Chapter 12
The heart-warming and considerate visit from Amber, who was not only a fellow vintage and upcycling enthusiast, but also an ambitious and driven woman, was perfectly timed to crank my own plans up a notch. Before she came I knew it would have been all too easy for me to satisfy my critics by sitting back and watching the summer unfold, then heading blindly into autumn having achieved nothing more than paying someone to install a new shower and fuse box, but I was determined not to let that be my only achievement now.
During the next couple of days I began to make a list, not the usual washing-up liquid and loaf of bread kind of list, like the one I still had from Gwen on the hall table, but a thrilling and motivated ‘things I could do with this place’ version. Listening to Amber talk so passionately about the makeover she had given Meadowview, along with everything else that she and Jake had achieved at Skylark Farm, I realised she was an entrepreneur with a heart, who had maximised the potential of what she had to hand, and I hoped very much that I would be able to achieve the same at Cuckoo Cottage. As I scribbled away on my notepad, I couldn’t help thinking that Gwen and Gran would have been proud of this creative and determined upsurge and I imagined the pair of them looking over my shoulder and smiling like a pair of pensionable guardian angels.
I was both intrigued and excited by the idea of creating a mobile Cherry Tree Café and resolved to cycle back to Wynbridge, in spite of feeling nervous about facing more scrutiny and hostility. I wanted to find out if Amber was right about Jemma’s plan for the Bailey, and if she was, I hoped she would be happy to offer me the project so I could begin straightaway.
For the first time since I arrived at Cuckoo Cottage I could see myself actually achieving something with real clarity and, if Jemma agreed to my suggestions, I could set about repurposing that little van and getting my creative juices flowing again. I was sure that once I was back in the zone other ideas would soon follow and with any luck I would hit upon the idea of how to combine vintage caravans, empty barns and a couple of acres into something wonderfully worthwhile that the locals couldn’t possibly object to.
‘Amber told us you’re planning to have a few hens,’ called Mags as she pulled on to the drive.
She and Ed had taken to popping in every day, either just after breakfast or before teatime, depending on how long it had taken Ed to get everything together for his day of adventuring. Harriet and Rachel’s nursery, Mags had explained, was on land that used to belong to Harriet’s father’s farm and included ‘The Pit’ which, once literally a hole in the ground, was now a vast pond teeming with bulrushes, birdlife and all manner of aquatic delights. It was the perfect environment for Ed to indulge his passions and consequently the little yellow minivan was always packed with nets, jars, buckets and boxes and, of course, one belligerent Jackdaw. Today, however, the load in the back looked a little different.
‘Oh, did she now?’ I said, leaving my notepad on the table in the shade to go and see what it was that Mags was chauffeuring.
‘That is right, isn’t it?’ she asked, climbing out and opening the back doors. ‘That’s why we’ve come to give you this.’
‘It’s my spare,’ explained Ed, as he and his mother manhandled a neat little chicken coop on to the drive. ‘I thought I could help you set it up.’
‘Well, in that case,’ I smiled, ‘yes. I’m having some hens.’
Minnie skittered unhelpfully around our feet as we lugged the pretty little wooden house about looking for the best spot.
‘There’s a run that goes with it,’ puffed Mags, ‘but we couldn’t get it all in in one trip. I really do need to get a bigger van,’ she mused.
‘Do you think I’ll need a run as well?’ I grimaced, as we awkwardly manoeuvred the coop towards the side of the greenhouse. ‘Can’t I just let them run free?’
‘Foxes,’ said Ed with a shake of his curly head. ‘You don’t want to lose the hens as soon as you’ve got them. Let them start off in the run and then think about giving them a wider area to explore when you’re here.’
‘OK,’ I said, grateful for his practical advice and knowledge. ‘Right.’
‘I’ll set the run up if you like,’ he said. ‘I built it myself so I know how to put it back together really quickly. It’s a kind of flat-pack contraption. It would be no bother.’
‘As with most things at our place, it’s a bit Heath Robinson, but Ed’s done a great job,’ said Mags proudly. ‘As always.’
‘Super,’ I said. ‘Thank you.’
At least I knew who I could turn to should I find myself struggling with the intricacies of amateur hen-keeping; Ed was clearly an expert. Once satisfied that we had found the perfect position, he disappeared into the field with Minnie, and Mags and I sliced up the rest of Amber’s delicious cake to have with the bottle of apple juice she had kindly sent for me to sample.
‘So have you hit upon your big idea yet?’ Mags asked, with a nod to my notepad and pen.
