Second Chances in Tuppenny Bridge: A totally heartwarming feel-good read, page 15
Kat had laughed. ‘I know! All that crochet and the hundreds of ornaments.’
‘And that awful carpet! And the fireplace!’
‘The land that taste forgot.’ She sighed. ‘Aw, but I do love them. They’re such good people.’
‘I know,’ Jonah said, smiling. ‘I know.’
As they neared Daisyfield Cottage, Jonah nudged her. ‘Noah’s here anyway.’
He nodded towards a smart, black SUV standing outside the Callaghans’. Noah had only got it last year, and Isobel had boasted about their new car to everyone and anyone who’d listen, so they both recognised it instantly.
‘You don’t think he’s brought Isobel with him, do you?’ Kat asked, wrinkling her nose at the thought. She could do without her jibes and sarcastic comments today—or any day for that matter.
‘Hell, I hope not.’ Jonah sounded as horrified at the thought as she was, which cheered her up. ‘I can’t see her wanting to spend her Sunday decorating though, can you?’
‘Probably not,’ Kat admitted with some relief. ‘Especially not as a favour to someone else.’
‘Well exactly.’ Jonah frowned. ‘If she is there we’ll just have to pretend to be pleased to see her. For Noah’s sake.’
‘And try to keep the peace all day, despite her jibes.’
They knocked on the door, and a few moments later they were ushered inside by Jamie Callaghan, who was clearly in a very good mood.
He led them through to the kitchen, where they found Jennifer brewing up already, while Ben handed out bacon sandwiches.
‘We haven’t even started yet and we’re already being rewarded,’ Noah joked, taking a plate from Ben and grinning at Jonah and Kat.
‘You’ve got to have fuel if you’re going to be working,’ Jennifer said.
Jonah wondered if, like him and Kat, the others had already eaten breakfast for just that reason, but were too polite to say so. He certainly didn’t feel able to refuse when Jennifer smiled brightly at him and said, ‘Three rashers or four?’
‘Just three please,’ he said quickly, wondering if he’d be too full to do any work at all at this rate. He was pleased to see Sally and Summer there, as well as a teenage girl he didn’t know. He was even more pleased that there was no sign of Isobel Lavender.
‘This is Eloise,’ Jennifer said, as if noticing his glance at the dark-haired girl who was leaning on the worktop, watching them all with interest. ‘She’s Jamie’s girlfriend.’
‘Aw, pleased to meet you, Eloise,’ Kat said, giving Jamie a fond look. ‘Where did you two meet then?’
‘We go to the same school,’ Eloise explained.
‘Another St Egbert’s pupil, eh?’ Kat smiled. ‘Have you done any decorating before?’
Eloise looked a bit worried. ‘No. Does it matter?’
‘Not really,’ Jamie assured her. ‘I’ve never done any either. We’ll learn together.’
She blew him a kiss and Kat gave Jonah an amused look. He smiled back. Young love. It was quite sweet really.
‘Rafferty’s going to pop along later,’ Sally promised. ‘He’s hoping to be here at around one.’
‘But I’ll have to leave then,’ Summer added. ‘Joseph needs some help at Whispering Willows.’
Jonah frowned. ‘Is he still under the weather?’
‘Apparently the doctor said he’s a bit anaemic, which explains the tiredness. He’s taking medication so hopefully he’ll feel better soon.’
‘No Isobel?’
Kat obviously couldn’t resist checking, and Jonah could practically sense her holding her breath as she waited for Noah’s answer.
He shrugged. ‘No, sorry. She’s busy.’
‘Not to worry,’ Jonah said immediately, sensing a sudden tension in Noah’s stance. He wondered how things were between the two of them. Even though he and Noah had been friends for a long time, he knew very little about his home life. He was never invited round to their house, and Noah rarely visited him at Forge Cottage. The Lavenders certainly kept themselves to themselves, and Jonah had no idea if Noah was still happy with his wife or not.
He supposed he should try to find out, but it wasn’t something he felt comfortable with. It was none of his business really, and surely Noah would tell him if he wanted him to know? Frankly, he couldn’t imagine how it would be possible to be happily married to Isobel, but then again, Noah had been madly in love with her since he was a teenager, so he clearly didn’t feel the same. Each to their own.
