Chapter 5

The next few weeks passed by most pleasantly. Work was progressing nicely on my next boat. My daughter and her husband came up for a weekend and both agreed that they loved the cottage and village, but only as a weekend retreat, they couldn’t imagine wanted to live in, what was to them, such an isolated community. Maybe at their age I would have agreed but now it was my idyll. They met all my new friends and loved the idea of the Manor Bar. I kept my relationship with Ginny and Jane quiet, though I was tempted when my daughter suggested that Jane would be the ideal woman to stop me ‘acting like a randy teenager’.

They also met and instantly loved Lisa Marie, who by then had graduated to playing in my yard with Aggie for an hour or so most days. It started off slowly, with the young girl and her mother accompanying me and Aggie on our walks. Even that was hard work at first as Donna was very reluctant to be alone with me. She rarely spoke and never initiated any conversation. It didn’t take an Einstein to sense that she was only doing it for her daughter. I admired her greatly for that and did my best to put her at ease. I never asked her anything about herself and tried not get physically too close to her.

Lisa Marie wanted Aggie to play with her in her garden, but as I explained, their little eighteen inch wall would do little to keep Aggie contained. To the six year old it was then obvious that they should play together in my more secure back garden. Her mother was less convinced but eventually gave in to her daughter’s pester power. I think that Donna was secretly happy that she didn’t need to be around me to keep her little girl happy.

My own daughter questioned me about Lisa Marie’s mother’s motives but I brushed them away. I really didn’t know Donna well enough to comment, all I was sure about was that she was doing the best she possibly could for her little girl.

The Manor Bar wasn’t quite as secret as before. Membership almost tripled, although we did turn down a few who approached us. I say we, as I was officially on the committee, but as, apart from those already there, I knew no one well enough to form an opinion, I always left it to the rest to make the decision.

Steve and Carol Hawkins were the only two that I got to know properly. They were both around my age and appeared the stereotypical successful couple. Steve ran an advertising agency in Poole and Carol ran their social life. He was laughingly disappointed when he realised that my business required none of his firm’s services. He, seriously, struggled to understand how any business could succeed without any advertising at all. He was quite gracious in defeat and I took a real liking to him.

Carol, on the other hand was a different person altogether. She appeared to be a professional socialite and had all the political attributes that entailed, the most noticeable, especially to me, was insincerity. She was openly envious of Jane but more so the Manor. She was attractive enough, though she wore by far too much make-up for my tastes, but seemed to consider herself some god’s gift. She flirted with every man she talked to but the fake smile disappeared the instant the contact was broken. She reminded me of Gordon Brown whose smile magically appeared with the on light of a film camera, or to be factual a second later showing the viewer his true self.

Carol initially dismissed me as insignificant on learning I had no real social position but changed towards the end of the second evening when she realised how close I appeared to Jane and Ginny. I must admit to finding it quite amusing watching her interact with the others.

Ginny had noticed too. Early one evening, after another delightful few hours in her bed, Carol’s name cropped up. Ginny had watched her and had seen me watching her. She told me that, at first, she thought that I might be interested in her but soon realised her error. That got us talking about the two of us and where we were heading. We had been getting together two or three times a week, purely for sex, although we did have some interesting pillow talk. Ginny wanted to keep things exactly as they were and, on the whole, so did I. Between Ginny and her stepmother I was beginning to remember why couples got into relationships in the first place.

My first real concern, if concern is the right word, was when Ginny was planning an evening in London with some friends. She casually mentioned that she would more than likely sleep with one of her male friends while she was there. We had never agreed monogamy and the fact that I was also involved with Jane, did little to hide my disappointment, if not displeasure. Ginny, in her way, laughed it off and told me that if I was troubled too much then to find someone else to keep me warm whilst she was away.

