Yorkshire Dating

Rated: T
Fandom: Calendar Girls
Pairings: Ruth/OC
Disclaimer: Another thing that isn´t mine. Belongs to Buena Vista International and Touchstone Pictures.
Spoilers: It´s a follow-up on the movie, so you should watch that first.
Summary: (Another) spin-off from 'Woman of Yorkshire'. Just as Tim resolves to tell Ruth how he feels, one of Celia's well-intended schemes interferes…
Genre: friendship/romance

Author's notes Part I:
(Only so extensive this first chapter, I promise)
First of all, this story is for Lavenderandhay, as a thank you for her lovely Calendar Girl's story called 'Brave New World'.


The King´s Crown, Knapely's local pub, was slowly filling up and as Tim made room for Celia and Cora to sit down at the corner booth he and Rod had secured earlier, he couldn´t help but look out of the window for the umpteenth time. But once again the pavement leading up to the pub was empty and shining because of the rain that was falling in a heavy drizzle.

"Did Ruth get home alright?" he asked Annie who had joined him, Rod and Chris shortly after their arrival at the pub, with feigned nonchalance.

"Yes, I picked her up from the station at noon today," Annie replied brightly. "She's had a lovely time, got a gorgeous tan… I'd say Crete agreed with her."

"That's nice," he replied, trying to keep his tone level, wondering if it would be too obvious if he asked her if Ruth would be joining them this evening.
Looking at Rod's already smirking face he decided that it probably would.

Luckily for him, Annie went on without needing any encouragement. "I told her we'd all be here for a drink tonight and she said she might come as well."

Even though her words raised his spirits somewhat, he couldn't resist the temptation to look outside again. Inwardly annoyed with himself he realized there was just no denying the obvious: he´d been a mess ever since she had left.

When Ruth had first announced her plan to go to Crete for a fortnight on a group travel, he had been highly supportive of the idea. After all, she had earned it, probably more so than anyone else. She hadn't been away since the Hollywood trip for the calendar and that was almost two years ago. And ever since she had returned from that she had been working tirelessly, trying to rebuild her life after her divorce to that good-for-nothing husband.

She had moved to Maple Cottage, started to work at the nursing home and had step by step claimed her life and her independence back. He had watched her as the months wore on and the friendship between them had grown how she had gradually become more confident, more at ease with herself and the situation she was in. As hard as it had been at first, he was in awe at how she had created a new life for herself. Without complaining or wallowing in self-pity about it, she had set to work and was now in fact doing quite well for herself.

He knew there was a vulnerable side to her new-found confidence. He knew how much Eddie's infidelity had hurt her, how she had berated herself for becoming – as she put it - such spineless woman during her marriage. Being one of the few people allowed in her confidence, he knew how at the beginning the thought of being alone had terrified her.
In the end it only made him admire her more. Her quiet courage had astounded him the first time he'd met her in that bar in Hollywood and she had told him about the calendar. Contrary to what she thought of herself, he found her anything but spineless. To him it seemed she could do more or less anything she set her mind to.

He'd taken over the resident GP's practise a little over a year ago and now that he was well and truly settled into the community, he found that it had been years since he had felt so much at peace. After his horrendous break-up with Carol and the aftermath of their tumultuous relationship and the restless years of working for Doctors Without Borders he finally found himself considering settling down more permanently and since meeting Ruth the idea of building a future together with her had become increasingly more appealing.

He found himself to be irresistibly compelled to her warmth and her kindness. It had been months ago since he had first realised that she made him happy. That for some reason, her just being herself brought out the best in him. And he liked to think he could become the same to her. That him loving her and taking care of her would make her equally happy as well. As he discovered more particulars about the horrible, careless way Eddie had treated her – some of this he had found out from Ruth herself, but most he had learned from Chris and Celia who's disdain for Eddie had been a great deal more obvious and voiced – he longed to love her as she deserved to be loved, to show her just how wonderful he thought she was.

But still, as his feelings for her had increased rapidly over the months, something still held him back from actually acting upon them. It was a myriad of reasons really. The fact that they had both come out of a relationship that had ended badly weighted heavily on him. Even though he was by now entirely convinced that Ruth truly was a loving, caring woman who'd never hurt another person on purpose, the idea of committing himself again to a serious relationship still made him apprehensive. And as their friendship deepened he found it more and more difficult to risk it for the possibility of a romance. She cared for him, of that he was certain. If he was not very much mistaken there definitely was an attraction between them, but would it be enough for her to give up her independence, he wondered?

