Page 76 of The Village of Lost and Found

‘So what happened?’ asked Tom as he straightened up again.

‘He slept on the bedroom floor next to me,’ said Lucy, glancing down at the dog. ‘Which is absolutely not going to become a nightly habit as he snores. Loudly.’

Tom grinned. ‘Yeah, right,’ he drawled. ‘So, thanks for breakfast. I’ll get changed and then meet you in the office,’ he said.

But, to his surprise, Lucy was shaking her head. ‘I thought we could work from home today,’ she told him. ‘Specifically, your home.’

He was startled. ‘My home?’ He glanced over his shoulder at the cottage behind him. ‘Not sure you’ll get too much inspiration in there.’

‘Try me.’ She smiled at him. ‘Come on,’ she added, her tone more gentle. ‘Keith says he could do with a bowl of water.’

Tom sighed and led them both down the short path of the front garden, feeling her gaze as she took in the weeds on the path and the empty pots either side of the front door.

‘I never was very green-fingered,’ he told her.

But he still hesitated before putting the key in the lock and opening the front door. He tried to see it from Lucy’s point of view. It was a typical Victorian cottage with a front room with a bay window and fireplace, a short hallway leading through to the kitchen diner at the back of the house. But whereas the kitchen was just a cluttered mess, the front room still had all the reminders of his mother’s last few months. Wanting to stay in her beloved cottage but unable to make it up the stairs to her bedroom, they had converted the front room instead. But the paraphernalia of medical equipment still remained in there.

Lucy looked into the room for a minute or two but remained silent.

‘I haven’t been able to sort it out,’ he told her, his voice barely coming out as a croak through emotion.

‘I understand,’ she said, softly, reaching out to squeeze his arm. ‘I remember how tough it was when we had to do the same with Aunt Jane’s stuff.’

He sighed. ‘Why do you think I spend all my time at the pub? And perhaps sleep in the office once in a while.’

She nodded thoughtfully to herself. ‘I get it. I truly do. But maybe it’s time to get a bit straighter in here.’

His stomach lurched at the thought of having to face it all.

‘You’re not on your own,’ she said, as if reading his thoughts. ‘And seeing as I can’t do anything about your messy office, the least I can do is help you with this.’

‘Well, let me freshen up quickly then we’ll see,’ he told her.

As he went upstairs to get changed out of his running gear, he heard Lucy on the phone and then chatting to Keith downstairs. It was nice to hear another voice in the house, he thought. It had been far too long.

He went downstairs and found Keith bounding around the overgrown garden.

‘See? Keith’s going to mow the lawn for you,’ drawled Lucy, as the dog grabbed a tuft of long grass in his mouth and chewed on it.

‘Good lad,’ said Tom, reaching out to take the apple danish out of the paper bag.

Lucy was looking around the kitchen. ‘It’s a lovely room,’ she said.

He nodded but didn’t follow her gaze. ‘It is. It’s just all of Mum’s baking stuff everywhere,’ he said, the flaky pastry becoming a hard lump in his throat. ‘It’s too much.’

She nodded but didn’t say anything.

There was a sudden knock on the door. To his surprise, Lucy said, ‘Stay here,’ and went to answer it.

Suddenly there was a gaggle of different voices in the hallway before Josh, Dodgy Del, Belle, Mike the landlord and even Frank appeared in the kitchen.

‘What’s all this?’ asked Tom.

‘Lucy said you needed some help clearing some equipment,’ said Josh. ‘I’ve got an hour or two to lend a hand. And then Amber’s coming over to help whilst I take over the shop.’

Tom found himself on the verge of tears as he looked at his friends. ‘I don’t know what to say,’ he said, blinking rapidly.

‘Then put the kettle on,’ Belle told him. ‘This is going to be thirsty work.’