The walking group…and dave.

It was september, the kids had gone back to school after the big summer holidays.

The time between losing alan and this period in our journey proved to be very frustrating.

There was a change in my job circumstances too. I had begun paid work.

After several months of charity shop volunteering I’d put in for a job part time at a supermarket in town.

After a successful application and a little training i found myself working on the tills.

It was boring work but I’d already made a few new friends and enjoyed their company. They say it’s not the work, but the people you work with that make the job, and that’s true.

We were still trying to meet that special guy, but so far had drawn a blank.

The email pal site had yielded 2 duds… time wasters…i won’t go into detail.

The Porn site, predictably, went the other way, attracting attention of the wrong kind….despite making it clear in our advert what we were looking for.

The things that some of those guys wanted to do to me?…..yuk!…..made me feel sick.

And i thought i was broadminded.

We weren’t looking for that kind of thing, just a normal regular guy with a healthy appetite and a desire to share me with my hubby….how hard could that be?

Very, apparently.

Anyway, you know how something you’ve been looking for, for a long time, trying hard to find……just one day finds you?….when your not even looking?….

Well, that was about to happen to us.

With both john and myself having our weekends Free and the boys not usually at home then, we decided to pursue a mutual hobby.

We both Love the countryside, and walking, and we both Love learning about history, especially local history.

So, we decided to join a walking group. This particular one had a local history theme.

We checked it out online. The guy who organised it lived about 15 miles away and knew a lot about the past in our area.

The group would meet up every saturday morning at 9, then set off for a walk of around 5 miles, nothing too strenuous.

On the way, there would be sites to see and little talks done by the organiser, where questions could be asked about a castle or ancient battlefield etc. Whatever the subject of attraction that morning.

You could take something to eat and drink and a backpack was recommended but not essential as this wasn’t exactly hiking.

It was advertised as a good gentle way to exercise, learn about local history, and make new friends.

Ideal for us.

At the time we didn’t consider the ‘making friends’ part of it, it was just a hobby, something we could do together as a couple in our spare time.

So, we joined the group and one bright sunny saturday morning in early september, set off for the meeting place.

Arriving in a small but crowded car park i was immediately surprised by how many had turned up, it did after all, describe itself as a small walking group.

However i was soon to learn that another group had arrived at the same time.

The two organisers knowing each other, this other group were rail enthusiasts…..or is it train enthusiasts? We shared the same meeting place but their walk was separate to ours and would follow a different route.

So, all together, in our group there were around 15 to 20 people. Mostly couples, i did note with interest that myself and john were the youngest couple present.

All the others were at least 20 years older, with some looking like they surely would never make it back from the walk!

Most had those walking poles and were togged out in all the serious walking gear.

I wondered what i was letting myself in for.

Indeed, it was john who bent down and whispered in my ear that not only described the situation but brought an image with it that gave me the giggles

“Fuck me…..it’s like a day out for sunny vale”

Sunny vale is an old folks home near our village.

Seeing that my giggles had attracted the attention of a nearby couple john tried to distract me by whispering once more

“Plenty for you to look at though”, it’s said with a wink as he straightens back up and looks over at the organiser as he begins to speak to our group.

It was true.

As i looked around the huddled group there were a lot of old guys, however all of them appeared to be with their wives either in couples or small groups of two plus two.

It appeared that some of these couples had recommended this activity to their friends.

We were certainly the odd ones out….or so i thought.

As i continued checking out the others while listening to the guide, i noticed him…

He was stood quite close to us off to my right.

Another youngish face that stood out like a sore thumb amongst a sea of wrinkles and grey hair.

A tall heavy set guy of about late forties, short curly dark hair, short beard and moustache.

Very good looking with dark eyes and thick bushy eyebrows.

He’d been watching me and as i made eye contact, smiled.

Smiling back i then looked away pretending not to feel that warmth of excitement rush through me….my god he’s handsome….i could feel myself blushing.

John must have noticed a change in me, body language or something.

I was just looking straight ahead at the speaker.

He looked down first at me, noticing me blushing, then glanced back up in the direction I’d just been looking in.

