Chapter 4.
Walking down Roscarrock hill she was hailed by Bert Large. "Morning Louisa, had a good Friday night?" he jokingly enquired.
"Good morning Bert, how are things with the restaurant?" she deflected the conversation away from her previous evening.
"Takings were up this week, so I mustn't grumble. We've got monkfish on the menu tonight, if you'd be interested?" he winked as he said this.
"I'll think about it. Got to go, see you!" Louisa continued along towards White Rose cottage passing several more people and greeting them briefly. As she went by the chemists, Mrs Tishell came out to sweep the front.
"Oh, it's you." She sniffed. Sally stared accusingly at Louisa.
"Morning Mrs Tishell, I can't stay and chat today." Louisa smiled as she said this and continued on her way. Sally's hostile reaction today was somewhat puzzling. Walking along she passed the school, inspecting it briefly before beginning to think about what needed doing this morning.
She dropped her washing on the kitchen floor and went upstairs to collect the remainder. The sheets and bedding joined the rest of the clothes. Sorting them out into batches she put the first load into the washer. Remembering the pristine state of Martin's house, she looked around at hers and decided a good clean and tidy round was required. Setting to, she went upstairs, remade the bed and cleaned the shower and bathroom before going downstairs to start in the kitchen.
As she worked, she thought about Martin and what he saw as their future. Would he want children? Would he want to go back to London if he conquered his haemophobia? What did she want? Would she be happy living in London at all? Her college days were one thing, but after coming back to Portwenn she had realised just how much she'd missed her little village.
Louisa tried to look at things from his perspective and knew he was not entirely happy working in a place where people didn't listen to his advice or follow his instructions with regard to their health. He definitely didn't like the intrusions into his private life and lost no time in telling busybodies just what he thought of them. Being a non-smoker and not tolerating alcohol meant that visits to the pub wouldn't be high on his agenda of things to do, either.
On the other hand, Louisa was sociable and outgoing, enjoying a small drink or quiz night at the Crab and Lobster. She knew that as the local GP, Martin had to maintain a certain distance from his patients but she hoped that attending village functions with her, would be acceptable to him.
Glancing at her watch she saw it was almost time to get ready. She checked her phone, but there wasn't a message from him. Sighing she decided upon casual clothes and laid out her favourite jeans, top and jumper before showering once more. After dressing she put on a small amount of make-up and went to put a new batch of washing into the machine. She folded the wet clothes, deciding that she wouldn't risk putting them outside to dry, today.
When she hadn't heard from him by 1:00 o'clock she decided to have a small lunch and had an apple with a cup of tea. She'd just finished when there was a knock on the door so she went to answer it. Martin stood there, somewhat shyly greeting her in the velvety tone she was becoming used to. Her eyes lit up at the sight of him as she quickly ushered him inside. Having closed the door, she reached up and kissed him thoroughly.
"I've missed you this morning," she told him.
His eyes crinkled as he said "Hm, me too. I, I mean I've missed you too."
"So, Martin, have you any suggestions as to what to do this afternoon?"
"My suggestions are very mundane for today, but I thought Wadebridge was a good idea of yours. I have to get my haircut and I need to order some new clock parts from the hobby shop. Other than that, I'm open to whatever you want to do." He stood there waiting for her reply. He'd dressed as formally as ever in suit and tie. Not really outfitted for traipsing along the Coastal Path.
"Good," she replied. "I need a few new things, so while you're getting your haircut and going to the model shop, I'll pop along and get them. Then we can go around together to look at anything else we might want."
Glancing down at her trainers Louisa asked him to go and get the car ready whilst she locked up. She quickly changed her shoes for more suitable wedges and made sure everything was closed up. She found Martin holding the door open for her, an old-fashioned courtesy, which she enjoyed. Joe Penhale, the village policeman, greeted them and then wished them a good time. Martin nodded and said "Yes." Before going around to the driver's side.
As they climbed out of the village Martin asked if she would like some music on, but she declined.
"Did you see that Joan called this morning, Martin? She dropped some veggies off for you. She was surprised to see me there having breakfast, but was also happy, I think."
"Yes, I surmised as much, before putting them away." Changing the subject, he asked her what she'd done this morning.
"Not a lot, really. I came back through the village where Bert accosted me and asked if I'd enjoyed last night?" She laughed. "I did very much, by-the-way," and grinned up at him. Martin looked horrified and asked if she'd said that to Bert? "No, don't worry! I asked him how the restaurant was doing, instead. Naturally I got chapter and verse about it. He mentioned he'd got some monkfish on the menu tonight, so if you want to, we could eat there?" Louisa raised an eyebrow at him and waited for his reply.
"Let's wait and see how we feel" he said, noncommittally.
"Mrs Tishell was odd. I passed her and she looked daggers at me, but I don't know why."
"Mrs Tishell is always odd." opined Martin. "If she wasn't such a good chemist, I'd be happy to have nothing more to do with her."
"Oh Martin, she's not that bad. Anyway, think of how she must feel with Clive gone for much of the time, on the oil rigs? I expect you are the most intelligent conversationalist she gets to talk to!"
"Clive who?" was Martin's response.
"Her husband, Martin!" was Louisa's exasperated rejoinder. "You really should make an effort to remember these things. I told you at the interview that social interaction was an essential requirement for a local GP!"
Martin looked quickly at her before turning his attention back to the road. The last thing he wanted to do was to upset her before the day began! His thoughts turned to the rest of the day ahead. It would take him less than an hour to complete what he wanted to do, but he wasn't sure how long it would take Louisa. The thought of going into a dress shop with her didn't at all appeal to him, assuming that's what she meant by "new things." "Why don't you go and get what you want whilst I'm at the barber's and model shop? We could meet up at the pub on Molesworth Street when you're finished?"
"Yes, that's a good idea. Say an hour and a half's time?" Louisa answered.
They left the car in the car park and strolled onto the main thoroughfare. Martin left to go for his haircut and Louisa wandered along until she got to the bookshop. The latest Ruth Rendell novel was on sale so that was her first priority. Once she'd got that she would browse and see what else was on offer. Moving on down the street she passed a boutique and a dress caught her eye. She considered her budget and decided to leave it until next month.
She turned to go back up to the pub to wait for Martin and was relieved to see that she was first there. Her face lit up as she saw him approach and he felt his heart leap in his chest when he spotted her.