Free The Beast of Bracksley Woods by Doreen Hayward Page A

longer hide her feelings, A stray tear rolled down her face. Paul saw it and his hand came across to squeeze hers in a comforting gesture. That only coursed more tears to flow and before Debbi realised, she was in his arms and he was speaking gently into her ear.
    “Shh now. Debbie, dearest Debbie, don’t upset yourself so … don’t cry my love,” he soothed gently. You will find your feet again. Everybody faces tragedy in their lives sometimes apart from those who are exceptionally lucky,” he comforted as he stroked her hair gently. She felt his lips as he kissed her eyelids. Then he found her lips and the familiar tingle ran through her. Suddenly she was alive again and realising what was happening she pulled away from him in alarm.
    Waves of guilt swept over Debbie as she fought back a sob, “I’m so sorry,” she choked, “Please forgive me. Mike’s illness and death was such a nightmare. I moved here to get away from London and to start again. All my friends told me that I was making a big mistake to move away from my friends and familiar surroundings. Given time, I’m sure I will be able to settle down”
    “I should be the one to apologise. I didn’t mean to upset you. Please forgive me, I am such a clumsy oaf,” he said taking her hand again. “Let us be friends at least.”
    “Yes of course we can be friends,” she answered sniffing back more tears.
    When Paul left her that night Debbie sat looking at Mike’s photograph. Even to think about another man as she was thinking about Paul made her feel so guilty. She needed time to let the soreness within her heal. She mustn’t allow her thoughts to dwell on Mike so much. She had told herself a thousand times that work and involving herself in other people was the answer to her recovery. Well, she had tried to make a start there but until the soreness in her heart ceased to squeeze it so much, she hardly dare look into the future. Letting go was going to be so difficult.
    The next few days were busy for Debbie. Greg came home from hospital and she made sure that the place was clean and tidy and that he got fed regularly. She made it clear to Greg that he would have to get someone in to do his cleaning for him. She thought she might know just the person he needed and offered to look into finding someone. She went to Mrs Harrison in the shop and asked if Mrs Brown would be able to give Greg a couple of hours in the morning to clean up for him. Mrs Harrison promised to pass the message on to Mrs Brown and asked her to give Debbie a ring. Things were soon sorted out between them and Betty Brown was installed at the farm cleaning up for Greg and leaving him a meal. This didn’t stop Debbie from calling in frequently to make sure he was all right and taking Trigger out for walks and doing shopping for him. Debbie had taken Trigger back home when Greg was settled hoping that the dog would provide him with a bit of company when no one else was around. There were also hospital visits to be arranged for Greg. He needed to attend a clinic for physiotherapy so Debbie drove him there and brought him back. All the extra jobs took time but Debbie didn’t mind. It kept her mind occupied and from wandering onto other things.
    Things seemed to be working out for Debbie. The dinner party for Mrs Lomax was a great success. Mrs Lomax was full of praise and promised to recommend Debbie to all her friends. To her surprise, one of the ladies present that evening booked her for a similar gathering nearer Christmas and Debbie took her details so that she could call round and arrange the evening properly. All in all, Debbie was pretty proud of her efforts. She had even picked up a couple of orders for Christmas cakes. She loved doing these because it gave her a chance to use her artistic skill in icing and decorating a cake. She had even decorated a marvellous creation for Greg. Debbie had promised to cook Christmas dinner for Greg on Christmas day. He had already invited Paul