Title: Return to Sparkhouse
Author: Cat Chester
Rating: PG-13
Paring: John Standring/OC
Disclaimer: Not mine. Please don't sue as all I own are 3 dogs. Actually, you're welcome to the dogs.
Spoilers: For Sparkhouse
Summary: John and Lisa are making the best of life when Londoner Kate moves to Hebden Bridge hoping to make a new start. What is she hiding and will she ever find the courage to trust them?
Chapter One
"Come on, John, it's the 21st century, you have to move with the times."
"Lisa, love, I'm not really a 21st century kind of guy."
"I know, that's why I've booked you lessons."
John Standring groaned, knowing already that he had lost this argument. Lisa was his pride and joy and he couldn't have been prouder of her if she had been his own daughter, but by god was she suborn when she wanted to be, and he could tell that this was one of the times when she wanted to be.
He had two choices, continue to argue with her for another few days until she eventually wore him down, or give in gracefully now.
"How much are these lessons?" he asked.
"Free."
John narrowed his eyes at her.
"You don't get 'owt for nowt in this life, Lisa."
"Okay, she offered them for free if I'd walk her dog once a day."
"She can't walk her own dog? What's she have it for then?"
"No, she can, but she's disabled so she can't walk it too far and she likes her to have a nice run on the moors every day. She offered to pay me but I told her you needed lessons more than I needed payin'."
"Fine. You set it up and just tell me when and where."
Lisa smiled, pleased that she had won so easily. She kissed his cheek.
"You're great." She ran off upstairs to do her homework and John shook his head as he stared after her, smiling despite his misgivings.
Somehow he thought that her desire to bring the farm up to date with a computer might have more to do with getting a computer than helping the farm.
Still, his grandma used to say that a change is as good as a rest and who knew, maybe life would be easier if he could learn to use a computer.
III
John looked at the house with trepidation. He didn't much like meeting strangers and he really wasn't looking forward to meeting this one since he knew absolutely nothing about computers. He was afraid he'd show himself up.
"Come on!" Lisa called, bounding out of the car and running to the front door. She had already rung the bell by the time he was getting out of the car. The front door opened and the first thing he saw was a beautiful golden retriever which bounded into Lisa's waiting arms. Well, not into her arms exactly, more like the dog stood on it's hind legs to lick her face.
Clearly Lisa had been expecting this greeting.
"Down!" came a very sharp voice and the dog immediately dropped to the ground. Thankfully the next words spoken to the dog were much kinder. "There's a good girl, Daisy."
Seconds later he saw the owner of the voice as she stepped into the doorway and bent down to pet her dog.
"Sorry, I've gotten lax with her recently but she should know better."
"I don't mind," Lisa assured her, kneeling down beside the dog to stroke her.
The woman looked behind Lisa and spotted John. She gave him the once over, taking in his size, his muscular build and his shaggy haircut. He saw her eyes widen slightly, almost in fear but a moment later she forced a bright smile and stepped around Lisa and the dog.
"You must be John", she held her hand out. "I'm Kate."
John shook her hand.
"Pleasure," he smiled back, trying to look as non threatening as possible. "Thank you for doing this, by the way. I hope Lisa didn't make a pest of herself."
"She can be quite persistent but no, I offered. Why don't you come on in, the kettle's boiled."
Kate ushered them all into her kitchen and set about making tea.
"Can I take Daisy into the garden?" Lisa asked.
Kate's gaze flickered to John, then the kitchen window.
"Of course," Kate smiled, though John thought it was a little too bright. For some reason, this woman didn't feel comfortable around him.
Oblivious, Lisa ran out into the garden with Daisy hot on her heals.
"She's a lovely girl," Kate said, handing him a mug of tea and sitting opposite him.
"Aye." He looked to the window and smiled as he saw her trying to wrestle stick out of Daisy's mouth. "How did you two meet?" he asked.
"At her school. They asked me to give a talk on computers for their careers week."
"You something of a wizz then?"
"Not till fairly recently, actually. I mean I could type and stuff but I only retrained a few years ago."
"How come?" he asked.
"I just needed a change." She smiled tightly. Clearly that wasn't something she wanted to talk about.
"So, you're not from around here, are you?" John asked.
"Yeah, the accent's a bit of a give away, isn't it? I'm from London originally."
"And what brings you to Yorkshire?"
"Like I said, it was time for a change." She stood up. "Shall we get started on your first lesson?"
"Uh, yeah, ready when you are."
He followed her through to what looked like a study and sat down beside her at a computer.
She didn't look disabled, he thought. In fact she looked stunning, way out of his league. She had a bit of makeup on but she wasn't all made up like he thought a London woman would be. She had on a black, long sleeved shirt and blue jeans. A no nonsense kind of outfit. He liked it. And Black definitely suited her dark colouring and olive skin.
