Chapter 3 #2
“They’re the slide-and-stack kind,” Owen told him. “Which means when summer really gets going, I can open up the whole window space.” He pointed to the middle window. “I’ll show you the garden.” He opened it and Matt followed him outside.
The patio area had a table and four chairs, all shaded by a large dark green parasol. The lawn appeared lush and thick, but he could see the shrubs needed a prune.
Matt pointed to the tall lilac-coloured spikes. “Those attract lots of bees, but if you don’t cut them back, you’ll soon have a forest of them.”
“Your dad said you knew your stuff. I’m impressed.” Owen climbed the steps onto the lawn, then pointed to a tree nearby, with a canopy of broad leaves. “I don’t suppose you know what this is.”
“It looks like a Clerodendrum.” Matt walked over to it and peered at the lower branches.
A small white tag hung from one of them.
He leaned in closer and smiled. “Yeah. Clerodendrum trichotomum. My granddad always calls it the glorybower. Oh, this is beautiful. You’ll have white flowers that smell amazing, and then as each one dies, you’re left with a blue berry surrounded by red petals. ”
Owen laughed. “Did you swallow a gardening book?”
He chuckled. “My granddad has one in his garden. He planted it when I was about eight. Every August the whole garden smells incredible.”
“You know what? Jeff undersold you.”
Matt snickered. If first impressions counted, Owen was doing just fine. Most adults smiled politely when Matt started talking about plants. Owen seemed genuinely interested.
Then he glanced once more at the tree, and his chest tightened.
Granddad’s glorybower will be someone else’s before long.
It was now only a matter of weeks, maybe months.
Hey. Not now. You’re in the middle of an interview, remember?
“What about the rest of the garden?” Owen’s smile was relaxed and warm. “Am I nurturing anything that’ll take over Hampshire if we leave it alone? Anything in here likely to eat the neighbours?”
Matt snorted. “I doubt it.” He walked along the borders, getting a good look. “How big is this space?”
“Over an acre.” Owen snickered. “I’m reliably informed by my son that my fingers are not green, but black.
” Matt frowned, and he chuckled. “I’m apparently the kiss of death to all plant life.
He may have a point. At my last house, someone else took care of the garden.
” His face tightened a fraction, then relaxed once more.
“I’m more the ‘enjoy gardens’ type, rather than the ‘do actual gardening’ type. ”
“Now I see why you need someone like me. So let’s have a look at the pool.”
Owen veered off to the left. The pool sat in a paved area with a small pool house at one end. “I know nothing about these things, but Jeff says you do.”
Matt chuckled. “Dad made sure of it. He used to wake me up at stupid o’clock every Saturday to do the weekly maintenance.”
Owen laughed. “Let me guess. It builds character?”
Matt’s mouth fell open. “He’s been using that phrase since you knew him? Oh my God.”
“Did it work?”
Matt thought about it. “Depends who you ask.” He took in the pool.
It wasn’t huge, but a decent enough size for laps.
The surface was hidden beneath a cover, so he had no idea what issues lurked under there.
The paving told a different story. Moss had settled into the joints between the slabs, weeds were beginning to push through the cracks, and the coping stones could do with a good scrub.
Nothing serious. Just neglected.
Matt heard a noise and looked back towards the house. There was a roof terrace on top of what appeared to be another sitting room. A guy stood there, watching them, his hands on the railing that sat atop glass panels. He waved, and Owen waved back.
“That’s my son, Callum.” He cupped his mouth. “Put the kettle on?”
Callum nodded, giving him a thumbs up, then disappeared through a glass door.
“That’s my bedroom. It has these great windows set into the roof.
I’m looking forward to having my morning coffee out there.
” Owen turned to face him. “I guess we should discuss pay. If you’re going to look after the garden and the pool, and help around the house, the rate needs to reflect that.
” He cocked his head. “How does twenty pounds an hour sound?”
Matt did his best not to gape. “I was expecting minimum wage, to be honest.”
Owen frowned. “That’s not even thirteen pounds. No, twenty pounds seems much fairer. I might even be prepared to push it to twenty-five if there’s a lot to do. Besides, if someone’s doing a job I can’t do myself, they deserve paying properly.”
“How often would you expect me to come here?”
“Like you said, I’m not asking for a twelve-hour day. There’ll be a good many hours initially, while I’m setting the house up, but I suspect it’ll tail off after that.” Owen looked around the garden. “So what do you think?”
Matt smiled. “I think this place could look incredible.”
Owen returned his smile. “Funny.”
“What?”
“That’s exactly what I was hoping you’d say.” He gestured to the house. “How about we sit outside with our tea?”
“Sounds good to me.”
They strolled towards the steps.
As they headed back to the open window, Matt found himself smiling. The job sounded perfect. The pay was better than he’d dared hope. And as for Owen Lane…
Well, he definitely wasn’t what Matt had expected.
Maybe leaving Edinburgh early had been the right decision after all.