Chapter Thirty-Five
Hattie slept deeply, appreciating the good mattress and the lovely bed linen. Did Luke always have bed linen like this? she wondered. Or was it a new thing? Then she remembered he’d bought it recently.
Although she would never have admitted it, even to herself, Hattie was disappointed to have missed Luke that morning. There was a note and a key on the kitchen table. ‘Sorry I had to go before you were up. Please help yourself to anything you can find and stay here as long as you like. Luke’.
There was no kiss, but she shouldn’t have been surprised. Luke wasn’t the sort of person to put kisses on notes. Hattie had been known to add an X to notes to delivery men telling them where to leave a parcel.
She’d missed Luke, she realised, ever since she’d gone to the dinner dance with him, when she’d felt so close to him, so in danger of stepping over the line of friendship. She would enjoy staying in his house, she decided. It would be nice to feel close to him again.
She made herself breakfast, enjoying the fact that Luke had nice mugs and crockery. He appreciated quality and she liked that.
Safely installed at the kitchen table with tea and toast, she used her quiet morning to unpick everything she’d put in place to satisfy Clive’s ridiculous requirements.
Now that her dream home was only ever going to be a dream, she resolved to see what was on the market within her budget.
Paying back Leonie was her first priority. She called her.
She explained what Clive had done and her sister was suitably furious. ‘But it means I can pay you back straight away.’
‘I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. You must be desperately disappointed.’
Hattie sighed. ‘It can’t be helped. But I’m at Luke’s now – while he’s away – so I can have Xander any time. It must nearly be the start of the new term?’
‘Yes, next week. If you could have him from Friday, it would be amazing. As you know, I’m hoping to come back as soon as I can arrange it.’
‘I know Luke would be happy for him to be here.’
‘That’s really kind, Hattie! Thank you!’
‘I love having him and he’ll stop me getting lonely.’
‘It’s not like you to be lonely.’
‘I know. I’ll get over it. So what are your plans for when you come back from Switzerland?’ Hattie asked to take the attention off her. She really hoped her sister’s plans included Tom.
‘The moment this contract is over, I’m going to come and live near you,’ Leonie said.
‘So Xander can carry on at his college?’
‘Of course.’ There was a moment’s pause. ‘But actually, you live in a really lovely area…’
‘And?’ Hattie prompted.
For a moment her sister didn’t answer; then she said, ‘Well, Tom and I are thinking of getting somewhere together.’
‘That’s great news!’ said Hattie. ‘I really like Tom! You must let me know what sort of thing you want, and I’ll keep an eye out for you.’
Hattie was aware she had dreaded her sister asking for help but now, she didn’t mind. She felt her relationship with Leonie had shifted, and in the right direction.
‘So we’ll be getting the services of a house hunter for nothing?’ asked Leonie, laughing now.
‘It looks as if you are! Don’t tell everyone.’
Feeling a lot happier about life – it was such good news about her sister – she reflected that the thought of living near Leonie would once have been her worst nightmare. Now it felt like something to look forward to.
Next, she rang Rose, who was suitably excited about Leonie and Tom getting a house together and equally outraged and sympathetic about everything that had happened with Mary’s house.
After she’d called Clive every insulting name she could think of she said, ‘Can I come house hunting with you? My mother-in-law has gone and I managed not to be rude. I need treats!’
‘Of course you can. I’ll ring Susie, my mortgage advisor, and tell her what’s happened and that my budget is now lower, but at least I won’t owe anyone anything for the deposit and getting a mortgage agreed might be less stressful next time.’
‘Don’t rush into buying something you’re not really happy with just because you can afford it,’ Rose said.
‘I’m not going to rush into anything.’ Although after she’d disconnected the call, she realised that she wasn’t going to waste a moment.
She knew she couldn’t go on living in the haphazard way she had been for years.
She had come so close. If she couldn’t have Mary’s house, then the new dream had to be a country cottage of her own, and soon.
She drove over to Rose’s house and they sat together at her kitchen table with Rightmove open. Because of her job, Hattie was able to add the kind of detail often left off house listings – how near the properties were to busy roads, what the area was like and how far she would need to go for milk.
‘I don’t know how you know all this about these very modest little terraces,’ said Rose.
