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‘You should have gone to bed, Janie.’ He kisses my forehead. ‘I did not mean for you to wait for me.’
‘I dozed off here.’ I give a shiver. ‘I didn’t realise the time.’
‘Come to bed.’
We both stand up and I put my arms around Dominic’s neck. His skin is ice-cold to touch. He lifts me into his arms and carries me up the stairs, not even faltering when Archie weaves in and out of his legs.
He undresses me, then strips off his thin shuka – hardly adequate protection from the worst of the British winter. Together we slide under the duvet and press our chilled bodies together.
‘Brrr,’ I murmur. ‘I wonder if we can think of any way to warm us up quickly?’
Dominic isn’t slow on the uptake. ‘I think there might be a way.’ He moves above me, kissing me deeply.
If it was just me and Dominic, alone together in our own little world, then everything would be idyllic. I hear Archie complain from the bottom of the bed, our movement clearly disturbing his sleep. If it were just me, Dominic and Archie, I correct, then everything would be idyllic.
In the morning, we’re late to rise and I pad around the cottage in my dressing gown and slippers, drinking tea and eating toast. Dominic sits at the kitchen table and eats his porridge.
‘I promised Mrs Duston that I would chop wood for her,’ Dominic says. ‘We will go now.’
Giving him a cuddle, I stroke his chest. ‘Feeling OK this morning?’
‘Yes,’ he says with an assuring nod.
But he’s quiet and it worries me.
‘Come, cat.’ He lifts Archie from the warmth of the hearthrug and still my fickle feline doesn’t complain.
‘Will you get a newspaper while you’re out? From the village shop?’
‘Yes.’
A quick scrabble in my purse and I hand over the money. ‘That’ll be a nice treat.’
I watch from the doorway as Dominic heads out through the village, his long loping stride taking him towards the duck pond. I notice that Mike is washing his car in his drive – the favourite Sunday morning pursuit of most male villagers.
‘Kettle’s just boiled,’ I shout to him.
‘I’ll be there in five,’ he says, acknowledging my offer with a friendly wave.
Sure enough, I’ve only just had time to dig some chocolate digestives out of the cupboard when Mike’s face appears around the kitchen door.
‘Recovered from last night?’
‘Sort of,’ I say. ‘Coffee?’
‘Mmm.’
When I’ve made us two cups of instant, I proffer the biscuits. Mike accepts gratefully.
‘Dominic OK?’
A shrug from me. ‘I don’t know,’ I admit. ‘He seems quiet. He’s just gone off to see Mrs Duston to chop some wood for her.’
‘He’s certainly made himself popular with the good ladies of the village. Something I’ve never managed to do.’
I laugh at that. ‘You need to go and offer them your household DIY skills. That’s what pleases women of a certain age. Wearing less clothing seems to work too.’
‘I haven’t quite got the body for it that Dominic has,’ Mike says ruefully. ‘I’d be more likely to scare them off than attract marriage proposals.’
Distractedly, I nibble on a digestive. ‘I’m worried about him,’ I confide in Mike. ‘He has no friends here. I think he could do with a bit of male bonding.’ My eyes meet Mike’s. ‘Are you up for it?’
‘What do you want me to do?’
‘I don’t know. What do blokes do?’
‘I could take him to a footie match.’
‘He’d like that. But I’m also worried that he’s kicking around here all day with nothing to do. He’s a proud man, Mike. He needs a purpose. It’s six months before he can apply for a work permit. If he doesn’t find something to do, I think he’ll go stir crazy by then.’
Mike fails to meet my eyes when he asks, ‘Do you think he’ll stay here permanently?’
‘I can’t even contemplate the thought that he might go home. He’s my life, Mike.’
My friend, my neighbour, my steadfast rock, sighs at me. ‘Let me get alongside him,’ he suggests. ‘We can do “man” stuff together.’ Mike pounds his chest in the style of Tarzan, teasing.
‘I’d really appreciate that.’
‘If you don’t mind me saying, I thought your work colleagues were very rude last night.’
‘Yes, they were. But what can I say? They’re young, self-absorbed, a generation who think of no one but themselves. Why would it even have occurred to them that Dominic might need some friends? It was my fault, I should have realised that. I was too keen to show him off.’