"So, how much do you know about computers, John?"
"Nothin'."
"Nothing at all?"
"Nope. Never actually used one meself."
"Okay, then we'll start with the basics. The first thing you need to know is that you don't know nearly enough about computers to do this machine any damage whatsoever and any mistakes you make, I can put right so don't be scared of it. It's the tool, you're the craftsman. Now, this is the tower, where the computers hard drive lives. Think of it as the brain, if you like. This is the on switch. It takes the computer a while to boot up while it loads the various programs, like you and I take a while to completely wake up in the mornings..."
He listened as she explained computers to him and did his best to remember what she was saying. She was pretty good at putting things into terms he could understand, like calling the hard drive the brain. She explained all about the desk top, the mouse, the programs. Then she handed control of the computer over to him and talked him through opening files and programs.
Lisa took Daisy out for her walk and popped her head in when she returned but quickly left them to it as they seemed to be making quite a bit of progress.
John stayed three hours that first day and thought he'd learned quite a bit, about computers at least. He was returning later in the week for his next lesson and found that he was actually quite looking forward to it.
"So what did you learn?" Lisa asked as they drove home.
"We did a bit in word and that explorer thing."
"Internet explorer?"
"That's the one."
"Is that all?"
"What, mastering the internet isn't enough for you?" he joked.
"Yeah, and I'm Michaelangelo."
"It's a good thing I don't have much of an ego, you know." He didn't mind her ribbing him really, it was just their way. He knew she loved him.
"Well, I have to keep you in check, don't I? Anyway, what did you think of her?" Lisa asked.
"Kate? I dunno. She's very edgy."
"Edgy?"
"Yeah, she looked frightened at times."
"I didn't notice."
"So how long have you been walking her dog for her?" He was a little worried that he had known nothing about this until the other day. How many other people was she seeing that he knew nothing about?
"Only a few days. I asked her about computers after the lecture and she gave me one of her cards, telling me to email her if I had any questions."
"And how does that get from email to visiting her house?"
"Don't worry, John, she lives alone. I knew that when I went round there."
"She could have been lying."
"It's a small village, believe me if she didn't live alone everyone would know. And I knocked on her door, she didn't invite me around."
"How come?"
"I don't know, I just liked her I guess. And I wanted to see Daisy again. She brought her to the school with her and she was just adorable."
"The school let her dog in?"
"She's training it to be an aid dog."
"That's another thing, she doesn't look very disabled to me."
"I know, I said that to her myself, but she says it's mostly something to do with her lungs, she gets very breathless if she does too much."
"How would a dog help with breathlessness?"
"I don't know! What's with all the questions? She's not some knife wielding psycho, John she's a nice lady who seems a bit lonely, that's all."
"You're right, I'm sorry."
Lisa reached out and put her hand on his where it rested on the gear stick. She understood his protective streak and he tried not to crowd her so she put up with his questions normally. He'd lost a lot, she understood he was worried about losing her too. Still, that didn't give him the right to give Kate Thornton the third degree.
They got back to the farm and John set about making their tea. They had made a lot of improvements to the house and farm over the past few years. They didn't have a lot of money so they did most of the work themselves but John proved to be a pretty skilled handy man. They had torn out a lot of the farmhouse's so called improvements, revealing or replacing the original features. The floor in the kitchen had been taken up to reveal a stone floor, which they had cleaned and buffed up until they looked like new and the rest of the house had taken it's look from that rustic feature.
The kitchen cupboards were solid pine, as was the table, which John had mostly made himself. The living room furniture was big and comfy, the kind that you could sink into after a hard days work. They'd found it on Freecycle, a website where people offered stuff they didn't need to others, saving the need to dump it, though it had needed reupholstering. Actually, they'd got a lot of stuff from that site over the years, which helped them keep their money for the really important stuff.
As they sat down at the kitchen table to eat, they chatted as they usually did and John turned the conversation back around to Kate.
"So what brings her up to Yorkshire, do you know?"
"She said she was tired of city life and wanted a change, that's all."
She'd said the same to him but he was sure it was a lie. Or at least, not the whole truth.
"Earth to John, come in please, over."
"What?" he looked up, surprised to realise he hadn't heard her.
"I said, do you have a crush on her or what?"
"Don't be daft," he shrugged her words aside, not because he didn't have a crush, but because he knew that a woman like her was out of his league.
"Well I think that's must be it," Lisa declared. "I think you're madly in love already and just gagging to shag her."
"Lisa!" he admonished, though he smiled at her teasing. Suddenly though, Lisa stopped being playful and turned serious.
"You should ask her out," Lisa said. "You deserve someone nice."
"Maybe I will," he said only to placate her. He had no intention of humiliating himself by asking her on a date..