Ben handed Jonah and Kat their bacon sandwiches, then sank into a chair with a sandwich of his own. Summer sat on his knee, and he put his arm around her waist while they ate their breakfast, contented looks on their faces.
‘Now,’ Jennifer said, carrying cups of tea and coffee to the table, ‘how are we going to do this?’
‘What exactly are we decorating today, Jennifer?’ Kat asked. ‘Is it more than one room?’
‘I’ve bought everything we need for the bathroom, the living room, and my bedroom,’ Jennifer said. ‘The other rooms are absolutely fine, but the living room wallpaper isn’t to my taste, and the bedroom and bathroom need repainting.’
‘How about we split up then?’ Sally suggested. ‘We can’t all fit in one room anyway. Who’s any good at wallpapering?’
Jonah and Noah raised their hands.
Ben shrugged. ‘I’ve only done it once, at Stepping Stones when I helped Clive decorate his flat. I didn’t do too bad a job of it. Well, Clive said it was good.’
‘Right,’ Sally said. ‘So how about Jonah, Noah and Ben tackle the living room, with the wallpaper.’
‘Me and Eloise will have a go at the bathroom,’ Jamie offered. ‘It’s only painting. I’m sure we can manage that between us.’
‘Hmm. Well, you can give it a go,’ Jennifer said doubtfully. ‘Do you know how to put masking tape on?’
Jamie gave her a withering look. ‘No, because I’m six.’
‘Don’t be sarky. I’ll check anyway, just to make sure you’re not making it even worse.’
‘Charming,’ Jamie said, while Eloise simply laughed.
‘I’m sure they’ll be fine,’ Sally said. ‘In that case, how about us women do the bedroom? It will be men versus women and we’ll see who makes the best job of it.’
‘What’s the prize?’ Summer asked.
‘The knowledge that you’ve achieved something,’ Sally said firmly. ‘And that should be more than enough.’
‘Eloise and I will be neutral,’ Jamie said. ‘In fact, we can be the judges.’
‘Fair enough,’ Ben said. ‘Just remember who’s promised you a Playstation for Christmas.’
‘Ben Callaghan!’ Summer gasped. ‘Stop trying to bribe the judge!’
After finishing their banter-filled breakfast, they all stood, ready to start work. The women and Jamie headed upstairs, and Jonah, Ben and Noah wandered into the living room.
Jonah puffed out his cheeks in relief. ‘Oh, you’ve already stripped the walls! That’s saved us a lot of time.’
‘Mum couldn’t live with it a minute longer,’ Ben admitted. ‘Apparently the chocolate brown background and the pattern of huge, pale pink roses didn’t suit our new look.’
Jonah couldn’t say he blamed her. The old wallpaper sounded hideous and would have clashed horribly with the Callaghans’ new grey sofa and chairs, and their contemporary light oak furniture.
‘I take it we’ve got everything we need?’ Noah enquired. ‘Paste, brushes, that sort of thing.’
‘All waiting in the cupboard under the stairs,’ Ben said. ‘I’ll go and fetch it all.’
Jennifer had chosen cool grey wallpaper with a gentle metallic floral pattern in the foreground for the feature wall, and a soft, dove-grey textured paper for the other three walls. Luckily, she, Sally, Rafferty, Ben and Summer had already emulsioned the ceilings and glossed the paintwork in every room in the weeks since Mr Eckington had given Ben the keys, so they didn’t have to worry about that.
They decided to tackle the feature wall first and began by moving the furniture into the middle of the room and laying dustsheets on the carpet just in case of any paste splodges. Ben and Noah unscrewed the new electric fire suite from the wall and moved that to the other end of the room, then they unfolded the pasting table and got to work mixing up the paste and measuring and cutting wallpaper.
They could hear a radio playing upstairs and Jonah decided the women couldn’t have it all their own way. He took out his phone and tapped his music app, and after a brief discussion about what they should listen to they returned to work, accompanied by some classic rock.
Jennifer had turned off the radiators in the rooms they were all working in, but even so they soon warmed up. By lunchtime, Jonah had removed his sweatshirt and was working in his black vest, while Ben had changed his jumper for a T-shirt.
Noah steadfastly refused to take off his jumper, insisting he had nothing underneath it.
‘I can lend you a T-shirt,’ Ben offered, but Noah shook his head.
