None of the houses was great, but Anna was still feeling positive as she walked back to Kurt’s. She could always talk to Mary about her spare room, at least until something more permanent came up.
She’d managed to see quite a bit of Bode as she walked around, and the town was growing on her more and more. Several people had waved out to her or said hello. She wandered slowly back towards Kurt’s feeling optimistic. Cutting through a side street she came across an old wooden church, complete with steeple. It looked like something from a movie, and had a rose-lined path up to its double-doored entrance. A path to the side led to a wild and natural herb garden and behind it Anna found the wrought-iron-fenced Bode cemetery.
She wandered through the paths, reading the names on the graves and plaques. There were some as far back as the 1880s. She found Stanley Duncan’s grave, well tended and with fresh flowers in a slender stone vase. She gave the headstone a pat as she passed it. A little way down she found what she assumed was Kurt’s mother’s grave.
On impulse, she headed back out to the roses and plucked one before returning to place it on the top of her headstone. She silently thanked the woman she hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting, hoping that she would have approved of her for her son.
Then she headed back to the house, feeling warm inside despite the chilling air.
She’d forgotten her key so she knocked at the front door hoping someone would be home. Kurt opened the door, looking shocked to see her, his hair a dishevelled mess.
“Are you okay?” she asked, but he was pulling her into him so tightly she almost couldn’t breathe.
“ I thought you’d left,” he said, his voice cracking.
“What? Why?”
“I saw the van as I was coming back, and when I asked Mike he said you’d gone.”
“What?”
“Well, I guess he said ‘They’ve gone’ and I thought he meant you as well, and I panicked.”
Anna pulled back to look at him. He was visibly upset, shaking slightly. He gave a strangled laugh.
“I just made a total dick of myself, chasing after Faith, sirens and everything trying to catch you.”
“You really thought I’d just go?” Anna said. She thought of Faith, panicking a bit and wondering what she’d done wrong, and bit back a smile.
“I don’t know, you weren’t in the van and then I thought maybe you’d had a change of heart and gone back to your husband. I came home and your clothes were gone and I just panicked, and I didn’t want you to go without telling you how I feel.” He looked so vulnerable, Anna’s heart was melting into her legs.
“And how do you feel?” she asked softly.
“Madly, hopelessly in love with you,” he said, and he kissed her.
Bode Chronicle:
DUNCAN’S DOUGHNUTS GRAND RE-OPENING
Mary Duncan, long-term resident of Bode and owner of the town’s favourite cafe/bakery, has sold up shop. Duncan’s Doughnuts, established in 1932 by George Duncan, started out as tea rooms and was taken over by his son Stanley in the early sixties where he began making the famous doughnuts. After his death, his wife Mary continued with the shop and it has been a town icon ever since.
Newcomer Anna Sinclair will take over the shop, and has given it a little face-lift. She will be familiar to residents since she has worked for Mary for the past year, and was the instigator of the ever-popular banoffee pie on the menu.
She was also the owner of the infamous plumbing van that turned out to be housing the pickled hand of Captain Cook, stolen from Te Papa.
Our own Senior Sergeant Kurt Baker, who is now dating Anna, was instrumental in capturing the thief and returning the hand to its rightful position.
Anna is looking forward to the new ownership. Mary, meanwhile, will be off temporarily after the big reveal — to go on honeymoon with local garage owner, Cliff Baker.
end.