Glancing up at john i watched him acknowledge the handsome guy, first smiling then nodding his head in greeting.

We were holding hands and as john returned his gaze to me he squeezed my hand gently twice then bent down to my ear

“At least there’s one our age”, he said in a quiet voice, indicating toward the guy.

I nodded agreement, glancing back at the man, who was doing the same with us, checking us out….. checking me out…. to be more accurate.

I knew that look alright…. i smiled again and received one back before returning my gaze to the speaker, who’d nearly finished

“so…..if that’s all straight…. we’ll get set off….any questions?”, The guy looked slowly around at us all.

There was no reply from any of us,

“Ok…off we go then just follow me…. easy one today….”

He kept talking as he walked, waffling something about making sure you had ‘paid and displayed’ because we would be about 4 hours.

As we began walking, following the others my mind was full of that handsome stranger, where had he gone? He seemed to just disappear in the crowd…

I was about to ask john if he’d seen him but john interupted with some trivia about the castle ruins we were going to see.

And that was that…..or so i thought.

With my attention now focused on john and the morning ahead, the stranger in the crowd drifted to the back of my mind.

It was indeed a lovely morning, warm and sunny with a gentle breeze just keeping the temperature at a comfortable degree.

Initially walking through a wooded area, with its dappled shade and buzzing insects, tut tut tut of blackbird and clattering of wood pigeon wing high above in the canopy of green.

We soon found ourselves in open country, with rolling hills in the distance.

The other walkers, despite their age seemed to stride effortlessly ahead, leaving myself and john somewhat lagging behind. They had formed into little groups, clearly used to each others company, chatting away amongst themselves.

It’s not that they weren’t friendly towards us, several of them had given us a cheery hello as we had joined the group earlier that morning in the car park.

It was just that they all knew each other and kept to themselves, in their own little clique.

About an hour into our walk we stopped near a stile and john took his backpack off to get us both a drink.

The others strode on ahead and we were left to ourselves for a moment, although i soon discovered….not completely to ourselves.

A noise from behind alerted me to another, fellow straggler.

I instantly recognised the guy from earlier, the handsome man that had smiled at me.

He was walking with some effort towards us, clearly struggling with what appeared to be an overloaded backpack.

The most common mistake of an inexperienced hiker, as I’m often told by john, who had carefully packed our day sack that morning with just what we needed and nothing else.

Although as mentioned earlier this wasn’t exactly a hike so it was unusual to see someone with such a large backpack.

However, that was not the only thing large about this man….

He was, how can i put it politely….. overweight.

Clothed in a white t shirt and blue shorts. The t shirt was stuck to him, wet through with sweat.

He was the same height as john but I’m guessing a good 5 stone heavier.

I hadn’t noticed his size earlier as he was partially obscured by the crowd.

Don’t get me wrong, i wasn’t put off by his excess weight, my cheeks still flushed red as he managed a smile for me and a cheery, if out of breath, ‘morning’.

I’ve never seen anyone that looked so knackered but at the same time….so gorgeous.

We said our hellos as he staggered up to us, looking for all the world like he was about to keel over.

“Are you alright Love“, i said with genuine concern.

The guy bent over with hands on knees, breathing hard for a moment, it really looked like he was going to puke

“Yeah…..thanks….I’ll be ok…..in a…minute”, his delayed breathless reply.

John too showed his concern

“It’s ok just take it easy for a minute there’s no rush…..”

Stepping to one side and looking worryingly at the guys backpack, he added, “….wow….that’s a big pack….what you got in there?”

The guy slowly returned to his upright position, now with some composure.

He grinned while sticking out his hand, “I’m dave…. pleased to meet you”

John held out his hand and they shook, my husband introducing himself then me.

I had a brief feeling of déjà vu of my first encounter with harry, as my hand disappeared in daves hand, mmm…big strong hands…..i Love that.

Dave replied that he was pleased to meet me but did not kiss my hand, as harry had.

He went on to explain in reply to johns question that it was purposely heavy, loaded with water bottles, as he was trying to get fit, lose weight.

“Doctors orders”, dave assured us looking very disgruntled.

