Eleanor had been at home at The Forge for the past couple of days, waiting for the delivery of the caustic soda with which to make her soap.
Well, that was the excuse she was telling herself and her friends.
In reality, she was still embarrassed about the kiss. Especially now it was all over social media. Thankfully, nobody had recognised the back of her head. And she was hoping to keep it that way.
So she used the delivery, the animals, helping her mum, any pretext she could think of, so that she didn’t have to face him again.
But her hands were driving her crazy with the itching. And once the caustic soda had been delivered she knew she couldn’t put off making her soap any longer.
So in deference to the full heat of summer, she put on her best cut-off shorts, her favourite flip-flops and her smartest T-shirt. She was oozing confidence. At least, that was what she hoped it looked like on the outside.
But her cheeks betrayed her at the first sight of Tom when she almost bumped into him in the huge entrance hall and she could feel them turning bright red.
‘Hi,’ he said, smiling.
Hello,’ she replied, keeping her tone neutral. Cool but friendly.
‘How are you?’ he asked.
‘Great,’ she replied, her voice catching as she looked up at him. ‘You?’
‘Never better.’
‘Great,’ she repeated before walking away. She knew she must have sounded like an idiot but she was still smiling when she came across an excited Annie.
‘Do you want to see the kitchen?’ she said, pulling Eleanor down the corridor before she had a chance to refuse. ‘It’s finally finished.’
Grateful for the distraction, Eleanor had to concede it really was quite a transformation. Soft baby-blue walls matched the brand new Aga. Cream cupboards filled all the walls.
‘It’s lovely,’ said Eleanor.
‘There’s so much storage,’ sighed Annie, smiling.
Away from the food preparation areas, there was a brand new huge oak table that could comfortably seat ten people. In addition, a couple of comfy arm chairs had been placed either side of the new wood-burning stove.
It was a welcoming space. A room to be cherished. It would be the heart of the home. A place to congregate, chat and relax. No doubt, full of love and laughter.
Eleanor found herself yearning to belong to such a place.
‘I’ve still got all those old trays and saucepans if you need them for your soaps and stuff,’ Annie told her.
‘That would be great, thanks,’ said Eleanor. She made a pile of the pans, as well as some old wooden spoons, oven gloves. ‘Don’t you need any of this?’
Annie shook her head. ‘Alex insisted that everything should be new.’ She glanced over her shoulder before whispering, ‘Just don’t tell Sam.’
Eleanor grinned. ‘Mum’s the word.’
‘Do you want to see the guest bedrooms as well?’
Eleanor nodded and followed Annie upstairs. The spare bedrooms were now painted and furnished with beds, wardrobes and other cupboards.
‘What kind of look are you going for?’ asked Eleanor. Apart from the new furniture, the bedrooms were a blank canvas.
‘I have this grand idea that they should each be individual,’ said Annie. ‘You know, the blue room, the green room et cetera. Otherwise there’s too many to refer to. And I didn’t want to say bedroom one, two and so on. But beyond that I’ve no idea. I haven’t even chosen the colour of the curtains yet. The ones Alex keeps picking up are way too expensive.’
‘You know,’ began Eleanor, ‘my mum is great at stuff like that. If you like, she could make you some curtains.’
‘Oh yes please!’ said Annie, looking pleased. ‘That would be great. Country chic. You know the kind of thing.’
‘But without the heavy price tag,’ said Eleanor.
‘But we’ll pay her,’ said Annie in earnest. ‘Do you really think she’ll do it?’
Eleanor nodded. ‘I’ll ask her, but I think she’d be glad to help. Besides, I think it will give her something to focus on. Especially as a couple of the animals are leaving this week.’
‘Awww, the donkey’s going?’ asked Annie, looking sad.
Eleanor rolled her eyes. ‘Not yet. But the local school is having the tortoise and goldfish.’ She sighed. ‘We’re starting off with the small animals. Baby steps and all that.’
She followed Annie back down the wide sweeping staircase, deep in thought. Perhaps this was just what her mum needed. She had always been so good at needlework.
The plan had been for Annie to show Eleanor the stable block, but she suddenly she received a call from somebody regarding marquees for the fete and wandered away to make some notes whilst still chatting on the phone.
‘You okay?’ asked Sam, as she loitered in the hall.
Eleanor was dismayed to see Tom right behind him, her face immediately glowing red once more. ‘I’m just waiting for Annie to finish her call so she can point out where the stables are,’ she replied.
Eleanor was still feeling bashful around Tom, so hid her burning cheeks by playing with Dylan who had rushed up to see her.
