Chapter Two
It seemed that a summer house covered in white wisteria, beds full of roses, and love-in-a-mist spilling over the lawn didn’t impress Lance.
Although there was space for one, and money in the budget, there was no swimming pool.
The drive needed repairing and the paddock (Hattie couldn’t remember why they needed a paddock) was too small.
She took a breath and gave it one more shot.
‘One of the many joys of this house,’ she said, ‘and yes, I am trying to sell it to you, is that the village is only a short distance away and it’s lovely. It has the usual general store – run by volunteers—’
Lance groaned.
‘And a few delightful shops selling other things. My friend Rose – I’m sure I’ve mentioned her before?
’ Fiona nodded. ‘She has her shop that sells lovely things, soft furnishings, scarves, vintage finds from France. And there’s a wine shop that is also an amazing delicatessen, as well as a proper little haberdashery and fabric shop.
’ She paused. ‘The pub is excellent too.’
‘I’m sure you’ll be telling us the village hall has tai chi, Pilates and Hatha yoga classes,’ said Lance. ‘As well as an active WI. I’m not interested.’
Hattie forced a smile. She loved the village because, apart from anything else, her favourite house in the world wasn’t far away.
‘Or maybe you don’t think this is the one? I may have a couple of other houses we could consider but I need to do a bit more research first.’
‘This one is close, but no cigar,’ said Lance with a smile that made Hattie feel patronised and murderous at the same time.
She took a breath and returned his smile with one of her own. ‘Don’t forget you will need to compromise. No one ever gets everything on their wish list for a house: it’s like finding a partner.’
Then she wished she hadn’t made that analogy. Poor Fiona had no idea quite how much she was compromising with Lance.
‘I don’t expect to have to lower my standards, Hattie,’ Lance said.
‘Well, just have a think about it,’ said Hattie briskly. ‘I’m afraid I have to leave now. There are a couple of dogs at home who need to be fed.’
It seemed to take ages to usher them out of the house.
Once in her car, she forced herself to stop and think for a moment.
She couldn’t in good conscience ignore her vision of Lance.
He was cheating on his fiancée before they’d even got to the altar.
He didn’t deserve Fiona, with her dimples and her messy bun.
And he certainly didn’t deserve that lovely house!
Fiona had told her at their first meeting, held at her mother’s house, that her parents had given them a very generous deposit.
So if they married, when the inevitable divorce came along Lance would get half of it.
This was so unfair. No, she’d have to find a way to help Fiona see what was going on.
Hattie might even be able to find her a lovely home to buy for herself in the wake of it all.
It was all very well having visions, she reflected, but it would be more useful if they offered solutions.
Instead they just gave her dilemmas which, in this case, seemed impossible to solve.
Although they did sometimes show her a glimpse of a happy couple and when she had those she knew she needed to help pair the two up.
It had led her to being known as a bit of a matchmaker.
It didn’t work on her own account, of course. Nothing so useful!
She did a couple of shoulder rolls and looked at herself in the mirror.
She still looked a bit pale, her freckles prominent.
She looked very different from the other women in her family, who were blonde and angular.
Apparently she took after her wild Irish great-grandmother, who had eyes ‘as green as gooseberries’ and was hardly ever mentioned – and was missing from most of the ancient family photographs.
As she started the car, she wondered why she was worried about her appearance when it was only Luke who was likely to see her. He was due to pick up his dogs soon and although he had a key to her house and could help himself to them, she always preferred to do a proper handover.
Frank and Fearless were Springer spaniels that he’d had from puppyhood. They were so good and beautiful with their white and brown coats and dark brown eyes to match. She would miss them.
‘Were they all right?’
Luke didn’t bother to say hello. He was leaning in the door frame wearing his working clothes, which were dusty and hung off his tall frame but somehow suited him.
His work boots always made him look like he meant business, Hattie thought.
Looking at him you could somehow tell he was the best builder around.
He’d spent the last few days working in Cornwall, which was out of his normal territory: he was involved in a huge restoration project on the coast and kept having to disappear for days or weeks at a time.
