Читать книгу Footsteps in the Snow and other Teatime Treats - Trisha Ashley - Страница 6

In Annie Moss, James thought he’d found the perfect tenant for the cottage he’d inherited from his great-uncle. She was in her mid-thirties, quiet and widowed, with no children to trample mud onto the newly-fitted carpets. Then he remembered that she was a gardener, so might well do that herself!

But as if she could read his mind, Annie smiled at him and said, “I’ll look after the cottage really well and leave my muddy gardening boots in the porch, I promise.”

Their eyes met … and held. His were a forget-me-not blue, reminding her of the fresh promise of an April sky, while her brown ones made him think of the dark velvety softness of pansies …

Annie also liked the way he hadn’t made the usual joke about rolling stones gathering no moss, though it was true she’d moved about a lot since her husband died. But here … well, there was something about the place that made her want to put down roots, spread out her branches and – just possibly – burst into a late flowering.

“So, you already have some work lined up in the area?” he asked.

She nodded. “At the garden centre, though I’ll be happy to sort out the garden here for free, if you’d like me to? It’s a bit of a mess – I couldn’t help noticing all those holes …”

She paused and he grinned.

“I was treasure hunting! My Great Uncle always said he didn’t trust banks, so he’d hidden his valuables away at the cottage, instead …”

“Didn’t you find anything?”

“Only a small amount of cash under his mattress and a tin box with a few half-sovereigns in it on a ledge up the chimney. Somehow I thought he’d have a bit more put by, so I did a quick sweep of the garden with a borrowed metal detector, though there was nothing there except old horseshoe nails.”

“Well, if I hit treasure trove I’ll let you know,” she promised. “I have a metal detector, too – you wouldn’t believe how useful they can be to a gardener. I once found a whole Morris Minor buried just under a lawn, it was no wonder if was patchy!”

*

As summer slid into autumn, Annie transformed the neglected cottage garden, digging flowerbeds and planting a rambling rose by the porch.

Then she turned her attention to the small area at the back, where two gnarled old apple trees stood amid a waist-high tangle of weeds. And there she came across a dog’s grave, shedding a few tears over the poignant inscription:

Old Charlie

RIP

Faithful friend.

*

“Oh yes, Charlie was a Jack Russell and Uncle Ray adored him,” James explained when he dropped in, as he now frequently did on his way home from work.

“I notice you didn’t dig any holes down that end?”

“No, because I was sure Uncle Ray wouldn’t want Charlie disturbed.”

“I had thought of dividing up some of the clumps of primroses and planting them on the grave,” she suggested. “It would look lovely in spring.”

“Go ahead, I’m sure Uncle Ray would have loved the idea,” he agreed, then smiled so warmly at her that her heart, which had entered some kind of ice age after the loss of her husband, began a rapid thaw.

*

But next time he came, he seemed different, colder. “So, you planted the primroses on Charlie’s grave yesterday?” he said.

“Oh yes – but how did you know?” she asked, looking disconcerted – and also, he thought, slightly guilty.

“One of my friends saw you digging under the apple trees – and then he heard you shout ‘Eureka!’” he added pointedly.

She laughed. “He must have thought I’d gone mad, but finding it was just such a relief!”

“Finding what?” he demanded.

“My wedding ring: it must have slipped off while I was transplanting the primroses, so I took my metal detector out and found it.”

He suddenly started laughing, too. “You know, I thought you’d been treasure hunting, even though I was sure Uncle Ray wouldn’t have buried anything near Charlie.”

“No, of course he wouldn’t have – and even if he had, I would have told you.”

“Yes, I really should have known you better by now, Annie,” he agreed, then glanced at her left hand. “But you’re not wearing your ring?”

She shook her head. “No – losing it seemed like a sign that perhaps it was time to stop wearing it … to move on with my life.”

“Oh? Then perhaps you’d like to come down to the pub with me? I suppose I can’t keep you to myself forever.”

“Are you … asking me out?” she said uncertainly. She knew his wife had left him for another man a couple of years before.

“Yes, though I’m a bit out of practise with the dating game.”

“Me too – but you definitely owe me a drink for suspecting I’d been stealing your property!”

*

Being gold, Annie’s wedding ring had come out of the earth as freshly gleaming as it went in, which was more than could be said for the rusty old tobacco tin she’d found just underneath it.

Inside, sealed in a plastic bag, had been a small, worn dog collar and a note which she could remember by heart:

If you’re reading this, James, then you’ve disturbed old Charlie and you’re not the man I thought you! I did my best for him, spending a fortune on the vet and his headstone, but blood is thicker than water, so I hope you found the sovereigns up the chimney in the parlour.

Your Great Uncle Ray.

She’d debated whether to show it to James, then decided it would be better if he never knew about it, so sealed it back up again and reburied it under the primroses.

And after all, their evening out had gone very well. Perhaps James had lost one treasure but he might – just might – have found himself another!