Naomi’s lips thinned when she came back to apartment around five o’clock and found the living room was strewn with flat-packed cardboard boxes. ‘What’s this?’
‘Boxes,’ Fraser said, frowning as he concentrated on slotting a sturdy flap into place without acquiring yet another paper cut. ‘For the ghosts.’
She glanced at the cream carpet, which was dotted with a number of small rectangular boxes embossed with the wordsThe Edinburgh Ghost Company.The sofa was covered with sheets of artistically aged tissue paper, a bag of shredded paper was overflowing across one arm and the coffee table was strewn with the larger boxes Fraser was intent on putting together before he left for his evening tour. With luck, he’d get the pre-ordered ghosts packaged up and in the post the following day, once he’d taken Naomi to the airport.
‘I can see they’re boxes,’ she said pointedly. ‘What are they doing all over our living room?’
He looked at her in mild surprise. ‘I’d have thought it was obvious. I’m putting the orders together ready for posting. To do that, I need to wrap the ghosts in tissue paper and pop them in here.’ He held up one of the small rectangular boxes. ‘And then put that box into this larger box, with a packing note and some shredded paper to protect everything.’
Her nose wrinkled. ‘I see. Is this going to happen every time you get a delivery from Laura?’
‘Maura,’ he corrected, then nodded. ‘Possibly. But I’ll make sure I get them out of the way as soon as I can.’
Naomi did not appear to be reassured. ‘I don’t want to live in a sorting office, Fraser.’
He opened his mouth to object but then glanced around and saw that the room was rather more untidy than he’d realised. Every surface was covered and the armchair beside the sofa was take up by the box containing the ghosts. It would all be gone by midday tomorrow but Naomi wouldn’t be around to see that. He checked the time. ‘Let me just finish folding these and I’ll move everything to the bedroom.’
She looked even less impressed. ‘I don’t want to sleep in a sorting office, either. Can’t you find somewhere else to do all this?’
Perhaps he could, Fraser thought, if demand for the ghosts grew. But he absolutely could not find an alternative space that evening. ‘I’ll put them in the hall cupboard,’ he said. ‘There’ll be room in there once you take your suitcase out.’
It was clear from the frosty silence that this solution was not acceptable either.
Fraser sighed. ‘It’s just for tonight, Naomi. By the time you get back from London, they’ll all be delivered and I’ll look for a lock up or a garage nearby to store things in the future. Happy?’
She looked, he thought, a long way from happy but she did at least manage a short nod. ‘I don’t have a lot of choice.’
With hindsight, he should have known she would react like this. Naomi was a neat freak who liked clear, clutter-free surfaces. She did not cope well with chaos, no matter how short-lived he promised it would be. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I’ll put everything out of sight until tomorrow. What time do you need to be at the airport?’
‘By six-thirty,’ she said coolly. ‘But don’t worry about giving me a lift. I’ve booked a cab to pick me up.’
Fraser had to admit he was a little relieved. He was not a morning person and hadn’t been looking forward to getting up before dawn. ‘Oh. Okay. Will you be awake when I get home later?’
‘At eleven o’clock? I doubt it.’
He got to his feet and crossed the room to pull her into a hug. ‘I’ll try not to wake you when I come in, then. Have a good trip.’
For a moment, he thought she would remain stiff and unyielding in his arms, but then she softened. ‘I will.’
He breathed in her perfume, a sharp lemony scent he’d never really warmed to. ‘I know it’s a work trip but I think the change of scene will do you good.’
‘Me too,’ she said, and disentangled herself to head for the door to the hall. ‘Enjoy playing postman.’
True to his word, Fraser transported the ghosts and their packaging to the hall cupboard before he left to meet that evening’s audience beside the Mercat Cross on the Royal Mile. When he returned home, a little after ten-thirty, he found a note from Naomi next to the kettle.
I’ve checked into the Hilton so I don’t wake you in the morning. Speak soon, N x
He stared at it for a few seconds, then reached out to flick the kettle on.
It wasn’t the first time she’d stayed at the hotel beside the airport before an early flight, but it was the first time she’d done so without telling him in advance and he couldn’t help feeling the business with the boxes had driven her to go tonight. Perhaps he had been unfair in expecting her to put up with the mess, he thought, as he dropped a herbal teabag into a mug. And she’d had a point about the likelihood of the situation happening again – in three weeks, he would have another batch of ghosts from Maura and there was a strong likelihood of another disagreement.
Fraser lifted the kettle and poured the boiling water over the teabag.
The sooner he found somewhere else to process the orders, the better.
Chapter Three
The rugby club bar was full, the crowd spilling outside onto the paved area that overlooked the pitch. A DJ was diligently working his way through the standard list of classic hits, guaranteed to appeal to most of the guests at a fortieth birthday party; Maura suspected ‘Sweet Caroline’ and ‘Come On Eileen’ were in her imminent future. But it wasn’t even nine o’clock yet – a little early for the dance floor to be filling up. It was currently occupied by various clusters of cavorting children, some of whom were starting to flag, if Maura was any judge. She watched them for a few seconds, smiling at their antics, and then turned back to Polly, who was seated next to her. ‘So how is Matt coping with the big four-O?’ she asked. ‘Jamie says he’s been in denial about it for the past year.’
