Christmas At Willowmere. Abigail Gordon

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СКАЧАТЬ me with two young babies, Anna was a huge help, but it concerns me that she gets so little time to herself. And I’m sure that other people who know her feel the same.’

      ‘Don’t do this to me, James,’ Anna was begging silently. Don’t describe me as someone to be sorry for. Not in front of Glenn. He will soon be going back to where he came from and that is how it has to be.

      Silence had fallen over the room and after a moment she said, ‘How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t mind, James? The children are everything to me.’

      And if that isn’t telling me straight to go back to where I’ve come from, I don’t know what is, Glenn thought grimly.

      But James had been observing Anna and Glenn. He sensed an awareness of each other that they were trying to conceal, and he asked casually, ‘So what are you planning to do in the near future, Glenn? Have a rest until you go back? Or look for a position over here for a while?’

      ‘I want to work in the UK for a change,’ he told him, ‘to recharge my batteries. I’ve no immediate plans to go back at the moment. I wouldn’t mind some general practice work. The sort of thing you do. I have been working in surgeries of a kind for the last few years. They were ill-equipped places, but surgeries nevertheless.’

      James nodded but made no comment, and once the meal was over and the children were yawning he said, ‘If you’ll excuse me, I’ll take the children up to bed and leave you and Anna to continue getting reacquainted.’

      Pollyanna and Jolyon said goodnight and silence returned once they’d gone, hanging over Anna and Glen like a cloud of uncertainty until he said, ‘James seems concerned about you.’

      ‘Yes, I know, but he doesn’t need to be. I’m fine,’ she said breezily. ‘I’d rather we talked about you than me. You must have lots to tell about what you’ve been doing.’

      He wanted to talk about them, not Africa, and said, ‘Some other time maybe?’

      ‘What other time?’ she questioned. ‘You’ll be leaving soon.’

      ‘That is, or was, my intention,’ he said, and she wondered what that was supposed to mean. The answer was in what he said next. ‘It is a joy to come to somewhere like this, where it’s cold, crisp and clean.’

      ‘You mean to say that you’re thinking of extending your visit?’ she asked, not sure where this was leading. ‘The snow will be gone in a couple of days, you know, it’s very early. January to March is when we get the really heavy falls, and how will you occupy yourself in the countryside in wintertime?’

      She couldn’t believe she was trying to dissuade him from staying longer when she hadn’t seen him in years. But she had something to hide and the longer Glenn was around the more likely it was that he might find out. Although the only people who knew about it were James and herself, and he would never discuss her private affairs with anyone.

      ‘Are you by any chance hinting that you would like to see me gone?’ he asked dryly, and she felt the colour rise in her cheeks.

      ‘No, of course not,’ she told him hurriedly. ‘You must do what is best for yourself.’

      Was she out of her mind, she thought, trying to persuade him to leave when he was inclined to linger? She might never see him again after this, but nothing had changed, had it? If he’d come back hoping she might have changed her mind about their relationship, she still couldn’t give him a child and nothing was going to alter that.

      Yet she had found a degree of contentment in her life and needed to hang onto it. Would she be able to do that with Glenn in Willowmere?

      At that moment James appeared to say that the children were asleep and would Glenn like to see the surgery? He was on his feet in an instant, commenting that he would be most interested to see how a country practice functioned.

      ‘It functions very well,’ she told him coolly. ‘You will be amazed.’

      When they came back Glenn was smiling. ‘Very impressive,’ he said with a gleam in his eye that told her he’d got the message. ‘Especially the computer centre in the basement, where the practice manager keeps her finger on the pulse. And now, if you will excuse me, I’ll head off back to The Pheasant. I know you both lead very busy lives, and I don’t think entertaining would normally be on the agenda on a weekday evening, so I’ll say goodnight.’ He turned to James and shook his hand. ‘It’s been a pleasure to meet you and your children, James.’

      It was the same as the night before. Anna didn’t want them to have to separate and on the spur of the moment she said, ‘James has given you the guided tour of the surgery that I promised, but if you like I’ll show you some of the village beneath a full moon. Willowmere covered in snow in the moonlight is something to see.’

      ‘I’d like that,’ he said, taken aback, and when she’d grabbed a coat and put boots on they went outside. ‘Are you trying to confuse me, Anna?’ he asked as they walked down the path. ‘One moment you are hastening me on my way and the next you are dangling your beautiful village in front of me like a carrot, and considering that it’s called Willowmere, I can’t see any willow trees at a glance.’

      ‘You won’t,’ she told him. ‘Not here anyway, but on the edge of the village at the foot of the peaks there is a lake and they are there in profusion. From Willow Lake came Willowmere many years ago when people began to move into the area around it, and once you’ve seen the lake you will know why they came. The trees may be short of a few leaves at this time of year, but they’re never bare, and it’s a beautiful place no matter what the season.’

      ‘Hmm, it sounds like it. Why don’t you and the children show it to me tomorrow after school is over? If it isn’t too far, we might get there before the light goes and then we could go for afternoon tea somewhere. I’ll call for you.’

      ‘Oh…yes, all right,’ she agreed, taken unawares by the suggestion, yet it did have its appeal. It would give her the opportunity to show Glenn some of the reasons why she loved this place and Willow Lake was high on the list. Though she would rather have taken him there on a spring day, or in summer when the weeping willows hung over the water in an abundance of fresh greenery.

      But Glenn wouldn’t be around then and she didn’t want to think about that, even though his arrival was like having a wound that had healed open up again.

      As they strolled along the main street with its quaint shops and onto the bridge that spanned the river he asked, ‘Are there any eating places around here that would be open and suitable to take the children to at this time of the year?’

      She nodded. ‘Yes. There’s the very place, over there. The Hollyhocks Tea Rooms, a couple of doors away from the post office. They’re open all year round and the food is always good. The owners of the place are friends of mine.’

      ‘So the Hollyhocks Tea Rooms it shall be,’ he said, ‘where Cheshire cheese and Lancashire hotpot will, no doubt, be on the menu as we aren’t far from where the two counties meet.’

      ‘And what’s wrong with that?’ she asked, sending him a look as the moon scudded behind a cloud and they were left in cold, velvet darkness.

      ‘I didn’t say there was anything wrong,’ he replied hastily, hiding a smile. Then he saw the teasing sparkle in her eyes.

      ‘You know we still СКАЧАТЬ