Twenty-Four
Matt looked out into the courtyard when he heard the sound of an engine purring past. A top-of-the-range Land Rover swept over towards the barn and tooted its horn when it came to a stop by the side of the far-end doors. A moment later, Sally popped her head out and a tall, dark-haired man alighted from the vehicle. He gave Sally a kiss on the cheek before following her inside.
Matt paused for a moment, wondering who he was while also telling himself that it was none of his business. Sally had a lot going on right now and he could be anyone from a bank manager to an interior designer. Although the kiss was not what you’d expect from a bank manager but almost definitely from a designer. They were all huggy-feely that way!
He returned his attention to his current task – clearing out all the debris from the basement byre area, ready to turn it into a cosy apartment for Sally. When Charlie came to visit and cast his architectural eye over the space, his suggestion of a spiral staircase up to the floor above and using the two rooms overhead as sleeping and bathing quarters had resulted in making the conversion considerably easier and thus quicker. The byre would be transformed into an open plan kitchen / dining / living area with a small cloakroom under the internal house stairs for convenience. The large barn doors would be replaced with fold-away glass patio doors to open the space up to the outside when the weather permitted, which was not today, and a standard door would be placed further along beside the kitchen area to permit easy access to the courtyard and the cat barn when it was complete.
The early morning drizzle was steadily growing into a full-on deluge although it had yet to reach its peak. Matt had worked and lived in the area long enough to recognise the weather patterns and he was glad they’d made the roof their priority the previous week. The building was now reasonably weatherproof although he’d be happier once the new windows were fitted – the old wooden frames were fairly rotten meaning they needed to be completely ripped out and replaced. Sally had opted to put in new double-glazed sash-windows, in keeping with the original style, but after much deliberation and discussion, had gone with the UPVC versions due to their longevity factor. He had reassured her several times over that the latest version of UPVC had advanced greatly since its early ancestors and the wood-grain effect made all the difference to its appearance.
He was on his way back from dropping a load of rubble in the skip when he noticed Darren Connors standing off to one side, staring over at the Land Rover.
‘You alright there, Darren?’
‘Oh, err… yes, boss. Fine, thanks.’
‘Okay. Need you to get on with removing that old, lead pipework, mate. I want this whole area cleared up by the weekend so we can get on with laying the under-floor heating next week and getting the screed down.’
‘Sure thing, boss.’
Matt kept an eye on Darren and while he did get back to pulling out the old pipework, he was doing so with one eye still across the courtyard. In fact, it wasn’t until the Land Rover pulled back out of the yard an hour later, that the job was attacked more vigorously. He suspected it was the second kiss on Sally’s cheek from the tall dark stranger which had prompted this additional effort. There was no doubt Darren had a serious case of the hots for Sally and while Matt didn’t approve of his workers liaising with the clients, he didn’t feel he had the right to forbid them from doing so. If Darren chose to ask Sally out, Matt would have to stand back and say nothing. How he felt about such a situation, however, was not something he was prepared to question too deeply – he wasn’t sure if he’d be happy with the answer.
Three hours later, Matt was knocking on the barn door himself while trying to avoid the rain which was now coming down like stair rods from the heavy black clouds above.
‘Hey, Matt, quick, get in out of the rain. Why are you knocking? You don’t need to do that.’
‘I don’t like to just walk in – this is kind of your home right now.’
He stepped in through the wicket door and stopped upon hearing the loud timpani of the rain on the metal roof of the barn.
‘Bloody hell, I didn’t realise it would be so loud in here.’
Sally followed his eyes up to the wooden flooring of the hayloft above them.
‘I don’t think it would be so bad if there was hay up in the loft, that would absorb the noise, but with it being empty up there, it’s all just vibrating around the place.’
‘Well, thankfully, the new roof along with the insulation and panelling we’re putting in will resolve that. Although, it’s going to be a few months down the line now that we’ve brought forward the renovation of the workshops.’
‘It’s fine and once I’m in Marvin with his door closed, I can barely hear it. Mind you, I don’t think Herbie’s so keen. He’s been under the covers of the bed since the rain began coming down like this.’
‘Poor little thing.’
It had been quite a revelation for Matt when he’d found himself drawn to Sally’s large, opinionated cat. Even though Flora had asked many times over the years if they could have a cat or a dog, he’d always refused because he knew he’d be the one who’d end up looking after it and there had been times when he’d just about managed to look after himself and Flora. Adding another body to the mix hadn’t been an option. As such, he’d never considered himself an animal person. Whenever he worked in homes with resident four-legged creatures, they were usually kept out of his way so he had little interaction with them. Therefore, the first time he’d come to give Sally a progress report and Herbie had jumped up on his lap and settled down to sleep, he could barely move from the shock. And, of course, from the ginger lump snoring on top of him. When Sally had told him how honoured he was, as Herbie didn’t do strangers very well, a little thrill of pleasure had run through him. Since then, whenever he dropped by, Herbie made a point of coming over and rubbing himself around his legs or jumping onto his lap, his loud purring vibrating through Matt’s hands as he petted him.