John asked if he could help? Maybe carry a few bottles in our pack?

“Nope….thank you for the offer but I’m determined to do this….i did it last week and I’m gunna keep doing it”

John then informed dave that we were new here and this was our first time in the group.

“yes i noticed you in the car park”, dave replied giving a little glance at me, as he said it….

Motioning away over to the other walkers slowly getting smaller in the distance he said, “it’s like bloody cocoon isn’t it?”

“Cocoon?”, i asked wondering what he was on about, but john had already got it and was beginning to chuckle.

Dave looked at me, “you know….that film where the old folk get rejuvenated….”

I too now burst into a fit of giggles as i remembered the film and realised it’s connection to our elderly fellow walkers.

As i giggled dave continued, making me laugh harder, “…..they look like regular old people don’t they?…but they’re not….. they’re nuclear powered or something….look at that….look at the bastards go”

His mannerisms and how he said it where producing tears and i had to check myself as i realised i was acting like a giddy schoolgirl in front of the two men.

Dave kept on talking as the chuckles dried up, he told us what we kind of already knew.

That the others kept to themselves and were very clannish. They were friendly, but only to a degree.

After a brief watering stop we set off together with dave to catch up with the group, chatting easily with our new friend.

He did initially talk to john, not leaving me out but i could tell the two of them liked each others company right away.

I liked daves company too, we all just sort of ‘clicked’ together. It sounds corny but it was as though we’d known him for years.

He asked lots of questions about us and we him, a great conversationalist, it was a pleasure to chat with him.

Dave told us that he worked for the local council, his job was to assess people who needed help within their homes, usually elderly or disabled folk, to see if they qualified and what they needed help with.

Perhaps they might need special equipment for the bathroom for example.

As we walked and talked i did check out dave some more.

He was a big guy, i estimated around the 20 stone mark.

It turned out that i wasn’t far off as we later found out he weighed just over 21 stone.

Another thing i noticed was a pale mark on one finger of his left hand, his ring finger….as though a ring had recently been removed….

I was so intrigued that my curiosity got the better of me.

During the course of our conversation, dave made mention of having 6 children to which we expressed our surprise! However, it did bring the subject on to families so i asked him a leading question…

“so dave….your missus doesn’t like walking?”

John instantly glanced past dave at me, he knew what i was getting at and from the look he too was curious.

Dave gave out a little sarcastic laugh then replied that his Wife jenny wasn’t into exercise then added under his breath, “not this kind anyway”.

He went on to tell us that they were separated, had been for several months and…..that it was a long story.

So we left it at that and didn’t enquire any further. It was obvious he was still sore about it and the mumbled comment about exercise gave a little clue as to what may have been the cause of the separation.

That morning we really enjoyed not just the walk but our time chatting with dave too.

A very pleasant friendly guy, we had similar interests and similar sense of humour, and from my perspective….very easy on the eye. It’s fair to say that i was interested in dave in ‘that way’ right from the beginning.

John knew of course, that little look he gave me when i asked about daves missus….contained more than just curiosity.

He knew what i was thinking, i could see that spark of excitement in his eyes.

By the time it came to saying our goodbyes that morning, it was like the three of us had known each other for a long time.

We got on like a house on fire.

We said goodbye and told him we would look out for him next week, dave nodded and replied that he would look for us too.

In the car on our way home, initially there was silence between myself and john.

The morning chatting to dave had given us both a lot to think about….

At length my husband spoke, glancing at me as he did so, “well..that was a nice walk…and nice company too…don’t you think?”

I nodded my reply, still partially deep in thought, john kept going, “you..er…..like him.. don’t you….i mean….you know”

This time i turned and briefly made eye contact with john before he had to look back at the road, i spoke in a quiet but confident tone, making sure he understood, “oh yeah”

Nodding to reinforce my statement.

John grinned and i copied him.

His next words were predictable, “are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

I drew in a breath and looked back at the road ahead, gently sighing, letting the breath out, before replying, “yes….i am”

As i said it i could feel that familiar rush of excitement building up from within.

Had we found our man?

We were about to find out…

End of chapter 19.