Chapter 13
Lily wandered downstairs when she finally couldn’t ignore the hungry rumble in her stomach any longer, especially as the aroma of home cooking was wafting up the stairs.
She found all the family except Ben in the kitchen.
‘I thought Ben was taking you the sandwich that I made,’ said Faye, frowning when she realised that Lily was hungry.
Lily shook her head. ‘I haven’t seen him.’
Faye looked bemused. ‘How odd. I wonder where he went?’
‘No worries,’ said Lily. ‘I can make another.’
‘You’ve been working hard enough,’ said Faye, in a firm tone. ‘Which is more than I’ve been doing this morning, picking flowers and making chutney.’
Lily looked at the autumnal arrangement in a nearby vase. ‘It’s so pretty,’ she said, admiring the twigs full of berries, the orange chrysanthemums and a couple of red roses.
‘Most came from the garden but the berries are from the woods,’ said Faye. ‘I love wandering around week to week and seeing the changes.’
‘I’ve been admiring the view out of the window most of the morning,’ said Lily, before thanking Faye as she placed a sandwich on a plate for her to eat.
‘I can waste away many hours staring out of the window,’ said Faye in a wistful tone.
‘Especially when it’s framed like that,’ replied Lily.
‘So are you looking forward to your friends arriving tomorrow?’ asked Faye.
Lily nodded. ‘It’s been so long since I saw them. There’s so much to catch up on.’
‘Beth’s new boyfriend, for a start,’ said Hannah.
Lily sighed. ‘Another one,’ she replied, rolling her eyes.
‘What’s wrong with him?’ asked Frankie.
‘Everything, probably,’ muttered Lily.
Frankie and Faye exchanged a confused look. ‘Then why is she dating him?’ asked Faye.
‘Because Beth is so desperate for her very own happy ever after she doesn’t seem to have any kind of filter where men are concerned,’ Hannah told her. ‘She falls in love so easily, thinking the next guy is the one. She can’t think badly of any of them.’
‘When they’re mostly awful,’ finished Lily, with a shudder. ‘Do you remember that one that tried it on with me a few years ago? Ugh!’
‘Poor Beth,’ said Faye, shaking her head. ‘And she’s so sweet as well.’
‘I know,’ said Frankie, making a face. ‘She’s so sunny and happy it’s positively sickening.’
Everyone giggled.
‘Ella’s more like me,’ added Frankie, with a nod of approval. ‘She knows that men are to be toyed with and then discarded as soon as they’ve moved beyond usefulness into annoying.’
‘But you must believe in love,’ said Hannah, looking shocked. ‘I mean, you’ve been married two times!’
‘Oh, I never make the same mistake twice,’ Frankie told her, smiling. ‘I make it four or five times just to make sure.’
‘So what are you girls up to this weekend?’ asked Faye, after shaking her head at her friend.
‘Chilling out,’ Hannah told her. ‘With lovely autumnal walks, silly movies…’
‘And plenty of alcohol!’ finished Lily, with a grin.
‘Glad to hear that,’ said Frankie. ‘That’s true BFFs, that is. After all, a best friend reaches for your hand – and puts a wine glass into it.’
‘I’d better get back to work before all this talk of alcohol makes me thirsty for cocktail hour,’ said Lily, standing up.
‘Do you need a hand?’ asked Hannah.
Lily quickly shook her head. ‘You save your energy for work later,’ she told her.
She was still smiling to herself though as she headed back upstairs. She was trying to hold back from getting too close to the family whilst she was staying there. But she had to admit that she was enjoying the company of all the Jackson family.
She went back into the bedroom she had been working on.
The ceiling was finished and three of the walls had a fresh coat of white paint as a base.
Behind the bed, she had carefully removed the large wall panels, exposing the traditional logs behind.
At once it had felt warmer and more cosy, which was just the vibe she had been looking for.
However, she had painted the plasterboards white and kept them up in front of the exposed wall so that Ben didn’t ask too many questions.
She was just getting her paintbrush ready when there was a knock on the door. To stop anyone from wandering in, she had put a ‘No Entry’ notice outside, with the excuse that the paint was wet around the door.
‘Come in,’ she called out.
The door opened to reveal Ben holding a sandwich. ‘I brought you lunch,’ he said. ‘Sorry it’s a little late.’
‘That would be my second,’ she told him. ‘I went downstairs a little while ago and your mum made me a sandwich.’
‘Oh.’ He frowned. ‘It must have been when I was having a go at Dodgy Del for charging up his bloomin’ electric taxi using our mains!’
Lily laughed. ‘He does seem like a character.’
‘Hmm,’ said Ben, stepping further into the room. ‘That’s one word for him.’ He looked around, nodding as if pleased. ‘It’s looking good, isn’t it? What happened to that wall?’ He pointed at the small amount of exposed logs behind the bed.
‘I had to remove the panel to get right into the corner. But I’ll fix it back when I’m done,’ she said.
‘Good, good,’ he said. ‘This white really brightens it up, doesn’t it? The modern look is much better, don’t you think?’
‘Yes,’ she lied.
‘Well, I’ll leave you to it,’ he told her, heading out of the bedroom and closing the door behind him.
Lily puffed out a sigh of relief. It was going to get a bit tricky from here on in but she knew that she was right. In time, hopefully Ben would agree with her, she told herself before turning to open up a brand-new pot of green paint that she had kept hidden.