It was Friday evening and Nell stood nervously on the steps of the annexe to Little End Cottage. She rapped on the door then dug her hands into her pockets to shield them from the frosty temperature of the night air. As she waited she shuffled her feet from side to side and snuggled deep inside her coat to keep warm.
She knocked again and still nothing.
‘Damn,’ she muttered to herself. She’d ventured out into the cold night on a whim. She’d never even considered there wouldn’t be any answer. She’d lain awake last night and had barely slept a wink, thoughts of restoring the Old Picture House had her pacing the length of the ‘Nollie’ in the early hours of the morning.
She’d had many honest conversations with herself, was she just running away with some romantic notion or could this be a possibility, was she even capable of renovating the Old Picture House back to its original state and make it into a viable business?
The previous evening, after seeing the property in the newspaper Nell had visited her mum at Bluebell Cottage. She’d sat in the kitchen tucking into homemade cottage pie and shared her aspirations for the abandoned building. While Nell enthused about the plans that were whizzing around in her head, she noticed a shift in mood in her mum.
‘The thing is, Nell, that place closed down for a reason. If a proper business person can’t keep it afloat, what chance do you have? Projects like that can be draining mentally and run way over budget. Who’s going to manage the place?’
‘Well, me of course.’
‘Abandon Bea after she gave you a job, a lifeline after everything that happened?’ Gilly tutted.
Feeling deflated, Nell had sunk back in her chair with three gorgeous kittens on her lap. She’d never considered Bea in any of this. Once the picture house was up and running would she need to leave her job? It was something she hadn’t even considered and now here was her mum putting a kibosh on the whole thing with zilch enthusiasm before it had even begun.
‘Ollie and I had always talked about a project, something that would benefit the community and bring a new zest for life into the area.’
‘And Ollie wouldn’t want you to run yourself into the ground. How will this project be funded?’
Nell hesitated, ‘With his life insurance and our savings.’
Gilly had dismissed the subject almost immediately, leaving Nell feeling confused and squashed. It wasn’t quite the reaction she’d expected or wanted.
That was the reason she was here now, knocking on Guy’s cottage door. She couldn’t get the notion of the renovation out of her head, despite her mum’s opinion. She wanted an outsider’s opinion, someone who didn’t have any emotional attachment to the situation.
Nell stared up at Little End Cottage, the place was still picturesque even in the midst of February with the ivy entwined around it’s oak-beam porch and the smoke swirling out of the chimney pot above the thatched roof. There was still no answer; she hesitated then followed the pebble path around the side of the property.
She stood on her tiptoes and peered through the window and caught sight of Guy walking into the living room, then she spotted Sam curled up on the chair by the side of the log burner.
Guy looked as if he’d just come out of the shower, wearing just a pair of grey lounge pants as he stood in front of the TV towel-drying his hair.
Nell found herself gazing at him, rooted to the spot, and couldn’t help but admire his toned, tanned torso. And there it was again, that tingle, goose bumps and flutters in her stomach that had been missing for so long.
Suddenly, Guy jumped up in the air, flung the towel and began to play an imaginary guitar. As Nell watched his exaggerated strumming and lip-synching she couldn’t help but giggle. Just as he was about to jump off the settee she lifted her hand to knock on the window, catching Sam’s eye, who promptly leapt out of the chair and launched himself barking straight at the window.
Startled, Guy stopped in his tracks, whipped his head round and locked eyes with Nell. He casually stepped down from the settee as if it was the most normal thing in the world and his face broke into a smile. Two seconds later, he opened the door to the annexe. Leaning against the doorframe he folded his arms and beamed, ‘Sorry, I didn’t hear you knock, I was just …’ His eyes twinkled. ‘I was just …’
‘You were just what?’ Nell cocked her head to one side and grinned.
‘You can’t beat a bit of Jimi Hendrix. That’s all I’m saying!’
‘If you say so,’ Nell bit down on her lip to quash her smile and secretly wishing Sam hadn’t spotted her at that precise moment. They stared at each other for a brief second before Guy remembered his manners and stepped to one side.
‘Forgive me, come on in. It’s freezing out there.’
‘Thank you,’ Nell brushed past Guy and stepped into the hallway while taking in his divine spicy masculine fragrance, which sent a tingle down her spine.
She heard Sam sniffing at the bottom of the door, which he soon managed to nudge open before he excitedly came bounding towards her.
‘Hello boy,’ Nell said, crouching down and ruffling his ears. He thumped his tail and scampered down the hallway, then promptly returned with a ball that he dropped at Nell’s feet.
‘You have a friend there.’
She smiled cheerfully, ‘That’s good to hear.’
