Chapter Forty-Three
Nick woke to a foul smell and wondered if the cattle had got in again. Gabe and Rafe were arriving this afternoon ahead of this weekend’s viewing and they wanted to get everything prepared.
As she wandered into the kitchen Mary was baking and apologised for the smell, promising it would be gone in an hour or so. Whatever she was cooking Letta didn’t want to eat, the smell was noxious.
The builders had arrived early as everyone wanted to make sure they were ahead of schedule when the brothers arrived. Out of the window she could see Jordan walking across and they obviously had some questions before they got going. She had backed her computer up to the cloud but trying to open the spreadsheets on her phone was a pain. Surprisingly, though, her world hadn’t actually fallen apart. Two months ago she would have gone insane if she had lost her laptop, now it was a nuisance but no more than that. Still, it did make it harder for her to help with the building quants. She leant out of the large sash window and called out to Jordan.
‘Morning. I’ll be with you in a minute. I just need to open a few more windows.’
Jordan looked at her blankly as though pretending there was nothing to smell, and Nick felt the need to justify herself.
‘Mary’s been making sage butter and apparently when you roast sage it can be quite smelly. ’
‘Yeah, that’s not sage butter,’ smirked the young builder, grinning from ear to ear. ‘That’s weed.’
‘Why would Mary eat weeds?’
‘Not weeds, weed. Hash, ganga, cannabis. Marijuana Mary, hey?’
At that moment Mary breezed into the kitchen. Nick turned and stared at her grandmother.
‘Mary, Jordan says that smell isn’t sage?’
Mary took in Letta’s horrified expression and Jordan’s smile as he leant in through the window, and knew the game was up.
‘It’s medicinal.’
‘It’s what?’
‘Medicinal. Oh, I don’t know,’ said Mary in an exasperated fashion. Why was she being forced to justify herself? ‘I have arthritis and it helps with the pain. I don’t like to smoke it, so I turn it into butter and eat it.’
‘But it’s illegal.’
‘Well, I don’t make the laws.’
‘No, but you are supposed to abide by them!’ Nick was furious. Mary knew that she was currently under investigation. What the hell was she thinking? This wasn’t even her house. Now she was turning the house into a drug den.
‘Rafe and Gabe will be here this afternoon for a site visit. You know they have buyers coming this weekend. What if this place still smells? For God’s sake, Mary, get rid of it now!’
Slamming out of the kitchen, she stormed across to the other house. Had she overreacted? She didn’t want to abuse the guys’ hospitality and she certainly didn’t want any more investigations. She understood that people did use cannabis and that it probably wasn’t the end of the world, but right now it just seemed like one problem too many. Playing at building renovations was an enjoyable interlude but she missed her day job and wanted to be trading again.
Her phone pinged an alert. Her heart raced as she saw a text from Gabe. They had got into the habit of sending each other little brain teasers or photos. She tapped a quick reply.
-Yolks are yellow!
She smiled when he sent back a laughing Road Runner meme.
The phone pinged again. Did he ever work? she wondered. This time it was a link to a cycling event in Cornwall. It was for next spring and she liked the idea that he was planning that far ahead.
-Looks good! Got to get back to work, my landlord is down later and he’s very fussy.
She laughed out loud as the next text was simply a picture of a raspberry. Pocketing her phone, she carried on assembling the furniture.
All day long, deliveries arrived for the set dressing. Rafe wanted a few areas to be made up to suggest what life would be like once the house was fully renovated. He had ordered an outside set of table and chairs with parasols and a patio heater. An oak pergola was festooned with fairy lights. There was also a set of outdoor cane chairs and loungers and a large firepit. As each item arrived, Letta had it assembled and placed in various locations on the large stone patio running between the two properties.
She kept the table closest to the house on the principle that if you were bringing meals from the kitchen, you wouldn’t want to be walking too far. Plus the shelter of the house helped with any breezes. In summer, a breeze might be welcome but in spring and autumn, a breeze was likely to be less pleasant. She placed the firepit and seats closer to the sweeping stone steps in the middle of the patio. The view was excellent and was perfect for just lounging around, maybe playing games with a friend. Popping back to her house, Nick was relieved that she could no longer smell anything.
