Follow My Lead Episode 12
Follow My Lead
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Their walk turned into a leisurely tour of the village, but where Danielle would pass the people they met with a brief hello, her godmother always had a word to say.
“Lovely day, isn’t it? So nice to see the sunshine,” she said to the older couple walking their poodle.
“Oh, she’s a girl who knows where she’s going, isn’t she? How old is she?” she asked a young mum with a toddler straining at her hand.
Everyone returned her overtures with a smile and a brief but friendly conversation.
Danielle looked on with envy. Lydia had such an easy way of connecting with people.
“How do you do that?” she asked impulsively.
“Do what?” Lydia asked.
“Chat to strangers like that. You’ve already made more friends here in five minutes than I have in three years!”
“Oh, I’m sure that’s not true. I’m interested in people.”
“So am I,” Danielle insisted. “But I can never think of what to say.”
“Oh, love.” Lydia’s face softened in sympathy. “I’ve never told you this, but I’m just like you. I’m shy, too.”
Danielle did a double-take.
“You? ”
Lydia laughed.
“I’ve learned to hide it. I had to, in my line of work.”
“How?” Danielle asked.
“Well, the thing about shy people is that we’re great listeners.
“When I meet someone new, instead of worrying about what to say, I ask about them instead.
“Who doesn’t like talking about themselves?”
“You make it sound so simple.”
Lydia looped her arm through hers and gave her a little squeeze.
“It’s not; it’s hard. It’s taken me years to practise it. It’ll come.”
Danielle thought about this as they walked on. She would try it the next time they met someone.
“Do you want to see the farm shop?” she asked, realising where they were.
“Sure.” Lydia looked unimpressed until Danielle pushed open the door.
Far from the usual modest offering of veg, fruit and eggs, this farm shop was more like a continental delicatessen, yet all its fare was locally sourced.
“Wow!” Lydia breathed, exclaiming over cheeses and meats, spices and relishes.
“Is this where you got all that wonderful food for lunch? It’s fabulous!
“I’ll be back tomorrow with my purse and a shopping bag,” she joked with the guy behind the counter.
From there, they walked in a loop back through the woods. But as Lydia tramped on ahead, Danielle found herself laughing.
“Lydia, it isn’t a race.”
Lydia glanced back.
“Sorry.” She waited for Danielle to catch up. “I must learn to slow down.
“Let’s sit here for a spell,” Lydia suggested, stepping off the path and perching on a fallen tree trunk.
They sat quietly for a few minutes, and Danielle glanced sideways at her.
For once Lydia was still, her eyes closed.
Giving herself over to the tranquillity of their surroundings, Danielle hoped.
“So, no boyfriend?” Lydia asked suddenly.
It took Danielle by surprise, and so did the way her thoughts pinged straight to Stu.
“No, not really,” she replied.
She tipped back her head to gaze at the tree canopy.
“I could sit here for hours, watching the leaves fluttering in the breeze,” she remarked.
Lydia nodded.
“Lovely. It’s so peaceful. It was the same doing yoga in the garden this morning. I think I could get used to it.”
That was what she said, but out of the corner of her eye Danielle could see her fidgeting, itching to be on the move again.
It would take more than a walk in the woods to make her godmother slow down.
As soon as they arrived home, the phone rang.
“It’s my mobile,” Danielle said, reaching for the table where it lay charging.
“You left it behind while you were out? I don’t know how you can do that.”
Danielle heard her godmother’s amused comment as she answered.
“I see. Of course. Thanks for letting me know.”
Lydia, bending to take off her shoes, glanced up.
“Trouble?”
“No, it’s fine,” Danielle lied. She didn’t want Lydia worrying when she had so much on her own plate.
“Just a change in some arrangements.” Danielle reached for her diary and made a note, then glanced at her watch.
“I’d better get off to work. I’ll be back around four.”
Lydia gave her an airy wave.
“See you. Oh, I might pop back to that farm shop for some ingredients and cook tonight. OK with you?”
“Yes, fine.” Danielle answered automatically, her thoughts busy replaying the phone conversation.
She walked to the van and paused, taking in the lettering she was so proud of, and she realised she was seeing it through a haze of tears.
The call had been another cancellation. The first one hadn’t worried her too much. Nor had the second. But now. . .
In her mind’s eye she could still see the pages of her diary, each scored-out appointment chipping away at her business.
If many more people cancelled, she wouldn’t have a business.
Then where would she be?