A wooden staircase adorned the hallway, ‘Here, let me take your coat,’ Guy said, hanging it over the banister.
The hallway was lit by a lamp. Stripped wooden beams ran the length of the ceiling and it was extremely quaint and cosy.
‘Make yourself comfy in the living room. It’s probably best if I go and pop some clothes on.’ Guy gestured towards the solid oak door.
Nell blushed slightly but couldn’t stop her eyes flitting over his body one more time before he disappeared into the bedroom.
Sam followed Nell into the living room. It was just how she imagined it, the furniture was sparse and simple, a chesterfield, an antique dresser and a roaring log fire. She settled on the chair next to the wood burner and Sam lay on the rug at her feet, wagging his tail, his tongue hanging out whilst staring at his ball. She could hear Guy humming to himself, then he popped his head around the doorway.
‘Cup of tea before I sit down?’
‘Only if you have time?’
‘I’m sure Jimi Hendrix won’t mind, I can jump off the sofa anytime,’ he winked before disappearing into the kitchen.
Nell gazed around the room. She noticed numerous photographs on the dresser and wandered over to them. She instantly recognised Guy as a young boy, sitting on a man’s lap in the front seat of a digger. ‘My granddad,’ Guy appeared, placing a tray of tea and biscuits down on the coffee table.
Nell swung round startled, ‘Sorry, I wasn’t being nosey.’
‘Don’t worry, that’s one of my favourite photographs. Sugar?’ asked Guy.
Nell nodded, ‘Just the one, please.’
He passed her a mug of tea and she sank back into the chair by the fire. ‘So what can I do for you?’
She looked up and met his gaze, ‘I’ve got a mad idea spinning round in my head and I’ve no idea what to do about it or whether it’s even doable. I’ve tried to talk it over with Mum but she seemed …’ Nell paused, ‘I think reluctant is the word I’m looking for.’
Guy leaned forward and cupped his hands around his drink, ‘Sounds very intriguing.’ He joked, and stared at her with a curious expression.
‘So, I wanted to run it past someone …’
‘Independent,’ he finished off her sentence.
‘Exactly,’ Nell took a deep breath, ‘Okay, here goes,’ she exhaled, placing her mug on the coffee table, sitting up straight and tucking her hands between her thighs.
‘You know the old building on the wharf, the one we stood outside.’
‘The picture house?’
She nodded, ‘That’s the one. If I said to you I was thinking of buying it and renovating it back to its original state, how bonkers would you think I was?’
‘On a scale of one to ten?’ he grinned.
‘I’m being serious.’
Guy’s eyes widened, ‘Well, I wasn’t expecting that, but if I’m truly honest I’d no idea what I was expecting you to say.’
‘You think it’s a daft idea, don’t you?’ Nell sighed, picking up her mug of tea.
He popped a biscuit into his mouth, then slid the plate over towards her. She eyed him nervously, waiting for him to answer.
‘I never said that! With what intention?’ he asked.
‘What do you mean?’
‘With the intention of selling it on to make a profit, or with the intention of trying to make a living out of it? What is your reasoning behind it?’
‘A romantic notion,’ she answered, as thoughts of Ollie flooded her mind.
‘I’m not sure a romantic notion is going to pay the bills.’ Guy’s eyebrows lifted a notch and he jolted Nell back to the here and now.
‘Ollie and I always talked about putting something back into the community, working on a project together and I think this it is. He wouldn’t want to see the place bulldozed for houses. That old place has history. I loved spending quality family time there, happy memories. Do you think it would be flattened for houses?’
‘That’s where the money is.’ Guy admitted reluctantly thinking about all the times his granddad had scanned the paper looking for opportunities, to renovate spare land to build new properties.
‘I can imagine,’ she took a breath, ‘but I want to turn back time, I want everyone flocking back to the Old Picture House for their first dates and creating memories like I have.’
‘I think I said my granddad was in the building trade and in my experience a plot like that has loads of potential but there will already be numerous interested parties. Someone may have already put in an offer.’
‘According to the paper, it’s up for auction.’
‘Okay, so that’s a little different.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Auctions are all about ready cash. Once the auction is won you usually have about fourteen days to complete the transaction, and you’ll have to take the property in whatever state it’s in. The local builders will have the means to snap up projects like this quite easily and the workforce to carry out any work.’
‘What if I had the ready cash?’
He held her gaze and from the look in her eyes knew she meant business.
‘Then I would say if you held your nerve at auction you would be in with a good chance of winning, depending on the reserve, your budget and the money needed to actually furnish it too.’
‘So, you’re saying I need the money to win the auction and then a little bit more.’