III
Kate smiled as she saw Lisa coming up her driveway and saved her work so that she could have a cup of tea and a chat with the girl before she walked Daisy. Lisa was very sweet, though if you were to ever tell her that, she would deny it until she was blue in the face. That was part of her charm.
Kate sometimes wondered if Lisa had somehow known that she was lonely and that was why she turned up on her doorstep but whatever the reason, she was glad she had found a friend in the girl, even given the age gap between them.
"So," Lisa said as the sat down at the kitchen table. "Just how bad was John yesterday? Be honest with me, I can take it."
"He was actually pretty good for a beginner. I think he'll pick things up quickly."
Lisa grinned, pleased with her assessment.
"He'll be glad you said that. People 'round here all think he's a bit thick cos he's shy and wears overalls a lot, but he's not thick at all."
Kate had noticed the shyness, though thankfully he had been overall free yesterday.
"Are you afraid of him?" Lisa suddenly asked.
"Am I afraid of John? Why on earth would you ask that?" Kate swallowed down the lump that formed in her throat.
"I don't know, it's just something John said."
Kate didn't know how to answer that.
"You are, aren't you?" Lisa sounded hurt.
"No! It's... it's complicated."
"No it's not, you're just like everyone else, you're judging him without getting to know him. You see some farm labourer and you think he's got to be rough. Well he isn't he's the gentlest person I know. Last year we lost a sheep during the lambing and John raised that lamb by hand, all by himself. He even slept downstairs with it so it didn't feel lonely."
"Lisa, please let me explain."
Lisa folded her arms and glared at Kate, but at least she wasn't storming out.
"I am not afraid of John, I swear, but-"
Lisa was about to roll her eyes because the word 'but' was never a good thing, however the expression on Kate's face made her nod for the other woman to continue.
"If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone? I don't want to become the subject of gossip."
"Too late for that, the whole village is talking about the new girl. But yeah, I promise."
Kate took a deep breath.
"Something happened to me," Kate confessed. "It was a few years ago now but I still live with the scars and as nice as John is, he is physically imposing and sometimes I can't control my reactions. Please believe me, it's nothing personal against John and I actually thought he was very sweet yesterday. And believe me, if I could control these reactions, I would but I can't so I just have to live with them and try and make the best of life."
"What happened." Lisa asked.
"Something awful but I don't like to talk about it. I hope you won't be offended."
"No," Lisa relaxed. "Believe me, my family has been subjected to enough gossip so I won't pry into your business."
"Thank you."
"So have you got that traumatic stress thing?"
"Post traumatic stress disorder. Yes, that's my diagnosis. Better than just being called a basket case I suppose."
"Sorry I gave you a hard time about John."
"Don't be," Kate smiled before artfully changing the subject. "So, why do you call him John and not Dad?"
"Well he's not my dad, see. I know I tell people he is, but that's just because it's easier. And legally he is my step-dad I suppose but I've always just called him John."
"If you don't mind me asking, and feel free to tell me where to go, but how come you don't speak about your mother?"
"She died. Me real dad died too."
"I'm so sorry."
"It were their own fault. Me Dad killed himself because me Mam married John and me Mam was so upset she started drinking pretty heavily and crashed the car a few months later."
"I still can't help feeling sad that you lost both your parents though."
"Don't be. John's more like a father to me than me real parents ever were. He's worked on the farm since I was a baby so I've known him me whole life."
"I'm glad to hear it." Kate smiled.
"Well, I'd best get Daisy walked, John goes mental if I'm not back by half five without telling him."
"I don't blame him." Kate stood up to get the lead. "Are you sure I can't pay you for this, Lisa? It doesn't seem right to take advantage of you."
"Just drag John into the 21st century, that's payment enough."
III
Over the next few weeks John came twice a week for his lesson while Lisa walked Daisy and gradually John became more confident. She created a basic logo for Sparkhouse Farm which she added to a Word document so that John could print business letters on headed paper, and showed him how to use that program.
At her request he brought a copy of the previous years accounts for her to see. She assured him that Microsoft Excell was more than adequate for his needs and began to show him how to use the program and helped him to set up a template for his accounts.
After six lessons Kate thought he was ready to start working on his own and told him that she would help him buy and set up his own computer and printer if he wanted but he didn't quite feel ready to take that step yet. Kate understood, she had been a technophobe at one time and it was a hard thing to overcome sometimes. Besides, she liked John and Lisa and didn't want to drive either of them away.
III
"Kate?"
Kate turned around as she heard her name called, to see John towering over her. Involuntarily she took a step back, knocking the baked beans from the shelf with her elbow.
"Sorry, you scared me," she smiled at him as she bent to pick the tins. He really did seem like a nice man, but he was rather imposing. John bent down to help.
"I just popped in for something for tea tonight," John explained, kicking himself for such a banal comment. Why else would he be in a grocery shop? They put the tins back on the shelf and smiled awkwardly at each other.
