Dotty. ‘I’ll meet you on the beach in five minutes.’

Not wanting to upset her, Alex reluctantly headed upstairs to change into his swimming shorts.

He met Dotty outside on the sandy beach by the hotel.

‘It’s only April. It’s going to be a bit chilly in there,’ he warned her, with a shiver under his hoodie and tracksuit bottoms.

‘Oh, I’m sure it is,’ she replied, with a grin before whipping off the large towel that she had wrapped around herself to reveal a black swimming costume. ‘But the cold’s good for the circulation, isn’t it? After all, how else can I keep myself looking so young?’

She smiled at him before beginning to head towards the water.

Suddenly more concerned about Dotty’s safety than his own, Alex swiftly stripped down to his swimming shorts and slowly hobbled across the sand to join her in the shallows.

The water was icy cold and he took a sharp intake of breath as he adjusted to the freezing temperature.

‘I’m normally wearing a wetsuit,’ he said, with a shudder. ‘But I couldn’t get into it with my broken foot.’

‘It’s a pain, isn’t it?’ she said, with a sympathetic look. ‘Literally, I imagine.’

He nodded, hobbling in a little further up to his knees and once more wincing at the cold temperature of the water.

‘Let’s get this over with,’ he said. ‘Ten minutes absolute maximum. It’s too cold otherwise for the body to cope with.’

He was making adjustments for Dotty’s almost eighty years but he wasn’t sure that he wanted to be in the water for too much longer either.

‘Spoilsport,’ muttered Dotty.

But Alex could see the goosebumps on her arms before they both finally pushed forward into the deeper water and he let the water take his weight.

Once immersed in the water, Alex immediately began to feel in a much better mood. The swim had always been his favourite part of the race but normally he hadn’t got the time to enjoy his surroundings. This time, though, he had no choice. His foot was too sore for him to strike out with his normal fast crawl so he merely used his arms and one leg to float around, enjoying the buoyancy.

Because he wasn’t up against the clock, he was able to take his time and look around at the glorious setting. The lake sparkled all around him under the warm sunshine and the view of both the hotel and the boathouse was completely different from the water.

As Dotty swam nearby, Alex even had time to turn onto his back and float, staring up at the cobalt sky for a while.

In the end, he could feel the cold beginning to seep into his bones and managed to persuade Dotty to begin their return towards the beach.

On their way, they passed a pair of coots, trailed by their babies bobbing around in the water. It was quite magical, he thought, and decided to make the lake swim a permanent addition to his many days of recovery.

As they began to slowly walk out of the water, Alex was surprised to find Ben waiting for them both.

‘Thought I was dreaming when I first saw you both heading into the water,’ he said, holding out his grandmother’s towel for her.

‘Thank you,’ she said, taking it and wrapping herself up. ‘That was wonderful.’

She looked across at Alex, who was trying to dry himself off whilst not putting too much weight on his broken foot.

‘Thanks. It was,’ he said. ‘A real tonic.’