“Shit. I wish I was there to see it all come together.”
“Yeah. Me too, Lenny.”
Adrian’s soft, subtle tone of yearning was not lost on Leonard, and he stalled for a moment, overcome by the sudden flood of emotions.
“I changed the locks front and back. Drove to the superstore yesterday and found a fairly decent hardware place,” continued Adrian. “I’ll let you have a set of keys when you get here Friday. Toni helped me make sure all windows are secured properly. You might want to think about setting up a motion detector light at the front and back. Oh yes, and I also sent you some more design ideas for the kitchen and bathroom this morning. Thought you may want to think about getting orders in for kitchen units, in case there’s a long lead time. If you need help with that, let me know.”
“You’re an absolute star. I’ll get onto that. And I’m thinking about furnishing the house with pieces from my antique furniture catalogue, maybe use the place as a kind of showroom. Hey, if she’s there, can you ask Pippa if she has an address for my cousin Mary? She mentioned sending her a Christmas card.”
“Will do. What time do you think you’ll get here Friday?”
“I’ll try to leave early and be with you by four. Why?
“I’ll make sure Toni’s gone by then. Missing you. I’m going to make dinner or get takeaway so we don’t need to go out. And you may need to bring more—um—supplies, if you know what I mean.”
Leonard smiled down at the phone just as a shadow fell across his workspace. When he looked up, he saw the grinning face of Kieran, who slumped across the partition between their desks. Leonard felt his cheeks heat up and coughed involuntarily into the phone.
“Will do, Ade. Uh, I’d better go. Got someone hovering, waiting to see me. Give me a call during the week, let me know how things are going?”
“Will do. Take care, sexy.”
“Um, you too.”
Leonard shook his head, annoyed at being forty-seven and still feeling flustered, as though he had been caught out doing something illicit or embarrassing.
“Bit of privacy here, Kieran,” he said, pointing to his phone. “This could have been confidential.”
“In which case, you’d have taken the call in the fish tank. So come on, Len,” said Kieran, propping his elbows on the partition and cradling his head in his hands. “What’s going on? You’re grinning at that phone like you’ve just won the lottery. Or did your father also leave you a vintage Ferrari and private airplane to complement the Welsh farmhouse?”
On a video call, he had explained to his whole team about the home his father had bequeathed him, a building that needed extensive renovations. A few soft comments of ‘sweet’ and ‘wow’ had come down the line, but he knew they all equated the place to just another job added to his company’s long list of makeovers.
“Hello, Kieran. I’ve missed you, too—”
“Oh fuck,” said Kieran, jumping back and placing a hand over his mouth as though Leonard had just struck him. “You got laid, didn’t you? While you’ve been away?That’swhat’s written all over your face.”
Leonard’s eyes flashed around the rest of the office, which was thankfully still empty.
“Keep your voice down!”
“I knew it! You finally got your end away. Wait until I tell Kennedy. Who is he?”
“Not a word, Kieran. I’m serious. It’s all new and may not lead to anything.”
“But look at you,” said Kieran, waving a hand in a circle at Leonard. “You’re so—so—unknotted.”
“What? What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“Less tense, less wound tight. Chilled. Beaming. Was it good? It was good, wasn’t it? Give me details.”
“I’m not giving you details, you little perv,” said Leonard, chuckling. “Get back to work before I sack you.”
“Yeah, that’s never been much of a threat,” said Kieran, his eyes brightening again. “Hey, tell you what. Bring him over Sunday for lunch. Kennedy will cook. We need to give him a thorough professional eval—”
“Oh, no. No, you don’t. Like I told you, it’s all new. And anyway, he lives in Norwich. Besides, I’m driving back to Wales next Friday for a—”
“Dirty weekend?”
“Site inspection. And we’ve still got a whole load of work to do on the place, including sanding and plastering. So, yes, there will probably be dust and— Kieran! Will you stop smirking at me like that!”