‘I’ve missed you these past few days,’ she said, crouching down to stroke the dog’s soft ears. ‘Do you want to help me find the stables?’
‘I can take you,’ she heard Tom say.
‘Oh. Thanks,’ said Eleanor, trying and failing not to carry on blushing. ‘That would be great.’
Feeling a bit nervous, she reluctantly went with him.
‘So,’ he said, ‘what are you needing it for?’
Eleanor felt uncomfortable. This was about her. She didn’t open up to many people, but maybe he understood that as well. ‘I just need a bit of space to make some soap and few face creams for the fete,’ she told him. ‘Nothing fancy.’
The stables were only a few minutes’ walk from the house. They went out the back door and along the narrow path. Once it had been a wide track, but now it was so overgrown that only one person could squeeze through at a time.
She glanced over at the huge back lawn which had become a wild flower meadow, thanks to the complete lack of care and mix of sunshine and rain. Swathes of bright blue cornflowers were marbled with red poppies and tall grasses. There were certainly worse places to be in the summertime.
But the stable block seemed a bit large when she saw it through the trees. It all seemed to be a lot of fuss over nothing. Maybe the carrot oil would help her fingers but she was highly doubtful. But as she went to scratch the eczema patch between her fingers, she figured she might as well give it a shot.
As they rounded a large tree, the group of buildings came properly into view. One was what Annie had described as a coaching lodge. There was another barn there as well.
And then there was the old stable block.
Eleanor stopped abruptly, rooted to the path in shock.
‘It’s falling apart,’ she said, staring aghast at the long brick building in front of her.
It was an L-shape block, holding about ten individual stables. Or, it once had. These days, the brick looked to be crumbling apart.
‘At least the roof looks intact,’ said Tom, staring up at the dark slates.
‘It’s the only bit that is,’ she told him, going across to the stable nearest to her at the end of the block. She went to pull the wooden door open and found only the top half opened. The bottom half of the split stable door was firmly wedged shut.
Tom moved in front of her and yanked it hard until the whole thing fell apart in his hands. He looked sheepish. ‘Well, at least it’s open now.’
‘I don’t suppose Annie and Sam will worry about one more building rotting away,’ said Eleanor.
She poked her head inside and looked around. It was actually quite a large room with a window next to the door making it seem bright and surprisingly airy. And it didn’t smell of horses, thankfully. Just musty, unused, with lots of cobwebs.
‘You know,’ said Tom, also venturing inside. ‘It’s in better condition than you think.’ He flicked the light switch by the door and they were both surprised to see the light bulb in the middle of the ceiling come on. ‘So the electricity is still working,’ he said, nodding in thought. ‘A new door would be quite easy to fit.’
‘I don’t think Sam and Annie want any more costs at the minute,’ said Eleanor. Besides, it all seemed a bit unnecessary. ‘Maybe I can manage back at home,’ she said, beginning to turn away. This had been a silly idea. It had been kind of Annie to offer, but it was too much.
‘Look,’ said Tom, still gazing around at the space inside. ‘I can knock up a new door in next to no time. Maybe a workbench as well.’
Eleanor was shocked. ‘You?’
‘I trained to be a carpenter,’ he told her, smiling at her surprised look. ‘I’m actually quite good. If you buy me a beer, we’ll call it even.’
A frown creased her forehead. ‘I didn’t think you drank.’
His smile grew wider. ‘Don’t believe everything you read in the gossip columns.’
She found that the room suddenly felt a lot smaller with him filling the doorway. They locked eyes for a minute before he turned to study the room.
‘You probably need some shelves too,’ he said.
‘Look, are you sure you’ve got time for all this?’ asked Eleanor.
‘No problem,’ he said.
She got the feeling that he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
He wandered back outside. ‘Did you know there’s an outside tap here as well?’ he said through the window.
Eleanor turned around and tried to focus on the positives. The place needed a good sweep and maybe a bit of weatherproofing. But there was possibility there.
Perhaps Sam and Annie could rent out the space afterwards if they made it clean and tidy, she told herself.
She found that she was smiling. For the first time in a long time, she felt a tiny ping of excitement in her stomach. Maybe this really could work.
After she and Tom had headed back to the house, there was a few more minutes of small talk before he thankfully left.
With relief, she sagged against the back wall. So neither of them had mentioned the kiss. That was good. They could both move on. Forget the whole thing had ever happened.
Except Eleanor wasn’t sure she would ever be able to forget kissing Tom.