CHAPTER NINE
Sam woke up eager to get to work for once. He told himself it was because he enjoyed being at Kath’s house, and the work was hard but straightforward, easy to lose yourself in. Nothing to do with the possibility of Charlie being there.
He stopped halfway through putting his jacket on. He had no idea if Charlie would be there or not? For all he knew, it was only for last week while Kath was working.
Not that it made any difference whatsoever.
Zipping up his coat, he glanced out the living room window at the weather. The sky had that off-white look to it, the one he associated with snow. They’d forecast a bleak four months from November to February—lots of snow and chilly weather—but so far, the closest they’d come to snow was a few sleet showers a couple of weeks ago. Looked like that might change today.
With that in mind, he grabbed his beanie off the hook and slipped it on.
Since Dave was only working the morning, Sam took his own van and met Dave there.
“Morning.” Dave’s breath turned misty in the frigid air and he shuddered. “Bloody cold this morning.” Glancing up at the foreboding sky, he echoed Sam’s thoughts from earlier. “I reckon we’re finally gonna get that snow they’ve been banging on about for weeks.”
“Yeah.” Sam led the way up to the front door. “I hope it holds off till later though. Don’t fancy driving the van in it.” His van was shit in the snow. Even an inch of it was a nightmare.
Dave frowned. “It was all right last year, wasn’t it?”
“I know, but we had about two days of snow tops last winter.”
“Hmm.” Dave gestured to the sky. “I think we might be in for a bit more than two days’ worth this time round.”
“Let’s hope not.” They reached the door, and Sam let out a low whistle. A huge wreath now adorned Kath’s front door, made with fir and holly, with red berries and silver pinecones breaking up the green. A big red bow sat at the bottom, and red ribbon attached the wreath to a small hook near the top of the door. “Very Festive.” He knocked, heart rate picking up a little as they heard footsteps thundering down the stairs.
Dave raised an eyebrow. “Christ, someone’s in a hurry. Sounds like a heard of elephants.”
Two seconds later the door swung open and Charlie stood there, slightly out of breath. “Sorry. You’ve not been here long, have you? I was in the bathroom, only heard you knocking when I opened the door.”
Laughing, Dave patted Charlie on the shoulder as he stepped inside. “That’s probably more information than we needed. And we’ve only just got here, so don’t worry.”
Sam followed them through into the hallway, pausing on the threshold to have a look at his paintwork from Friday. He’d planned on giving the whole lot a second coat anyway, but it was good to see that barely any of the underneath colour had bled through. At least he’d finished glossing all the skirting boards and architraves on Friday, just the doors left. Once he finished the hall, it was the living room to paint and possibly the kitchen if he had time.
“Kath working the early shift again this week?” Sam asked.
“Yeah. She’ll be back this afternoon.” Charlie turned to face him. “She was impressed with how quick you both were, by the way. Pretty sure she’s already got all her Christmas stuff out of the loft in the hope that you’ll be done early.”
“We saw the wreath.”
“I’d be shocked if you missed it.” Charlie grinned.
Sam did a quick calculation in his head. Get the hall finished off today. Living room tomorrow, possibly running over into Wednesday, and then the kitchen on Thursday. “It might be done a day or so earlier. We’ll see how today goes.”
“Awesome.” Charlie clapped his hands. “She’s itching to get the house decorated. Wouldn’t surprise me if she turns up at my flat this week wanting to decorate that instead.”
“Sounds like my sister.”
Charlie gave him a curious look. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”
“Well, she’s my step-sister, but you know.” He shrugged. “I’ve known her about seventeen years now. Feels like she’s always been family.” Issy had been a pain in the arse when his mum and her dad had first got together, but now he couldn’t imagine not having her in his life. Didn’t want to. “Since she had the girls, she gets her tree up and decorations out on the first of December without fail. Her house looks like Santa’s grotto.”
“And you love it,” Dave chimed in.