‘Would you like a coffee? The kettle has just boiled.’
‘If it’s not too much trouble, that would be great, thank you.’
He took a seat in front of the motorhome’s large windscreen, swivelled it round to look through to the bedroom area and watched as the lump in the middle of the bed slithered over to the edge. Two fluffy ginger paws stretched out from under the quilt before hitting the floor. They were soon followed by a snout, whiskers, a fluffy face, and a body with a vast brush of a tail bringing up the rear. Quite literally! Another stretch ensued before Herbie padded down the step and clambered onto Matt.
‘Hey, little dude, is all this noise too much for your little sensitive ears? It’s not nice, is it?’
The cat pushed his head up against the palm of his hand, butting it several times.
‘Here you go.’
Sally set the mug of coffee in front of him and then sat down on the opposite side of the table.
‘I know I say this every time, but it never ceases to amaze me when I see how Herbie responds to you. The only other person he did that with was Steve. When Nick was here earlier, Herbie did a disappearing act so you truly have something going on that no one else has.’
Matt saw his chance to satisfy his curiosity over the stranger from earlier and he quickly grabbed it.
‘Nick?’
‘Yes, Nick Davies. He’s the vet who’s kindly helping me with recruiting a vet of my own. Have you never met him?’
He shook his head.
‘No, I can’t say that I have. But as I don’t have a pet, that’s not really a surprise. Never had the need of his services.’
‘Oh, I kind of thought that everyone around here knew everyone else. That’s certainly the impression I’ve been getting.’
Matt laughed. ‘I know it can feel like that, especially within the village itself, but it’s not always the case. Like I said, if I’d ever had the need of a vet, then I’m sure our paths would have crossed but as I haven’t…’
‘I suppose.’
‘So, was he here with good news?’
Matt didn’t know why he felt compelled to know more about this “Nick” bloke’s visit but the question was out there before he had a chance to consider if he should.
‘Well, there’s been an unexpected development…’
‘He’s not trying to cause trouble because you’ll be taking over some of his area, is he?’
‘No. Quite the opposite as it happens. He and his father would like to offer a kind of partnership. They know the area they cover is too big for them and they’ve tried employing small animal vets in the past but for different reasons, they don’t stick around for long. Nick thinks that what I’m offering – accommodation, their own surgery which they can build to their own requirements – could be a game-changer and bring in someone who’ll stay the course. They would like to farm out their small animal clients to my surgery and I would pay them a small yearly administration fee to cover the costs of the additional services provided. The use of their receptionist for example. She’d make the appointments and keep the records updated which means I’d save on the cost of having to employ someone to do that here.’
‘Well, that sounds good so far but I can’t believe they’re going to hand over a chunk of their clients just like that without any kind of recompense. What’s the catch?’
‘I can’t see one. The Davies acknowledge that they’re likely to lose a portion of their clients anyway but if we do it like this, they can use my vet as extra cover for their surgery and vice-versa. One concern I’ve had since Nick first mentioned it, was what to do if my vet was on a day off and an emergency case came in – I’d be stuck. Now we’ll have a rota system going on so that everyone gets time off but there is still cover. They are fully aware my rescue animals will always be the priority and any emergency cases will supersede booked appointments.’
‘And the loss of profit? They’re not okay with that, surely?’
‘Again, it goes back to accepting they’d lose a number of clients anyway but Nick reckons that the time being freed up by having my vet here for the small animals, will enable them to dedicate more of their time to the new racing stables which have opened up on the other side of the county and which Mr Davies Senior is very keen to get the business for.’
‘It sounds like it’s all working out well.’
‘So far, it’s good. Nick has been so helpful. That’s why he was here earlier – looking around the hayloft to see the space we’ll be working from and to provide a fresh set of eyes for the planned setup of the rescue down here. He’s already suggested we look at putting in interlocking doors at the entrance to the rescue hall, as I’m now going to call it, to make sure we don’t have any escapees.’
Matt bit back an exclamation. He’d also had this idea but had been saving it for when they got round to renovating the barn as he hadn’t wanted to overload Sally with too much detail all at once. Now this “Nick” one was getting the credit and Sally’s starry eyes. Bugger!
‘I agree, that’s an excellent idea. It makes a lot of sense. I’ll look into them for you and get you some information.’
‘Thank you. Now, Essie mentioned that your Flora is a graphic designer – is that correct? And if so, do you think she’d be interested in doing some work for me?’
‘Yes, she is a graphic designer and I’m sure she’d be thrilled to work for you. I’ll leave her number with you before I go and you can give her a call.’
‘Brilliant! Thank you.’
‘No problem. Now, let me update you with where we’re at with the house…’
When Sally leant forward to look at the notes he’d placed on the table, her light floral perfume filled his head and he felt a slight dizzy sensation. It only lasted a few seconds but it was enough for Matt to know that he was going to have to sit down with himself and work out exactly what it was he was feeling for this woman, although he suspected he already knew the answer.