Читать книгу Escape to Willow Cottage: The brilliant, laugh-out-loud romcom you need to read in autumn 2018 - Bella Osborne, Bella Osborne - Страница 16

Carly breathed in the damp air as she stood outside the treehouse and tried to stay calm. ‘What do you mean we’re going on a hike?’ asked Carly. ‘Everything is soaked after last night’s colossal rainfall.’

‘Yes, but it’ll be fun.’

‘No, it won’t.’ Carly needed the toilet but there was no way she was using the khazi, as it had now been termed much to Fergus’s amusement.

‘Come on, Carls. It’s sunny and once you get in the fresh air …’

‘Fresh air? It smells of sheep poo! Where exactly are we going?’ Perhaps there was a purpose to the hike, thought Carly, and her interest improved slightly.

‘Dunno,’ shrugged Fergus. ‘Thought we could have a wander …’

‘And what about tonight?’

‘Tonight?’

‘Yes, what’s happening tonight?’ asked Carly, tilting her head in expectation.

‘Dunno. Find a pub? What do you want to do?’

‘So you’ve got nothing planned, then?’ Carly leaned forward slightly as she spoke, keen to catch every nuance in Fergus’s response.

‘Nope. It’s a free and easy weekend.’ Fergus gave a toothy boyish grin.

‘Grrr!’ said Carly, there wasn’t a sign for that but her expression said it all. ‘Well, I’m not staying here. It’s not luxury, there’s no gourmet food, and you’re … you’re not doing anything!’ She ran out of steam.

Fergus signed his reply very slowly. ‘It’s a treehouse.’

‘I know it’s a sodding treehouse, and I’ve had enough of it and its stinking khazi!’

Carly stomped back inside, threw the few things she’d unpacked into her bag and stormed out with Fergus close behind. She was muttering to herself as she reached the bottom step and diligently stomped across the field trying to avoid the sheep poo.

‘Please don’t walk off, Carls. I hate it when I can’t see what you’re saying.’

She turned briefly. ‘I’m going home!’ she shouted, and felt her foot skid as she stepped on a fresh sheep poo. She heard Fergus start to laugh behind her and that sent her annoyance sky-high and drove her on across the fields and back to the farm. He was such a child and she was losing all hope of him ever growing up.

Carly was pleased to find that the farmer was very accommodating and happily called her a taxi for the station. She spent the twenty minutes she had to wait obsessively wiping her sandals on the grass nearby in a vain attempt to rid them of the poo. There was no sign of Fergus. He had given up the chase after the first field.

Thankfully, when the taxi arrived it was driven by a rare breed of taxi driver – an unchatty one that delivered her to the station in virtual silence where she stared in disbelief at the travel chaos. Apparently flash floods had caused all sorts of problems and there were loads of cancellations. She joined a long queue and eventually got her turn in front of a very stressed-looking woman.

‘I want to get to London.’

‘Not from here, not for a while. Sorry. The rain and floods have taken down trees and there’s been a passenger incident on the London line.’ The woman pulled a sympathetic face, probably in the hope that this piece of information would stop Carly from ranting at her. ‘Bank holiday weekend,’ she added, as if that explained the suicide. At least my weekend isn’t as bad as that poor soul’s, thought Carly.

‘So where can I get to?’ asked Carly, realising as soon as she’d said it what a stupid question it was.

‘Um, trains to Gloucester are running okay …’

‘Gloucester? I’ve a friend near there. Thank you!’ Carly hurried back to the departures board.

Beth and Leo were fresh from the shower and sitting at Jack’s kitchen table munching on muesli when he walked in. Leo had a towel wrapped round him and Beth was wearing a Jedi dressing gown that was far too big for her but had been conveniently hanging on the back of the bathroom door.

‘Sorry, I didn’t think to go back for dry clothes,’ she said by way of explanation.

Jack was suddenly frowning at Beth, making her look down, which was when she realized the dressing gown was gaping open. She quickly wrapped it around herself with a firm motion and tied the belt securely. ‘Whoops,’ Beth said as she felt her cheeks colour and she had to look away. They stayed in uncomfortable silence for a few moments, both wondering what to say next.

‘The stalls are up, so I slipped away. How are you two feeling?’ Jack gabbled as he got himself a glass of filtered water from a jug in the fridge.

‘Better, thanks,’ said Beth. ‘Oh, and thanks for giving us the barbecue, that was kind of you.’

‘No problem.’ Beth noticed Jack almost smiled before looking away.

‘You’ve got a huge TV!’ said Leo, shovelling in another spoonful of muesli.

‘Not that we’ve had a nose around,’ said Beth, her voice quickening up. Obviously they had had a good nose around. ‘It’s a lovely cottage, Jack. Bigger inside than it looks from the front.’

‘It wasn’t a lot better than Wil—’ he stopped himself. ‘Than your place, well, before the ceilings fell in anyway.’ Beth rolled her eyes. ‘I had to rip everything out, refit the kitchen and bathroom and replaster everywhere.’

‘You need a strong wrist action for that, don’t you?’ asked Beth innocently.

