Chapter Nineteen Nico
Chapter Nineteen
Nico
‘Okay, I know I said this about the last room but this one really is my favourite,’ Lee says, standing in the middle of the small suite and turning in a circle.
‘You’re just saying that because it’s called the library room.’ I watch her as she runs her fingers over the floor-to-ceiling shelves that I built into three of the walls.
‘Maybe,’ she agrees. ‘I love the dark blue, so dramatic, and it makes it feel all decadent and cosy. And the bed will fit in that alcove there?’ She points to a space cut into the shelving for the headboard.
‘That’s right.’
‘So you’ll be able to sleep surrounded by all the books!’
‘And read them by the fire.’ I walk over to the fireplace that I’m in the process of cleaning up. ‘Magda has ordered some hand-painted tiles from a local artist. They’ve got illustrations and book quotes on them. And there are two wingback armchairs that will be arranged just here.’
Lee makes a sound that goes straight to my groin, but fortunately her attention is on the door through to the bathroom and she wanders off to explore while I try to get myself under control.
‘Oh, this bathtub!’ she calls back to me. ‘You’d never get me out of here.’
That image is not particularly helpful in my current situation.
When she reappears, she’s flushed with excitement. ‘I love it so much. This place is a dream.’
‘It’s definitely getting there,’ I agree. ‘Magda should be able to start putting the furniture back in in the next couple of weeks.’
Lee drops suddenly to her knees in front of me and I swear to god all the blood leaves my head.
‘Hardwood?’ she asks and I let out a strangled laugh.
‘What?’ I wonder if the universe is actually fucking with me as she runs her hands reverently over the floor.
‘Is this the original hardwood?’
I clear my throat. ‘Yeah. It was a nice surprise to find it hidden under the old flooring.’
‘Sorry, I know I’m being weird. I have such a weakness for home renovation TV shows,’ she says and gets back to her feet.
I still don’t understand how she moves so gracefully in those death traps she calls shoes.
‘And you’re living inside one. I can’t believe you did all this.
I can’t believe you fixed all these things and built all these things and made everything so gorgeous. ’
‘I didn’t do it by myself.’ I scratch the back of my neck, feeling suddenly bashful. ‘And Magda and Tom were pretty solid on the upkeep. The place has good bones.’
‘Still,’ Lee moves back to the longest wall and the bookshelves that Magda asked me to paint a deep, navy blue, ‘it feels strange that you’re capable of something like this, and I had no idea.’
‘I think it’s good that we still have stuff to learn about each other,’ I say, realising that I mean it.
I don’t know as much about adult Lee as I thought I did.
We’ve never spent this much time together – particularly without the buffer of her family around – and it’s addictive.
When I saw her drive up with my lunch this afternoon the feeling of pleasure I experienced took me by surprise, although maybe it shouldn’t have been a shock…
I find myself thinking about her fairly constantly at the moment.
Lee looks struck by this, too. ‘You’re right,’ she says. ‘It’s nice, being friends. As adults, I mean.’
Friends. Right. I could be overthinking it, but it seems like maybe she’s re-establishing some boundaries after last night when I definitely wasn’t thinking purely friendly thoughts about her. It must have been obvious.
‘I like us being friends, too,’ I say, and it’s not exactly a lie, I’m just starting to understand it’s not the whole truth.
‘You know what this room needs?’ Lee says, turning away from me and changing the subject.
‘What?’
‘A ladder.’
‘A ladder?’ I frown. ‘What for?’
‘For the shelves, of course!’ She spins back to face me. ‘They go so high and all the way around the room… it’s basically a crime not to have a ladder on wheels.’
‘I had no idea you felt so strongly about this.’
‘Please, Nico, any young bookworm who grew up watching Beauty and the Beast knows that the way to a woman’s heart is through a magnificent… library.’
She grins at me, and yet again my body responds like I’m an overeager teenager. I hook my fingers in my tool belt and make what I hope is a subtle adjustment, but as her gaze instantly flies to my hands I don’t think I got away with it.
