Thirteen
Sally sat beside Matt, their bottoms perched on the side of an old stone water trough they’d found hidden in the long grass of the yard, looking towards the barn with the house behind them.
‘This is one big job, Sally.’
‘I know. But I’d really like you to take it on.’
She’d walked with Matt through the outbuildings, telling him what she wanted from the quarantine quarters in the old stables, the upper level of the barn to become a vet surgery and animal hospital while the ground-floor would be, mostly, an open plan area for the cats to mingle in but with a walled-off section to give nursing mums a safe area with their young kittens. Matt had been forthcoming with more great suggestions such as adding a run to the opposite side so the cats had more outdoor space and putting in high windows and skylights to make the hospital area bright and airy.
He hadn’t once laughed at, or mocked, her ideas and treated each suggestion with total seriousness. They were currently discussing what to do with the third outbuilding – the one where the old work-sheds were located along with a room full of junk at the end nearest the main house.
‘How do you plan to man your hospital?’
‘Employ my own private vet and depending on how busy we are, maybe offer a service to the village. I’ve also done some research on that too and noted there’s only one veterinary surgery covering quite a large area which suggests I could fulfil a need there.’
‘Where would this vet live?’
‘In the village?’
‘Hmm, two problems with that – rental properties in the village are rarer than hens’ teeth and on the odd occasion they do come up, the rent is extortionate. Your poor vet would probably use up all their wages putting a roof over their head.’
‘Oh! I didn’t realise that…’
‘You could, however, turn those work rooms into on-site accommodation which comes with the job. The building would easily convert into a cottage of sorts. I suspect that, with such a sweetener thrown in, it would increase interest in the position.’
Sally thought this over. She hadn’t given any consideration whatsoever as to where her vet would live – she’d been too busy thinking about how beneficial it would be to the rescue to have its own personal vet. She hadn’t thought beyond that but Matt’s suggestion had made her instantly see the advantages of having one on site.
‘Planning permission?’
‘Should be quite straightforward. There’s an architect I work with – Charlie Rowland – who’s good with this sort of thing. He could put together plans for the planning board.’
‘Will I need him to draw up plans for my space too?’ She pointed her thumb behind her at the byre.
‘No, that one’s very straightforward. I already know in my head how it’s going to work.’
‘Okay.’
They sat in silence again until Matt suddenly said, ‘Have you thought about solar panels?’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘Solar panels. You have two fabulous roof spaces which are south facing. Put solar panels up there and they’ll make you money. You won’t pay for electricity again and you’ll, most likely, earn some money back.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Yup! Between the two roofs, you’d make a nice little earner.’
‘Are they heavy? The panels?’
‘No. They’d be fine on the house but I’d need to put extra beams on the barn because the current ones are only strong enough for the tin roof. However, as you’ve already said you want that replaced with proper roof tiles, it’s no extra work than we’ve already discussed.’
‘Then yes, let’s go with them. Anything that makes this place earn its keep works for me.’
She watched Matt as he wrote it in his book. She also looked at how many pages he’d written upon as they’d walked around. All this wasn’t going to be cheap and while money definitely wasn’t a problem – the lottery win had barely been touched since it had landed in the bank – trying to explain how this was being funded could be an issue if anyone asked. While it was nobody’s business, that didn’t stop folks speculating and being nosy.
‘Also, while we’re on the subject of electricity, it might be beneficial for you to put in a charging point for electric cars. They’re continuing to grow in popularity so having one on site will give your business added appeal.’
‘I can see that it would but how do I charge it back to the customer?’
‘You install a pre-paid model. The clients do it all online so there’s no cost to you apart from the price of leasing the charge point but you could easily recoup that as you set the tariff for the charge value.’
‘How come you’re so knowledgeable about them?’
‘My business partner is working on a large renovation near Oxford and electric charge points were part of the remit. I had the task of researching them. I’m glad I did now.’
‘Well, you’ve talked me into it. Add it to the list and, if possible, can you provide a cost for the work? All of it… off the top of your head, of course. I don’t need an exact figure. Ball-park-ish will do.’
‘Give me a second… this will be very rough though, so don’t hold me to it.’
She waited while he skimmed through the pages and she smiled at his lips moving as he silently added up the costs.
Eventually he turned and presented her with a couple of figures, one for the house on its own and the other which included the outbuilding work. Figures that, once upon a time, would have seen her drop to the floor in a dead faint. Now she just smiled.
‘Thank you. I can pass that onto Fiona tomorrow when she goes back to negotiating with the seller.’
‘Do remember these are very rough. I will need to bring in contractors for some of the work so there’s a good chance they’ll increase.’
‘That’s okay. I understand. Does this mean you’ll take the job?’
‘I won’t be able to start for another couple of months. Most of our men are tied up with the project in Oxford but it should be completed in about seven weeks if they stay on schedule.’
‘Two months is good for me. By the time I get everything sorted out, I can’t see me being ready before then. Always assuming the seller doesn’t play silly sods for too long, of course.’
‘Well, as soon as you know, you can let me know.’
‘I will. Right then,’ she stood up, ‘I suppose we should get on before it grows any colder now that the sunlight has almost gone. Thank you so much for your time, input, and assistance.’
She stuck her hand out and Matt stood to shake it. As he let go, he seemed to hesitate, almost like he was about to say something, but then he just smiled and turned to walk back to the front of the house.
Following behind him, Sally wondered what he’d been thinking of saying before he changed his mind. Probably something to do with the house but given how much information she already had to digest, he’d most likely decided it would keep for another day.
‘Are you leaving now?’ he asked her, as he got into his truck.
‘Shortly. I just want to have one more look around. Each time I come down here, I find it gets harder to leave.’
He smiled. ‘I can understand that. Call me when you have news.’
‘I will.’
She waved until he disappeared down the lane and as she stood alone on the gravel, Sally realised that she was looking forward to speaking with Matt again.
She turned to walk back towards the yard, wanting to check all the shutters and doors were closed before she left, and totally unaware of the happy smile playing on her lips.