‘I wanted to say sorry for losing my rag earlier. That wasn’t the best way to handle things.’
Mary smiled apologetically for pretending it was sage.
‘It is quite stinky, isn’t it? And I hadn’t thought it through. I’ve spent my whole life not having to think of other people and I rather forgot my manners.’
Nick nodded glad to have cleared the air, she hated drama.
‘Now I’m heading into town,’ Mary continued. ‘I’m going to cook tonight for the four of us. Jordan’s giving me a lift – can I get you anything?’
Nick shook her head. ‘There’s no need, I already suggested to Rafe that I could cook, but he said we’d just order some pizzas or something.’
Mary pulled a face. ‘I don’t eat pizza. Besides, I want to say “thank you” properly. Their generosity has meant I have had time to spend with my granddaughter and get to learn about my family. Going Dutch on some pizzas doesn’t really work for me as a way to say thank you.’
Knowing that Mary was determined on this point, Nick decided to let it go and returned to the building site. She watched as a little while later, Mary drove past with Jordan. Drum and bass was pounding out of the window and Mary was waving her arms in time to the beat. As grandmothers went, Mary didn’t seem to fit the mould. Leo and Will were going to think she was excellent.
A few hours later the horn beeped, and Mary waved as she drove past. Startled, Nick looked up from her Allen key and was astonished that the time had flown past. Gabe would be here soon, and she had wanted to have everything set up for him and Rafe when they arrived.
***
After a successful site visit, the brothers were impressed with the progress and felt comfortable that the property was ready for prospective buyers. This way any current purchaser would have the option of detailing their own finishes. Mary and Letta sat down at the table as Rafe and Gabriel insisted on carrying the food out to them.
‘Mary, this smells delicious, and I can’t even believe that the house was full of cow dung yesterday,’ remarked Gabe. ‘I’m so sorry you had to cope with that.’
Everyone laughed as Mary started to serve up.
‘Well, I’m just sorry that I’ve kicked you out of your bed.’
Despite the size of the house the boys had only set up two bedrooms, which Letta and Mary were now occupying. Despite the women’s protests Rafe had opted for the sofa and Gabe had a camping mattress.
‘Trust me. We’ve slept in worse places.’
‘Agreed. Plus the company more than makes up for it.’
As they ate, they chatted about everything and nothing and studiously ignored Nick’s upcoming trial and previous entanglement with the Harrington family.
***
Mary thanked Rafe as he topped up her glass and the pair of them watched as Letta and Gabe headed down the stone steps. His laugh drifted up to them and Letta pretended to recoil then punched him playfully on the arm as they carried on their stroll.
‘Do you think it’s serious?’ asked Mary, watching them closely.
Rafe studied his brother. ‘I can’t speak for Letta, but Gabe is head over heels about her. When he met her in Ireland, he couldn’t stop telling me about her.’ Rafe chuckled. ‘Actually, he hasn’t stopped talking about her since. The problem is that he’s worried about our family’s involvement in her current predicament. Evicting her when she was under an FCA investigation has made him feel dreadful.’
‘About her feelings for him?’ said Mary in surprise. ‘I think they’re clear?’
‘No, I think he’s worried that she blames him for being a Harrington. I think he’s so besotted with her that he can’t conceive that she might feel the same way as he does. ’
‘If you ask me, I don’t think she has even noticed how she feels. She has so much else on her plate that she hasn’t had a chance to just switch off.’
‘Letta doesn’t seem the switch-off sort, though, does she? I mean, look how she’s stepped in here to help us with supplies. And when she’s not working, she’s running or cycling.’
‘She’s exhausting.’
‘Makes the rest of us look bad.’
‘Lazy Buggers United, I say.’
Mary raised her glass and Rafe chinked it as they fondly watched Letta and Gabe follow Ohana down to the meadow.