Her eyes snap back up to meet mine and there’s colour in her cheeks, the same slightly hectic flush she was wearing when she arrived.
‘I—’ she says.
‘Do—’ I start at the same time. We both fall silent.
‘Sorry, what were you going to say?’ Lee asks.
‘I was going to ask if you wanted to eat lunch,’ I say quickly, worried that I’ve made her uncomfortable.
‘Great!’ she replies. ‘I was going to say the same thing. I’m starving.’
‘Let’s take it outside. It’s a nice day, and you have your coat, right?’
‘In the car.’
This is good, I think as we grab the bag of food from downstairs and head outside.
After she picks up her coat, I take her through the gardens to one of the benches that Magda has dotted around.
Being outside is good. More air, more space between us.
Less chance that I’ll do something stupid like tell my best friend’s sister how much I like the sight of her on her knees in front of me.
‘So you did head over to Bean ‘Lee: Crafty Crew circle’; ‘Lee and Nico: Date night!’ ‘L&N: Attend post-game bonfire.’
‘What is this?’ I say slowly.
‘You don’t know?’ Lee sits back and looks at me. ‘You don’t know,’ she says again, and this time there’s relief in the words. ‘Kat told me you helped set it up.’
‘Kat did this?’
Lee shakes her head. ‘She said it was you and Magda.’
I close my eyes, take a deep breath as the truth settles. ‘Phoebe,’ I sigh.
‘Phoebe?’
‘Well, I didn’t have anything to do with it, and there’s absolutely zero chance Magda knows how to set up a shared calendar like this on her own.
This particular scheme has my daughter written all over it.
’ I run my eyes over the calendar again and can’t help but notice there’s a daily appointment to take Phoebe and Taco with us on an ‘ice cream date’.
‘I’ll take care of it,’ I say shortly.
Lee gnaws on her lip. ‘But won’t people be upset with us for cancelling things now they’ve booked us in?’
‘Fuck that.’ I give in to my instinct and throw an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into my side. ‘They can’t check you in and out like a library book. That’s not how this works. You look through that monstrosity and see if there’s anything you want to do. The rest of it goes.’
Lee relaxes into my hold, her body softening against mine. I try not to notice how well she fits there.
I’m still holding Lee’s phone (and Lee) when a text alert comes through. Adrian, I notice the name before I make myself look away and hand it back to her.
‘I’ll go over the schedule at home,’ Lee says, pulling back and slipping the phone into her pocket while I concentrate on not blurting out who is Adrian? ‘I’m sure there are a few things on there that will be okay.’
‘It’s up to you.’ I nudge her arm. ‘I’m happy to tell them all where they can shove it.’
Lee’s eyes are warm. ‘As you have to live here after I’m gone, let’s attempt some diplomacy first.’
‘Whatever,’ I grumble.
After we finish eating, and I watch Lee disappear through the woods towards my house, I head for Magda’s.
‘Nico!’ Magda says when she opens the door. ‘What a nice surprise!’
‘We need to talk,’ I say, and she steps back to let me in.
Magda’s cottage had originally been a temporary arrangement – she and Tom had their own generous living quarters in the inn – but as the work progressed and she’d settled in, she decided she wanted to stay here. A new start for her, she said, and I could understand that.
The layout of the house is the same as mine, but Magda hasn’t wasted any time putting her own personality all over it.
There are dream catchers in all the windows, candles and cushions and blankets everywhere.
She painted the whole place a sunny, happy yellow and copper pans hang from the ceiling over her kitchen.
The second bedroom is Magda’s crafting space, but it also has a daybed for Phoebe when she stays. It’s a nice set up.
‘Is something wrong?’ Magda asks now, gesturing to her oversized sofa, too big for the space, but incredibly comfortable. ‘Can I get you a calming herbal tea? You’re looking very… ominous.’ She makes a gesture around me that I know her well enough to recognise as a reference to my aura.
‘I need to talk to you about this calendar business.’
