Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Xander was busily cleaning the walls with the dry sponges but there was just so much dust and soot everywhere, it felt like it was a never ending cycle.
The walls weren’t too badly stained and, once they got the dust off, they would probably be OK, but this was certainly taking a lot longer than he thought it would.
There was a soft knock on the door and he turned round to see Judy hovering at the entrance.
He wondered if she was here to help. They’d had quite a few offers of help from various people in the town already that day, and a few of them had stayed and cleaned for half hour or so, but there really wasn’t the room for so many people in here so they’d politely declined after that.
‘Hi Judy, are you OK?’ he said, lifting his mask so she could hear him. Everyone, including the kids, were wearing masks. They were very hot to work in, but the dust was getting everywhere so it was safer to wear them.
‘Can I have a word?’
He nodded and stepped outside, relishing in the fresh air for a moment. He took his goggles off too. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I’m just worried about you being over here and not working in your shop,’ Judy said.
Xander frowned in confusion. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Easter is a very busy period for the shop with everyone buying Easter chocolates. I know you are a kind man and you like to help people but I feel like your business is going to suffer because of it. I’d open up the shop for you, but I couldn’t cope with the volume of customers on my own.’
‘Judy, you’re still going to get paid for any days you were supposed to work.’
‘I’m not worried about me, I’m worried about you. I think you’re being taken advantage of.’
‘By Immy?’
‘Yes.’
He nearly laughed at that but he could tell she was serious.
‘One flutter of her eyelashes and all these men are falling over themselves to help her.’
Perhaps Judy didn’t realise they were his brothers because of the masks and goggles.
‘Immy is my girlfriend,’ he said, firmly, although he wasn’t sure he could technically call her that yet.
Judy scoffed. ‘Then she should realise how important this time of year is to you and your business and not keep asking this of you.’
‘She hasn’t asked anything of me, I want to do this for her.
I care about her.’ He paused because he wasn’t sure if they were telling people about the baby yet.
But Judy was his friend. ‘She’s pregnant with my child so of course I’m going to help her.
’ He glanced inside at Immy and saw her wipe dust off her forehead.
She was waning already, it was probably time for another break.
He turned back to Judy, who was staring at him in horror. ‘She’s pregnant?’
‘Yes, three months.’
She didn’t seem to have anything to say to that. There certainly weren’t any words of congratulations.
‘Look, I have to get back. Thanks for your concern, but I’m fine,’ Xander said.
She shook her head and walked away and he watched her in confusion for a moment and then went back inside.
The dry sponges had worked amazingly, lifting all the soot off the walls easily.
It had taken a while to clean all the walls with them but the shop was looking better already.
They’d vacuumed up any remaining dust from the floor, so they could finally take their masks off, and now they were starting with the special wet cleaning solution which was supposed to lift the grease off the walls.
But the smell was so strong and pungent that it was making Immy feel really sick.
She hadn’t really experienced too many pregnancy symptoms so far, apart from her sudden love of pistachio, but she knew that sensitivity to smells was one of them.
No one else seemed to be bothered by the smell, not even the children, although Etta and Zara were more interested in flicking water over each other than the actual cleaning.
Immy didn’t feel like she could take another break. Xander had been insisting she take regular ones all day and she felt so bad every time, leaving everyone to clean her shop while she sat outside or went over to Xander’s to let Jacob out in the garden. It didn’t seem fair.
So she positioned herself near to the door to clean in the hope that the fresh air from outside would help. But it really didn’t. In fact a burger van had set up right outside the shop to take advantage of the Easter holiday crowd and the smell of onions was vile.
Should she put the mask back on, would that help?
Suddenly Xander snagged her arm, his face clouded with concern. ‘Are you OK?’
‘I’m fine,’ Immy lied. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘Because you’ve turned a pale shade of green.’
‘Oh.’
‘Are you feeling faint?’
‘No, I feel sick.’
He gently but firmly escorted her outside. ‘OK, take a few deep breaths,’ he said, stroking up and down her back. ‘Is there something in particular that’s making you feel sick?’
‘I think it’s the smell of the cleaning stuff. And the burger van.’
Xander turned round to look at the van and then walked over to it before she could stop him.
