Trust Me - Sheryl Browne Page 0,6
her heart now beating a rapid drumbeat in her chest, she called the number, cleared her throat – and stopped breathing. ‘We’re sorry; you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service,’ a monotone voice informed her. ‘If you feel you …’
Reaching for the hall table as the floor loomed up to meet her, Emily stopped listening.
Two
After a full-on day, with their phlebotomist, Sally, going home sick in the middle of it, meaning some blood tests had to be cancelled – fortunately not hers – Emily was relieved when the last patient left. Fatigued understated how she felt. Every ounce of energy had drained from her body reading that damn text. It had obviously been sent in error, as had the previous one. She hadn’t shared details of her past with anyone. Jake knew about her sister, but she hadn’t told him everything. She’d wanted to. Many times she’d been tempted to, but she’d bottled out each time, knowing it could blow her world apart. Blow Jake’s world apart.
She watched him come out of his office now, courteous and caring as always, as he walked Edward Simpson to the door. Edward had seemed a bit down lately, she’d noticed, which was unusual. A stalwart, backbone-of-the-village sort heavily involved in the organisation and running of charitable events, such as the upcoming summer fair, he was normally upbeat and positive. He’d been one of the first people to welcome them when they’d moved here. At the time, Jake had felt some trepidation about the move. He’d made up his mind years ago that he would never come back to the village he’d grown up in. After losing his mother so heartbreakingly, he’d felt there was nothing here for him to come back to, which Emily had thought was terribly sad. He’d been pleased to see Edward, though, and Emily had seen immediately that their neighbour had a caring, generous nature. She’d often thought it was Edward who kept the community together, giving up his time to visit people he suspected might be in need of assistance or company. Thinking about all that he did, she supposed he might be feeling a bit under the weather, particularly as he also had to care for his wife, Joyce, who suffered from polymyalgia rheumatica and unstable angina. When the polymyalgia flared up, she struggled even to get dressed in the morning. But she still generally managed to keep smiling, as did Edward.
She would pop in and see them both, Emily decided, coming around the reception desk to have a quick word with Edward. She wasn’t sure he would accept any offers of help gracefully, determined as he was to do everything for himself, but she could maybe do a bit of shopping for them, help lighten his load a little. He was fit and healthy, but he wasn’t exactly a spring chicken. Joyce had mentioned he would be retiring soon. At least then he would have more time on his hands to devote to the things he clearly loved doing. Walking across to where he and Jake were chatting, she reminded herself to do something about organising a party at the village hall for Edward’s upcoming seventieth birthday. Joyce wanted to do something special for him, she’d confided when she’d last been in to see Jake. She would struggle with the practicalities of organising anything, though, and it might spoil the surprise a bit if Edward had to organise it for himself.
‘Everything all right, Ed?’ Emily asked him, giving him a cheery smile. ‘How’s Joyce?’
Edward smiled warmly back. ‘Not bad, lovely,’ he assured her. ‘Joyce is jogging along. She has her off days, but still she refuses to give in and have the odd lie-in in the mornings, stubborn woman.’
‘Because she has a good man to get up for,’ she reminded him, giving his arm a fond squeeze.
‘Her garden, you mean. It’s that she gets up for. She’s always out there, weeding and cutting and pruning. I can’t keep up with her when she gets something into her head. I found her trying to heave the lawnmower from the shed yesterday. She’ll be the death of me, I swear.’ He sighed despairingly, but he had a fond twinkle in his eye, Emily noted.
‘She’ll have fewer off days now we’ve got her on the right medication.’ Jake smiled encouragingly. ‘She’s already more like her old self. Hopefully we can start tapering the steroids down soon, which will minimise the side