The Importance of Suzy, and How I Found Out
Tags: Creative Writing, Illumination, Fiction, Short Story, Writing

The Importance of Suzy, and How I Found Out

A short story

Photo by Jessica Rockowitz on Unsplash

I met Sam at an animal welfare conference. We sat at the same table over dinner and got talking. He was kind of shy at first, but after a few false starts, the conversation really began to flow. He was good looking in a rugged sort of way and when he smiled I was hooked.

I can’t remember what we ate. All I can remember is the feeling I got being with him, and hoping he felt the same. I really wanted to get to know this man better. I had just come out of a difficult relationship and was trying to stand on my own two feet again and regain some confidence. My ego had been severely dented. This chance meeting with Sam gave me hope that there might be a good future for me after all.

Over the next few months, we spent time together mostly at the weekends. Sam worked on his father’s farm and it wasn’t always easy for him to get time off, especially as we were approaching the harvest season. I wondered whether I should offer to help, but I thought I would be more of a hindrance as I didn’t have much of a clue about farming. I had once driven a tractor on my uncle’s property, but that was a long time ago.

Though I didn’t want to get too involved too quickly, I could feel myself being drawn to Sam more and more. I looked forward to our dates more than I had ever done in relationships in the past. We never ran out of things to say, and we shared a lot of similar ideals. He was keen on changing farming practises to reduce carbon footprint and had already persuaded his father to set up wildlife corridors across their land with improved hedging. It wasn’t easy to change the habits of a lifetime, but with gentle persistence, Sam was making significant progress.

Inevitably, the day came when Sam wanted me to meet is parents. He had already told me that his father was a lot older than his mother, having married at the age of 45. I wasn’t sure if I was looking forward to sitting around the table and having Sunday lunch with them, but I guess it had to happen sometime.

The house looked quite impressive from the outside, but as we got closer I could see that the window frames needed painting. The big front door was made of oak, and according to Sam, it hadn’t been opened for years and was stuck firm.

Sam brought me in through the back door which led straight into the kitchen. I saw a tall slim woman by a big stove on which several pans were steaming. She turned as we entered.

“There you are”, she said with a smile. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Rachel. We’ve heard a lot about you”.

“It’s good of you to have me round for lunch. Sam talks a lot about your great cooking!”

“Sam, why don’t you show Rachel into the sitting room to meet Jack, while I finish off here. We’ll be eating in about 20 minutes”.

“Sure, Mum”, he answered and took me by the hand and led me down the corridor and through another door.

There was a blazing fire in the grate, even though it really wasn’t cold. Jack was standing by the mantle piece. He was a stocky man with red cheeks and bushy white hair, but I could immediately see the likeness to Sam when he smiled at me.

“Rachel, you look just as I imagined you would! Sam described you very well. About time we got to meet the girl in his life!”

“Dad! Stop embarrassing me”, Sam said.

Jack came toward me and shook my hand vigorously.

“What would you like to drink, Rachel? We usually have a glass of sherry before lunch on Sundays, but we’ve got some fruit juice if you prefer”.

I thought a sherry might calm my nerves so accepted gladly. Soon we were chatting about the plans for stocking the lake with trout, another of Sam’s new ventures. Called to lunch, we took our seats at the big kitchen table.

“I hope you don’t mind, but we don’t use the dining room generally. It’s much warmer and cosier here and I don’t have to carry the food all the way down the corridor”, Sam’s mother Margaret said.

“It’s lovely here”, I said, and I meant it. I was beginning to feel quite relaxed and I was enjoying the traditional roast dinner.

Curiously, on a couple of occasions, I noticed Jack and Margaret exchanging glances over Sam’s head. The first time it happened, I had been talking about my childhood and my school days. Oddly, they had asked me if I had sung in the school choir. When I said yes, that was when I noticed that strange glance, as if they were confirming something which they had privately discussed earlier.

As Sam drove me home that afternoon. I wondered if I should ask him what was going on, but thought better of it. It was quite a big event for him, taking me to see his parents for the first time.

“Sam,” I said, “they are really nice people, and they seemed genuinely pleased to see me.”

“I knew they would like you”, he grinned.

As the days began to shorten and winter approached, Sam was less busy and we saw each other more frequently. Sunday lunches were either at his parent’s house or in the pub down the road. I met up with some of his friends from agricultural college. One lad, John, who Sam hadn’t seen for about six years, kept staring at me which was very disconcerting.

It was soon after that I heard about Suzy for the first time. Sam told me they had met at nursery and were best friends all through school.

“So where is she now?” I asked, thinking she must have moved away or we would have come across her in the village.

“She had a bad accident last year. She fell off her horse and she went away for some specialist treatment. She should be back soon and we’ll definitely arrange to meet up”, he said.