My time spent with Jane was totally different. It was mostly spent talking, walking or both. I did spend a couple of nights with her but it was never great. I had no doubt that she was trying but thirty odd years of conditioning is not going to disappear overnight. There were small signs of improvement but the concentration that she required for them took away a lot from the spontaneity. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, just not as much as I’d hoped. When we spoke, Jane was often frustrated at her inability to change immediately.

The new hull had arrived and I was just getting to the end of the necessary, yet tedious jobs of ballasting and lining out. Because a narrowboat is flat bottomed, getting the ballast right is essential, so first, it doesn’t roll over and second, it sits in the water right. Lining out is done by applying wooden batons to the steel hull before screwing the floor, ceiling and sides onto them. You also need to get your plans right because between the metal and wood runs all the wires, cables and piping. Aggie, as usual, was my chief assistant, whose job description seemed to be getting in the way, especially when I was man-handling sheets of 8’ x 4’ marine ply. The purchasers of the boat had made just one visit and were at that stage pleased with everything. They were another older couple but had had boats for years, so they knew exactly what they wanted. That made life so much easier.

I had just left the Manor Bar, one Friday evening, earlier than most of the other regulars, as I liked to take Aggie out for her usual stroll. Jane had told me a couple of times that I was welcome to bring her, so for the past few visits I done just that.

‘Hold on a sec, David.’ I heard.

‘Oh, hi Lizzie,’ I said when I saw who was hurrying to catch up. ‘How are you?’

‘Fine, as usual. You?’ She responded politely.

‘Can I walk with you, or you taking your dog for its walk.’

‘Both. I am taking her for a quick walk but that can easily be via your cottage.’

She smiled and linked my arm. ‘This reminds me of that first time we discussed the Bar. Remember when you walked me home after?’

‘I do, although I don’t feel quite the outsider these days.’

‘No. You have become part of the village very quickly. Some have lived here for years and never quite integrated.’

‘A lot of that is down to the Bar members, yourself included.’

‘You’ve done a lot of it yourself. You’ve changed people here.’

I paused to look at her. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Take Jane for instance. She is a lot happier lately and the whole village is convinced that you are responsible. They are also convinced that you are having an affair with Ginny, though I don’t quite know how those two things add up. You’ve helped little Lisa Marie, or more accurately your friendly collie has, and me. I’ve changed because of you.’

‘How come? I haven’t really noticed any change in you.’

‘Well you wouldn’t, because most of it is in my head. When we went to that wine tasting, your attitude shocked me somewhat. It took me a while to realise that it was my attitude that was out of kilter, not yours. When I spoke to Sheila about it, she laughed and said it was about time I came to my senses.’

I wasn’t sure what she meant, as I tried to remember exactly what had been said at the time.

‘I still want a long-term relationship including marriage and all the trimmings but I no longer see why I shouldn’t have some fun while I’m waiting.’ Lizzie explained. ‘Can I ask you a question?’

‘Of course!’

‘Are you having an affair with Jane or Ginny?’ She at least had the grace to blush as she asked.

‘If I was that lucky, then I wouldn’t admit to it.’

‘Why not? It seems everybody already knows.’

‘If everybody already knows, then why are you asking me? Let me put it this way. If someone asked me the same question about you then my answer would be the same.’

‘Why not deny it?’ She asked puzzled, before adding with a grin, ‘I’m sure I would have noticed if you were.’

‘If I was to deny it about you but not deny it about, say, Ginny, that is tantamount to admitting it. I am not prepared to do that. If you think you really need to know then ask Jane and Ginny.’

‘I will then,’ she said as we reached her cottage. She said goodnight and I noticed the cheek kiss was back. It was a good job that I’d given up trying to understand women.

The following Saturday morning I was at the Manor having done further maintenance for Jane. As soon as she had seen my work on the boat in North Wales, Jane had hired me to help with the never ending work an old building like the Manor generated. At first, I’d wanted to decline the payment but Jane convinced me that if I didn’t accept it as a paid job, then she would just get someone else in to do the work, just as she had done in the past.