Page 93 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

Maybe they could do the same with the restaurant, she hoped.

Rather strangely, there appeared to be a new start happening on the other side of the world. She had just received a video of her aunt and uncle out on one of the speed boats which had them both roaring with laughter. Then there were the accompanying photos with their arms around each other and even one of them kissing. They both looked happy. Really happy.

And Belle thought that perhaps love could find a way for most people after all. Maybe even for her too.

50

Pete had braved the freezing-cold air to grab a few supplies from the corner shop and had bumped into Tom inside.

‘How’s business in the hub?’ he asked.

‘We’ve ventured onto Zoom, which is always an interesting experience, especially with some of our older residents,’ he said, with a grin. ‘Although your grandmother is remarkably quick on the uptake for her age. Please don’t tell her that I said that. It’ll be more than my life is worth!’

‘Yeah, I think she still only agrees to people talking about her age if they say that she’s fifty-five,’ Pete told him with a grin.

‘The good thing is that people are beginning to rally around the older residents these days,’ said Tom. ‘Some of these cottages are lovely and old but particularly draughty.’

Pete thought back to how cold he had been living in the apartment before he had organised for new central heating to be installed.

‘I’ve been trying to advise a few folks about how to keep warm,’ carried on Tom. ‘Especially at the moment. Thankfully, most of them have families looking out for them.’

Pete nodded, but as he headed outside into the freezing temperature, he thought about Ned. From what he had told Pete, he didn’t have any family. Nor did he like joining in at the community hub. Ned wasn’t like his own grandmother who had the whole family to keep an eye on her and make sure that she was warm and dry. Ned was a loner and that made him more vulnerable.

Also, Pete realised that Ned hadn’t made it into the inn the previous night for his weekly pint. He hadn’t thought about it at the time, but he wasn’t sure anything would cause Ned to miss his pint.

So he found that his feet were automatically heading towards Cherry Tree Lane where Ned lived.

Pete stood on Ned’s front doorstep and waited for an answer to his loud knock on the door. Even at almost lunchtime, he could see his breath in the freezing cold air. The path had been icy to walk along and he had slipped a couple of times, even in his big boots.

Slowly the door opened.

Ned looked surprised to find Pete standing there.

‘Morning,’ said Pete, with a nod. ‘Just wanted to check and see if you needed anything.’

‘What would I need?’ asked Ned, frowning. He gave a little puffed-out sigh and said, ‘Well, at least come in so we can shut the front door and keep what little warmth there is in the house.’

After Ned had moved away from the door, Pete stepped over the threshold and quickly closed the door behind him. It was a tiny cottage, two up and two down, with barely any room in the hallway, which was presumably why Ned moved into the front room to allow Pete a bit of space.

‘It’s pretty nippy out there,’ said Pete, thinking that it wasn’t that much warmer inside the cottage.

Over Ned’s shoulder, he could see the fireplace wasn’t lit.

‘Well, that’s winter for you,’ said Ned. ‘So what can I do for you, lad?’

‘Here,’ said Pete, finding that he was holding out the bag that he had just filled at the corner shop.

Ned took it from him with a look of surprise before staring down at the contents. ‘What’s all this for?’

‘I figured you might not have made it to the shop in the last few days,’ said Pete.

Adding silently to himself that Ned wasn’t the type to order his groceries online either. In fact, Pete couldn’t even spot a mobile phone, let alone a computer or iPad.

There was a silence whilst Ned continued to stare down at the bag before finally bringing his head up to look at Pete. ‘Well, that’s kind of you,’ he said. His voice was its normal gruff tone, but there was a wobble in the words which made Pete realise how emotional his gift had been for Ned.

‘We’d best get that milk in the fridge,’ said Pete, suddenly deciding that he needed to ensure that Ned had enough food in the house.

The back room, which comprised a tiny dining room table and kitchen, wasn’t much more promising. It was tidy but pretty bare.