‘I’m fine as I am. I’m not even hot.’
Looking at his red face and the way some tendrils of his sandy brown hair were sticking to his perspiring forehead, Jonah was convinced he was lying.
Noah caught him frowning.
‘Look, do you really think I want to show my scrawny body off to the likes of you?’ he joked. ‘Your muscles have got muscles. I’m staying covered up thanks very much. I don’t need your pity.’
‘Don’t be daft!’ Jonah laughed, but he wasn’t sure it was so funny. Was Noah serious? And if so did that mean he had body issues? He recalled joking with him about having to give him the kiss of life when he tried to move furniture and felt ashamed. ‘There’s nothing wrong with your body, Noah. You know that, right?’
Noah was shorter than Jonah—probably around five ten—and he was quite slender, but he wasn’t puny by any means and Jonah hated the thought that Noah was self-conscious.
‘Stop looking so worried,’ Noah said, clapping him on the shoulder. ‘I’m absolutely fine. Can we just get on with the job?’
Jonah nodded but resolved in future never to joke with Noah about his slender build again. You just never knew what people were struggling with, and he felt ashamed that he hadn’t picked up on Noah’s insecurities sooner.
‘I don’t know about you,’ Ben said, ‘but I’m ready for a drink. Anyone for a can of lager?’
The others agreed it sounded like a good idea, but just as Ben was about to head into the kitchen Sally popped her head round the door.
‘How are you getting on? Ooh, that looks lovely!’ She walked in and stared up at the feature wall in admiration. ‘It looks even better up than it did on the roll.’ She gazed around the admittedly messy room and smiled at Ben. ‘It’s going to be lovely when it’s finished, love. A far cry from Monk’s Folly, eh?’
Ben grinned. ‘You could say that, Sally. We’re just going to grab a can of lager from the fridge. Do you want one?’
‘I’ve come down to make us all a cuppa,’ Sally said. ‘Wouldn’t you prefer that?’
The three men looked at each other.
‘No, it’s okay,’ Ben said at last. ‘I think we’re good with the cans.’
‘Suit yourselves,’ Sally said. ‘I’ll put the kettle on. I’m gagging for a nice cup of tea.’
‘Kat will have coffee,’ Jonah called after her without thinking, receiving a brief, ‘I know,’ from Sally in return.
He saw Ben and Noah exchange glances and shrugged. ‘What? She likes coffee during the day. Tea first thing in the morning and tea or chocolate at night.’
‘Does she now?’ Noah teased. ‘Good job you know her so well.’
‘I live with her,’ Jonah reminded him patiently.
Ben and Noah grinned.
‘So you do,’ Noah said, his voice heavy with meaning.
‘Oh shut up,’ Jonah said. ‘I’ve told you. She’s—’
‘Just Kat,’ Noah said. ‘I know.’
Jonah, his face scorched with embarrassment, lifted the final strip of paper from the pasting table where it had been soaking up the paste, and carried it over to the wall.
‘I’ll get those cans,’ Ben said.
By the time he returned, carrying three cans of lager and three flapjacks, the feature wall was completely finished.
There was a thumping on the stairs and suddenly the living room was full of women.
‘You’re kidding?’ Kat and Summer exchanged glances and Kat put her hand on Jonah’s shoulder. ‘Seriously? You’ve taken all morning to do one wall?’
Jonah bristled, annoyed at the women’s teasing laughter and also at himself for the weird feeling Kat’s touch had given him.
‘Don’t forget,’ Noah said primly, ‘that we’ve had to let the paste soak in, and there’s been a lot of adjusting to get it all straight.’
‘Plus,’ Ben added, ‘you bought paste-the-paper wallpaper, Mum, which isn’t anywhere near as easy as the paste-the-wall stuff I used at Clive’s. Thanks for that.’
‘Oh dear,’ Jennifer said. ‘I never even thought…’
‘It’s okay,’ Ben reassured her. ‘The other three walls have got the paste-the-wall paper. I already checked. It will be much quicker and easier this afternoon.’
Relieved when Kat moved away to give Jennifer’s new fire suite an admiring stroke, Jonah said, ‘Don’t tell me you lot have finished already?’
‘We’ve undercoated the bedroom,’ Kat said, not looking round. ‘Got to leave it to dry now so I’m going to pop back to the aunties’ and check on the kids.’