‘Mmm, yeah.’ Jack blinked hard, cleared his throat and carried on. ‘The only thing I got someone in for was the electrics.’

Beth looked around the sleek and compact fitted kitchen. ‘You did this?’

‘Yeah, Simon gave me a hand. He’s a carpenter by trade but earns more working at the supermarket, if you can work that one out.’

‘Nick was rubbish at DIY,’ said Leo, without looking up from his bowl.

‘Nick is my ex,’ explained Beth. ‘He was rubbish at a lot of things.’

‘Right.’ Jack looked uncomfortable. ‘The toughest bit was getting up the flooring in here.’ Jack was rummaging in a drawer as he spoke and he pulled out some photographs. ‘They’d used some sort of super-strong adhesive and every tile shattered and every bit of adhesive had to be chipped off the floor. It took me days.’

Beth wasn’t listening, she was thinking. She didn’t like asking for help but this was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up. ‘Do you fancy getting a bit more involved?’

Jack looked startled at the proposition. Beth held his gaze. He rubbed his chin and looked from a smiling Beth to Leo, who was helping himself to another bowl of muesli. Jack fiddled with the photographs in his hands.

‘Thanks … and everything but I’m not …’

‘Oh, I’d pay you,’ said Beth, ‘I wouldn’t expect you to do it for free. It’s not a favour I’m asking; it would be a business arrangement.’

Jack’s frown deepened. ‘You’re a lovely, um, woman, but you know I’m not ready for a relationship … or business arrangement … of any kind right now or anytime soon.’

Beth looked momentarily confused until she realized how what she’d said may have sounded. ‘Oh, God, no!’ She got a fit of nervous giggles. ‘I meant more involved in Willow Cottage. Not with me!’

‘Oh, I see.’ Jack looked thankful.

‘Sorry. That sounded okay in my head.’ Beth giggled as her nerves took over. Leo rolled his eyes and carried on eating.

‘No. My mistake,’ said Jack, trying to look anywhere but at Beth.

‘To be clear. I’d pay you to help at Willow Cottage. Nothing else.’ Her cheeks were burning and she hated to think what colour they had turned. At least the heat might help to dry off her hair, which was hanging loosely around her shoulders.

‘Right, of course. Sure, I’d be happy to help.’ Jack gulped down the rest of his water.

Beth wasn’t sure if Jack meant it but, if it was embarrassment at his mistake that had made him agree, she was okay with that as Jack clearly knew what he was doing when it came to renovation.

‘What are they?’ asked Beth, pointing at the photos, desperate to change the subject. Jack looked down too and jolted his head as if he was just noticing them for the first time.

‘They’re before and after pictures of this place.’ He stepped closer and leaning over Beth’s shoulder he placed the photographs on the table in pairs. Beth could smell his aftershave and the closeness of him made her pulse quicken. What on earth was going on? Perhaps being naked under the bathrobe was setting off some sort of primal alarm. She tried to concentrate on the pictures in front of her. She reached out a hand to pick up the after photo of the living room as Jack reached across and her hand connected with his forearm. Some sort of zing made them both spring apart. Beth looked up and then realized how close her face was to Jack’s. There was a moment where they both froze.

‘I like your wood …’ started Beth, realizing her mouth had gone dry. She pointed to the driftwood shelf in the picture. ‘It’s really lovely.’

‘I can give you one if you’d like?’

Beth’s eyebrows shot up and Jack’s face registered the overtone of the otherwise innocent conversation. Their eyes widened at the same time.

‘Anyway, I had better get back …’ Jack was looking awkward as he moved quickly towards the front door.

‘Oh, and us too.’ Beth stood up, clutching the robe around her, and beckoned Leo to his feet. He stood up, holding his towel with one hand and still spooning food into his mouth with the other as he inched round the table. ‘We need to get the tent dried out.’

Jack opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

‘It’s a long story,’ said Beth, as she squeezed passed him. ‘Thanks for the use of the shower and for breakfast. We really appreciate it.’ She took the spoon from Leo and dropped it in the sink as they passed. ‘We’ll wash these and drop them back sometime,’ she said, indicating the bathrobe and towel as she slipped out of the front door and let out a sigh of relief. It was still early so hopefully not too many people would see them make the dash back to the cottage but anything was better than being trapped in an innuendo nightmare with Jack.

A couple of hours later Denis called for Leo and the two disappeared to play in the pub garden as the green was fully occupied with lots of people rushing about with boxes, cakes, plants and large vegetables. Thankfully, Kyle the builder had heeded her plea and arrived early and imparted the glorious news that he thought the ceilings might be covered by her insurance. A few lengthy calls later and it was agreed that she could get quotes for the water damage and an assessor would visit the following week.

Beth felt surprisingly good walking Kyle through her priorities and from his previous visit he was able to confirm what he could and couldn’t do for the money she was prepared to pay. Kyle did some makeshift repairs to the roof so it was temporarily watertight, and promised to drop the quote round for the insurance work in the next couple of days.

Beth went out into the back garden to check on the progress of the tent, sleeping bags and bedrolls that were drying out nicely on the improvised washing line which was one of the bushes. She thought she heard a noise like someone knocking on a door and, suspecting that Leo was back, went back into the house and opened the front door.