Hattie missed his easy-going presence in her life when he was away – but right now she was indignant about even the faintest suggestion that Frank and Fearless might have been anything but perfect.
Usually he took the dogs with him, but he was staying somewhere unsuitable this time and so Hattie had offered to have them; it was always a pleasure.
‘When are they ever anything but good? Will you have a cuppa?’
‘Please.’ He put his hand in his pocket and produced a packet of biscuits. ‘I bought you these. Cornish Fairings. A local speciality.’
‘You didn’t need to do that!’ she said, taking them. ‘Let’s go and sit in the sunshine.’
It wasn’t long before the two of them were looking over the fields and hills. ‘I’m going to miss this view,’ Hattie said. ‘So many houses are on the wrong side of the hill and you don’t get the vistas.’
‘How much longer will you be here?’
‘Another three months. I must start looking for somewhere.’
‘Somewhere more permanent? It’s ridiculous, a property hunter without a home of her own.’
‘That’s what my parents always say. And my sister.’
‘I know you struggle with them, but your family are right about this. Moving from house-sitting job to house-sitting job every few months must be very unsettling.’
Luke was a good friend, and she knew he was talking sense because everyone – including the postman – said the same thing.
But it had to be the right home. And although she’d saved as hard as she could, she didn’t have a huge deposit and had recently spent a lot of it on a new car: a tough four-wheel drive that could cope with any road conditions, and if necessary pull a client’s car out of trouble.
She’d since regretted not just leasing a car, but she’d been offered such a good deal she hadn’t been able to resist.
‘I quite like the variety. I promise I’ll never live anywhere who won’t let Frank and Fearless come when they need to.’
‘You know it’s not—’
‘I know,’ she interrupted. Luke wasn’t one for chatting and Hattie felt it was a kindness to spare him sometimes.
Luke got up. ‘I’d better be going.’
Frank and Fearless heard the words and were at his side in an instant. Hattie and Luke walked round to the front and, as always, Hattie looked on in admiration as Frank and Fearless leapt into the car the moment it was open, and waited, panting, for their master to join them.
‘They’re so good,’ said Hattie, not for the first time.
‘And they know they’re not allowed on the sofa in my house,’ said Luke.
‘I like having something to cuddle.’
There was a moment’s silence between them before Hattie went back to her doorstep. It was a very full silence, one she didn’t know how to handle.
She decided to ignore it, waved goodbye and went back inside to have supper. Her sister called just as Hattie’s omelette was ready to put on the plate. She tucked her phone under her ear and slid it out of the pan anyway. She didn’t want it to burn.
‘I’ve got something I need to ask you,’ said Leonie.
As her sister never wasted time with pleasantries, Hattie wasn’t offended.
Leonie probably wanted to know if Hattie thought the value of her house had gone up since she last asked.
But being her elder, she still thought of Hattie as the baby sister, who couldn’t quite be trusted and needed to be guided.
It was a role that had been enhanced when Hattie was little, and had failed to realise not everyone saw things that weren’t in the room, and that it was best not to mention it if you did.
She soon learnt never to talk about her visions to her family.
She didn’t really understand them herself.
Her pragmatic relations wouldn’t have a chance.
Telling them would just make them worry.
‘Ask away, I’m here.’
‘I might need to come down and ask you.’
‘From London? I’m sure you don’t need to do that!’ Hattie was horrified at the idea. She was tired and had a lot to do; just the thought of a visit from her sister would take what remained of her emotional energy.
‘All right, I’ll just ask you.’ Leonie obviously didn’t want to drive down to see her any more than Hattie wanted to see her. ‘Can you take Xander for a couple of months?’
Hattie put her fork down. ‘What do you mean, take him?’
‘There’s a college near you that’s perfect for him.
’ She took a deep breath before she continued; Hattie could almost see her reading from a list she’d put together before picking up the phone.
‘He hasn’t been happy at school. This place has a reputation for helping kids recover from difficult phases ahead of big exams. He’s got a place, it’s mid-term, which is not ideal, but he’ll have GCSEs next year so I don’t want to miss the chance to get him in there. ’
Hattie’s sister had been a single mother for a long time but she’d never asked Hattie for help before.