The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club(57)

‘I didn’t do a lot, apart from popping into the supermarket and mentioning it there too. It’s just spread like wildfire ever since. I suppose the fact that people are so fond of Mum and then again, unfortunately, so many families here have been touched by the disease, everyone just wants to get out and do something positive about it.’ Lucy shrugged as if it was nothing.

‘Thank you, I’m very grateful. I couldn’t imagine going in to the supermarket and telling them I was going skinny-dipping and encouraging the whole village to follow me in…’

‘Oh, I didn’t see it quite like that, and anyone I’ve spoken to thinks it’s going to be great fun as well as raising lots of money for a good cause.’

‘Hey,’ Dan called to them as he marched along the road. ‘What’s this I hear about you lot going cavorting about in the altogether in a few weeks’ time?’ He was laughing and Elizabeth realised, that was how people would see this whole thing. It was light-hearted fun, not the same as when she went swimming with Jo and Lucy, with the sea rumbling through her thoughts and her mind blanketed from any worries she might have once felt. This was going to be quite different, more of a fun way to spend a night than a meditation.

‘Ah, so the word really is out?’ Elizabeth said happily. ‘I’m afraid it’s girls only, of course. If you boys wanted to organise something separate for another weekend, we’ll all be cheering you on.’

‘No, thanks, I think I’m fine. I’ll just sponsor you both, if that’s all right, and let you get on with it.’ He turned to Elizabeth and smiled, making her heart flip in some unfamiliar way. ‘Now, I was actually calling to see you too, if you have a minute.’ He nodded back towards her house.

‘Of course,’ she said, a little intrigued, since she didn’t really get the chance to entertain very often. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ she called to Lucy who was locking up the surgery door for the night.

He was, Elizabeth decided once they arrived in the dark hallway, a rather elegant young man, considering he spent his time in casual clothes. There was a subtle grace about him. Perhaps it was his hands, so long and slender and yet manly enough to reassure you that he could take care of anything that came his way. He had kind eyes too, really, the sort of eyes that if Eric had them, he’d probably have looked more like a caring sort of man. Eric’s had been hooded and mostly bloodshot. They moved quickly, but at the same time, seemed to slide rather than fall upon you, which was unfortunate for a doctor. When she remembered him now, it gave him more the look of a reptile, the kind of man who had little empathy and less sympathy for the less well-off around him. Yes, Elizabeth thought, unfortunate traits in a doctor. Dan’s eyes were brown and they crinkled softly out into creases put there by smiling and sunshine, but not yet really tinged by age or worry.

It was strange, Elizabeth realised, that once she wouldn’t have considered letting anyone into the kitchen; well when Eric was alive certainly, it had been firmly her territory. Since he had been buried, it was where she brought everyone. Today, she pulled out a chair and pointed him towards the big carver before the window. Over the last few weeks, she’d built something of a nest around that corner, with extra cushions, an old shawl, her book and a lightly scented candle that one of the young medical reps had given her. A set of binoculars sat on the window ledge. They were probably as old as herself. She used them for keeping an eye on the various wildlife activities in her overgrown garden.

She’d spotted a fox there earlier this morning. He had stood, as transfixed as she, staring back at her for a moment. It was impossible to tell who was trespassing and who was most surprised by the other. The sight of him had given her an odd feeling of contentment. It was as if she’d been granted a special audience just to start her day off on a rather lively footing. An exotic happy energy danced within her as she shared the apparition later with Lucy and the patients in the waiting room.

‘This is cosy,’ he said brightly, looking out at the long wilderness that benefited from the morning sun far more than any light from the west. He picked up the glasses for a moment, looked through, focusing first and then glancing about the long grass and finally towards the sky where a family of ducks were swiftly making their way back to their nest away from the cool waters of the river, which ran along by Corrigan Mills.

‘It’s probably the place I spend the most time. The rest of the house has grown far too big for me as the years have gone on… but I suppose, I’ll miss it once I sell it on…’ she said softly with a conviction that surprised her. She had wondered if she’d really miss much about it apart from that one corner and her little job in the surgery if she had to let that go too.

‘You’re selling up?’ he asked turning towards her. He dropped the binoculars, suddenly interested.

‘I haven’t done anything about it yet, not really, because it’s a big step and there’s quite a bit to be sorted out, what with the surgery and everything, but yes, I’d like something a little more modest.’

‘This is rather grand.’ He smiled and made a funny face and they both laughed. ‘But it suits you. I can’t imagine you living anywhere else.’

‘It was my husband’s family home; they rather had notions…At this stage, I’d just like somewhere cosy that felt right. A small garden would be nice too, but then, I have the full beach to call my own for most of the year, so…’ She waved a hand. She’d love to move in next door to Jo’s cottage, but of course, houses on the seafront didn’t come up very often.