Free The Stranger Next Door by Miranda Barnes Page B

the best she could get out of him.
    On the way back to her own house she felt irritated and frustrated. And disappointed. He had to engage with people. Why couldn't he see that?
    She sighed. One step at a time, she supposed. At least he came down to the village with her sometimes now. Quite often, in fact. He wouldn't go into the shop and buy things yet, but he would let her do it for him. And at least he carried the stuff home!
    She knew what it was. He still didn't like people seeing him close up. He couldn't bear the thought of them being revolted by sight of his scarred face. Yet it wasn't that bad, his face. And he still had the plastic surgeon to see, with the prospect of further improvement. Anyway, worse things than that had happened to him. More important things. He still wasn't as fit and strong as he must once have been, and as he ought to be again.
    But he was getting better. She was in no doubt about that. She'd seen how much easier toiling up the hill was for him now. He was doing well.
    'Have you been round to Daniel's, Mum?' Lisa asked when she returned from her fruitless mission next door.
    'Yes. I wanted to ask him round for a meal tomorrow, with Pippa and Derek.'
    'Oh, good!'
    Anna looked at her with surprise, eyebrows raised.
    'I like him a lot,' Lisa said with a shrug. 'So does Tom.'
    'Good! I'm glad. He's a nice man. Unfortunately, he probably can't come.'
    'Oh.'
    The disappointment was heavy.
    'Another time,' Anna said.
    'Why can't he come?'
    'He's busy, he says.'
    'No, he isn't! He's never busy.'
    'Well, maybe he is just this once.'
    'I think it's because he doesn't like meeting people,' Lisa announced. 'He's shy.'
    Anna was astonished by her daughter's insight. 'There is a bit of that,' she admitted.
    'Because of his wounds,' Lisa declared. 'From the war.'
    'War? What war?'
    'I don't know. Some war.' Lisa shrugged again. 'He was wounded. You can tell.'
    'But people's faces aren't the most important thing about them, Lisa. Not everyone can have a beautiful face.'
    And even if you start off with one, she thought wryly, that's pretty well bound to change over the years. But she wasn't about to tell a little girl with everything to look forward to in life that little bit of grown-up wisdom.
    'I'm not talking about his face,' Lisa said. 'I'm talking about how he struggles to walk up the hill.'
    'Yes, he does still struggle a bit, doesn't he?' Anna admitted. 'He's getting better, though, don't you think?'
    'Yes.' Lisa yawned, weary of the subject now. 'It's because we've been training him.'
    'Training him?'
    'At football. Me and Tom.'
    Anna felt heartened, as well as amused. How she wished Daniel knew how little significance people, even children – especially children! –, placed on his scarred face. How she wished he could understand …. What, exactly? What did she want him to understand? Well …. How much they cared about him. There, now! She'd said it. They did. They cared about him. And sometimes she felt he cared about them, too.

 
    Chapter Sixteen
     
    'Oh, I'm so glad you'll both be able to come, Pippa. Poor Derek, though! We'll be tearing him away from his garden for another evening.'
    'Don't worry about that. He'll be glad of the break. He's got a bad back, just like he has every year because of the gardening.'
    'He must work at it very hard,' Anna said wistfully, gazing out of the window at the perfectly formed rows of cabbages and potatoes, beetroot and peas in Pippa's garden.
    'I'd rather have a bigger lawn, frankly – and Derek without a bad back! He's such a grouse
    when there's anything wrong with him.'
    'But you can't beat fresh vegetables. And think of the money you must save.'
    'Huh! I don't know about that. By the time he's paid for the special seeds, the various fertilisers, the organic compost – and I don't know what else! – it would be cheaper to buy the vegetables from the shop. Besides, I don't like slug holes in every potato, and the kids don't like caterpillars in the