Page 53 of Her Fixer Upper

‘I’m assuming you’re referring to paint rather than leg cocking?’

Charlie laughed. ‘Not sure that kind of territory marking would help the resale value. No, what I was going to suggest is that we sign our names next to Ted’s paw print. Adding our signatures for posterity. Think of all the people who’ve lived in this place over the years, and the traces of them that we’ve seen as we’ve stripped their decorations.’

‘People who were sadly lacking in taste,’ I joked.

‘Or people whose decorative standards were very much of their time,’ suggested Charlie.

‘You’re right. Maybe in fifty years’ time another couple, or friends,’ I hastily corrected myself, ‘will be looking at our decorations and wondering what on earth we were thinking.’

I thought Charlie was about to say something, but whatever it was, he changed his mind about it.

‘So, how do we make our mark?’ I prompted, feeling like I’d missed another opportunity.

‘Do you happen to have any marker pens in your school bag? If we scrawl our signatures and the date next to Ted’s paw print, they’ll be hidden underneath the cupboard. Once the skirting board is on, nobody will be any the wiser.’

I hurried upstairs to my room and rummaged through my bag until I found my pencil case.

‘Here you go,’ I said, offering Charlie his choice of colours.

‘Ladies first,’ he replied.

I selected a blue pen and carefully signed my name underneath Ted’s paw print, then passed the pen over to Charlie. He added his signature, then looked across the room.

‘I think someone wants to go out in the garden,’ he said. Ted was standing staring pointedly at the back door.

‘I’ll let him out.’

I escorted Ted to his now just about tolerated dog run, and left him there to stretch his legs. When I returned to the kitchen, Charlie was finishing putting the cupboard back into its proper position.

‘That’s a shame. I was going to take a photo of our names there. Can we move it out again?’

Charlie leaned against the cupboard, blocking my access to it. ‘Erm, sorry, Freya, but it’s fixed now. I don’t think it would be a good idea to keep moving it. It might make it wobbly. Right, onto the next cupboard. No rest for the wicked.’

‘I guess so,’ I said, still disappointed.

Charlie whizzed through constructing another two cabinets before I finally admitted defeat with the instructions and asked for his assistance.

‘Freya Hutchinson, Miss Do-It-By-The-Book, asking for my help, the King of Winging It? What is the world coming to?’ said Charlie, pretending to swoon at the very idea.

‘All right, no need to gloat. I’ll admit that I’m not right all the time. In fact, a lot of the time, I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. But being a teacher, I have to maintain an air of confidence and self-belief.’

‘Even if you’re a quivering wreck inside?’ said Charlie.

‘Especially then. So come on then, give up the secret to your success.’

Charlie put his head on one side and considered me closely. ‘Maybe not quite yet. But I will help you work out where you’ve been going wrong with the cabinet you’ve been trying and failing to construct all day.’

‘Tell me, o wise one.’

‘Let me savour this moment of Freya calling me wise,’ said Charlie, clutching his hand to his chest and closing his eyes.

‘Keep that up and I’ll leave you to do the whole thing by yourself,’ I said, nudging my hip against his.

Charlie looked pained. ‘What happened to “Team work makes the dream work”?’

‘I’m definitely going to be seeing these cabinets in my nightmares, let me tell you.’

‘It’s quite simple, once you’ve got the hang of it,’ said Charlie. And then he settled in to helping me, showing great restraint by not laughing at me when we realised that I’d been trying to hang the cupboard doors upside down.

---