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Chapter Ten
Gripping the edge ofthe shed panel, Holly shifted under the weight of it as her finger scrapped against something sharp. ‘Ouch.’
‘Are you okay?’ Joe looked across at her and frowned.
‘Yes, I’ve just caught myself on something. I’ll be fine.’ She focused on holding the panel steady rather than the pain in her finger. She’d likely caught it on a splinter or something.
‘There we go. Onto the next one.’ Standing up, Ian grinned.
‘You’re bleeding.’ Joe nodded towards Holly’s finger.
Stepping away from the half built shed, she looked down at her finger. She was. It wasn’t just a splinter; the cut was deeper. She must have caught it on an old nail or something.
‘Oh, love, what’s happened?’ Elsie touched Holly’s forearm, inspecting the cut. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. You must have caught it on one of the nails we used to train the ivy over the shed walls last year. We’re normally so good at removing them to stop something like this from happening. One must have got left in.’
‘Don’t worry. It’s only a scratch.’ Holly pulled a tissue from her pocket and wrapped it around the cut, the red of blood quickly oozing through it.
‘No, that’s a deep one. Let me go and get the first aid kit love, we’ll have you as right as rain in a moment.’ Elsie hurried out into the kitchen.
‘I’ll go and pop the kettle on. I think that’s our cue for a break.’ Ian placed the hammer and bag of screws on the closest table and followed Elsie through to the kitchen.
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ Stepping towards her, Joe gently held her wrist, looking down at her cut, concern etched across his face.
‘Yes, of course I am. It’s just a small cut.’ Holly shrugged. ‘I’m fine.’
‘Here we go. Come and sit down, love, and I’ll get you all fixed up.’ Elsie hurried back into the bakery; the kitchen door swinging shut behind her.
Sitting down at the table Elsie had indicated, Holly unwrapped the tissue and winced. Elsie had been right, it was deep. Deeper than Holly had thought.
‘Are you okay with blood, love? You’re not going to faint on me or anything, are you?’ Sitting next to her at the table, Elsie pulled out antiseptic and plasters from the small green bag.
‘No, I’m fine.’ She glanced back at Joe, who was standing ashen faced behind her. ‘It’s Joe you need to worry about.’
‘Hey.’ Joe frowned.
‘Is it? Why don’t you go and help Ian with the coffees, then, love?’ Elsie nodded toward the kitchen door as she cleaned up Holly’s cut.
Holly watched as Joe did as Elsie had instructed.
‘He gets a bit queasy at the sight of blood, does he, love?’ Elsie nodded towards the kitchen door.
‘Yes.’ Holly shook her head. He always had. She remembered Susie had fallen off her horse when they’d gone horse riding and it had been Joe who had been the reason their riding trip had been cut short, not the large gash Susie had suffered. Not that Holly had minded particularly. After her horse bolting across a field, she didn’t think she’d ever be in a hurry to go horse riding again.
‘He seems a nice lad.’ Elsie wrapped a plaster around her finger. ‘There you re. As good as new. Almost.’
‘Thanks.’ Holly put her hands in her lap. ‘Yes, he is. He’s been there for me through thick and thin.’
‘A bit like my Ian and me. Would you believe it that we’ve known each other forty-odd years but only been together two?’ Elsie shook her head sadly. ‘When I think of all those wasted years when we could have been enjoying life together and instead, we were as silly as two teenagers with a crush. Neither one of us wanting to admit to the other how we felt in case it ruined the friendship.’
‘Oh really? I just assumed you’d been together for longer.’ Holly frowned.
‘Nope. We were good friends, though. The best.’ Elsie stood up. ‘I’ll go and pop this away and let Joe know the coast is clear.’
