10. Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
‘ S he seemed nice,’ Evie said as they returned to the car and James navigated them back out onto the road towards Cyan’s house.
James made a non-committal sound which Evie took to mean yes. She tried to ignore the rumblings of jealousy as they made their way back down the picturesque lane. When they turned into the long driveway and came towards the metal gates, they spotted a motorbike propped up against the wall and a man in surfer shorts and bright blue t-shirt resting up against it. With a slight figure and tousled wavy black hair he looked a little like Timothee Chalamet and Evie found she was more than a bit giggly by the time they had got out of the car to introduce themselves. Especially when he turned to shake her hand and gave her such an engaging smile she couldn’t remember her own name, let alone his.
‘James and Evie I take it?’ Bryn said, tucking his sunglasses into the v of his t-shirt. ‘I’m so sorry guys, I got the wrong info, but if you want to just swap cards you can get in now. I’ve checked this one,’ he said, his face cracking into a smile as he showed the new key card.
‘Bryn? Sounds like a Welsh name to me, not Cornish.’ James said as ‘Timothee’ and Evie continued to lock eyes. The security guard laughed.
‘Kinda. My dad’s Welsh, mum’s Cornish. I was born in Cornwall so Dad wanted something Welsh about me, my name is about the only thing though.’
Evie looked at the two men. They couldn’t have been built much differently. James was taller, Bryn more wiry. Both dark haired but that was the only similarity. James’ eyes were a vivid blue, Bryn’s a deep chestnut brown.
‘What made you choose to be a security guard?’ Evie asked, wondering why she had said anything when James gave her a look and Bryn grinned.
‘It wasn’t a calling. And I know when you look at me you don’t think I could tackle many burglars to the ground, but security doesn’t call for much of that now. It’s techier. Video cameras, phone codes, fingerprints. Y’know,’ Bryn gave her another wide grin, ‘I can show you around the TV room when you’re free,’ as he spoke he put his hand out to her and Evie went to grasp it. She realised at the last minute he was giving her the new key card, resulting in her crushing his hand around the card and him yelping slightly.
‘Sorry. Didn’t…erm…sorry,’ she said, embarrassed.
‘I’ll take that,’ James said, taking the card from Bryn. He turned to the key entry, ‘I’ll just check it works, not suggesting you don’t know your stuff but the track record hasn’t been great.’
Bryn looked a little taken aback and Evie began quickly to apologise for James’ rudeness but was interrupted when the gates swung open with a click.
‘There you go,’ Bryn said with a hint of smugness.
‘Great. Come on Evie, time to get in,’ James said but she had begun to wander through the gates already. The grounds were stunning.
‘I’ll walk up and meet you at the house,’ she replied. He gave her a dark look but she chose to ignore it. The day was warm and she had spent a large portion of it either in the car not talking to James, or in the pub, not talking to him. She needed some space.
‘I’ll get on my way, give me a call if you need anything,’ Bryn shouted over, doing up his black helmet and swinging a long leg over his bike. ‘Anything at all,’ he grinned, then gunned the bike, the noise of the throaty engine filling the otherwise peaceful countryside. Evie waved and carried on walking along the path made of white pebbles.
Only the sound of birds singing and the trees rustling in the light breeze accompanied Evie as she made her way along the path, following it slowly and enjoying the sense of peace and freedom that came with being outdoors. She congratulated the landscapers who had designed the route the path took as she turned a corner and there in all its’ beauty was a nineteenth century mansion clad in yellowy white brick, its numerous windows glinting in the sunshine. Instead of overly manicured lawns and borders, the landscaping was filled with sweeping trees that asked to be read under, small nooks highlighted by stunning roses and water features that appeared to be linked together to create a network of mini lakes. The whole effect was spectacular. A carefully unmade design which looked as though you had happened upon a home where the garden had been left to its’ own devices, that is until you realised bushes were trimmed, lawns carefully mown and wildflowers allowed to grow in the appropriate places. It was, Evie realised, the exact casual yet effortless touch they were hoping to create inside the home.
Just as she was starting to wonder if the firm had bitten off more than they could chew, she glimpsed the azure blue of a swimming pool. Knowing the guest house was near to the pool she made her way over, keen to unpack and go for a dip. The heat of the day was at its’ highest and she longed to have a swim, to stretch her limbs and to let go of the weird feeling between her and James.
As she neared the main house the guest house appeared to the side. It was like the main house but in miniature and Evie instantly fell in love. If she designed a house she wanted to live in, this would be it. James’ car was parked outside, the black paint shimmering in the sun but the man himself was nowhere to be seen. Evie walked around the side of the house and found a heavy door in stained oak wood, slightly ajar. She pushed it and immediately felt the welcome respite of the cool air coming from within. Inside everything was white. Evie wrinkled her nose. It wasn’t how she would have decorated it. She wasn’t sure it was how Cyan would want it either, based on what they were going to be doing in the main house. This must have been how the previous owners had left it.
