Page 25 of A Very Irish Christmas
‘Ach, you’re exaggerating, Georgie – I’ve only roamed as far as Devon. What’s a man to do? I have a lot of love to give, and I don’t want the poor ladies of the county to go lonely now, do I?’
‘Ah,’ I say, remembering another of Nanna Nora’s phrases. ‘You’re one of those feckless playboys, are ye?’
I manage the accent well enough, and he nods enthusiastically.
‘That’s the idea, darlin’, yes. But don’t you worry, there’s plenty of me to go around, sure.’
‘Thanks for the offer, but feckless playboys aren’t my type.’
‘You don’t know what you’re missing,’ he says, grinning at me in a way that leaves me in no doubt that he’s right. I have no idea what I’m missing, because Ted is the only man I’ve ever been with. Thirty-seven years old and a born-again virgin. I know what June’s view on all this would be, but I’m not sure I’m ready – for me, sex has always been tied up with love, and that’s definitely not what Ryan is offering.
‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ I ask, changing the subject. ‘With the cottage, I mean? I’m pretty good at manual labour.’
He nods, and looks around at the stripped-back room.
‘Maybe, if you’ve a mind to. I need to get the wallpaper off upstairs, and the bathroom needs a good scrub, and a million other jobs. It’d go all the quicker with two pairs of hands.’
I find myself strangely enthused at the thought of getting involved – of doing something useful and positive, something that has a tangible result at the end of it.
‘I’m up for it,’ I say. ‘I’ll start with a couple of hours, maybe? I’m free now.’
Georgie gets to her feet and stretches. She ducks under the beams, and walks towards the door.
‘I need to get back,’ she announces. ‘As Ryan knows, I’m too much of a lady to get my hands dirty.’
‘You’re as much of a lady as I am,’ he retorts. ‘You’re just lazy!’
‘That may very well be true – but I have an appointment with my counsellor at two. I think I’ve almost persuaded her that I’m beyond help, and am hoping for a resignation before Christmas. Ryan, will you get Cassie back to Bancroft safe and sound?’
He agrees that he will, and she gives me an unexpected hug before she leaves. Once she’s gone, Ryan stares after her, a sad look on his face.
‘She likes you,’ he says, shaking his head.
‘Is that so hard to believe?’
‘No, no, I didn’t mean it like that – I mean she doesn’t like many people. I know she seems all shiny on the surface, but the girl’s been through a lot in her life.’
‘I got that feeling. I know her mother isn’t around, and she told me about the dyslexia. I picked up on some stuff at the house as well. What happened?’
He meets my eyes, and seems to be having some kind of internal debate.
‘That’s their story to tell, Cassie, and not mine. Now come on – let’s be getting to work!’
TEN
The two hours turn into three, and then into four, and before I know it, night has fallen. Ryan has set up a cosy base camp in the living room of Whimsy, the floor lined with comforters and blankets from the upstairs cupboards. He assures me they’re all being replaced as part of the renovation, and although they’re perfectly clean, they are on the shabby side.
I lean back against the wall, and bask in the simple act of sitting still. A couple of little lamps are bathing the room in gentle light, and Ryan has cleared the hearth and got a fire burning.
I watch him use the old-fashioned poker, then slide the guard into place. The crackle and hiss of the coal is so soothing, and the heat is wonderful – but I’m not sure how capable I’m going to be of building my own fire. It looks a lot more complicated than I expected.
Ryan settles opposite me, and passes me a can of Guinness. Eileen called round with some sandwiches earlier, which we shared with Eejit, and although the surroundings are a lot less glamorous than Bancroft Manor, I feel a deep sense of contentment.
Some of it is the physical exhaustion. Nothing like a few hours of real work to make you appreciate the simple things in life. I’ve cleaned and scrubbed and taken endless trips up and down the stairs. Ryan was treating small damp patches with a product that involved him wearing a mask that made him look like a space alien, and I have worn rubber gloves for so long that it felt like peeling my own skin off at the end of the day.
We had music playing on his phone hooked up to a speaker, and sang along to Motown classics from our respective spots. He really does have an amazing voice, and during an especially intense performance of ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’ I had to stop what I was doing and just listen. He must be a hit on karaoke night.
He told me they were planning on ripping out the kitchen and replacing all the units, but now he’s just going to do a ‘cheat version’ and install new surfaces and doors to save time. The whole cottage will be re-decorated, the thatched roof serviced, and the leaky shower fixed. Once he points it out, I see a stain on the downstairs ceiling where the water has pooled. Then there’ll be new curtains, furniture, and bedding to install before I can move in.
