Chapter 24

Louisa decided to wait for a while before starting the preparations for tea. She picked up her novel and retired to the sofa to read.

Meanwhile in the study, Martin got out the blank card he'd purchased to give to Louisa. He'd composed a poem and was going to inscribe it by hand onto the card.

He studied it and thought she would be pleased with it. He put it in the envelope and sealed it before placing it in his desk drawer.

Drawing out the accounts book he went into battle with them, once more.

Entering the kitchen later, he saw Louisa busy scrambling some eggs. "I'm not very hungry, Martin so I thought we'd just have scrambled eggs on toast? If you are hungry I could do you some soup for starters?"

"No, eggs will be fine with me too. Here, let me finish this, you go and sit down."

She put the toast into the toaster and filled the kettle before getting the cutlery out and laying the table.

Tucking into her meal she complimented him on the eggs as they were just how she liked them. Not too sloppy and not too hard. "Hmm" was all he said. She smiled to herself. He was never one for accepting praise from anyone.

They spent the evening reading. He with his BMJ's and her with the novel she had yet to finish. Early to bed meant early to rise for Martin and he had time to have had breakfast, and check his computer for the weather forecast before she came down, still in her nightclothes.

"Weather's going to be misty and damp this morning, so I thought we'd go out later and maybe have a meal out?"

"That would be great. I'm not in the mood for cooking today." Martin looked at her, assessing whether to broach the subject of her health.

"No, I don't feel off colour, just not in the mood for cooking."

"Ah," he said. "I'm going to go and do some work on my clock in the study. Give me a shout if you want anything."

Louisa smiled at him. "I'll have this tea and then go for a shower, wash my hair etc."

The tea tasted lovely and she sat for a while longer thinking about where to go on their drive. Eventually she admitted she had to go and get ready. She was drying her hair when she heard Joan's "only me," downstairs. Throwing her comb down she hurriedly went downstairs.

Joan's raised eyebrows questioned where Martin was. Louisa told her he was busy in the study. Joan reached into her bag and pulled out a parcel which she handed to Louisa.

"Thanks Joan. I'll go and pop this somewhere safe." She took the parcel and went back upstairs to hide it.

When she came down again Martin had joined his aunt in the kitchen. He was making an espresso for himself, but Joan and Louisa just wanted tea. They chatted for a while over the drinks and Martin mentioned that they were going out for a drive and maybe a meal, if the weather picked up.

"Do you both good to get out of here for a while," was Joan's opinion. "Right, I'm off. Things to do, you know. I'll see you both at midday on Tuesday?"

"Looking forward to it Joan," smiled Louisa. She looked at Martin.

"What? Erm yes, see you then Auntie Joan."

Louisa shook her head, smiled and waved goodbye at her.

"Did she want something, Louisa?"

"No just came to see how I was and have a cuppa with us." She looked over to him, "Is a cheese sandwich all right with you for lunch?"

"Er, yes, that would be good, er fine." He replied. "I'm going back to do some more work on my clock. Is 12:30 a good time for lunch?"

"Perfect, Martin."

Once he'd gone, she took the scissors and sticky tape upstairs. She'd bought the wrapping paper already and set about wrapping his present after she'd ascertained it had not been damaged in transit. Sitting back on her heels she hoped he would like it and not just dismiss it as too childish. She put it in the bottom drawer of the chest of drawers alongside his others. Picking up the tape and scissors she went back down again.

They were eating their lunch when Martin asked her if she would prefer coast or country for their trip out.

"I emptied the bins and felt the wind was coming in from the east, so I think it will be too misty up on the moors. Let's go along the coast. You choose north or south."

They got in the car and set off. Martin had chosen to go south and he mentioned Padstow as being not too far with ample scenery along the way and some shops to look in when they were there. Louisa nodded and thought that was a good idea.

They chatted about the plans for Christmas with Martin hoping they wouldn't be too long at Joan's.

"Really Martin, you should be grateful she's putting herself out to give us an excellent meal as a treat. I expect she will be glad to see us for the talk, and not to be on her own on the day!"

"Yes, sorry. I hadn't thought about that aspect of it." Martin was contrite and knew he'd have to put off being alone with Louisa for a few hours spent with his aunt.

Seeing that he was low on fuel he pulled into the next garage and filled the tank up. Inside where Louisa couldn't see him, he phoned a restaurant and was extremely lucky to get a table for two. Satisfied, he paid for the fuel and then got back in the car.

A quarter of an hour later he was looking for a parking place in Padstow. As they got out of the car a blast of cold wind hit them and Louisa decided it was too cold to walk along the front. She put her arm in Martin's and they ambled around the town. Various things caught their eyes, but nothing which made them want to go in and buy. Louisa saw a dress shop which seemed to be selling things which were slightly up market compared to what was seen in Wadebridge. However, her expanding waistline precluded any thought of buying such close-fitting clothes and dresses.

Martin's suits and shirts were tailored to fit, from a bespoke firm based in London. For the life of her, Louisa couldn't get him into more casual clothes.

Wandering on, a baby shop caught their eye and they went over to look in. Louisa was enraptured by a Moses basket complete with blankets and shawl. There were toys, prams, carrycots and a host of other things deemed essential for the well-dressed baby-about-town. Martin was just glad the shop was closed as he knew he'd have been dragged in!