Chapter 7

They had already spent time with Mike and his wife Hazel and Alex's friend Ana and found that they had enjoyed their company. Now it was time to meet the rest of the guests. Everyone was standing round, most had a drink in their hand, chatting quietly but Sue could see that already they were split into groups. Ana was talking to Mike, Hazel and a tall blonde haired man who was introduced later as Ana's husband Will. In another group two older men were in a heated discussion. One of them, Lionel Llewellyn, was jabbing his finger in the direction of his companion's face who was trying to step backwards to avoid injury, this was Richard Dyer. From the snippets Sue picked up Lionel had a boat on the river and was complaining about the ineptitude of the other river users. Seated on a sofa were two women, one younger than the other and looking similar enough in appearance to make Sue wonder if they were mother and daughter. She later found out that they were aunt and niece, Frances, the younger one was married to Richard and Sue got the vague impression that Aunt Judith had more or less invited herself to the party on the pretext of needing to support her niece in her hour of need, the details of which were never mentioned. Frances had a bored look which took away any prettiness from her face and nodded intermittently as her aunt chattered away by her side.

Jack and Sue joined Ana's group.

Before long they heard a gong ring out downstairs and they made their way down to the dining room. Sue found herself seated between Frances and Lionel whilst Jack was seated next to Aunt Judith and Will. Frances immediately objected to Levi being in the room, "The dining room is no place for dogs!" she announced. Sue explained that she was deaf and that Levi was her hearing dog causing Frances to stare pointedly at her before turning towards Mike, who was on her other side, and immediately began talking to him. Sue looked across the table to Jack who grimaced in sympathy, she gave a weak smile back and shrugged her shoulders. It was not a happy meal for Sue. Frances continued to ignore her and Lionel kept forgetting that she was deaf and so didn't always face her when he spoke meaning that Sue picked up very little of what he said. Though she was a little relieved because it seemed that he could really only talk about boats and sailing, a topic about which Sue knew absolutely nothing.

Thankfully they didn't follow the tradition of the men and women separating after dinner and Jack grabbed a shawl from the hall and he and Sue went outside into the cool spring evening. It was just beginning to get dark and they had arranged to meet Mike and Hazel at the shelter to watch the stars through the telescope.

"I'm sorry that your dinner companions were idiots," said Jack. "You didn't look as if you were enjoying it too much."

"The food was lovely," Sue replied, deviating slightly from the subject. "Alex has a good cook."

"It certainly was delicious," responded Jack. "I am a little surprised at Alex's choice of friends," He continued. "Mike and Will I can see as his friends but not Lionel or Richard."

"I know what you mean," replied Sue, then clumsily changed the topic. "But enough about them, let's enjoy the evening." Jack gave into her wishes with a little reluctance. Slowly, they made their way towards the wooden shelter, Jack listening to the bird calls as the night closed in, Sue delighting in the company and Levi running ahead on the trail of a rabbit he could smell.

They arrived before Mike and Hazel and so sat down on a wrought iron bench which looked over the valley towards the river. The sun was just beginning to set behind the trees, casting a rosy glow over the landscape.

Unfortunately, Sue was finding it difficult to settle. Every time she could feel the peace wash over her she could feel Jack tense. Finally she had had enough.

"OK Jack, out with it," she demanded.

Jack feigned innocence, "Out with what?" he asked.

"Whatever it is that is making you twitchy," replied Sue. "Somethings got you on edge." She looked at him and embarrassment washed over his face. She could tell that he was thinking about his choices and so sat patiently, concern etched upon her face. Finally, Jack said, "We are here to relax," Sue nodded encouragingly. "How would you feel if we ignored the fact that we are co-workers and just spent the time as friends?" He glanced at her, unsure of her reaction. Sue pondered on his words for a moment. "Is this to do with why Alex wanted to speak to you alone?" she asked. "Is something going on that I need protecting from?"

Jack grimaced at Sue's perceptiveness, at least about the protection part of it.

"No," he answered. "This is about us forgetting about rules for a while and just being friends. The kind of friends who would sit like this and watch a beautiful sunset." He put his arm around her shoulder and tucked her head under his chin.

"Oh that kind of friend," Murmured Sue. "Well.." she snuggled in closer only to find Jack tensing. Thinking that she had mis-read the situation she sat bolt upright.

"Company," he signed, looking down the path. "Hazel and Mike are stomping noisily this way."

"Hi you two, sorry we're a little late. I hope we aren't interrupting anything!" laughed Hazel.

"No worries we have only just arrived ourselves," said Jack standing up. "Let me get the telescope.

They spent a while positioning the instrument as the night sky became darker and darker. Sue, unable to help was suddenly distracted by lights moving down the hill towards the river. Suddenly, without warning, they vanished. Sue assumed that they had gone around a bend in the path and thought nothing more of it as Jack held a torch up to his face and said that they were ready.