Page 44 of A Summer Wedding at Pennycress Inn
‘Where am I living?’ Murray raised his eyebrows.
‘Yes, yes, your address? What is it, and I’ll have the village welcome pack sent out. It contains all sorts of valuable information, such as the dates and agendas of the next three village meetings, a master list of community clubs and groups you may wish to join, a?—’
‘Oh, don’t worry about that.’ Pulling his hand from his pocket, Murray waved the idea away. ‘I’ll be too busy wrapped up in my work to be able to even begin thinking about joining any groups.’
‘I send the information pack to all new residents,’ Miss Cooke stated firmly. ‘May I have your address?’
‘Honestly, I don’t want to put you out. I’m happy to skip the pack.’ Murray gave a short smile.
A man slunk up to Miss Cooke then and clasped his hands in front of him, waiting until there was a lull to speak. Putting his forefinger up classroom-style, he spoke quietly. ‘Umm, Miss Cooke, I’m sorry to interrupt, but can I just have a quick word about the chairs?’
‘The chairs?’ Keeping her eyes fixed on Murray, she threw her question to the man.
‘Yes, the chairs. We’ve been asked if we can leave a few out and set them up in a circle for tomorrow’s knitting group. We just wanted to double-check you’re happy with us doing so.’ The man indicated a small group of people who had begun to stack the chairs up at the side of the hall.
‘I’ll be back,’ Miss Cooke told Murray and Ellie, before turning on her heels as the man led her towards the group of people.
Nudging Murray, Ellie waited until he was looking at her before whispering, ‘Why don’t you just give her your address?’
Murray shrugged. ‘It’s weird. I don’t want every random person knowing where I live.’
‘She’s not a random person. She’s the village mayoress, and she’ll find out, anyway. Whether you tell her yourself or she gets the information from Ms Taunton, you’ll be getting one of those welcome packs through your letterbox by morning.’
‘She doesn’t need to know, and I don’t need a pack.’ Murray rubbed the back of his neck as a pink hue formed across his skin.
‘You’re not squatting or something, are you?’ Ellie laughed at the ridiculousness of the question. Not that there were any empty houses to squat in anyway. That was one good thing about Miss Cooke, possibly the only good thing, she didn’t have the time for any part-time residents, and whatever pact she and Ms Taunton had made, no houses had been sold to second homeowners as far as Ellie was aware. None at all.
‘I… just…’ Murray shrugged, the pink hue growing deeper.
The hem of Miss Cooke’s long skirt danced around her ankles as she came to a stop in front of them again. ‘Right, crisis averted. Now, you were about to give me your address so I can send that welcome pack to you.’
Ellie watched as Murray shifted on his feet. He was hiding something. She didn’t know what, but he was. And he was adamant that, for whatever reason, he wasn’t about to give their mayoress his address. She cleared her throat. ‘Murray’s always been terrible with addresses, particularly ones he’s recently moved into. We’ll pop by the grocery store in the morning and either collect a welcome pack or pass on his address then.’
Placing her hands on her hips, Miss Cooke looked incredulous. ‘You don’t know where you live?’
‘He has only just moved…’ Ellie spun on the spot as a loud shout sounded from the door to the village hall.
‘She’s escaped again. The blasted sheep has escaped and will be eating my begonias!’ The shrill cry filled the hall and Miss Cooke started racing towards the door, Murray’s address kept secret for one more night.
Turning to him, Ellie frowned. ‘What was all that about? Why didn’t you just tell her where you live?’
‘I have my reasons. Reasons I’ll share soon enough, but please, not right now. She’s probably got the place bugged or something.’ He glanced pointedly around the hall.
‘Okay.’ Holding her hands up, palms forward, Ellie shrugged. Whatever he was playing at, whatever he didn’t want people to know wasn’t really any of her business either. And as much as she wanted to quiz him and demand he tell her, she didn’t want anything to spoil the evening or put a stop to what had only just begun between them.
‘We should go and help Charlie and Nicola with their kid.’ Taking her hand, Murray began walking towards the door.
‘Their kid?’ Ellie frowned. Had she missed something?
‘Yes, Claudette, I think they said her name was. I didn’t catch the whole conversation, but they said they couldn’t find her or something.’
Ellie giggled as Murray opened the heavy oak door and held it for her. ‘No, Claudette is the sheep, not their child. She escaped from one of the local farms last year, and Charlie rescued her from being returned, but for a time she was running amok in the village, eating people’s shopping, trampling their flowers and generally causing a right old bother.’
‘A sheep?’
‘Yes, Miss Cooke got the police involved, and there was a proper manhunt. Or sheep hunt.’ Ellie laughed again at the memory of the chaos Claudette had caused and the sheer outrage displayed by her fellow villagers.
‘Wow, I’ll be thanking her for saving me from that awkward conversation when I see her then.’ Murray chuckled as he closed the door quietly behind them.