‘Oh,’ Magda’s face clears, ‘smart, huh? Phoebe showed me how to do it.’
I concentrate on breathing slowly, through my nose. ‘I need you to take it down right now.’
Magda’s brow crinkles. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean that for anyone outside of this nosy, interfering town it would be too much, but for Lee it’s torture. I’m not kidding, you need to tell everyone to back way off.’
As Magda drops down on the sofa, I realise I’m still standing, but I cross my arms across my chest, thinking about Lee’s blank expression, the anxiety that I felt coming off her.
‘I had no idea…’ Magda trails off. ‘I’d never do anything to upset Lee. She seemed so happy with the plans at the town meeting, I just assumed—’
‘Well, those assumptions stop here,’ I say sternly.
‘Lee isn’t a shiny new toy for you all to play with.
She’s my wife.’ The words spill out before I can think about them, surprising me.
I hesitate. ‘… while she’s here, taking part in this charade, anyway,’ I add quickly.
‘Lee might come off confident, but she’s shy and she finds social stuff overwhelming sometimes.
I’m not having anyone upset her or make her uncomfortable, is that understood? ’
I expect Magda to be hurt or angry. I’ve never spoken to her like this before, but instead she’s beaming up at me.
‘What is that look for?’ I ask suspiciously.
Immediately the grin drops and she looks chastened. ‘Nothing, you’re totally right, Nico. I’m so sorry, I got carried away. I’ll take the calendar down, and I’ll apologise to Lee myself.’
‘Okay,’ I say, still wary.
‘So now you’ve got that off your chest, will you sit down and have a cup of tea?’ She glances at her wrist. ‘We’ve got time before I need to pick Phoebe up.’
Grudgingly, I sit down. ‘Fine, but none of that herbal muck. I want a cup of real tea.’
‘Coming right up,’ Magda nods, and as she makes me a cup of tea with the proper teabags she keeps in just for me, I feel myself soften. I know Magda only had the best of intentions, but seeing Lee upset had me seeing red. It’s possible I overreacted, racing over here.
‘So you and Lee already had a chance to catch up today?’ Magda asks, placing a perfectly brewed cup of tea in front of me.
‘She came by the inn and I gave her the tour.’
Magda’s face lights up. ‘What did she think?’
‘She loved it,’ I admit. ‘Apparently she’s into house renovation projects. She wanted to know if you have a Pinterest board.’
‘Ooh,’ Magda claps her hands together, ‘fun! I can’t wait to pick her brains. It’s obvious she has fabulous taste. You only need to look at her style. Then again, I suppose her mother…’
‘Yeah,’ I agree. Say what you will about Caroline Turner – and I could say plenty – the woman knows how to dress. ‘And her grandmother’s the same – in looks at least.’
‘That’s the one you’re close with?’
I grin. ‘Yes. She kind of ruled the roost when we were kids. Jack and Lee’s parents were very checked out, and once Ma came back to the States I spent most of my school holidays with them rather than flying back and forth, some weekends too, so Gran took me on as well.’
‘You and Jack were a package deal, I take it?’
‘We were pretty inseparable,’ I agree, and I feel a pang of guilt that Lee and I haven’t spoken about Jack.
‘We were already best mates when we went off to boarding school together. Stayed there until we turned eighteen, so he’s more like my brother than my actual half-brothers. His family is my family.’
‘Including Lee?’ Magda looks at me over the top of her own teacup, and I shift in my chair.
‘Including Lee,’ I repeat, and I know it’s true, I just don’t exactly understand how to fit all the pieces neatly together anymore.
‘So which was her favourite room?’ Magda asks, changing the subject.
‘The library room. She’s a big reader… said we need to put a ladder in.’
Instead of looking confused, Magda nods. ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ She tips her head. ‘Maybe you should build one.’
‘Maybe I will.’ I sip my drink, as if I’m considering it. As if I hadn’t decided to build one the second Lee looked at me with that smile and asked for it.
I am so utterly fucked.