‘It’s not as if your clients want houses like these…
and is this what you really want?’ Understandably perhaps, her friend was still indignant about Hattie having to give up her dream of living in Mary’s house.
‘And what about a garden? And you probably need room for a shed.’
Hattie laughed. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll run all my choices past you, Rose. Did I tell you I’m looking out for suitable houses for Lennie and Tom too? Unfortunately I haven’t got her wish list. Or maybe it’s fortunate. It won’t be short!’
‘Well, let’s just concentrate on finding you somewhere to live first. How many bedrooms?’
‘I only really need two. I won’t have Xander by the time I’ve bought anything, I don’t suppose.’ She sighed. ‘I’m going to miss him. I used to love living alone, but now it just seems a bit pointless.’
Rose pursed her lips but didn’t speak. She didn’t need to. Hattie knew exactly what she wanted to say but she couldn’t talk about whatever was or wasn’t going on with Luke at the moment. She had much more urgent things to worry about.
The next day, the day before Xander was due to join her, Hattie and Rose set off on a couple of viewings, set up at short notice.
She had fitted in as many emails as she could, one of which involved Nick’s house that was now also going to be Fiona’s house.
All was going well with it, and the slight glitch regarding a right of way was easy to sort.
Now she was spending a bit of time on her own house hunt.
Rose insisted on coming with her because, she said, she didn’t trust Hattie not to buy just anything in order to gain the independence she now desperately craved.
‘There’s nothing wrong with this house,’ said Hattie after she and Rose had gone over the little two-up two-down. It was modern, with practical plastic window frames, laminate floors and pale mauve paint. From a practical point of view it was fine, but it wasn’t making Hattie feel excited.
‘There’s nothing right with it, either,’ said Rose. ‘It has no character, faces the wrong way, it has a concrete yard instead of a garden and it’s miles away from your friends. By which I mean me.’
Hattie laughed. ‘OK, you’ve got me there. Let’s go to the next one. It’s quite a bit more expensive and it’s very near you.’
‘That’s why it’s more expensive,’ said Rose seriously. ‘Living near me puts houses at a premium.’
Hattie laughed, feeling a little cheered.
As she drove nearer to where Rose and Sam lived, she was aware that her gloom about losing Mary’s house did indeed risk luring her into buying the first thing she could afford.
She’d be appalled if any of her clients did that.
Her new house might have to be small and affordable but it still had to be somewhere that made her happy.
That meant plenty of light, morning and evening, a big enough garden for her pots of herbs and a deckchair, and room for a table in the kitchen.
And before Mary’s house was sold, she was determined to liberate cuttings of all her herbs and maybe some of the plants as well.
Then at least she’d have a bit of her dream home, even if it was only some rosemary and mint.
‘Well, it’s not really “you”, is it?’ said Rose as they pulled up for the second viewing.
Hattie didn’t speak. Even from the outside it was obvious it was no better than the first house. ‘No. If I bought this it would be like buying a dress because it fits and you can afford it. I can’t see the joy in living here. But we’d better go inside.’
‘To be brutally honest,’ said Rose, ‘I think even my home-making skills would struggle here, and even if we made it pretty, the second bedroom is too small for a home office.’
Hattie sighed deeply. ‘I think you’re right. Let’s go.’
‘Well, that’s a relief! I thought I was going to have to convince you. Come back to mine for a cup of tea?’
Hattie glanced down at her phone. ‘I’d better get back to Luke’s. I’m expecting Xander tomorrow and I need to make sure Luke’s cabin is ready for him.’
As she drove back to Luke’s she was aware that it felt a bit like she was going home. Once back, with a mug of tea to hand, she called her sister.
‘Oh! I was just about to call you!’ Leonie said, sounding a little startled. ‘Perhaps you have got some weird second sight or something.’
Hattie laughed gaily. ‘What were you going to call me about?’
‘To give you Xander’s train times for tomorrow. Can you meet him at the station? Why were you calling me?’
‘To ask about Xander. I’m still at Luke’s.’
‘But Luke won’t mind having him, will he?’ Leonie asked.
Hattie knew he wouldn’t but for some reason she had been putting off asking him. ‘No…’
‘I’ll ask him. Not fair to get you to ask Luke to do me favours.’