I hadn’t expected to make such firm friends so quickly, but both Amber and Mags had been so helpful and kind that I found myself, although usually more guarded, ‘letting them in’ and had consequently shown both of them the vans now. Just as I had with Amber earlier in the week, I had also explained to Mags that Gwen had acquired them with me in mind, but beyond renovating them I was clueless as to what the ‘grand plan’ was.
‘Not yet,’ I sighed.
‘You need to get out more,’ she said, pouring juice and eyeing me shrewdly. ‘Broaden your horizons.’
‘What do you mean?’ I asked, taking a long sip of the tangy, apple-infused essence.
‘Well, it isn’t good for you, is it?’ she said. ‘Being stuck here all day with only that rusty old bike to take you as far as your legs can pedal, you’ll never make any progress like that.’
‘But I see you and Ed every day,’ I reminded her, ‘and Amber has called in and Matt’s coming to look at what needs doing to the cottage. I’ve got plenty to keep me occupied.’
‘He’s the nettle guy, isn’t he?’
‘Yes,’ I said, trying not to meet her eye.
‘Another dish,’ she said wistfully.
‘Another?’
‘Will,’ she reminded me with a playful smile. ‘A pretty girl like you, Lottie, you’re going to be fighting them off soon.’
‘Except you’re forgetting one thing,’ I reminded her.
‘Oh?’
‘I can’t stand the sight of Will, no matter how dishy he is, and Matt and I are strictly business, nothing more.’
She looked at me and waggled her eyebrows.
‘Besides,’ I said firmly, ‘like I told Chris, I don’t want or need a man right now. I’m far too busy trying to work out what I’m going to do with my own life to have to factor someone else’s into it.’
‘Which is why you need to get out more,’ she said, tracking back to her original point. ‘I’m sure if you had a bit of distance from the situation, inspiration would strike.’
‘Really?’
‘Really,’ she confirmed. ‘In my experience that’s how all the best ideas come about. You have to stop thinking about it, Lottie, get yourself away from here for a bit, even if it is for just a few hours. At the moment it’s all too close. Life’s all about striking the right balance, isn’t it?’
‘Well, there’s the party at Skylark Farm Saturday night,’ I reminded her as Ed hopped over the gate. ‘Let’s see what comes to mind after that, shall we?’
I was delighted the next day when Matt’s van turned up, but my sunny disposition was soon heading for the hills thanks to Minnie’s less than hospitable welcome. She certainly wasn’t up for playing the gracious hostess if Matt was the only guy on the guest list.
‘Where won’t you need to look?’ I shouted over the noise of her persistent yapping and growling.
‘The greenhouse,’ he suggested with a straight face. ‘You could stick her in there until she cools off.’
I looked at the greenhouse, the searing sun and cloudless sky and back to Matt again.
‘You are joking,’ I frowned.
‘Of course I am,’ he laughed. ‘Why don’t you just tie her up in the shade under the tree? I’m sure I won’t be too long.’
I didn’t much like the idea of tying Minnie up anywhere. She might be a complete pain in the backside whenever Matt was in the vicinity, but she’d been subjected to enough drama and trauma during the last few months and as her new owner it certainly wasn’t my place to inflict even more.
Matt began to drum his fingers on the steering wheel and I knew I had to make a decision.
‘I’ll put her in the dining room,’ I said, quickly scooping her up before she could object. ‘I can’t imagine there’s anything you’ll need to look at in there.’
‘Has the damp dried out then?’
‘What damp?’
‘Last winter there was a terrible patch in the corner under the window.’
‘Oh,’ I said. ‘I can’t say I’ve seen any and it smells all right.’
Minnie began to growl again and wriggle in my arms.
‘All right,’ said Matt. ‘Stick her in there and I’ll have a look at that another day.’
Having dumped Minnie in the dining room and made us both a drink, I followed Matt about the cottage, my freshly inflated spirit sinking with every head shake and sharp intake of breath.
‘Sounds expensive,’ I said when I couldn’t cope with the suspense of not knowing a second longer.
‘What does?’ he frowned as he tucked his pen behind his ear and stretched up to rub at a tiny speck of something on the bathroom ceiling.
I opened my mouth to answer, but catching a tantalising glimpse of his tanned, toned stomach and the slender line of fine blonde hair which led my eyes towards the waistband of his low-slung cargo shorts, the words died in my throat. I quickly turned away, thinking that if the work did turn out to be expensive at least the view of watching him hard at it would make up for some of the cost.
‘What sounds expensive?’ he asked again.
‘Hmm,’ I said distractedly, as I played out the little fantasy in my head. ‘Oh sorry, it’s your body language. Your body language sounds expensive.’
