Chapter 5 - Tea and a Chat with Joan

Louisa got out of bed and stretched. The sun was shining and she knew it was going to be a good day. It was Saturday. Even though there was only one week until the end of the school term, last night she had finished what she needed to do up to this point. She had been hoping Martin would call, but her phone had been silent. But that was okay. Louisa had decided who it was that could give her some words of advice. Louisa's goal for the weekend was to get that other viewpoint.

Louisa buttered a piece of toast and took a bite as she dialed her phone. Joan Norton answered on the third ring, a bit breathless.

" Joan here."

Louisa quickly swallowed and said, "Joan, this is …"

"Yes, Louisa."

"I'm sorry, Joan. I must have gotten you away from something. You sound winded."

"I was out … chores, you know. But good to talk with you whenever we get the chance."

Louisa smiled, "Well, that's just what I'm calling about. Could I drive out this afternoon for tea? I'll bring along something from the bakery. I need to tell you something, ask you … er … discuss something with you."

Louisa could hear Joan's chuckle. "And I bet it involves that nephew of mine!"

Louisa felt her checks flushing even though there was no one around, and the thought came. People did know. Or rather, it seemed that almost everyone in the village knew she and Martin spent time together. And … Louisa was sure they were busy in their heads deciding what that meant. She was greeted with wide smiles, as always, but there was a deep nod of the head or a wink that she hadn't noticed before when she passed folks on the street, and the older women reached out to grab her hand and give it a gentle squeeze when she stopped to talk. Louisa thought that Martin was probably the only person around who wasn't thinking about her and him, he and she … well, of Martin and Louisa as a couple. A couple that belonged together. He was the only person who did not see them that way and Louisa was starting to doubt that idea too.

"Yes, Joan. As perceptive as usual."

"What's he done now?" Joan growled.

"Er … nothing, it's …"

Joan groaned, "It's that 'Nothing' that is the matter, isn't it?"

Louisa deliberately put a lighter tone in her voice as she answered, " What I meant to say is that I've gotten some wonderful news …"

Joan laughed, "And I'm to be the first to know! Bless you, because I would have heard something for sure if anyone else in Portwenn had been let in on a secret of yours. Tea then … drive on out."

Shortly before mid-afternoon, Louisa rushed out of the bakery with a bag of hazelnut biscuits and headed for her car parked nearby.

"Yoo-hoo, Louisa," a familiar voice hailed her.

"Oh Bert, hi," Louisa replied. "Gotta run."

"Hmmm … something sweet for the sweetheart in your life, eh?" Bert teased.

"Afternoon tea with Joan."

Bert had a reply to that too. "Ah, getting in good with the family, I see."

Louisa stopped and turned to glare at him with her hands on her hip. She didn't care who heard what she had to say to Bert.

"After I've done my job, there is nothing going on in my life that concerns you or anybody else in this village, and I'd like you to remember that."

"Ah, Louisa, just having a little fun. Didn't mean to annoy," Bert tried to retreat from Louisa's irritation.

"Goodbye then." Louisa got in her car and drove off. With her heart beating faster after her encounter with Bert, she flew by Martin in his Lexus and only realized that when she glanced in her rear view mirror.

And immediately, thoughts of him and his day flew through her mind. Was he on his way to an emergency? No, he wasn't even driving as fast as she was. Perhaps Mrs. Tishell called to say that an order of a certain medicine had arrived. The clinic wasn't open today, but even so … he would be working, wouldn't he? Was he on his way to Truro? There wasn't anybody he would just go to see … for a chat … was there?

Louisa heard hens clucking as she pulled up in front of Joan's cottage. "Don't start clucking about Martin right away," she told herself. "You have got to make a decision about going to America or not. This really has nothing to do with Martin. I'm just thinking about my career."

And with that thought firmly in her mind, she knocked at Joan's door.