Page 36 of The Do-Over

He laughs. ‘Why would I mind?’

‘Because this is your family home.’

‘I wouldn’t worry about that,’ he tells her. ‘I’m a realist. I know this place is hopelessly outdated, and I reckon Nan and Grandad would have been happy to see it renovated. Knock yourselves out. Now, why don’t I wait in the car while you have a good look round. I’m sure you’ll want to talk without an eavesdropper. When you’re ready, I’ll show you the mill and the grounds if you like.’

‘Thanks,’ I tell him.

‘Sorry,’ Rebecca says as soon as he’s gone. ‘I don’t know what’s the matter with me today.’

‘Really? I reckon I have a pretty good idea,’ I tell her with a grin.

‘Oh, bollocks, I think I’m in love,’ she replies.

17

An hour later, I feel quite optimistic. Despite the musty air in the house, I couldn’t detect any signs of damp and, although they look very tatty and desperately need sanding down and repainting, the window frames felt reassuringly solid when I prodded them with the screwdriver I brought with me for the purpose. As I feared, though, the coal range is the only current source of heat. Ben described how his grandmother would lug an enormous pot of boiling water from the range and pour it into the bath, adding just enough cold to make it bearable, and then the three of them would take turns to wash as quickly as they could before the cast iron of the tub sapped the warmth out of it. The mill had been his grandfather’s domain, although Ben admitted he’d never seen it running, as it had been mothballed before he was born when his grandfather realised he couldn’t compete with the new mills.

The machinery in the mill looked rusty and unloved to me, even though Ben assured me it had been checked and maintained regularly every year until his grandfather died. However, I found it easy to imagine what the building could looklike once all the milling paraphernalia was removed; if we put glass in the large doorway, it could be a light and airy space.

As we pull off the bumpy track onto the road, I can sense Rebecca fizzing with excitement next to me.

‘What’s got you more revved up, Ben or the property?’ I ask.

‘Both, but the property mainly. It has so much potential, and it’s not nearly as bad as we thought it was.’

‘I agree. There’s one possible red flag though. Did you spot it?’

‘No. What?’

‘What Ben said about the land. “Too big for a garden but too small for a farm.” Do you think we could split it into smaller plots?’

‘Not a bad idea, but sometimes there’s covenants and things dictating what you can do. If there was any hope of getting planning to develop it, I reckon the price would be way higher, don’t you?’

‘Good point. Something to check.’

‘Anyway, even if we can’t split it into smaller plots, there’s the tractor and that thing in the barn to keep the grounds under control. What did Ben call it?’

‘A gang-mower.’

‘That’s it. Stick that on the back of the tractor and you’ll have the place mowed in no time.’

‘Assuming the tractor works, the mower isn’t seized solid and the owners don’t mind spending their weekends cutting the grass.’

‘I think it’s a small price to pay. Plus, it’s all about perception, isn’t it?’

‘How so?’

‘Describe it simply as a ten-acre plot and it falls flat. Describe the house as “set in ten acres of idyllic parkland with a lake” and it suddenly sounds aspirational. Basic marketing.’

I laugh. ‘You’ve got a point. So, what do you want to do?’

‘I think we should go for it. I didn’t see anything there that I felt was beyond us and I still think the potential returns are massive, way bigger than anything else we’ve looked at. What about you?’

‘I think so too, even though I’m worried about the mill and how much it will cost to get all that dilapidated machinery out. We’ll probably have to take the roof off and hire a crane.’

‘That’s the big expense, I agree. But it’s the only one. We don’t even have to knock through the wall between the house and the mill because there’s already a door.’

‘We might need to extend it though, otherwise it’ll still feel like two buildings rather than one.’

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