She walked along the bright white hallway, noting the floor tiles in a modern if impersonal slate and poked her head into a sitting room on the left, where a Victorian fireplace had been painted over and the coal fire replaced with an electric screen. Each wall held a large black and white photo of abstract objects, Evie could identify a perfume bottle and a kettle in two of them but was hard pressed to work out the subject of the others. Deciding to make her way to the kitchen for a glass of water, she returned to the hallway and followed it down to another dark oak stained door. Evie pushed down the handle and was greeted with the sight of a black matt kitchen, where all the appliances were hidden, offset by white sparkling marble worktops and an enormous kitchen island which doubled as the dining table. None of the cupboards gave a hint as to where the glasses would be hidden, so Evie started with the cupboard above the sink, which held nothing. She systematically opened and closed all the other cupboards, getting increasingly frustrated when the best she could find was a measuring jug or a saucepan. Evie contemplated drinking from the jug when she heard a bang outside the door and rushed to the hallway to see what the noise was.
‘Oh, you’re here,’ James said looking a little harassed. He’d managed to get through the front door whilst holding both his and her luggage, as well as various bags they’d both thrown in containing running gear, and in Evie’s case, food. She hadn’t been convinced that anyone Cyan’s end would think to leave anything for them the first night and she never managed going to sleep on an empty stomach very well.
‘Let me,’ Evie stepped forward to take her bag from him but he shook his head.
‘No, I’ve got it. If I let go of one I might lose them all.’ She stepped aside to let him pass where he managed to shuffle through to the sitting room and let everything fall carefully to the floor.
‘When did you get here?’ he asked, rubbing his hands where the bags had pushed into them. Evie shook away the idea of rubbing her own hands on his.
She busied herself by picking up her own suitcase. ‘Just now. I was in the kitchen,’ she added unnecessarily, but she was finding being in such close proximity to James was making her tongue tied. ‘I was thinking of going for a dip in the pool if you fancy joining me?’ The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them and Evie hoped fervently that James would say no. She wasn’t certain she was ready to see him in swimming trunks.
He seemed surprised by the offer but saved them both by shaking his head. ‘Thanks but I’d prefer a cool shower, you go for it though and if you like I’ll put together something for us for dinner when you’re ready?’ Evie nodded, then hurriedly left the room, taking the narrow cottage stairs two at a time to get away from James and all thoughts of showers.
When she got to a bedroom filled with an enormous bed and so much sunlight she smiled at the peace it exuded. Whilst downstairs the white had been cold and unwelcoming, up here it worked to bring calm to the room, and to her. It was a bit like James, she thought. The paint needed the right light. James did too. When she caught him in certain lights he was the sixteen year old she fell in love with. Other times he had become cold and closed off. Impossible to read.
In a move very unlike her, Evie dumped the contents of her suitcase on the bed so she could rummage through for her bikini, rather than meticulously unpack it. Locating the emerald green two piece and pulling it on, she couldn’t escape the fact the triangles of the fabric were small. She hadn’t considered it when she’d thrown it into her suitcase, hastily packing for the fortnight with little notice. But now she had it on, looking at the mirror propped against the wall Evie had to acknowledge it didn’t cover much. She was torn. On one hand she was keen to go for a swim, but on the other there was a chance James might see her. And he could get the wrong idea. She should have packed a very sensible black one-piece. Though, in fairness she didn’t own one. Usually she was proud to show her gym toned body if she was on holiday, she worked hard on it and rarely got the chance to flaunt it.
Not that she was planning on flaunting it in front of James.
Evie stood in front of the mirror weighing up her options. The lure of the pool was too much though. She grabbed a robe that was hanging on the back of the door, tied it tightly around her waist, grabbed her sliders and with a head held high and arms swinging firmly by her side, marched down the stairs, past the kitchen and through to the utility room which served as a changing room for the pool. Never once encountering James.
She flung her robe on one of the sun loungers, kicked off her sliders and dove into the refreshing chill of the perfectly clear water. Powering up and down the pool Evie felt the stresses of the journey and the weird atmosphere between her and James dissipate as the burn began in her shoulders. After a while, her breathing coming in heavy gasps, she pulled herself up onto the side and lay for a moment on the tiles that were still warm from the sun, allowing the light breeze to caress and dry her.
Feeling more balanced than she had in the last few days Evie gradually pulled herself up to sitting and wrung out her rope of auburn hair. Realising she hadn’t brought a towel out with her, Evie stood for a moment dripping and beginning to get cold. Goosebumps stood out on her arms and legs as she walked around the pool looking for a towel box or similar.
Deciding she would just throw the robe on and try to get upstairs quickly before she dripped too much on the slate inside or the carpets upstairs she heard a voice.
‘There’s a towel in the utility room.’ Evie scanned her immediate environment for James but couldn’t see him, then looked up. He was stood at a window, at what, she guessed, was his bedroom.
‘I put one down there for you,’ he added, smiled briefly then disappeared from the window.
If she hadn’t been feeling naked already, the look of knowing and intimacy on James’ face when he’d stared out of the window at her rooted Evie to the spot.
She needed to get the next fortnight’s work completed and get out of there, feelings unscathed. She wasn’t letting him break her heart again.