Page 34 of A Sky Full of Stars
Tristan gave a self-deprecating grin. ‘Don’t be fooled. The kitchen’s a bit of a contrast to the rest of the house, but it seemed in keeping with the extension of the building to make it more modern. I promise you, the rest of the house isn’t this tidy!’
‘I’d love to see it,’ Charlotte replied, eager to give them something other to do than sip drinks and make small talk. ‘Would you mind giving me a tour?’
‘Let me just put the chicken parmigiana in the oven, and then I’ll show you,’ Tristan said. He jumped up from the bar stool, and, clearly nervous himself, managed to knock his glass of water over, soaking the skirt of Charlotte’s dress as he did so.
‘I’m so sorry!’ he said as he dashed to one of the kitchen drawers and pulled out a tea towel. Hurriedly, he started rubbing the towel over Charlotte’s skirt, until she put a hand out to slow him down.
‘It’s all right,’ she said, taking the towel from him and starting to pat herself dry. ‘It’s only water. It’ll dry soon enough.’
‘What a wonderful first impression,’ Tristan muttered, and to Charlotte’s amusement, she saw the heat rising in his cheeks. ‘I’m really sorry.’
Charlotte gave one of his hands a squeeze. ‘Honestly, it’s fine. It’s quite reassuring to see you’re as nervous as I am!’ She stood up from the bar stool with a bit of a squeak as her damp legs rubbed against the leather cushion. The noise made them both laugh, which seemed to break the tension. ‘Why don’t you show me over the house while dinner’s cooking? That’ll take my mind off my wet legs!’
Tristan, eventually, smiled back. ‘It’s a deal. But if you wanted to change, I’m sure I can find something you could put on?’
Charlotte laughed. ‘Although it’s nice that you try to think of everything, I’ll take my chances and stick with my dress.’
Tristan paused before replying, and Charlotte wondered if he, like her, was wondering about where taking her dress off might lead. She was surprised at just how keen she was to keep imagining that scenario, as Tristan led her back out of the kitchen to show her the rest of the house.
35
‘So, you renovated pretty much from scratch?’ Charlotte said in appreciation as Tristan showed her the two beautifully appointed and proportioned downstairs rooms, one a cosy sitting room and the other, presumably once the dining room but now a study complete with a leather-topped mahogany desk against one wall.
‘Yes, it was in a really bad state when I bought it,’ Tristan replied. ‘It took a while, but being in the housebuilding business, I had a fair few contacts I could call on for advice and quotes for the trickier bits.’
Charlotte was absorbed in looking at the other features of the study, which included the inevitable shelves of books and, hanging discreetly just off to one side of the bay window that looked out into the front garden, a framed picture of a smiling family. With a pang, Charlotte immediately recognised it as the same shot she’d seen on one of Lorelai’s sideboards at Nightshade Cottage. Having recently found the snapshot of Laura and Martin from just before their twins were born, it was interesting to see the photo of the young family again – they looked a little older, now that they’d become parents of twins, but Laura’s smile was the same as she beamed out from the photo. The twins, both with the same shade of light brown hair and the same blue-green eyes, seemed happy and relaxed too. Martin, standing alongside Laura, looked extremely proud of his wife and children.
‘That’s a beautiful picture,’ she said softly as Tristan clocked her looking at it.
Tristan smiled. ‘It was the last one taken of us all together.’
Charlotte’s heart ached at the carefully neutral tone in his voice. She knew he struggled to talk about things so she replied quietly, ‘I’m so sorry, Tristan.’
‘I know you are.’ Tristan gave her a smile. ‘But I didn’t invite you here to go over old ground. You’re supposed to be getting away from history for a few hours, remember?’ He took her hand. ‘Come and have a look upstairs, and then I’d better get the rest of lunch on the go.’
They moved towards the staircase, and Charlotte noticed Tristan had put brass stair rods on a burgundy-toned Axminster carpet and painted the exposed pieces of board on each step a crisp white. She liked the nod to the heritage of the house. As they ascended the stairs, she spotted three doors leading off the landing and wondered which was Tristan’s room. Her heart sped up at the thought.
‘Just a quick glance,’ Tristan teased. ‘I wouldn’t want you to think I was suggesting anything.’
Charlotte grinned. ‘You don’t seem the type to put a woman under pressure,’ she replied. ‘But I appreciate the clarification.’
Both bedrooms were neat and tidy, and the front room, obviously Tristan’s, benefitted from the light and airy advantage of another bay window, through which the afternoon sun was pouring. A brass bedstead dominated the room, which was decorated in different tones of green, including an exquisite emerald flocked wallpaper. Charlotte was surprised at the opulence. She’d have had Tristan for a minimalist every day of the week.
‘It’s a lovely room,’ she said. ‘You’ve got a great career as an interior designer if you ever get bored of working on building sites!’
Tristan shook his head. ‘Thea claims I was channelling my inner Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen in this room, but I like it.’ He led her to the back of the house where there was a smaller bedroom. This one was more simply decorated and had twin beds in it. ‘For when Cora and Dylan come to stay,’ he said.
‘Do they come round a lot?’ Charlotte asked, curious to find out more about Tristan’s family.
‘Not so much now, but when they were younger, I used to take them off Thea’s hands for a night or two. She needed the break, and I liked having them here.’
Charlotte couldn’t quite imagine children in this beautifully decorated and well-kept house, but it was lovely to think of a side of Tristan who’d bond with his niece and nephew and have fun with them.
Just as she was about to ask him more, the oven timer sounded, and Tristan turned back to the stairs. ‘I’ll just do the last bits and bobs, and then we can eat, if you’re ready?’
‘Definitely,’ Charlotte replied. ‘I’m actually getting really hungry now.’
They headed back downstairs and in a little more time were tucking into chicken parmigiana, green beans and baby new potatoes. Charlotte had a top up of the Chablis and was definitely feeling more relaxed by the time they’d finished lunch.
