to eat yet, I suppose?’ Nancy asked shrewdly. ‘Maybe you should just have breakfast here with us?’
Then, to Sarah’s surprise, the older woman laid down the plate of food and, clasping her hands, bowed her head for a few moments.
‘Thank you, Lord, for providing for all our needs,’ she murmured, in a voice that seemed to speak to someone nearby, so that Sarah almost turned to see who else was in the room.
‘Here, have another one.’ Nancy offered the plate. ‘Cook does brilliant bacon butties. Best Ayrshire bacon. None of your supermarket stuff. Just milk with my tea, my dear,’ she added with a nod and a smile.
‘Oh. Right,’ Sarah said, rising to pour tea into two of the patterned mugs that she’d found hanging from a wooden mug tree. It was hard to know how to respond to this woman. Her kindness was palpable but the impromptu saying of Grace was unexpected to say the least.
They ate in companionable silence, Sarah relishing each bite of the food as her hunger was assuaged.
‘Do the other staff know…?’ she blurted out suddenly.
The nursing home manager smiled sweetly and shook her head. ‘It’s not their business to be told about that,’ she replied. ‘You could be an agency nurse for all they know.’
‘Oh.’ Sarah gave a sigh of relief.
‘Mrs Abbott was told, of course.’ Nancy smiled apologetically.
She’d expected that, Sarah told herself, yet there had been no sense of having been overly scrutinised by the owner of the nursing home. On the contrary, Mrs Abbott had been quite calm, as though dealing with an ex-con like Nurse Wilding happened to her every day.
‘And she didn’t mind?’
Nancy Livingstone laughed. ‘She knows me well enough to trust my judgement. Actually, she’s my sister,’
‘Your sister! Does that mean the nursing home is yours as well…?’
‘No.’ Nancy shook her head with a smile. ‘Bless you, no. It belongs to the Abbotts. I’m their right-hand woman, so to speak. Used to work in an accountancy firm until they asked me to help run this place.’
‘You didn’t mind changing careers?’
Nancy Livingstone gave her a strange smile. ‘It was something I was called to do,’ she said simply. ‘And perhaps the Good Lord brought you here too.’
Sarah shifted uncomfortably. This sort of talk was like the stuff that pastor used to spout back in Cornton. As if being incarcerated was part of a bigger plan!
‘I think I’m just lucky,’ she mumbled. Then, to her dismay, she felt a tear begin to trickle down her face. ‘Don’t deserve…’ She began to hiccough.
‘None of us deserves our good fortune,’ Nancy murmured.
‘But you don’t understand!’ Sarah protested, eyes full of guilty tears. ‘If you knew what I’d done you’d never have had me here to work!’
‘Oh, Sarah, don’t say that,’ Nancy replied. ‘Catherine told me enough to know that you were not completely to blame for what happened.’
‘He
died
!’ Sarah gulped. ‘How could I not be to blame for that?’
‘Here.’ Nancy handed her a box of tissues. ‘The girls will be coming in for their breakfast and you don’t want them to see you like this, do you?’
Sarah sniffed, taking a handful of tissues and blowing her nose. ‘I’m sorry. You shouldn’t be wasting your time with someone like me.’
‘Listen to me, Sarah,’ Nancy told her. ‘There’s a very important thing that the Bible says: all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That’s everyone, not just you. Think of that next time you want to beat yourself up, eh?’
Sarah nodded, struggling to contain the sudden rush of emotion that had taken her by surprise. Nancy was talking to her again, speaking in soothing tones.
‘What you’re doing here is very important, Sarah,’ she said. ‘You are well aware that each of our patients is in receipt of intensive nursing care. Many of them are stroke victims; you’ve seen that for yourself. One day their lives are going along a steady
Then, to Sarah’s surprise, the older woman laid down the plate of food and, clasping her hands, bowed her head for a few moments.
‘Thank you, Lord, for providing for all our needs,’ she murmured, in a voice that seemed to speak to someone nearby, so that Sarah almost turned to see who else was in the room.
‘Here, have another one.’ Nancy offered the plate. ‘Cook does brilliant bacon butties. Best Ayrshire bacon. None of your supermarket stuff. Just milk with my tea, my dear,’ she added with a nod and a smile.
‘Oh. Right,’ Sarah said, rising to pour tea into two of the patterned mugs that she’d found hanging from a wooden mug tree. It was hard to know how to respond to this woman. Her kindness was palpable but the impromptu saying of Grace was unexpected to say the least.
They ate in companionable silence, Sarah relishing each bite of the food as her hunger was assuaged.
‘Do the other staff know…?’ she blurted out suddenly.
The nursing home manager smiled sweetly and shook her head. ‘It’s not their business to be told about that,’ she replied. ‘You could be an agency nurse for all they know.’
‘Oh.’ Sarah gave a sigh of relief.
‘Mrs Abbott was told, of course.’ Nancy smiled apologetically.
She’d expected that, Sarah told herself, yet there had been no sense of having been overly scrutinised by the owner of the nursing home. On the contrary, Mrs Abbott had been quite calm, as though dealing with an ex-con like Nurse Wilding happened to her every day.
‘And she didn’t mind?’
Nancy Livingstone laughed. ‘She knows me well enough to trust my judgement. Actually, she’s my sister,’
‘Your sister! Does that mean the nursing home is yours as well…?’
‘No.’ Nancy shook her head with a smile. ‘Bless you, no. It belongs to the Abbotts. I’m their right-hand woman, so to speak. Used to work in an accountancy firm until they asked me to help run this place.’
‘You didn’t mind changing careers?’
Nancy Livingstone gave her a strange smile. ‘It was something I was called to do,’ she said simply. ‘And perhaps the Good Lord brought you here too.’
Sarah shifted uncomfortably. This sort of talk was like the stuff that pastor used to spout back in Cornton. As if being incarcerated was part of a bigger plan!
‘I think I’m just lucky,’ she mumbled. Then, to her dismay, she felt a tear begin to trickle down her face. ‘Don’t deserve…’ She began to hiccough.
‘None of us deserves our good fortune,’ Nancy murmured.
‘But you don’t understand!’ Sarah protested, eyes full of guilty tears. ‘If you knew what I’d done you’d never have had me here to work!’
‘Oh, Sarah, don’t say that,’ Nancy replied. ‘Catherine told me enough to know that you were not completely to blame for what happened.’
‘He
died
!’ Sarah gulped. ‘How could I not be to blame for that?’
‘Here.’ Nancy handed her a box of tissues. ‘The girls will be coming in for their breakfast and you don’t want them to see you like this, do you?’
Sarah sniffed, taking a handful of tissues and blowing her nose. ‘I’m sorry. You shouldn’t be wasting your time with someone like me.’
‘Listen to me, Sarah,’ Nancy told her. ‘There’s a very important thing that the Bible says: all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That’s everyone, not just you. Think of that next time you want to beat yourself up, eh?’
Sarah nodded, struggling to contain the sudden rush of emotion that had taken her by surprise. Nancy was talking to her again, speaking in soothing tones.
‘What you’re doing here is very important, Sarah,’ she said. ‘You are well aware that each of our patients is in receipt of intensive nursing care. Many of them are stroke victims; you’ve seen that for yourself. One day their lives are going along a steady
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