Sam grinned, not even attempting to deny it. Just the thought of it made him happy. “Yep. I do. There’s nothing like Issy’s house to get you in the Christmas spirit. I’m going round there for dinner soon. Can’t wait.” The hallway started to feel a little crowded with all three of them stood in it. “Right then,” Sam said. “Better crack on then.” He and Dave left Charlie to whatever he got up to on that laptop of his and closed the door behind them.
Talk of Christmas and Issy had him in a great mood, and he found himself humming Christmas carols as he got his gear ready.
DAVE LEFT JUST before twelve, to thankfully still clear roads, and by one o’clock Sam was starving. Setting his brushes aside, he went to wash his hands. As he finished, Charlie popped his head around the kitchen door.
“What you doing for lunch?”
Sam gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. “I’ve got some sandwiches in the van.”
“Oh.” Charlie scratched his chin. “I’ve just ordered a pizza and wondered if you fancied sharing as I’ve ordered a large and garlic bread.” He scrunched his nose up. “Sorry, I probably should’ve asked before I ordered. If you’ve already got lunch sorted, don’t worry about it. I’ll just stick it in Kath’s fridge for tomorrow.”
Hmm. Cheese sandwiches and a bag of Walkers french fries, or pizza and garlic bread. Yeah, no contest really. His stomach growled at the thought of it. “Pizza sounds great, thanks. My sarnies can keep till tomorrow.”
“You sure?”
Sam laughed, “God, yes. My lunch isn’t exciting enough to rival pizza.”
“Great.” Charlie smiled back, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
He had a lovely smile—full lips, nice teeth, but not too perfect to make Sam feel self-conscious about his own. Abruptly, Sam realised he was staring at Charlie’s mouth, and to his horror found himself leaning forward ever so slightly. Straightening, he shuffled back a little, hoping it wasn’t as obvious as it felt. “Right, well I might as well do a little more while we wait for it to arrive.”
Charlie’s expression was hard to read, but Sam got the feeling he’d noticed him staring. “Okay.”
Before things got weird, or weirder because Sam already felt a bit of tension creeping in, Sam turned and hurried back to the safety of his brushes.
When he heard the door click shut, he blew out a breath and shook his head. Had he changed his mind? Did he want to go there with Charlie? From the minute Dave pointed out who Charlie was, Sam had been vehemently opposed to even looking at him twice. But despite his best efforts not to, Sam liked him. Could see himself really liking him.
Well, he liked this new improved version. The Charlie he went to school with would forever be a dick in his mind.
Fuck.
If he was ever going to get past that, he was going to have to bring it up and see what Charlie had to say for himself. But not while Sam was working for his sister.
It could wait.
Pizza arrived about twenty minutes later, and Sam joined Charlie at the kitchen island to eat it. He’d moved his laptop to one of the other worktops out of the way, and they sat on the high stools. “How was your weekend?” Sam asked, taking a sip of the Coke Charlie just handed him. He’d been curious about Charlie visiting his ex but didn’t think it was his business to ask outright, so he tried the roundabout way. “Get up to much?”
Charlie set his half-eaten slice back on his side of the box. Yeah, he knew exactly what Sam was asking. “Friday night wasn’t the greatest. Ended up going straight home after picking up my stuff.”
A part of Sam was happy to hear it hadn’t gone well, and he immediately felt guilty for thinking it. “You should’ve joined us at the pub. It was a good turn out.”
“Nah, I wasn’t in the best mood. I’d have been shit company, and that’s not the impression I want to make when meeting new people.”
“Really, the bar is set low where those lot are concerned.”
Charlie laughed. “Noted.”
“What about the rest of the weekend? Couldn’t all have been crap, surely?” Sam wanted to get off the subject of Charlie’s ex.
“It was all right. Tidied up the flat a bit, unpacked the rest of my boxes, and went to lunch at my mum and dad’s.”
