Читать книгу When Alice Met Danny - T A Williams - Страница 14
Оглавление‘So you bought it without viewing it first?’ Sally was aghast.
Alice looked a bit sheepish. ‘It was at auction, and it was so very cheap. I thought I’d got nothing to lose.’ In fact, she acknowledged to herself, she had been caught up in auction fever. Although she had registered, she had only intended to view the different lots as they went under the hammer. But then when this one had appeared for so little, she had decided to put in a bid. To her surprise, nobody else had followed, and she was now the owner of a terraced house in East Devon.
‘So what are you going to do now?’ Sally still sounded very dubious.
‘I suppose I’d better go down and take a look at it. Then I’ve got to pay for it. Plus I’ve got to arrange insurance and all that stuff. I suppose I’d better get it surveyed as well. While I’m at it, I could look for a place to rent until the other one is finished.’ She swilled the last of the cappuccino around in her cup before swallowing it. ‘I don’t suppose you fancy a trip to Devon sometime soon?’
‘I’d love to, Al, but I’ve got my boys to look after.’ Her boys were two Yorkshire terriers and a husband. ‘If I take Cain and Abel on the train, they’ll probably throw up. Come to think of it, Adam might throw up as well.’
‘How is your perfect man?’ Alice had always liked the big, quiet man that Sally had married. For a while they had even tried to set Alice up with his brother, but to no effect. She had always been far too busy.
‘My perfect man is no doubt sitting in a fire station somewhere, rubbing baby lotion on his muscular body after rescuing a few old ladies and a pussy cat.’ Her eyes became positively misty before she returned to the real world. ‘As for Adam, he’s fine. He’s joined a gym because he reckons he’s getting a bit porky.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Between you and me, he’s right. Anyway, how about you and men? Any on your radar, now that you’ve got the time to dedicate yourself to their pursuit?’
‘I haven’t had time, yet. First things first, I need to get my new life on track. Then I can think about men.’
‘What about that tall boy from your office?’ Alice looked blank, so Sally elaborated. ‘You know, the one you introduced me to in that pub that time.’
‘You’re going to have to be a good bit more precise, Sal.’
‘Tall, blond, good-looking, races yachts or something.’
The penny dropped. ‘You mean Danny, Danny Kemp. He doesn’t race yachts. At least, I don’t think so. He does a lot of windsurfing, though. And, no, he’s just a friend.’
‘A handsome one.’ Sally was doing her best to get Alice fired up.
‘I can’t say I’ve noticed.’ That wasn’t strictly true. Only the other day it had occurred to her, but theirs was now a business relationship. ‘Actually, he’s renting my flat from me once I move out.’
‘With his bronzed Australian windsurfing girlfriend?’
‘Not so far as I know. He says he lives on his own. At least, that’s what he told me.’
‘What a waste.’ Sally glanced at her watch. ‘Well, got to go. I dare say you’ll find yourself somebody suitable once you are down among the haystacks. I can see you in a few months’ time, plucking cows, milking chickens…’
‘Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.’
