But we were getting them done. Damson Farm was being transformed.
I contacted Luke Winter and asked if he could provide a quote for completing the bedroom and bathroom plans. Two weeks into our new project, he came over to take a look and see what he could do.
Becky let him in, while I hovered in the background eagerly awaiting her life-long unrequited love.
‘Becky.’ He nodded, face unsmiling but what I hoped was the hint of warmth in his eyes.
‘Um, hi Luke!’
Oh my goodness. Becky was close to spontaneous combustion.
Which might have explained why she then simply stood there, clinging onto the door, not saying anything else or making space for him to come in.
‘Hi Luke!’ I offered, over her shoulder, hoping that would be enough to kick-start her into doing something. Nope. I eventually resorted to firmly tugging her back out of the way. ‘Come in. I’m Eleanor.’
‘Yes.’ He nodded. Of course he already knew that, along with everyone else wondering about what was going on up at the farm.
‘Shall we get straight to it?’
Another nod.
‘Becky, did you want to show Luke the first floor while I put the kettle on?’
‘Um.’ Becky glanced back at me, face afire, eyes golf balls of panic.
‘Tea or coffee?’ I asked Luke.
‘Either.’
‘Great. How do you have it?’
‘However it comes.’
Wow. If he was this unfussy about his girlfriends, Becky would have no problem.
Becky was still frozen. Luke stood a couple of metres away, gripping a toolbox with both hands while examining a brown patch on the ceiling.
I decided to leave them to figure it out.
One way or another, they made it up the stairs. I found Becky standing on the landing, eyes transfixed on Luke as he measured a wall in the box room, his T-shirt riding high enough to reveal a strip of smooth, tanned skin.
I handed her a mug of tea, which, when Luke turned around to take the other drink, she then slopped all over herself. I resisted the urge to comment on how she’d made the effort to wear a pair of nice jeans and a snazzy blouse, instead taking the mug off her and shooing her into the bathroom. She was still in there when Luke left, with the promise of a quote to follow.
‘You can come out of hiding now!’ I called, my voice bubbling with laughter. She waited another minute before strolling out of the bathroom as if she’d been in there for a mere minute, rather than nearly twenty.
‘I’ll make myself a fresh drink, then we can get this landing carpet up, see what’s underneath.’
As if. I followed her downstairs and as soon as we were in the kitchen, Daniel came and joined us, poking his nose into Hope’s pram to check she was still sleeping.
‘So, how’d it go?’ he asked, grinning.
‘Luke thinks it’s totally doable. He’ll send us a quote in a couple of days, but probably won’t have time to do the work for a few weeks.’
‘And?’ He nodded at Becky, who had her back to us, watching the kettle as if a non-watched pot never boils, rather than the other way around.
‘She tipped tea all over herself and then hid in the bathroom until he left.’
‘Seriously, Becky? You can charm a load of obnoxious strangers into playing musical statues, and you can’t handle being in the same room as Luke Winter, the most easy-going man on earth?’ He shook his head. ‘You’ve got it bad.’