‘My body language sounds expensive,’ he frowned. ‘Lottie, what are you talking about?’
‘It’s a well-known fact, according to my grandad,’ I explained, ‘that if a builder goes about shaking his head then that’s at least another couple of zeros added to the bill, and God forbid he tuts or chews the end of his pencil, that would mean certain bankruptcy.’
‘Is that right?’ Matt laughed.
‘So he reckoned.’ I shrugged.
‘Well, I shouldn’t worry about any of that,’ he smiled. ‘I’d already quoted Gwen for most of what needs doing and all the figures we discussed were based on “mates’ rates”.’
‘Well, that’s good to know,’ I said, feeling somewhat relieved. ‘Thank you, Matt. Considering I don’t know what you quoted her, you could have plucked any old figure out of the air. That’s very generous of you.’
‘But how can you be sure?’ he teased, pinning me with his beautiful sparkling eyes. ‘For all you know, I could be about to pluck numbers out of the air right now. You said yourself you didn’t know what I’d quoted Gwen so I could just be adding on those zeros your grandad warned you about.’
‘I don’t think you’d do that,’ I said, squeezing around him and back on to the landing.
‘But how do you know?’ he pursued.
‘Instinct,’ I told him. ‘Womanly intuition.’
Matt raised his eyebrows and bit his lip and I felt my heart start to thump a little harder.
‘I might not know the first thing about household DIY,’ I said huskily as I led the way back down to the kitchen, ‘but I know Gwen could read people all right and so can I. I’d recognise a conman if one crossed my path.’
‘Well, you might want to have a bit of a rethink about that,’ Matt said seriously.
‘Why?’ I said, spinning round to face him.
‘Because you’re too trusting by half!’
‘No, I’m not,’ I said defensively.
I was the last person in the world to go around bestowing my trust willy-nilly.
‘Yes,’ he laughed. ‘You are. Lottie, you never, ever admit to a tradesman, no matter how good his reputation, that you don’t know the first thing about what he’s turned up to fix.’
‘But I don’t,’ I shrugged, completely missing his point and thinking that if Gwen thought Matt was up to the job then I had absolutely no reason to doubt him or question his ever-growing list of jobs. ‘I wouldn’t know one end of a U-bend from another.’
Matt groaned and ran a hand through his sun-bleached sandy hair.
‘You really are a piece of work,’ he laughed.
‘What?’ I pouted.
I didn’t appreciate being laughed at.
‘Just promise me,’ he said, laying a hand lightly on my shoulder and looking deep into my eyes again, ‘that if you decide you don’t want me to do the work, promise me you won’t get anyone in, or have anything done, unless you’ve run their name and firm by me first.’
‘But—’
‘But nothing,’ he said, squeezing my shoulder. ‘I’m not trying to patronise you or be chauvinistic. You said yourself you haven’t got a clue, didn’t you?’
‘Yes,’ I croaked. ‘I did.’
‘So you promise, then?’
‘All right,’ I nodded. ‘I promise.’
‘Good,’ he said, removing his hand from my hot skin and waving towards the kettle with a cheeky grin. ‘Now make us another drink, good woman, and I’ll tell you the damage.’
I peered into the depths of my mug, having heard the facts and figures Matt had just run by me and wishing I’d opted for something considerably stronger than coffee. A dram of single malt or a devilishly strong gin and tonic might have softened the blow, but caffeine-loaded coffee didn’t seem to be helping at all.
‘Don’t look so worried,’ said Matt consolingly. ‘We don’t have to tackle everything at once. Why not make the electrics a priority and we’ll work through the rest one job at a time?’
‘Yes,’ I agreed dully. ‘I suppose we could do it that way. In fact,’ I sighed, ‘I think we’ll probably have to.’
‘I have a cousin who happens to be a brilliant electrician,’ he said heartily. ‘He’ll be able to install the new shower for you, and make sure it’s properly earthed, unlike the death box up there at the moment, and he’ll put in an up-to-date fuse box so you won’t need to worry about thunderstorms any more.’
‘That sounds like heaven to me,’ I told him. ‘It would be a comfort to know I can have a shower in safety.’
And I wasn’t just thinking about saving myself the risk of being electrocuted either.
‘I guess I’m just a bit shocked about all the other things that need doing,’ I admitted. ‘I hadn’t even noticed half of them until you began pointing them out, and that’s even before we’ve considered the damp you spotted in the dining room last winter.’
