Chapter 16
‘You don’t have to stay in the car,’ Cal said when they reached the address at three o’clock. ‘I’m sure they’d love to show you the finished result.’
He was right. The Carters were a chatty couple in their sixties who couldn’t have been happier with the bespoke summer house Cal’s company had constructed at the bottom of their large south-facing garden.
‘I’m absolutely furious,’ Marion Carter announced as she led them across the sitting room and out through the French doors. ‘To think we could have had one built twenty years ago and we didn’t. All that time we lived without one and had no idea what we were missing.’ She clutched Cal’s arm. ‘It’s the best thing we ever did! We’re spending more time in it than we are in the real house . . . we just love it to bits!’
Against the layered backdrop of trees, well-tended shrubs and bright flowers of a well-loved English country garden stood the recently constructed summer house, hexagonal in design, with a silver-grey Victorian lead roof and the doors flung open. The outer walls were painted palest pink, the windows glittered in the afternoon sunshine and inside there were strings of cotton bunting, elegant lights and two comfortable lilac and blue striped sofas.
As they entered the summer house, Marion’s smile widened. ‘I sit in here and read . . . and do my knitting . . . and we listen to music. The cats adore it too.’ She lovingly stroked the pale blue silk cushions on the sofa nearest to her. ‘And look, we’ve installed one of those mini fridges to keep our drinks cold! It’s our favourite place to spend time.’
‘So no problems with the installation?’ Cal double-checked.
‘Oh my goodness, none at all – did you seriously think I was asking you over here so I could make a complaint? No, quite the opposite.’ Marion’s eyes sparkled in the sunshine. ‘My sister was entranced when she saw what we’d had done, but she has one of those gardens you can only get to through the house, plus she’s completely phobic about having strangers in her home. So although she’d love one of these, it just wouldn’t be possible. Except it’s her seventieth birthday in a fortnight and her daughter’s whisking her off on a cruise, and we thought maybe we could arrange to have a summer house installed while she’s away as a surprise.’
‘Look, it’s a nice idea.’ Cal was already shaking his head. ‘But if your sister’s so opposed to letting strangers into her home, I don’t know if I’d feel comfortable sneaking in behind her back . . .’
‘Oh, it’s OK, we wouldn’t dream of asking you to do that,’ Marion assured him. ‘I wouldn’t do it to Barbara, she’d have a complete meltdown, poor darling. No, we’ve come up with a rather marvellous plan . . . here, let me show you.’ Her husband handed her an iPad and she started scrolling through the photos. ‘It was so thrilling, sneaking out and taking these in secret, I felt like a spy! Anyway, here’s Barbara’s garden and there’s where we think the summer house should go . . . what do you think?’
‘I think that looks like the best spot.’ Cal was studying the photos, nodding slowly. ‘But if we can’t gain access through the house, I don’t know how we’d manage it. It’d be tricky to drop the parts in by parachute.’
‘We went over and spoke to the woman who lives there.’ Marion angled the iPad and pointed to a rooftop partially obscured by trees. ‘That’s the road behind Barbara’s and their gardens back onto each other. We’d seen her before, because she was often out in her garden, and she’d always seemed very nice, so we paid her a visit and explained our situation. And she was wonderful, we were so lucky. As soon as we asked the question, she said yes. She’s happy for everything to be brought in through her back garden. All we need to do is take out one fence panel here’ – she pointed again, to the right-hand side of the photo – ‘and fix it back in place again afterwards. Well, I say we. I mean you.’
‘It’ll be a lot easier than doing it by parachute,’ said Cal.
‘And when Barbara gets back from her cruise, it’ll all be done and dusted. Do you think you can manage to squeeze it in before the end of September?’
He smiled at the look of anticipation on her face. ‘For you, we’ll make sure we have it finished by then.’
Marion clapped her hands. ‘Oh, you’re a star, thank you so much!’ She turned to Mimi. ‘You’ve got yourself a lovely man there. Just make sure you hang on to him, OK? Don’t let him go!’
‘We aren’t together,’ Cal said hastily. ‘Just friends.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry. That is a shame.’ Marion turned her appraising gaze to Mimi once more. ‘Why not?’
As they made their way back to the centre of Tetbury, Mimi said, ‘I can’t wait until I’m that age. I’m going to go around saying anything I like, whatever crosses my mind. The more embarrassing it is, the more fun I’ll have.’
Cal nodded. ‘It’s like being five years old again. One time, I was in the supermarket with Cora and she said, “Dad, that lady over there has a baby in her tummy and when the baby finds the hole it’s going to come out!”
‘Oh no.’
‘She said it really loudly.’
‘Oh no.’
‘It was pretty awkward.’ Cal’s mouth twitched. ‘The woman wasn’t even pregnant.’
Fifteen minutes later, Mimi was upstairs in the dental surgery vigorously brushing her teeth before being called through for her appointment. A flash of sunflower yellow caught her eye through the frosted glass and she nudged the window open a few inches to see if it was what she thought it was.
Yes, there was Cal in his bright shirt, having settled himself at a table outside the café opposite. He’d ordered a coffee and was scribbling notes in his work diary as he simultaneously spoke on his mobile.
There was something about observing someone whilst they weren’t aware of it. Mimi finished brushing her teeth, then peered around the side of the window again. No longer on the phone, Cal was now stretching his long legs out in front of him, stirring his coffee and engaging in conversation with the ancient owner of an equally ancient Jack Russell. As he spoke, he reached down to scratch the dog’s throat affectionately, and Mimi, watching from across the road, found herself lifting her own chin a fraction, wishing she were the little dog.
OK, when you found yourself secretly spying on someone from a dentist’s bathroom and fantasising about being a geriatric Jack Russell, it definitely meant something.
Not to mention getting those squirly sensations going on in the pit of your stomach every time they smiled at you. And feeling your heart speed up every time you wondered what it would be like to kiss them.
Mimi swallowed. It was time to face facts. She definitely had a crush on Cal Mathieson.
Through the closed bathroom door, she heard the dental assistant enter the waiting room and call her name.
The dentist, once he’d examined her, said, ‘And you’re off abroad tomorrow, I hear?’
‘Nnnggggh.’ His gloved hands were still in her mouth.
‘Well I’d say you got yourself here in the nick of time.’ He sounded delighted. ‘And you’re in luck, because the next patient’s cancelled. So we can get you all sorted out in one go!’