Follow My Lead Episode 07
Follow My Lead
« Previous Post- 4. Follow My Lead Episode 04
- 5. Follow My Lead Episode 05
- 6. Follow My Lead Episode 06
- 7. Follow My Lead Episode 07
- 8. Follow My Lead Episode 08
- 9. Follow My Lead Episode 09
- 10. Follow My Lead Episode 10
Lydia emerged from the train station, laden with a suitcase, a bulging hold-all and her laptop case.
A shoulder bag slid down her arm to her elbow.
Her obvious weariness struck at Danielle’s heart.
“Give me something to carry,” she urged, but instead Lydia dropped it all to the ground and wrapped her arms around her.
“First things first! Oh, it’s so good to see you!”
“You, too. How was your journey?”
Danielle lifted the suitcase, her arm muscles straining, while Lydia gathered everything else.
“Oh, fine. Thank goodness for my ear buds.” With a gleeful smile Lydia patted her pocket.
“They shut out absolutely everything. I may even have fallen asleep.”
Danielle opened the back door of the van to stow the luggage.
“I’ll keep these two beside me,” Lydia said, hopping in to the passenger seat and tucking her shoulder bag and laptop case at her feet.
It was around a 20-minute drive from the station to Thornville, and at first Lydia kept up a chattering commentary.
“It’s ages since I’ve visited, isn’t it? I’d forgotten how pretty it is.”
Gradually, though, she fell silent. Whether brooding or exhausted, Danielle couldn’t tell.
Finally they turned into the lane that led to her little semi-detached bungalow, and drew up at the front gate.
“You’ve been busy!” Lydia exclaimed as they walked up the path. “The garden looks wonderful.”
Danielle pointed.
“See the yellow rose bush there? That’s the one you gave me for my birthday last year.”
Danielle unlocked the front door and ushered her godmother in.
As she stepped in behind her, it suddenly seemed crowded.
The hall was long and narrow, with a few coat pegs high on the wall.
Not that Danielle hung coats there. Their bulk only made the space even narrower.
Instead, each peg bore a pretty straw boater.
“I’ll show you to your room. It’s only small,” she apologised as she opened the door.
“It’s perfect.” Lydia grasped Danielle’s hands.
“I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for coming to my rescue like this.”
Those heartfelt words made the last frantic week all worthwhile.
It had begun with Lydia’s phone call, swiftly followed by Danielle making another before she could talk herself out of it.
“Stu, you know how you offered to help with my redecorating? Well, can I say yes, please?”
He had come straight round and rolled up his sleeves even before she’d finished explaining.
He’d picked up where she had left off, and stripped off what remained of the old wallpaper while she got busy sandpapering the woodwork.
“I wouldn’t have bothered with this right now, but I’ve already started it,” she mused, rubbing away at a door frame.
“I can hardly leave it half done, can I?”
“I could hang the new paper for you, if you want,” he offered from the top of the ladder.
“Thanks, but I want to have a go at that myself.”
“These walls are smooth,” Stu observed, running a hand over the surface.
“You could just slap some emulsion on them for now and leave the papering for another time.”
She nodded.
“I could, couldn’t I? Good idea. I wouldn’t mind your help with all this woodwork, though. If you have time.”
Working together each evening, they sanded, undercoated and painted the woodwork a gleaming silky white, then gave the walls two coats of emulsion in a pale lemon shade that lit the room like sunshine.
Finally, last evening, he’d helped her clear up, then move the furniture back into the room.
When he’d caught her looking wistfully at the spare room, now empty of excess furniture, he raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“This’ll be Lydia’s room, but just look at this dreary pink,” she replied. “Horrid, isn’t it?”
“Do you have any paint?” he asked, looking around.
“I have one big tin of white,” she replied.
They appraised the dingy salmon pink walls.
“It would probably come out pale pink,” he said. “That would look OK, wouldn’t it?”
“Anything is better than this.”
He grinned and rubbed his hands together.
“It’s only a small room. It’ll take us no time if we just get on with it.”
“Really? Oh, Stu, I could kiss you.” The words had just burst out, and she felt her face flaming.
“The paint’s in the shed,” she added quickly. “I’ll get it.”
Now Danielle saw the bedroom through Lydia’s grateful eyes.
The walls were a pale blush pink, as Stu had predicted, and it was a definite improvement.
None of the furniture was fancy or new, but the room did look welcoming, and that was all that mattered.
It had been exhausting, doing it all after work each day, and she wouldn’t have managed it without Stu’s help.
But the smile on her godmother’s face was all the reward she needed.