Chapter 9 #2
‘Dan, sorry, we were upstairs trying to sort the plumbing out. You’re welcome to steal Luke now – I think we’re all sorted here.’
‘Hello, darling,’ said Dan, eyeing them with far more knowledge than Eliza was generally comfortable with. But then again, it was hard to get too upset after a couple of orgasms.
‘Pleased to see you’re settling in so well, and you managed to track down a useful handyman. Although of course, I’m always here if you need a hand!’
‘Oh, well, I mentioned my shower was acting up when we were at Jean Pierre’s earlier, and Luke so kindly offered to pop over afterwards and service my pipes to make sure they’re all working smoothly.’
‘I bet he did,’ guffawed Dan. ‘Stroke of luck for me though as I was just driving home and saw his truck parked. I’ve been desperate for someone to help me take the hard roof off my Land Rover now that summer’s nearly upon us. Time to strap the canvas on!’
‘Always a pleasure to help, Dan, you know that,’ said Luke, ‘as long as we all get a ride in the old girl!’
‘Oh, I’ve just had a thought,’ said Eliza, ‘can I come with you and see the Land Rover? Surely that’s the perfect car for Fenella to head off in after her wedding?’
‘Great idea,’ replied Dan with enthusiasm, ‘I could even drive them! Come on and check it out.’
They all headed over to Dan’s house, squeezing through a hole in the hedge that Eliza didn’t even know was there.
As they popped through the other side, the Land Rover was standing there waiting and it was total perfection.
Painted in old-fashioned camo, with battered leather seats, it was ideal.
Eliza even thought it could be great for Fenella to arrive in, with all her bridesmaids lined up on the back seat.
She was sure she had that actual image on her Pinterest board.
‘I love it!’ responded Eliza. ‘I’m going to text Fenella now and see what she thinks of the idea.’
‘Oh, I think Nelly will be thrilled,’ said Luke.
‘Okay. Well, I’m going to leave you boys to your manliness,’ Eliza said, as she turned to go.
‘Hang on, Eliza,’ Dan called out. ‘I just wanted to ask how long you had the cottage for?’
‘Oh, only the three months at the moment – a short let, so you won’t have to put up with me as your neighbour for too long!’
‘What?’ exclaimed Dan. ‘Three months? That’s ridiculous, surely you can stay longer, just ask the landlord,’ he said with a smile, as he looked at Luke. ‘We won’t even have scratched the surface in three months!’
‘Oh, well, I’m not sure who the landlord is; I rented through an agent. But three months seems like a good length of time to see if country life really is for me. Maybe I’m better suited to a beach in the Maldives!’
‘It seems to be doing you good so far, don’t you think? Maybe the country needs you as much as you need it.’
Luke busied himself with checking the roof for removal. ‘I would say let her see what she thinks in a few months. Nothing has to be forever. But she’s here until Nelly gets married at least, so we know we have her for a couple more months! Right, Eliza?’
‘Right,’ she said, waving as she ducked back through the hedge, not really sure what to make of that exchange. Was he referring to them when he said ‘nothing was forever’? No matter what, this rebound had an expiry date and that was just what she needed.
She went inside and put the kettle on, which had become her default since moving to the muddy outback.
It was like a comfort thing – a cup of tea, standing against the Aga, looking out onto the horizon.
And about half an hour later, she heard the now familiar crunch of the gravel and Luke’s truck start.
She guessed he wouldn’t come in to say goodbye.
That wasn’t really his style. But the old Eliza had still hoped he would.
She needed a distraction. She wasn’t going to just sit around and worry about whether a man liked her. He obviously wasn’t going to sit around and worry about her! Just then her phoned pinged. It was Nancy.
‘Hey, bird! Any updates on the hottie? Have you shown him the Liza magic yet? Have you kept to the rebound rules? Love you! Nx’
Could she tell her everything immediately? Eliza wanted to, but something made her pause.
So, she texted back saying, ‘OMFG Nancy he is the most incredible shag I have ever had! Is rebound sex always this good? Although to be honest he should be pretty pro given how much practice it sounds like he’s had! Missing you! Ex’
Taking her tea into the dining room, she fired up her laptop and got lost in the Pinterest page she was creating for Nelly’s wedding, excitedly creating a new entrance colour scheme with the Land Rover and looking at some new flower arrangements.
There was so much to do, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so excited.
This was something she could do on her own without anyone else breathing down her neck.
Then another ping. Her heart rate skyrocketed. It couldn’t be another debt reminder, could it?
Relief filled her, it was just a notification on the Farmington group WhatsApp she had recently been added to.
It was amazing what upset people in the rural parts of the world.
She opened it immediately and there was a selfie of Dan naked in the bath.
What the hell! she thought, giggling, and grabbed a screenshot to send to Nancy.
Just as soon as she had saved the image, it vanished.
Followed very quickly by a message saying, ‘SO sorry everyone – isn’t it lucky the camera wasn’t pointing the other way!
I was trying to send a message to a friend and accidentally sent a selfie to this group. I do apologise.’
Eliza was loving this; she’d asked the universe for a distraction and look what she’d received.
Pottering through to the kitchen to pour out her now lukewarm tea, she pondered whether she should respond.
She was sure Dan had been trying to send a hot selfie to one of his many admirers – could he have meant to send this to Marjorie? Now, that would be something!
The silence on the group was deafening, so Eliza typed, ‘More’s the pity, Dan. We could have played guess the owner if the camera had been facing the other way.’
To celebrate her witty response, she considered opening a bottle of wine from the stolen stash. The wine tasting at Jean Pierre’s felt like so long ago already.
But when she came back there was still no reply. Oh dear, maybe she’d got her audience wrong, even though she was personally in hysterics and thought it outrageously funny.
Then, thank God, a reply from Dan came in saying, ‘Very funny, Eliza. Again, my apologies.’ Then another ping, which was a row of laughing emojis from Marjorie.
And at that point, Eliza decided she would invest more time in Marjorie and her cakes, as she undoubtedly had a wonderful sense of humour.
And she would also no doubt be a wonderful source of Farmington gossip . . .