‘A hell of a lot more. Okay, if your bid was successful and you renovate the Old Picture House, what are you going to do with it then? Are you going to run it as a business, film museum? What’s the plan? Are you in it to make a profit? A project like this could cost you even more in the long run. The place closed down for a reason.’
So many questions. Guy sounded just like her mum now and Nell had to admit she hadn’t really thought that far in advance, but one thing she did know, she had fire in her belly and something was telling her to do this. Nell sucked in a breath, ‘It sounds all very expensive now you are throwing these types of scenarios at me,’ she said.
Guy placed his cup down on the table, ‘Hey, I’m not trying to put a dampener on it all.’
‘Like my mother,’ she interrupted and couldn’t get her head round why her mum was so dismissive of the idea.
‘All I’m saying is don’t go into this with your eyes shut. It will be a hell of a lot of money to lose if it doesn’t go to plan and I’ve spent a lot of time with my granddad and have seen many a project unfinished due to lack of funds.’
Nell’s eyes began to prick with tears and she came over all emotional, ‘I think I was dreaming there for a minute,’ a tear rolled down her cheek.
‘Hey, don’t knock dreams. Anyone’s dreams can come true; you have to believe in yourself.’ Guy caught Nell’s eye. ‘You have to budget for costs that you may never have even thought of. Here,’ he fished inside his pocket and handed her a tissue.
‘Thank you,’ she said dabbing her eyes. ‘I just feel I have to do this. Something in Ollie’s memory.’
Nell hadn’t really thought about the whole project in that much depth. She’d on many occasions watched re-runs of Homes Under the Hammer on a Saturday afternoon and admired anyone who took on a mammoth task of knocking down and building houses. She cast her mind back to her childhood and remembered the stress of her parents replacing their kitchen. But surely this project would be different: she wouldn’t be living in it, she could manage everything from the safe haven of the ‘Nollie’.
Guy smiled then nodded encouragingly, ‘It’s definitely achievable, but do your homework first.’
Nell knew Guy was right. When Bea had taken over the deli everything had gone wrong initially. The boiler had packed in, the ovens were on their last legs, the roof had leaked and the whole place had needed bringing into this century. But she had done it, and she had an amazing business now.
‘So …’ she smiled over at Guy, ‘Your granddad, did he have his own construction business?’
Guy nodded, ‘He was a very successful, very reputable man over in Ireland. He never had to advertise, all his work came about by word of mouth. Back in the day, he gave me a Saturday job: I was his lackey, at his beck and call,’ he smiled, ‘the tea boy.’
‘You have to start at the bottom,’ Nell chipped in.
‘That’s exactly what he said! But I loved working alongside him and had visions of Cornish and Sons becoming a building phenomenon. I loved the dirt on my hands, the muck in my hair, working outside in the fresh air.’
‘But you became a suit? Stiff collars and ties.’
‘I did,’ he rolled his eyes, ‘but that’s a story for another day.’
Nell didn’t press him any further, but peered up at Guy through her fringe and grinned, ‘So you like getting your hands dirty?’
‘I do,’ his eyes danced playfully. ‘What is going on in that little mind of yours, Nell Andrews?’ he gave her a lopsided grin that sent her heart into a spin.
‘Maybe you could help me, guide me and point me in the right direction. If I decided to go ahead with the picture house?’
‘I suppose I could be your right-hand man.’
‘Would you? Are you absolutely sure?’ she spluttered happily.
‘One hundred per cent. I’m already quite excited about the project, but that auction needs to be won first. And you need to think seriously about your plans for the place.’
Nell didn’t know exactly what that entailed but she like the thought of Guy being her right- hand man, guiding her through the project. She liked the thought of spending more time with him, full stop.
‘The more I think about it the more excited I am about the whole thing.’
‘Have you any other plans for tonight? We could talk figures, come up with some ideas.’ He gave her a cheeky smile.
Nell felt her cheeks flush a little as she held his gaze.
‘My only plans tonight involved a bottle of wine and then I’d probably curl up with a book. I know … I sound so old!’
‘I can open a bottle. I owe you one of those,’ he stood up waiting for Nell to answer, ‘and maybe a take-away. I’ve not eaten yet.’
Nell nodded, ‘That sounds perfect and an offer I can’t refuse, but as long as you don’t mind me gate-crashing your Friday night.’
They both stared at Sam, who was lying flat out on the sheepskin rug.
‘Look at him, he’s not going to be much company, you win hands down,’ Guy softened his words, ‘Even if you are bending my ear about properties.’
Nell felt her whole body prickle with goose bumps. She’d begun to feel alive again, something she hadn’t felt for a long time. And thanks to Guy Cornish she couldn’t think of a better place she’d rather be at this moment in time.