She didn’t know what he said to the driver but, after a few moments, the man started the van and moved it a few hundred yards up the road.
He came back. ‘Problem solved, well at least half the problem.’
‘What did you say to him?’
‘The truth, that you were pregnant and the smell of the van was making you feel sick. I might have played the sympathy card and told him about the fire too. He was happy to move.’
‘Thank you. I’m sure I’ll be OK after a few minutes out here. I’m sorry about this.’
‘You have nothing to apologise for. It’s perfectly natural for a pregnant woman to be nauseous and sensitive to certain smells. And remember, you were going to work on not apologising for something that isn’t your fault.’
She smiled. ‘I was, wasn’t I?’
‘Yes.’
‘I just feel so bad taking all these breaks when everyone is in there working so hard on my shop.’
‘But everyone wants to help. They wouldn’t be here if they didn’t.
They all know you’re pregnant and that you’re not necessarily firing on all cylinders because of that.
They don’t care. Why don’t you take Jacob for a walk.
Take the girls with you, I’m sure they would love to get out for a bit too.
We have six pairs of hands in there. I’m sure we can get the rest of the cleaning done very quickly. ’
‘But—’
‘No buts.’ He leaned back into the shop. ‘Hey, does anyone mind if Immy and the girls go for a walk with Jacob?’
Everyone looked confused.
‘Why would we mind?’ Logan said.
‘She has some weird idea that as it’s her shop she has to be here, despite the cleaning stuff making her feel sick.’
‘Immy, I know the shop is important to you,’ Max said. ‘But the baby and your health take precedence. Go for a walk, we’ll be fine here.’
The others nodded in agreement.
Xander turned round. ‘See.’
The girls were already making their way over, clearly delighted to be getting out of there.
‘I’ll come as well,’ Alex said.
Immy wasn’t sure if she could stomach any more comments from her sister about Xander but she couldn’t exactly say no.
They all wandered across the road and Immy went upstairs and put Jacob on a lead before bringing him back downstairs again. He loved a walk but he was equally happy just chilling out at home, sprawled upside down on the sofa.
Immy rejoined Alex and the girls again.
‘Can I hold Jacob’s lead?’ Etta asked.
‘Yes, but make sure you hold it tight,’ she said. Not that Jacob would ever run off, he was much more of an ambler. Etta nodded solemnly.
It was a lovely sunny day and kids were running round Cherry Lane with their faces painted with butterflies, superheroes, unicorns, lions, tigers and lots of other animals too.
There was even a bouncy castle and an ice cream van at the end of the high street.
There was definitely a large increase in people wandering around the shops, probably the tourists who were down here on holiday.
They took a short path through the shops and then walked down the hill a short way and onto the beach, a long golden horseshoe-shaped strip of sand, enclosed by deep red cliffs.
‘You can let Jacob off now,’ Immy said. Etta did just that and the girls ran off down the beach, with Jacob following them.
Immy and Alex walked on in silence for a while and Immy braced herself for more disapproving comments about Xander.
‘You know, now I’m back you can stay at mine until you can move back into your flat. You’d have your own room. It must be awful having to share a bedroom with Xander,’ Alex said.
Immy smirked as she had a flashback to the evening before, where he’d ravished her three times during the night. ‘Oh yes, it’s so awful.’
Alex smiled and shook her head.
‘In all seriousness, I appreciate the offer, I really do,’ Immy said.
‘I love playing third wheel to you and Quinn. But it makes sense to stay with him until I’ve finished the shop.
I can get over early and stay late and if I need to pop back to get supplies from Xander’s flat, it’s only a few seconds’ walk.
Plus I can pop in to check on Jacob on a regular basis, let him out in the garden when he needs it.
Or if I need a rest, Xander’s bed is just a few steps away. ’
‘That sounds like a pretty feeble excuse to me, but if you’re happy…’
‘I am, ridiculously so.’
Alex was silent for a moment. ‘I can see that. You have the biggest smile on your face when you’re around him.
And I just want you to be happy, I don’t want anything more than that.
But it’s all moving a little fast. You’ve gone from barely even speaking to each other to practically living with each other.
I worry about you falling in love and then getting hurt. ’
That was something that Immy was worried about too.