‘Do you want me to go?’ he offered.
She turned back to him. ‘No, it’s fine. You carry on with the wallpapering.’ She took a mug of coffee from Sally with a grateful smile. ‘Thanks, love. I’m ready for this.’
She’d removed the baggy sweatshirt she’d been wearing earlier, and he realised she was in a T-shirt and denim dungarees that were too big for her. He seemed to recall she’d worn them when she was expecting Hattie and supposed she was using them for painting as she had no further use for maternity clothes. She looked smaller, and a bit vulnerable in them, and surprisingly sweet.
A sudden and unexpectedly fierce lurch of longing for her caught him off guard, and he hurriedly took a swig of lager, not sure what else to do with himself.
Where on earth had that come from?
‘Has anyone checked on Jamie and Eloise?’ Summer asked. ‘I mean, for all we know they might be busily painting the inside of the bath.’
Jennifer laughed. ‘I peeked in earlier. They’re actually not making a bad job of it. They’re being very careful, which is probably why it’s taking so long. They’re clearly determined to prove they’re up to the challenge.’
‘Bless them,’ Sally said. ‘So while we’re waiting for the undercoat to dry in the bedroom is there anything else we can be getting on with, love?’
‘Well…’ Jennifer sounded hesitant. ‘There’s a chest of drawers that needs putting together. I thought it was ready-assembled but it turns out to be flat-pack, and I have no idea what to do with it.’
‘I’ll do that for you, Mum,’ Ben said immediately, but Sally waved a hand dismissing his offer.
‘No need, love. You get on with the papering. Me and Summer are dab hands at putting together flat-pack furniture. I’ll just drink this and then we’ll crack on.’
Kat drained her coffee and grabbed her sweatshirt and coat from the hallway.
‘I’ll get off to Whistlestop Cottage,’ she said. ‘I’ll be back in about an hour if that’s okay.’
Jennifer nodded. ‘I’ll make sandwiches for lunch and put some aside for you, Kat.’
Kat bid them all a cheery farewell and left the cottage, and Jonah watched her pass by the front window, feeling suddenly empty now that she wasn’t there with him.
He didn’t understand it. What had just happened? Where had this sudden intense attraction sprung from? She was Kat, his friend from way back. He’d never looked at her in any other way before and he knew she’d be horrified if she had any idea what he was thinking. It would be impossible sharing a house with her if she knew. Things would be far too awkward between them. She might even decide to move out, which wouldn’t be fair on her at all.
Somehow he had to push those feelings back to wherever the hell they’d sprung from and never let them see the light of day again. His friendship with Kat depended on it.
THIRTEEN
Every part of Kat ached as she and Jonah walked home at around seven that evening. The sun was setting; the day exhausted and all too willing to hand over to the night. Kat had every sympathy. She was ready for bed, but there was still loads to do—not least fetching the kids from Whistlestop Cottage.
She’d called the aunties earlier and they’d reassured her that both Hattie and Tommy were perfectly fine. Both had been fed and Hattie had been changed and was fast asleep.
‘Tell you what,’ Jonah said, giving her a sympathetic look as she trudged up Forge Lane, the reluctance in every step clearly warning him that she wasn’t feeling great, ‘why don’t you have a nice hot bath when we get home while I go and fetch the kids?’
‘But you took them there this morning,’ she protested, not very forcefully it had to be said. The thought of a hot bath was almost irresistible. Even so, guilt forced her to refuse his offer. ‘It’s my turn. I’m just being a wimp.’
‘You’re not being a wimp,’ he said. ‘You’ve worked hard today, getting that bedroom emulsioned, putting up the light fittings, and moving Jennifer’s bedroom furniture around.’ He grinned. ‘Several times actually until she made up her mind.’
Kat winced, remembering how she and Sally had raised eyebrows at each other but valiantly said nothing as they lugged Jennifer’s king size bed and heavy wardrobe to various points in her room, while she tried to decide where they looked best.
‘I was hardly on my own,’ she pointed out. ‘Anyway, you worked harder than I did and look at you. You barely broke a sweat.’
‘But I’m used to heavy work,’ he reminded her. ‘When you’ve spent the day shoeing horses, and holding their feet up while you trim their hooves, sticking a bit of paper on a wall doesn’t bother you in the least, trust me.’
