Page 16 of Her Fixer Upper

I took a deep breath. ‘But don’t you think it would be better if we could find somewhere a little less challenging, a little less stressful for us both? Doing this amount of work would put both of us under massive pressure, when we’ve got day jobs that we need to be able to focus on too. On top of that, it would test the strongest relationship. And yes, we were the best of friends when we were eleven, but what do we really know about each other now, as adults? Sure, I know you were obsessed with the character Brains fromThunderbirdswhen you were six, but do I know how adult Charlie takes his tea? No. I guess I’m questioning whether we’re up to this both from a practicalandan emotional sense.’

‘I drink builder’s tea, no sugar, simple.’

‘Just because you drink builder’s tea, it doesn’t make you an actual builder,’ I said lightly.

Charlie picked up the final dough ball with his fork and generously deposited it on my plate. ‘So what you’re really saying is that you don’t know whether you can trust me to renovate this cottage with you?’

‘When you put it like that, it sounds awful. But we have to be realistic. I’m trying to find a way of minimising the risk we’re both going to be taking.’

Charlie nodded. ‘I understand what you’re saying. I could talk at you for ages about how you can depend on me and how I’m determined that we’ll get through this together, but they’re all just words. Ultimately, they’re meaningless, and until we’re in that situation, I can’t prove them to be true. I’m not going to pile on the pressure about it. But can I ask, what’s wrong with taking a leap of faith? You could buy a new-build property and then discover a load of fixes that need doing once you’ve moved in. You could buy a house with a boyfriend and find out once you’re co-habiting that he’s a lazy layabout. Yes, we’re taking a risk, but aren’t most of the best things in life a risk? And we have The Rules which you’ve so thoughtfully prepared. You’ve done a lot to mitigate the risk factor. Take a chance on us doing this successfully. Trust me.’

Before I could reply, the waiter brought our main meals over.

‘Veggie feast for the gentleman, and ravioli for the lovely lady. Can I get either of you some extra parmesan?’

I nodded on autopilot. My mind was buzzing with Charlie’s impassioned speech. He’d spoken sense, but was I brave enough to take that risk?

The waiter sprinkled a generous helping of parmesan onto each of our dishes, then hurried off to his next table, humming ‘That’samore’ under his breath.

‘I can never have too much cheese,’ said Charlie. ‘Right, enough of the serious talk until after the meal. General chitchat, otherwise we’re going to get indigestion.’

The food was good, but I would have enjoyed it more if the house situation wasn’t hanging over us. We kept the conversation on a superficial level, both of us wary of straying back into territory that was yet to be settled, but it was nice to spend some time chatting and covering the basics. Gradually, the knot in my stomach seemed to be loosening, although whether that was from the food or Charlie’s reassurances, I couldn’t say.

Once we’d put our knives and forks down on our virtually clean plates at the end of the meal, Charlie gestured at the survey report once again.

‘Look, I know I said I wouldn’t put any pressure on you, and that still stands, but I think it’s only fair to tell you that I took the liberty of DM-ing your granddad this afternoon and sending him a copy of the survey.’ He held up his hand. ‘Now before you tell me off for involving Arthur, I promise I didn’t do it as some kind of emotional blackmail. We’ve talked a lot of theoretical stuff about the building work, but as you’ve pointed out, neither of us are professionals. Whereas your granddad actually knows what he’s talking about. I was interested to get his take on it.’

‘I wasn’t going to tell you off,’ I said. ‘Besides, it would be hypocritical of me to do that as I also sent a copy of the report to him.’

Charlie laughed.

‘Granddad’s got a lot on his plate at the moment. I thought he’d be interested to read it, a distraction from his own worries,’ I added quickly.

‘But the fact that you sent it to him must mean that you haven’t completely ruled out going ahead with buying Oak Tree Cottage?’ pressed Charlie.

‘Well…’

‘Only Arthur did message me back and ask if we wanted to visit and talk through the report with him in person,’ he said. ‘He sounded pretty excited about the project.’

‘I don’t want our problems stressing him out.’

‘Absolutely not. It’s only so we can make a final decision from an informed perspective, which I know is important to you,’ replied Charlie.

‘It should be important to you too,’ I pointed out. ‘Fine, you have a deal. Let’s see what Granddad thinks.’

ChapterEight

Iknocked on the door of Granddad’s house, then went straight in knowing that he’d have unlocked it as soon as he received my message saying we were on our way. Ted scurried towards us, a giant unicorn soft toy clamped between his jaws, and leaped around our feet, the whole of his small furry body waggling with joy. Charlie leaned down and scratched behind his ears, at which point Ted rolled on his back and stretched his legs out, exposing his tummy in an invitation for tickling. We were only too happy to oblige.

‘Who’s a good boy? Yes, you are, a very good boy,’ said Charlie to Ted’s obvious delight.

‘Eh, calm down, lad, they’re not here for the walking rota,’ said Granddad, heaving himself out of his armchair in such a careful manner that it got me worrying about his mobility issues all over again.

‘You’re not meant to know about that,’ I said with a smile, leaning down to kiss his soft cheek.

He tapped his forehead. ‘I know everything that’s going on. But don’t tell your mother. She likes to think that she’s got one over on me for a change, and I’d hate to take that achievement away from her. Charlie lad, nice to see you in person this time.’

We settled down in the armchairs either side of the fireplace, Ted snuggling up on my lap and falling asleep almost instantly. It must be nice being a dog, having nothing to worry about except what’s for dinner, and how much of the sofa you can hog, I thought. Ted let out an almighty snore as if in response.

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