Chapter 16

The weeks that followed Nina's bonding with the house, were peaceful ones. Of a weekend, Rory would disappear to the garden and return hours later smeared in dirt. He loved weeding, digging, planting, mowing, and most of all, getting grubby. Nina would watch him through the window and smile.

Having a garden had made such a difference in their lives. Nina had never hankered after one, all that work, but now she didn't know how they had coped with no outside space to call their own. Beyond the garden were fields. So much open space almost made her giddy. As she became accustomed to the new surroundings, the thought of the city streets made her cringe. There had been darkness and now there was light.

Abandoning her plan to tackle the downstairs decoration first, Nina had felt compelled to cover the insipid paint on the walls in the bedroom. It was the most neglected space and she could not leave it in its present state. A warm coffee colour was banishing the, calamine lotion, pink. With each stroke of the brush, it looked better.

That would be the guest room. It would be lovely to have friends visit. At the moment, it was more likely that some of Rory's friends from the city would come, rather than hers. Whoever stayed there would get a good night's sleep in the softly coloured, comfortable space. The previous colour would have given people nightmares.

Another job had arrived from the marketing agency. It was inconvenient having to go to the office and work, there were many more things that she would rather be doing. As the weather was good, Nina ventured into the garden. The odd weed was plucked, but lounging on a recliner and soaking up the sun was preferred.

"You have been busy today then." Rory was looking his wife up and down.

"I did some work this morning."

"And then sat in the sun all afternoon."

"I can't really hide the fact that I have a deeper tan each time you come home. So, yes. That is exactly what I did."

"Well, it suits you. Are you going food shopping tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Okay can you get..."

Rory rattled off a list of things he wanted. Nina jotted them down. He mentioned beer and chocolate twice, so she underlined them. When Rory looked at the list, he nodded in approval.

In the morning, Nina gathered up her shopping bags, checked her handbag, and then reached for her keys. They weren't there. It was a ritual. Lock the car, open the front door, shut it and lock it, go to the kitchen, keys in a bowl on the island. 

When did she last use the car? Nina had nipped into town on Saturday. There had been two bags of shopping, maybe the keys lurked at the bottom of one of them. Acting out the events of that day saw her marching across the hall, into the kitchen, and then to the island. The image of her tossing the keys in the bowl came to mind. Another look into it, definitely not there.

The canvas shoppers were searched thoroughly. Nothing. Turning around, Nina scanned every surface in the room. Drawers and cupboards were opened, but they were not found. The house was tidy and minimal. It only took a moment to look in the lounge and be sure that they were not there.

Nina headed upstairs to check the rooms there. What had she been wearing? Maybe those damn keys were in a pocket. A rummage through the clothes she had been wearing was followed by a search of anything with pockets. Still nothing. A noise from downstairs interrupted her and she took a deep breath and rotated her shoulders. This was becoming annoying.

The sound was a click. A door shutting, or the central heating, or post arriving, it could be anything. Heading down to the ground floor, nothing seemed untoward. Nina would run through the sequence again. Something would jog her memory. 

"Across the hall, into the kitchen, bags down on the island, keys in the bowl" Nina spoke out loud as she moved.

Hands on hips, a frown on her face, and another look around. Nina had looked twice, but she still went back to the bowl. Tipping it towards her, a familiar jingle sounded. The keys were there. Snatching them up before they disappeared again, she shook her head.

"I'm going mad."

The shopping trip was uneventful after the key incident. By the time Rory came home, Nina had forgotten about it. It was only as she drifted off to sleep that the irritation came back. How could she have missed those keys in the bowl?