Page 50 of Sanctuary at MacLeod's Cove
The old, rusting metal pipes had been stripped away, and the building supplies were tidily placed to one side, hidden beneath a tarpaulin.
‘And Sam’s put in some lights on the outside of the house which come on when they see you!’
Jen glanced at Sam, who shrugged. ‘Your mother asked me to. Also added a bolt to the front door, and a new lock to the French doors at the back. You’re all secure now. You expecting a foreign country to swoop in and grab you?’ he asked with a grin.
Jen smiled grimly and shook her head. ‘She’s going overboard, but that’s mothers for you.’
Sam grunted. ‘It’s a good idea. One your neighbour should follow.’ He pointed to the gate in the fence which led to their neighbour’s drive. ‘He keeps his keys on the wheel, would you believe? Now that’s old school for you.’
Jen shrugged. ‘People know and trust each other, I guess.’
‘Yeah, not saying it’s not nice, it is. Just unrealistic. Anyway, not my concern.’ He followed her gaze back to the house. ‘I need to do a few repairs on the guttering and then we’ll be able to replace the downpipe before next week’s wet weather hits.’
‘That’s brilliant. Thanks so much. Both of you,’ she added, including Liam. ‘It’s like the house is sort of waking up.’
Liam giggled. ‘Like Sleeping Beauty.’
‘Promise, I haven’t kissed the house at all,’ said Sam with a smile. He turned to Jen, and their gazes locked, and their smiles fell a little, before she looked away. She really didn’t want to dwell on Sam and kisses.
But even as Jen went inside to help her mother prepare dinner, she heard Liam continue to giggle, obviously delighted at the image of Sam kissing a house as if it were a princess.
‘So,’ said Jen over dinner, ‘what was Grandma’s library at the school like, Liam?’
He looked up as if suddenly remembering. ‘It was cool,’ he said, taking another bite of his food.
Jen tried not to be impatient, but there was so much riding on what he thought of the place. There was no way she was going to push him into doing anything he didn’t want to do, no matter how sensible everyone else thought it to be.
She continued eating.
He reached out and picked up a book. ‘Grandma said that even though I’m not a pupil at the school yet, she’d let me borrow this book.’
Jen picked it up and read the cover before putting it back down again. ‘That looks exactly like the kind of thing you love to read.’
‘It is. And there’s loads more books like that, too. Miss Thompson showed me.’
‘That’s nice of her. What else did she say?’
‘She showed me the worm farm and other stuff. Me and Grandma are going to have one here, aren’t we Grandma?’
‘We are indeed. We’re going to wait until Sam has finished and then set one up.’ She stood and looked out onto the garden, then pointed. ‘I think over there by the fence is the perfect place for it. What do you think, Liam?’
Liam jumped up and echoed his grandmother’s stance and looked out. ‘Yes. Perfect!’ They both laughed at his echoing of her words.
‘That,’ said Jen, standing up to go and get the dessert she’d brought home from the café courtesy of Lucy, ‘all sounds very… perfect,’ she also repeated, making Liam say the word again.
When she stepped out again holding a luscious-looking gateau, Liam had just finished saying something about Monday. Kate was looking at her with a big smile and a raised eyebrow.
‘What have I missed?’
‘Liam, tell your mum what you just said,’ said Kate.
‘Miss Thompson said I could start school on Monday.’
‘And do you want to?’ asked Jen.
‘Yeah. And I’ve got a friend now, too. George.’
‘There was another little boy with his father there, checking out the school. George is starting at the same time.’
