Follow My Lead Episode 16
It had been a week and their morning routine had slipped into familiarity.
“Busy day?” Lydia probed gently as Danielle got ready to dash off.
The girl still hadn’t said anything about the recent cancellations.
“Pretty busy,” Danielle replied. “Two walks this morning, and two this afternoon. I’ll see you at lunchtime.”
The door closed, and as usual Lydia tidied up the breakfast dishes, then flipped open her laptop.
She rolled her shoulders, determined that this time she really would get started on that novel.
She stared at the blank screen, then glanced at the clock. It would soon be time for a coffee when Bruno stopped by.
She looked again at the blank screen.
“Come on, Lydia.”
At a sound outside she raised her head. Cyrus had stepped out into his garden and she gave him a wave through the window.
She got such pleasure from their morning yoga. He had begun advising on small postural adjustments and it was like having her own personal yoga tutor.
If only she felt so good about everything else.
Lydia shifted her gaze back to the screen.
An e-mail had popped in from Basil.
They were in the habit of messaging every day.
This one included a couple of daft cartoons.
Hope these make you laugh, he said. Why don’t you come up to London for the day soon? Let me treat you to dinner.
OK, she replied. Let’s fix a date.
Date? It wasn’t, was it?
The question took her back to her novel.
She thought for a moment, then tapped rapidly on her keyboard.
When she read it back, she could see the paragraphs were disjointed, the descriptions clichéd, the dialogue corny.
Lydia shuddered and hit Delete.
She tried again, with the same outcome. Delete.
It felt like another failure.
It also felt like a failure that Danielle hadn’t phoned for her help when Ollie got lost.
It was irrational. After all, what did she know about dogs? But it compounded her feeling of being useless.
Sighing with frustration, Lydia closed the laptop.
She was standing in the doorway, mug of tea in hand, gazing at the garden, when Cyrus spotted her.
“I’m off out for a walk,” he called. “Want to come?”
Her spirits lifted at once.
When she appeared in the garden he raised an eyebrow.
She followed his gaze to her feet, shod in crocodile-effect ankle boots.
She grinned at him.
“It’s these or purple satin trainers. I don’t do sensible.”
He led her on what she described later to Danielle as a mini trek, up hills, along the edges of fields and across a stream.
Their destination was a pretty little lake, bathed in golden sunshine.
“This is stunning!” she exclaimed.
“Isn’t it?” He pointed out a fallen tree they could use as a bench. “It’s one of my favourite thinking spots.”
“I can see why.” She turned to face him. “What do you think about when you’re up here, Cyrus?”
His gaze drifted across to where waterfowl dabbled in the shallows amidst the tips of a weeping willow.
A few rabbits grazed on the grassy bank and bird calls rose from the scattering of trees.
Beyond, blue-grey hills rose to meet the pale sky.
“All sorts of things. Sometimes I’ll remember the two hares I saw boxing early one spring morning,” he told her. “Or I’ll watch squirrels foraging for food.
“Sometimes I’ll try to count the migrating geese flying overhead.”
He raised an arm in a sweeping gesture.
“Other times I just empty my mind and enjoy the moment.”
“I’m working on that,” she replied with a rueful laugh. “I’m a work in progress.”
His gaze was intense.
“What are you good at, Lydia?”
“I’m good at doing,” she said simply. “Being busy is all I’ve ever known.”
He nodded, encouraging her to continue.
“For instance, I have all these ideas to publicise Lead On – Danielle’s business. And I think the village needs an online community forum . . .”
Cyrus nodded, still quietly encouraging.
She sighed.
“I seem to have lost my oomph,” Lydia admitted. “All these things I’ve thought of doing, yet I’m not doing any of them.”
He had looked away for a moment to watch the birds squabbling over something in the water, but she knew he was still listening.
“When you think how your life has been up-ended,” Cyrus began, turning back to her, “don’t you think you might cut yourself some slack?
“Once the dust settles, all your oomph will come back, you’ll see. You just need to catch your breath.”
She felt better.
Lydia smiled at him.
“You’re very good at finding the right answer,” she told him.
His smile was honest.
“Most people already have the answers. Sometimes they just need a helping hand to recognise them,” he replied.