The final week at university was always fun. It was a chance to let your hair down with your mates before going your separate ways for the ten week summer vacation. Some, like me, had summer jobs to go to, while others were going off to Europe on a student inter-rail pass. Most were just going back to mum and dad.
I'd had to let my parents know that I wouldn't be home. I told them I'd got a job as a temporary caretaker which was sort of correct. My mum was disappointed that I wouldn't be coming home but the more I could earn the less of a burden I was on them. I hadn't told them about Lesley, I thought I'd wait a while before doing that.
The final week was also a great week for hooking up with girls but although I pretended to my mates to be up for it, my heart wasn't in it.
The long awaited exam results came out on the Wednesday afternoon. They were placed on a board outside the admin office. Under each exam title were a list of names in alphabetical order and against each name was a simple pass or fail. I scanned the results for my name and felt a wave of relief come over me when I saw that there were no fails. There was no reason to stay at university now and so I called Ruth to say that I'd be with them on Thursday.
That Wednesday night was a raucous night on campus, celebrating with those who had passed and commiserating with those who needed to re-sit. I stumbled into my bed in the early hours of Thursday and woke up with a thick head in the morning.
The little Mini was complaining when I arrived at Ruth and David's in the late afternoon. It wasn't used to carrying all my worldly possessions and having to travel so far. A thin trail of steam was coming out of the exhaust, the tell-tale sign of a blown head gasket. Both Ruth and David were there to greet me. David shook my hand and Ruth gave me a big hug
"Your car's looking a bit sick," Ruth said.
"Blown head gasket," I replied. "I had keep stopping to fill the radiator up but we made it"
"Can you fix it?"
"Oh yes. I'll need a few parts but it's reasonably cheap to repair and with my trusty Haynes manual I'll be fine."
"We didn't think that you'd come until Friday. It's good that you did though, as we're off to London for the weekend tomorrow. Come on in and have a cup of tea, then we'll show you around the flat."
My digs for the next ten weeks had been a stable block and living quarters a century ago. The stables had been converted into garage space while the upstairs had been converted into an apartment. The apartment was an odd shape but basically consisted of an open plan kitchen and lounge area, a good size bedroom with a double bed, a small study room and a shower room with a toilet and a basin.
"This is fantastic Ruth," I said. "It's like a palace compared to my student digs."
"I know," she said laughing, "and if you want to work on your car in the garage then there's plenty of space. I'll show you."
We went down to the garage below. David's Jaguar was parked in one bay and Ruth's little Triumph in the one next to it. The third bay was empty. It was larger than the other two and had an inspection pit dug into it. Around the edge were cabinets and a couple of sturdy workbenches. In a corner, tucked away looking very sorry for itself was a BMW motorbike. It looked like it hadn't moved in a while.
"There are quite a few tools in here I think," said Ruth. The last owner was a vintage car enthusiast. We inherited much of his stuff when we bought the house but working on cars was never David's thing."
"And the motorbike, do you still use it?"
Ruth rolled her eyes. "David bought it about 6 years ago. He had big plans to tour around Europe on it. We went to the seaside a couple of times and the rest of the time it's been sat here. I don't think it has moved for the last couple of years. Can you ride?"
"Yes, my dad has a Honda he uses to get to work on. I passed my test on it a few years ago."
"Well, if it still works then you're welcome to use it. It will need an MOT and tax for sure and a service I guess. If it helps I can put you on the insurance. There are a couple of helmets somewhere in here too."
"That would be great Ruth, thank you."
"No problem. There's one more thing to show you. Come this way."
Ruth opened a door at the back of the garage which opened to reveal a home gym. It had weights, an exercise bike and a multi gym structure. It also had a space for doing yoga and stretching, with a mirror on one wall and a punch-bag in the corner.
"I thought you might find this useful. David had it built to keep us both in shape. We don't use it as much as we should but I've been trying to get on the exercise bike a bit lately".
"I thought that you were looking rather trim, Ruth," I said, making her blush slightly.
"Well I've been trying these last few months. The competition keeps getting younger," she said coyly.
With the tour over I began to unpack the car and get settled in. My few possessions hardly gave the flat a lived in feel but I could work on that. I ate with David and Ruth in the evening, sitting at the table in their big kitchen. It was nice to eat home cooked food but I resolved to cook for myself also in order to give them their space.
"So, is it alright with you if I start work on Monday? I'd like to take the head off the Mini on Friday then Lesley can drive me to Lincoln to get the parts on Saturday morning."
"That's fine, we'll be leaving at around lunchtime tomorrow but we'll be back on Sunday. I'll walk you through what needs doing on Monday morning then we can take it from there."
I woke up on Friday and decided to go for a run. I hadn't done any exercise since taking my exams two weeks ago and was keen to get into a routine again. I ran through the village, past the pub and out into the countryside. The Lincolnshire Wolds were a patchwork of fields with plenty of lanes to run along. The terrain was quite hilly compared to the flat streets I'd been used to. That morning, with the late June sun beginning to heat up the day and nothing but the sound of the birds to keep me company, I could see why David and Ruth had chosen to live there.
An hour later I got back, had a shower and was contemplating starting on the Mini when Ruth came over and asked if I'd had breakfast.
"Not yet," I said.
"Come on over then. There are a few things we need to go through with you before we leave."
Ruth cooked scrambled egg on toast as she explained the facts of rural life to me.
