Page 23 of The House on Waterfall Hill

He loved the clothes she wore, little dresses with dogs or cats or guinea pigs on them. Today’s dress sported turtles swimming through the coral with little fishes darting around them. She moved closer and the sweet smell of coconut and mango washed over him. He shook his head to clear it. Why was he noticing stuff like that? After walking in on him naked, she was never going to look at him in any way other than as a friend and with him leaving he shouldn’t want her to want anything more than that.

‘These look great.’ Flick picked up a small wooden owl and he felt a small surge of pride. ‘They look really intricate.’

‘Yeah, turns out I can’t really do something simple.’

‘How long did it take you?’

‘That one, about two or three hours. But I really enjoyed it. The big stag over there has taken weeks, so it’s nice to have something finished in such a short time. I figured I can spend two days a week making these smaller items over the next few weeks and the other five on commissions.’

‘Do you not take a day off?’

‘I do if I have something else to do, if I’m going out or meeting someone. Being my own boss is flexible, I can work whenever I want. But I love doing this, so it doesn’t feel like a job for me. Doing it seven days a week isn’t a chore.’

‘That’s true. I love making my wish jars. Even after I’ve been at work all day, it feels like a reward to be able to spend time doing that in the evening.’

He noticed the tablet in her hand. ‘Have you completed your shopping list?’

‘Yes, but there’s quite a bit. If you wanted to put a cap on it and stop buying things when I reach that cap, that’s fine.’

‘No, we want to go big with our grand reopening, new café, new gift shop, we want people to be wowed when they come up here.’

‘Ooh, we should do a proper grand reopening, invite people up here for cake or cocktails or champagne.’

‘Three important food groups right there.’

She laughed and he loved that he could have that effect on her.

She handed him the tablet and pointed out the two different internet tabs. ‘This one is all the gifts: the scarves, mugs, candles, etc. This one is all the craft paraphernalia so people can have a go at creating their own masterpieces after walking around and seeing all the ones here in the studios.’

‘Perfect, I’ll get everything ordered today.’

She bit her lip. ‘I would feel better if I knew where all this money was coming from.’

‘I told you, we have a kitty.’

‘Luke.’

He sighed, knowing she wasn’t going to let this go. ‘OK, OK, we have an anonymous donor.’

‘Who?’

Of course she would want to know who. ‘That’s the beauty of being anonymous, no one knows.’

‘Butyouknow, this money didn’t just magically appear.’

‘YesIknow, but I can’t say anything more than that. I promised them complete anonymity.’

‘Does my nan know who they are?’

He pulled a face, wishing he’d never mentioned the anonymous donor. ‘I think if you asked her she would probably know but I think you should respect the donor’s wishes to remain anonymous and not try to find out.’

She frowned in confusion. ‘OK, but why have they donated?’

‘Because… they believe in the place and the importance of its legacy. They obviously knew the place was in trouble and wanted to help.’

‘But my nan didn’t tell any of the artists, not even you, how much trouble she was in. So why was she sharing it with this random donor?’

‘I don’t know. ‘“Ours is not to reason why.”’

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