Page 37 of Her Fixer Upper

‘You must do what you think is best for you,’ he said eventually. ‘But don’t rush into any decisions that you might regret later. Remember what it’s like being on this walk. The path up through the woods is tough, but then you emerge at the top and you can see the bigger picture with the breath-taking view, and it makes the earlier challenge all worthwhile.’

I thought about Charlie’s words all the way back home to Oak Tree Cottage. And then I began asking myself when I’d started to think of Oak Tree Cottage as ‘home’ rather than merely a project. Because despite all its quirks and frustrations, I did feel at home there. I decided it was probably best to ignore the annoying voice at the back of my head that wondered if a similar view could be taken of my relationship with Charlie. It was safer not to stray into that kind of territory.

ChapterEighteen

‘Hello,’ I said to the petite woman on the doorstep. The surprise in my voice and the startled expression I knew must be on my face were mostly due to the fact that I didn’t even realise we had a doorbell, let alone a functioning one. Charlie must have sorted it out, a task ticked off on one of the lists that he’d started regularly making, joking that my organisational skills were rubbing off on him. ‘Can I help?’ I asked, assuming she must have taken a wrong turning and be intending to visit our neighbours, who lived in much more civilised surroundings.

‘Thanks, Freya, I’ll take it from here,’ said Charlie, brushing past me and ushering the woman into the house. As she walked inside, I had a spark of recognition. If I wasn’t very much mistaken, this was the mysterious woman who had dropped him off the other week. I put two and two together. Was I meeting Ms Thursday Night Out? And if so, why hadn’t Charlie warned me that she was coming round? I felt at a distinct disadvantage, greeting someone who appeared so put together and elegant in her pristine white plimsolls and immaculate jumpsuit, when I knew I looked like I hadn’t had a change of clothes in the last month. Standing next to her, I felt like a gawky, grubby giant.

‘Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?’ I asked, mostly because I was getting a very clear impression that he had no such intention. I couldn’t help feeling rather put out.

‘This is Serena, she’s a…work colleague,’ said Charlie in such a false tone of voice that I was immediately convinced she was anything but. I experienced a moment of hurt that although I’d confided in him about my secret on our walk, he hadn’t been open with me in return.

The woman held her hand out and shook mine, seemingly unbothered by the fact that my palms were covered in bits of paint. But before she could elaborate further on Charlie’s introduction, he had somehow engineered it so he was standing between us and was practically herding her into the dining room away from me, clearly desperate to stop me continuing the conversation. Or maybe he was just desperate to be alone with her.

‘Hi, Serena, nice to meet you,’ I said to her departing form. She looked back towards me and smiled briefly before she was swept out of the room by Charlie. I stood in the living room and wondered what I was meant to do now. Carry on with renovation work while Charlie enjoyed a cosy afternoon in with the lovely Serena? I mean, of course he was entitled to entertain a guest in his own house. But it would have been nice to have had some warning about it. That way I could have made myself scarce, or maybe invited a friend of my own round to keep me company. I told myself that the lack of consideration was the only reason why I was feeling so irrationally irritated by it.

I strode into the dining room, only wondering once I’d got in there whether I should have knocked first. Charlie leaped away from Serena. I’d merely got the briefest glimpse of them standing by the window, but their heads had been bent closely together, and I got the distinct impression that they’d been deep in conversation, or perhaps something else.

‘Sorry to interrupt,’ I said.

‘It’s no bother,’ said Serena in her soft Scottish accent, neatly tucking her hair behind her ears in a manner that made me feel even more chaotic and messy.

Charlie on the other hand looked distinctly embarrassed and shifty.

‘What is it, Freya?’ he asked, clearly desperate for me to leave the room. He kept on glancing nervously towards Serena and then the door, every bit of his body language uncharacteristically awkward and uncomfortable with my presence. I felt a stab of pain at this strange new attitude towards me.

I’m not proud of what I did next, but there was something about his eagerness for me to get out of the way that made me perversely decide to do the exact opposite. I wandered over to the window where the pair of them had been standing close together and pretended to enjoy the view.

‘I love the way the sunlight comes into the room at this time of day. What do you think, Serena?’

To be fair to her, she didn’t seem to be surprised to be engaged in random chitchat about the sunshine.

‘It’s certainly a beautiful outlook,’ she said. ‘In my w—’

But before she could finish her sentence, Charlie had arrived at my side.

‘Sorry, Freya, but what was it that you were after?’ he said, abruptly speaking over Serena.

‘Charlie, that’s a bit much. Let the poor woman finish what she was about to say.’

I caught the warning expression he threw in Serena’s direction, which made me even more curious about what was going on.

‘Don’t worry, it was nothing important,’ she said, giving Charlie a slight nod. What was it that she was reassuring him about?

‘Freya, what do you want?’ Charlie asked again.

‘I was wondering if you two would like a drink. Maybe an orange squash or something? We’re still having to be careful with the electricity, Serena, otherwise I would offer you a cup of tea. It’s all candlelit evenings around here, I’m afraid, until the rewiring’s completely finished.’

‘Candlelit evenings, how romantic,’ said Serena.

‘Hmm, not really,’ I said, noticing Charlie’s stony expression.

‘I think we’re okay for drinks, thanks for offering, Freya,’ he said. ‘Don’t let us keep you.’

I pretended not to hear him and wandered over to examine the cupboard housing which boxed in the door between the kitchen and the dining room.

‘We really need to look at tackling this soon. It’s plain weird having to stride through a cupboard to get into a room. What do you think, Serena?’

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