CHAPTER II
DOT"S THOUGHTS
Dot had very vivid memories of when she had met Timothy once more in adulthood, it was long after her childhood and long after the war was over. During those childhood years he had been part of their adventures, the last time was when he had reluctantly taken part in the deception of Nancy and Peggy's great aunt Maria, the hated GA, while she and Dick lived secretly in the old stone hut in the woods near Beckfoot known as the Dog's Home. Timothy, at the time, was living on Captain Flint's houseboat carrying out analysis of rock samples from the mine they had discovered the previous year, with help from Dick.
Timothy and Dot's first encounter years later took place one day when she went to see Titty at the flat in London she lived in for a short time in the early nineteen sixties, she arrived to find Captain Flint visiting, he often came to see her so this on its own was no surprise. What was a surprise to her was that with him was a man she only vaguely recognised. He though, she could tell, immediately recognised her, and greeted her enthusiastically. As he did so she realised that he was 'Squashy Hat'! It was almost thirty years since they last met.
In that brief moment she was reminded of how all the years before she had thought him handsome, and was pleased to see despite the passing of the years he still was. She remembered cooking for him, scrambled eggs, in Captain Flint's houseboat when she and Dick visited him, it had been his first proper meal for a few days he had admitted, and for her it was the first time she had actually cooked for someone, not including Dick of course; but then in these situations your brother does not count as 'someone'.
In Titty's flat that day as she talked to Timothy the scrambled egg incident had come to mind, and the thought of this seemingly simple act for this handsome man sent a little shudder through her body and what almost seemed like a flutter in her heart.
Despite being a novelist of some success, whose books included elements of romance, she had been appalled when some reviewers referred to her as a 'romantic novelist'. Her novels included many things, but she was wary of writing about romance because she had little experience of such things, as there was not much material in her life to draw upon. Her own romantic history was limited, during the war she sometimes went out with Titty and two men, mostly because Titty needed to make up a four, but almost none of them ever asked her out on her own and if they did it was rarely repeated. It was Titty who was the attraction, she seemed to attract and collect men with ease.
This lack of male attention did not bother Dot, she lived to write, and the small amount of her life not dedicated to writing was taken up with letters to Dick, wherever he may be, and helping Titty to keep her life in some kind of order, including steering her away from the obviously unsuitable men she seemed to have a knack of attracting on occasions.
Over the years following this meeting Dot and Timothy's paths often crossed, usually when Captain Flint came visiting Titty, and on such occasions it became their habit for all of them go to lunch or dinner together as they enjoyed each other's company. Captain Flint, or Jim as he now encouraged them to call him, was to her just like, as he actually was to Nancy and Peggy, an uncle. But Timothy, he was different. Certainly he was a bit older than her and Titty, but not that much, and there was something about him that whenever she knew they were to meet up she looked forward to it more than most of the other events in her rather quiet life.
One such evening, they were all due to meet at Dot's flat, then go out together for dinner. So when her doorbell rang in the late afternoon of the agreed day she had expected all of them or at least Titty to be at the door, but it was Timothy on his own. He was full of apologies for being so early and he even offered to go away and return later, by which time he was sure Titty and Jim would have arrived, Dot would not hear of it, she invited him in and made them both a pot of tea. As they sat in the living room and drank their tea they talked of many things that afternoon, he was well read, he had even read every one of her published novels, which surprised her, and spoke of them in flattering terms, they shared many interests and had similar views on many subjects so the conversation easily flowed between them.
With Jim and Titty still not having arrived an hour or so later, Dot offered Timothy more tea, he accepted and she went to the kitchen to make a fresh pot.
On her return he was standing by her writing desk, as she placed the teapot on the tea-tray on the desk and let go of the handle Timothy gently grasped her wrist, he then pulled her towards him and kissed her, kissing her full on the lips, an unmistakable passionate kiss. She was flustered by the suddenness but not disappointed by this gesture, she had thought of it many times occurring between them, but only in the way she often thought out scenes for her novels never imagining it would ever happen. As quickly as he kissed her he let go of her wrist and immediately apologised, she rejected his apology telling him it was unnecessary and at that moment the doorbell rang once more. She went off to answer it.
With the arrival of Jim and Titty what happened between Dot and Timothy had passed and was almost forgotten, they went for dinner and the usual pleasant evening was had by all of them. Timothy and Jim spent a lot of the time discussing mining, much of which was beyond Dot's comprehension and Titty's too, so the two of them discussed, as they often did, Dick and what kind of romantic life he had in the USA where he now worked. The possibility of him having many girlfriends and what they were like never ceased to fascinate the two women.
When the four of them went their separate ways at the end of the evening they kissed each other on the cheek in farewell as they always did, Timothy gave no suggestion when he kissed Dot of how he had kissed her that afternoon and made no mention of it. Once back at her flat Dot wrote her diary for the day as she always did before bed, and alluded to Timothy's visit and what happened, thinking that perhaps it was not a good idea to yet go in to any detail.
The next morning Titty telephoned her, as she often did after these occasions to talk about what went on, and wondered if Dot had noticed that there was something different about Timothy, speculating to her that maybe he had yet another new girlfriend.