Starting Over by Wendy Lewis

Author:Wendy Lewis [Lewis, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lume Books
Published: 2015-07-21T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

‘What are these for? We can’t afford a horse!’ Martin was looking at a pair of white jodhpurs that Louise had lent me, through Simon. I had laid them out on the bed and was now worrying that they wouldn’t fit. They were going to be very tight…if I could get into them at all. Louise was about two inches taller than me and a good deal slimmer, it was a bit depressing. Especially when Martin continued, doubtfully: ‘Can you get into those?’

‘I don’t know. I haven’t tried yet. I’m booked to go riding with Louise on Sunday. Simon arranged it.’

‘Who’s Louise?’

‘I told you - his girlfriend. She owns the livery yard up the road.’

‘Oh.’

‘Oh what?’

‘Nothing. Just don’t fall off. How much will it cost?’

‘Nothing – its Simon’s horse and he’s lending it to me for an hour. It’s all right, I’m not going to start begging for a pony.’

He gave a dramatic, long suffering sigh and, for a moment, I was terribly tempted to launch into a tirade about ‘what if it did cost something, it was my money, I had earned it, not lost all our savings at the bookies!’ But that might have prompted me into mentioning Lily, and I had promised her that I wouldn’t.

Heavy rain was drumming on the roof of the caravan and he was going to have to spend the morning helping Gary to put a tarpaulin over the unfinished portion of the half tiled cottage roof. Not much fun in wind and driving rain. He would need all his concentration.

I pulled on a long, hooded waterproof jacket. It had a picture of people hiking up storm-battered mountains on the label, which seemed suitable for today. Then I opened the caravan door to take the dogs for their pre-work walk in the orchard. They jumped up excitedly, came to the door, looked out, looked at me and went back to bed. I got their leads and cruelly dragged them out into the storm. Once we were halfway up the orchard, they found a scent and put up a very bedraggled and slow rabbit, which probably had myxomatosis. Even so, it still managed to get to a burrow ahead of them. I quickly put their leads on as I didn’t have time to dig them out if they got stuck underground. It wouldn’t have been the first time; dappled Lola had the ability to turn herself into a long, thin spotted snake and slide down holes with ease, although she wasn’t quite so good at getting out again.

I saw Gary arrive and he gave me a wave as he and Martin began to get tools and ladders out of his van. I was glad, in a cowardly way, that I was going to work. Having no head for heights, I found it painful to watch them working on the roof. To give him his due, Martin was beginning to pull his weight again on the cottage renovation. I supposed that, in a way, he now had to answer to Lily about getting the work done.

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