Before Hattie had a chance to respond, her sister had disconnected.
Hattie had just gone back on Rightmove, having widened both her search area and her budget, when Luke called her.
‘I’ve just had Leonie on asking about Xander staying for a bit. Of course it’s OK, but you know that.’
‘That’s very kind, Luke. I’m intending to get out of your hair as soon as possible—’
‘Please don’t! I’ve got a favour to ask you.’ He paused.
‘Anything, Luke. You’ve been so kind to me.’
‘Do you remember Jason and Carole from the dinner dance?’
‘Vaguely, yes.’
‘Well, they want to come and stay for the weekend. Coming tomorrow night. I know we’ll have Xander but they’re on their way to somewhere else and they want to break their journey here, and as I’ve often stayed with them, I couldn’t say no.’
‘Of course not.’
‘But I want you to host with me. At the award ceremony they assumed we’re a couple. I’ve let them think that because they were always matchmaking for me and the women were absolutely terrifying!’
‘I promise never to try and matchmake for you,’ said Hattie, suddenly acutely aware that she’d never had a vision for Luke. What would she do if she did? Shouldn’t she be pleased if he was happy? For now she felt relief.
He laughed, although there was something a bit odd about it. ‘But it’s a big ask, Hattie, they’re foodies.’
‘I can cook, Luke,’ said Hattie, a little offended. ‘What’s the schedule?’
‘Before we get to that, there’s one more thing. They’ll have to have the spare room.’
‘Yes. I’ve noticed that it’s all very comfortable now. Lovely bed linen.’
‘I thought I should finally finish doing it up. Although it was mostly just clearing it out. Anyway, we’ll have to share the main bedroom, but don’t worry, I’ll go and sleep on the sofa when Jason and Carole have gone to sleep. Xander will be OK in the cabin. We don’t have to disturb him.’
Hattie took the phone and went to Luke’s bedroom and opened the door. She hadn’t gone near it since she’d been there. She didn’t want to intrude on Luke’s privacy. ‘You’ve got quite a big bed, Luke.’
A sound like Luke clearing his throat came down the line but he said nothing.
‘Please don’t worry about where we’re going to sleep,’ said Hattie. ‘Tell me how many meals we’ll need.’
‘Honestly, you don’t need to cook. I can’t say exactly when we’ll arrive.’
‘Then I’ll do something like a lasagne that can stay in the oven. So that would be Friday night? Lunch on Saturday?’
‘No!’ Luke was adamant. ‘We’ll all go out.’
‘So, Saturday night dinner, then. What about Sunday lunch?’
‘We could go out for that too.’ Luke sounded less convinced this time.
‘I can do a roast lunch,’ said Hattie.
‘You can buy the Yorkshire puddings, and the roast potatoes…’
‘Actually, since Rose told me that you just have to jack the oven up to record heights my Yorkshires have been quite reliable. Will they need dinner after all that?’
‘No,’ said Luke. ‘They’ll definitely be leaving after Sunday lunch. I’ll be staying, of course.’
Hattie nodded. ‘I’ll make some lists and get shopping.’
‘OK. But if you’re doing a whole Sunday-lunch production then we’ll get a takeaway Saturday night. There’s just one more thing – although it’s quite big…’
‘What?’ asked Hattie after Luke had remained silent for what seemed like years.
‘Would you mind – er – would you mind making the house look as if we live there together? It’s what I’ve told them.’
Hattie also needed time to answer. He was going to some lengths to avoid a few blind dates. ‘The house does have quite a masculine vibe.’
‘I’m aware. Would it be difficult to – er – soften it up a bit?’
‘I might have to do a fair bit of moving things around. Maybe putting things into boxes and hiding the boxes in the cabin. I do know how to dress a house.’
‘Do whatever you like. Spend whatever you like, on food, on scatter cushions, on things from Rose’s shop that no man would ever buy – just go for it!’
‘There are women who’d almost literally kill for this opportunity, Luke.’
‘I know you’re not one of them, Hattie, but I’d be so grateful…’
Hattie laughed. ‘You’re more than welcome, and I owe you so much already, putting a few pink unicorns on the wall—’
He interrupted her with a wry laugh. ‘Thank you!’ he said jauntily and then disconnected.