And now she had been on a vacation, another item on a long list of things she could accomplish on her own now. At first he'd been genuinely pleased for her. Having been to Crete himself once, he could easily picture how much she would enjoy it. The history of the place, the beautiful beaches, the small towns and markets… But after a day or three he'd begun to realize how much he missed her. He had grown accustomed to seeing her almost every day, either at the nursing home, through their mutual friends or simply just bumping into here somewhere in the village. It was only then he realized how much these casual moments where in fact a highlight in his day. By the time the first week had ended he was ready to admit to himself that he was just plain miserable without her.

The days of the second week dragged on like a dead weight and as he suddenly found himself once again staring at the dark ceiling of his bedroom in the middle of the night – something that had rarely happened since he'd moved to Knapely – the thought had suddenly struck him that it was quite possible that this vacation-trip would bring a big change to her life. She might be completely unaware of it, but Ruth was in fact a very attractive woman. Feminine, caring, loving… and she was on a group travel with a group of people of her own age category. As she had mentioned casually one time as they were talking about it, it was mostly couples, but there were bound to be a few single men as well. Relatively young widowers, divorced men… men who would undoubtedly see how beautiful and wonderful she was… who wouldn't be so stupid as to waste a good eighteen months before making their feelings obvious…


He had been so lost in his gloomy thoughts that he hadn't noticed her entering the pub until she was already standing in front of the booth and he was alerted to her presence by everyone else's cheers. Getting to his feet rather ungallantly, he could feel his heart skip several beats as he took in the sight of her: she was wearing a simple, white cotton blouse on a pair of jeans. The white of the fabric contrasted beautifully with her brilliant tan. Her hair seemed lighter because of the sun and as she glanced up at him briefly, beaming as she did, he noticed the tiny, golden freckles that now adorned her nose and cheeks. She looked glorious.

There was a flurry of hugs and kisses for a moment and then she was back in front of him and for a mere moment he allowed himself to wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her in a semi-hug and inhaling her scent. She smelled like sun and warmth and as he pulled back he saw her radiant smile and felt his own widen in response. For the first time in two weeks he felt the tension completely dissipate. They all sat down and after some shuffling around he found himself sitting near the end of the booth with Ruth pressed snuggly against his side.

Annie, who had been previously sitting next to him had somehow managed to scurry to the other side of the booth, leaving room for Ruth to sit next to him and fleetingly he caught her amused grin, deciding to ignore it for the time being and concentrate on the warm feel of the woman sitting next to him. The Mediterranean sun must still be caught in her skin because from where her bare arm was pressed against his, he could still feel it's warmth to the thin fabric of his shirt.

"So, tell us, Ruth! How was Crete?" Celia boomed across the table.

"It was wonderful!" Ruth replied enthusiastically, "I've never seen such a beautiful sea, the water there is just as blue as you see on the postcards or brochures." And as she related all her vacation adventurous, he found himself drawn in by her voice and words, her animated gestures and her shining brown eyes, picturing them together in that tropical paradise, walking hand in hand along the beach, the waves rolling over their bare feet. Going for a swim in the sea, just the two of them and the moonlight. Exploring the narrow streets and alleys of some ancient town with her. Having her entirely to himself to show her exactly how much he loved her. Making love to her underneath the wide open windows of their hotel room, the sound of the sea in the background.

Suddenly it was all so very clear. Despite all the caution, despite the risk of staining their friendship… he could no longer deny his feelings for her anymore. Could no longer brush them off as an infatuation or a mere attraction. He loved her.

And it was high time she knew about it.


Author's notes Part II:
I've never been to Crete myself, but my sister has so I've heard plenty stories and saw plenty of pictures to pretend what it's like to go there for Ruth. So I choose that as her vacation destination. As I was writing it, I realized it was also heavily influenced by the Downton Modern AU RP on Tumblr.
Originally this 'Ruth returning all beaming and gorgeous from a sunny vacation and completely flooring Tim' was intended as a one-shot, but of course these things quickly grow into more, so this will be multi-chaptered.

But for now, I'd love to hear what you think!