‘Surprise!’ said an overenthusiastic Carly as she threw her arms round Beth and squeezed her.

Beth stood rooted to the spot. Her mind went a complete blank for a moment, perhaps she was in shock. Eventually Beth hugged her back. ‘Wow, um, this is a surprise. Where’s Fergus?’ she asked, looking behind Carly.

‘Huge disaster. Treehouse was exactly that. It was a hut in a tree in a field and there was no proposal so … bloody hell, this is a shithole!’ she said, suddenly noticing the hallway she’d walked into. She glanced into the living room. ‘What the hell happened?’ Carly swung round and it was as if she went into slow motion giving Beth time to observe every detail; she was immaculate from her sleek dark glossy hair, to her perfectly pedicured toes. She was wearing a petite summery dress and casual jacket and looked like an advert for summer. Beth on the other hand had dried-by-itself hair with roots that were well past the ‘need touching up stage’, was wearing a now rather tatty Ted Baker blouse, thanks to its encounter with the cottage’s overgrown shrubbery, and a pair of cheap flip flops. She wiggled her unpainted toes self-consciously.

Beth didn’t like the feeling that came over her. It was a mixture of embarrassment and jealousy and it wasn’t pleasant to admit to. The contrast between her and Carly was now a chasm whereas only a few weeks ago they had been like two perfectly fashioned peas in an organic designer pod. Beth found she was grinding her teeth again, so she stopped.

‘Let’s go to the pub and I’ll explain,’ said Beth, putting an arm around Carly and steering her out of the front door. Carly put on her sunglasses and didn’t argue. As they walked towards the pub, Beth sniffed the air. ‘Can you smell poo?’

Two large glasses of wine later, both women were feeling a whole lot better having offloaded all of their woes to the other. Beth was feeling more settled in Carly’s company and now felt bad for having had her earlier pang of jealousy. It was lovely to see Carly even if it was unexpected. And at least now Carly had seen Willow Cottage in all its awfulness she would appreciate its transformation when it was eventually renovated.

‘I’ve missed this so much, Beth. I’ve missed you.’ Carly looked teary as she reached out a hand.

‘I’ve missed you too.’ Beth gave Carly another hug. She’d missed having someone to talk to that knew her inside and out. ‘Right, you get yourself another glass of wine and I’ll take Leo and Denis to investigate this Summer Fete. That should buy us some more chatting time.’

The boys were like pinballs at the fingertips of the legendary pinball wizard as they charged around the village green from stall to stall. A lot more children seemed to have appeared, some of whom Denis knew, and before long there was a small gang of children dominating one stall at a time. All the old favourites were there; Hook A Duck, Coconut Shy, and Splat the Rat as well as newer ones like face painting, temporary tattoos and Football Penalty Shootout. The latter was a big hit with the boys and, while they were rejoining the lengthy queue for yet another go, Beth went to investigate the marquee. She walked across the spongy grass taking in the pale azure sky and the sound of people laughing and generally having a good time. Beth was enjoying the village green fete, you didn’t get anything quite like it in London. The marquee was huge inside and had been sectioned off for different competition items; the results of the best cake were being announced as Beth made her way nearer the front and tried to ignore how uncomfortably warm it was.

A woman in a floaty top and leather trousers was tapping a microphone. ‘So, in third place … Mr Pleasance with his giant pineapple cake. One to rival Mr Plumley’s marrow,’ snorted the woman at her own joke. Mr Pleasance happily accepted his third-place rosette and returned to the crowd amidst lots of backslapping. ‘Second place goes to the wonderful gooey chocolate cake by Mrs Oldham.’ A lengthy round of applause followed as a miffed Mrs Oldham, putting on her best valiant-loser face, accepted her rosette and prize. ‘And the worthy winner of Dumbleford’s Summer Fete Best Cake Competition is …’ The woman left too much of a pause and the crowd started heckling. ‘Mrs Pritchard and her 1960s cherry and almond cake!’ Beth was wondering what qualified it as 1960s when a violently coloured swirly patterned cake was lifted up high to whoops of applause.

To Beth’s surprise, the person that collected the red rosette and glinting glass trophy was none other than Shirley the bag lady. Beth joined in the enthusiastic clapping as Shirley took the microphone. ‘It’s also a proper 1960s cake inside, if you know what I mean! Pound a slice, come and get it!’ Before she could hand back the microphone there was a surge of people towards her.

Beth was laughing as she left the marquee and on checking her watch realized that the time had sped by and she had left Carly on her own for a lot longer than she’d intended. She found the now-penniless boys who were sitting under a vast gnarled oak tree swapping sweets they had won, and the three of them made their way back into the pub.

Leo and Denis disappeared out into the garden and Beth strode towards where she had left Carly. She could hear Carly’s raucous laughter before she saw her and it made her smile. The small table now had two empty wine bottles on it and someone else was sitting there with Carly draped over them. For a moment Beth thought that Fergus had turned up until she took a proper look. Jack had his arm around Carly and she was going in for a kiss.