“Sounds nice.” Sam hadn’t been for Sunday lunch at his mum and Steve’s house in a while. He should invite himself round soon.
“Oh, I spoke to an old mate of mine on Sunday night. He went to Moreston with us. Remembered you.” His eyes were full of laughter and mischief and Sam frowned.
Is that at my expense?
“What’s his name?”
“Gary Smith.” He raised an eyebrow. “Ring any bells?”
Gary Smith… Gary Smith…
“Not sure.” Sounded familiar maybe, but the name wasn’t exactly unusual. Not sure he wanted to know, but unable to help himself, he asked, “What did he have to say about me?”
Charlie choked on the mouthful of Coke he’d just taken. Coughing, he muttered, “went down the wrong way.” When he’d recovered, he added, “Nothing much. When I described you and told him your name, he remembered you and some lad you used to knock around with.”
Sam held his breath.
Fuck.
Maybe they were about to have this conversation now whether Sam wanted to or not.
“Oh?” he said, letting Charlie take the lead.
“That was about it, just your name.” He glanced down at his food, then reached for his drink. “It’s not like we hung out together or anything.”
“True.” The tension in Sam’s shoulders eased, but he couldn’t decide if he was relieved or disappointed the conversation they needed to have had been avoided for now.
Relieved, he told himself. Definitely relieved. No matter how friendly they were, Sam was still working on a job for Charlie’s sister. He couldn’t very well go starting an argument with her brother, in her kitchen. And he had no doubt they were going to have very differing opinions on the matter. The fact that Charlie seemed to have forgotten all about it spoke volumes.
His hackles rose, and a flare of irritation took him by surprise.
God, he was so not over it. No matter how nice Charlie was these days.
With a new resolve to have it out with Charlie before getting any friendlier with him, Sam finished his pizza quickly. “Thanks for that. How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing. It’s on me.” He waved away Sam’s protests. “You can buy me a drink on Friday night?”
“You’re coming?” It obviously came out sharper than intended because Charlie frowned, eyes uncertain.
“If the offer’s still open?”
Bollocks, he hadn’t meant to put him off. Yes, they needed to talk, but that was his problem, nothing to do with Dave and the others. Sam wasn’t an arsehole. He tried to make his smile as welcoming as possible. “Yeah, course.” Charlie’s pinched expression softened. “Right, I’d better get back to work. I don’t want to have to tell Kath she can’t put her decorations up this weekend.”
Leaving Charlie to the rest of his lunch, Sam went back to painting the upstairs doors. But the urge to bring up Nigel and the fight stuck with him for the rest of the day. He kept to himself, politely refusing Charlie’s offers of tea until Kath came and took over.
WHEN SAM KNOCKED on the door Tuesday morning, it was Kath who opened it. Not Charlie. “Oh,” he said, too slow to hide his disappointment.
Kath raised an eyebrow, her expression far too knowing for Sam’s liking. “Expecting someone else?”
“Yes… I mean, no, but…” He shrugged uselessly. “I thought you were on the early shift this week?”
“I was, but I’ve swapped with one of the other nurses so they can go see their kids nativity play.” She grinned at him. “Sorry, but you’ll have to make do with me this morning.”
Sam remembered his manners and smiled back. “I’ll try to keep the noise to a minimum.”
“Don’t be silly.” She waved him inside. “Come in out of the cold. The only thing I’m doing this morning is sitting on the sofa and reading my book.” Shutting the door behind him, she shivered. “Christ, it’s freezing out there.”
“Yep. My van was iced up this morning. Took me ages to defrost everything.”
“I bet you could do with a cup of tea then? The rate Charlie seems to be getting through my tea bags, he must do nothing but make it all bloody day.” She shook her head. “And he never usually drinks the stuff.”
Sam almost misstepped. Didn’t normally drink it? Charlie was always putting the kettle on. Is it mostly for my benefit? Warmth bloomed inside him, not entirely welcome. “Tea would be lovely, thanks.”