Page 16 of Cosy & Chill
It would work.
They’dmakeit work.
“Let’s look at the living room,” he suggested, and they followed the two Tienfields down the stairs.
The living and dining room stretched across the front of the building on the first floor. The large room had a dark wooden floor and a high ceiling, and while the walls also needed a fresh coat of paint, the row of windows made the space bright and inviting.
A dining table and six chairs, clearly old and very well-cared for, defined the dining area. On the other side of the room, a large sofa and two armchairs faced a tiled fireplace.
“This is probably the most modern item in the house,” Mr Tienfield told them. “Fire at the flick of a switch. It’s a real flame fire, but it runs on gas. It’s quick to heat the room, too.”
“Please remember that Richmond is a smoke-free zone,” Mrs Tienfield added. “If you want to use the fireplaces in the bedrooms, you must only use smoke-free coal.”
Leo had admired the cast iron and tile fireplaces in the bedrooms but didn’t think he’d ever have need to light a fire there. Not when they had gas central heating.
More than the bedrooms and living room, he felt himself drawn to the kitchen. It was larger than the kitchen at this grandma’s home had been, and the cupboards were filled with everything from coffee cups to roasting trays.
“I know I’m in the business of making ice cream,” he beamed over the large centre aisle. “But I love to cook too. This is a great space for it.”
“It’s reassuring to know that the two of you won’t survive on baked beans and takeaway. I keep being told that young men these days aren’t at all domesticated.”
“I’m sure Leo is an exception,” Finn pointed out. “I can boil water and make toast.”
A shadow flitted over his face as he spoke, and an answering wave of protectiveness washed through Leo. He stayed close to Finn and didn’t miss his quietly voiced question as they made their way downstairs.
“Do we have to fill out a lot of paperwork or write proposals? It’s just… I’m much better at knitting than writing things. I wasn’t very good at essays in school.”
“You can leave all that to us,” Mr Tienfield answered. The solicitor had a placid air that reassured and made even awkward tasks seem commonplace. “Renting a property isn’t quite the same as buying one, you know? I will need to see proof of identity, of course. Your passport or driver’s licence. The council has already confirmed that Mr Wetherall is registered as a market trader and has given him a good reference. If you could show me evidence of your Etsy store business, that should cover proof of income. I’ll draw up the rental agreement, and once that’s done, I would like you to come to the office. I’ll go through the agreement with you and make sure you understand what you can and can’t do while you are in charge of the building. Then you sign the agreement, and you can move in.”
Leo laughed at how straightforward it sounded. The relief on Finn’s face told him that Finn thought so, too.
“I’m also going to put you in touch with an insurance broker,” the solicitor continued. “You can move in as soon as the rental agreement is signed, but before you open your store you need your insurance in place. You must display your insurance certificates where customers can see them. In the old store, they used to hang here.” He pointed to a small space beside the front door that had three wooden frames fixed to the wall.
“I was wondering what these were for,” Leo said. “I thought maybe flyers or leaflets.”
“There’s nothing saying you can’t display leaflets beneath.”
“They could also go on the table in the window. Your menus, adverts for ice cream tastings, classes, sales… it will be interesting.”
Leo didn’t want to leave at the end of their tour. His mind was spawning ideas at a ridiculously fast rate, and he could imagine himself sitting on the long counter with Finn planning which of their many tasks they would tackle first.
They weren’t at that point yet. Wouldn’t be for a few weeks. But there was no law that said that they couldn’t start planning.