I couldn’t help wondering how many more little bombshells were waiting in the wings to jump out and surprise me when summer faded into autumn. The list Matt had reeled off made Cuckoo Cottage sound more like a Halloween house of horrors than a comfortable country abode, but if Gwen had been all set to push ahead then I was on board and, if anything, I felt relieved there was someone as helpful as Matt poised to make a start. I would never have tackled half of what he said needed doing myself for fear of messing it up. Cuckoo Cottage deserved the very best of attention and unfortunately my renovation and refurbishment skills weren’t going to be a lot of use when it came to tackling major jobs like damp and installing new electrics.
‘That,’ Matt reminded me, ‘is the cost of owning somewhere with a bit of age and character, I’m afraid. It’s inevitable, and repairs don’t come cheap, especially when the person responsible before didn’t quite keep on top of what needed doing,’ he added gently.
‘Um,’ I said thoughtfully.
I couldn’t take umbrage about that because given everything we had just gone through I knew he was right; Gwen had really let the work pile up.
‘I can’t imagine for one second that pointing up brickwork was ever high on Gwen’s list of priorities, was it?’
‘Exactly,’ said Matt, ‘but at least having asked me to make a start, she had made an effort to get to grips with the situation.’
‘That’s true,’ I conceded.
‘And at least you can get going now, Lottie, and literally have your house back in some sort of order before the winter. There’s nothing here that can’t be salvaged. It’s just going to be a bit of a money pit for a while, that’s all.’
I could all too easily imagine myself in the role of Tom Hanks. Getting stuck in a collapsed ceiling and living without a staircase was probably all I had to look forward to for a while now. So much for the grand plans I’d been starting to make. The house alone was going to take every penny Gwen had left me to put right.
‘Thank goodness Gwen was a bit of a saver,’ I muttered without thinking.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Fortunately she left me a bit of money,’ I explained. ‘So at least I can get on with some of the jobs straightaway.’
‘Did she now?’ Matt chuckled. ‘Well, well, I never would have had her down as someone with money in the bank.’
‘I know,’ I agreed. ‘I was surprised myself, and after the many charity bequests there wasn’t a huge amount leftover, but I can see now I would have been in a right old pickle without it.’
I might not have been panicking about finding a job before, but with all these repairs mounting up I knew I was going to have to start earning an income again soon because there was no way I was going to give the gossips the satisfaction of giving in. Gwen had seen to it that I would be here for at least a year but they didn’t know that, and in that time it was up to me to find a way to swim, not sink.
‘I hope I haven’t spoiled your day,’ said Matt, reaching across the table and lightly resting his hand over mine.
‘Not at all,’ I said stoically as I turned my hand over and grasped his. ‘I just need to work a few things out, that’s all.’
‘Well, order yourself a new shower and I’ll get in touch with my cousin and tell him exactly what needs doing.’
‘Thank you.’
I knew I was going to have to go back to town to order the shower online and thought I could conveniently combine the trip with talking to Jemma, so at least that was the glimpse of a silver lining, assuming I didn’t have another run-in at the café gate of course. I really did need to start researching some Wi-Fi options for the cottage because I couldn’t be dragging out the bike every time I wanted to google something or check my emails.
‘I really do appreciate your help, Matt,’ I said, wondering how I would have been getting along had he not stopped to help the day Will nearly ran me off the road. Perhaps our local unfriendly vet had unwittingly done me a favour after all.
‘No problem,’ Matt smiled as I released his hand and he glanced at his watch and stood up. ‘I’m sorry, Lottie, but I really need to get going.’
‘Of course,’ I said, ‘and I’d better rescue the dining room from the madness of Minnie.’
‘Do you think she’s up to spending a few hours here unchaperoned yet?’
‘I don’t know, why?’
‘Because I’d rather like to take you to a party at Skylark Farm Saturday night, if you’d like to come, and I’d like to do it with as little risk to my health as possible.’
‘Oh,’ I faltered, ‘I see. Thank you for the offer, but I’m already going with Mags from down the road. She’s giving me a lift along with her son and neighbour.’
‘Oh well,’ he shrugged, looking disappointed. ‘Not to worry. At least I’ll see you there.’
‘But I will have a word with Minnie,’ I promised, thinking it would probably be a good idea to leave her behind on Saturday now I knew Matt was definitely going to be there. ‘I’ll see if I can convince her that she could do with a girly night in.’
‘Great,’ he laughed. ‘Only don’t mention that you’re going to be seeing me or she’ll never let you out of the house.’
‘Good point,’ I laughed back.
‘I’ll see you at the party, then,’ he said as he headed towards the door, adding in a theatrical whisper when he reached the dining room. ‘Just don’t tell the hound.’
I began to giggle and Minnie, sensing espionage, began to woof.