"Me too," she said, holding her basket up as proof .
"Hi ya," Lisa said, bounding up behind John and linking her arm through his. "What ya talking about?"
"Oh, nothing," Lisa smiled. "Just dinner arrangements.
"I like that," Lisa smiled. "Dinner! It sounds so much classier than tea."
"It's the same meal, whatever you call it," Kate smiled.
"Unless you're talking afternoon tea," Lisa grinned. "Have you ever had that? I'll bet you have afternoon tea every day down south."
"Well, not every single day. Sometimes I'm just too busy getting the horses ready ready for the weekend hunts so we can go and kill those beastly foxes, don't you know." Kate teased, putting on her best Queens English accent.
"All right, point taken." Lisa laughed.
John watched them banter back and forth, much like he imagined sisters would, though Kate was probably ten or more years older than Lisa. He smiled, taking pleasure in the easy camaraderie that they had.
"I have had afternoon tea a few times," Kate admitted. "Generally it's miniaturised cakes, tiny sandwiches and a rather large bill, but if you wanted I could dust off my baking trays and whip us up a proper afternoon tea one day, complete with pretentious flavours of tea and served in tea cups so tiny they only fit a dolls tea party."
"That sounds fab!" Lisa grinned. "Oh, I know! You should come round for tea tonight!" Lisa suddenly exclaimed. "I mean dinner tea, not afternoon tea 'cos this would be at night."
John watched as the light went out of her eyes and the haunted expression he was getting so familiar with returned.
"Oh no, I wouldn't want to impose." She smiled politely but John could tell she didn't feel it.
"You wouldn't be imposing, would she John?" Lisa asked.
He couldn't say anything in answer to that except "No, of course not." Not that he would mind her joining them, of course but he didn't want her to come if she would rather not.
"See. You should come around tonight, you shouldn't have to be alone on a Friday night."
"I'm not alone," Lisa smiled. "I have plans tonight."
John disliked the way those words made him feel. It hurt to think that she might be seeing someone. Then again he'd been stupid to just assume she was single. Gorgeous women were rarely single for long.
"Tomorrow then," Lisa pushed.
"I really-"
"Please," Lisa begged. "It's always just the two of us as as much as I love John, I need some different company sometimes."
Kate looked looked rather like a dear trapped in the headlights. She couldn't really refuse without causing offence, but she also wasn't comfortable with the idea.
"Plus, I've seen where you live, it seems only fair that you should see where I live. Besides, I must owe you a few hundred biscuits and mugs of tea by now." Lisa was determined.
"Okay then," Kate gave in "Tomorrow evening sounds lovely, if that's all right with John?"
"Tomorrow's fine." He knew she didn't really want to come but he also knew that Lisa was a hard woman to say no to.
"Great!" Lisa grinned. "So, what do you like? Chicken, beef, pork, lamb?"
"Anything," Kate assured her.
"You've got to give us some ideas," Lisa pressed.
"Well, if you want to know my favourite food, that would be chocolate."
"Okay, point taken," Lisa smiled, willing to back down on this point. "I'll come and walk Daisy about six and then you can drive me back to the farm and stay for dinner."
"That sounds lovely. Thank you both." Kate was about to try and bring this conversation to a close when Lisa noticed that Kate's dog wasn't in the shop.
"Where is Daisy?"
"They don't let her in here," Kate explained.
"But she's an aid dog!"
"I know, but the owner says that I don't look very disabled."
"Well, I'll bloody give him what for!" Lisa took a step towards the front of the shop where the owner was sitting at the checkout but Kate stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"Don't," Kate pleaded. "The truth is while Daisy has been trained as an assistance dog, I haven't really needed that much help for a while now and having her with me is more of a comfort than a necessity. Please don't cause a scene."
Lisa saw the pleading look in Kate's eyes and let her anger go.
"Thank you," Kate smiled at Lisa. "You're a good friend, do you know that?"
Lisa didn't smile at the compliment, but it seemed clear that she thought a good friend should be making a scene.
"I really should get on," Kate said. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She walked away from them and took a deep, calming breath. It was just dinner with a widower and his daughter. Nothing she couldn't handle. Nothing romantic or sexual there. In fact, poor old John hadn't looked any keener on her coming than Kate felt, so really there was absolutely nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.
'Yeah,' the little voice in the back of her head piped up. 'Keep telling yourself that and one day you might believe it.'
'No,' she reminded herself. 'You moved to a small community so that you feel safe and make friends with the locals. This is just being friendly with two locals, nothing more. You need to learn to relax and accept that most people really are very nice and warm.'
By the time she walked out of the shop and untied Daisy, she felt a lot better. She saw John and Lisa climbing into their battered Landrover a little way down the street and waved, her smile completely genuine for a change.