Chapter 9 #2
‘It’s OK,’ Eve said, then added, feeling brave, ‘Talking to you helped. I was less … fragile about it than I might otherwise have been.’ She smiled. ‘But I’m sorry for getting upset.’
‘Not at all.’ He turned to face her, leaning back against the worktop.
He was wearing a navy-blue cable-knit fisherman’s jumper and jeans.
His hair was tousled from being outside.
He looked lovely, and Eve felt the strongest of urges to walk over, to put her head against his jumper, to feel his arms around her.
Instead, she pulled out a chair and sat down.
Joe made the tea, then carried it over to the table.
Eve liked that he’d remembered how she took it – a generous splash of milk, no sugar.
He pulled out the same chair he’d sat on the last time, and as he slid it in next to her, Eve was, once again, conscious of how close he was to her, how intimate it felt, just the two of them sitting side by side in this big house.
‘I see you like listening to the radio,’ she observed, in case he wanted to switch it on.
‘Yeah. I’ve usually got Radio Four on. Or Radio Two. A bit of background music.’ He hesitated. ‘Do you want it on?’
She shook her head. ‘Only if you do.’
He scrunched up his nose again, that same gesture. ‘It’s fine. It’s just company. But you’re here now.’
A glow of optimism stirred inside her. Whatever this was, this thing between them, he liked her. He didn’t mind that she’d turned up out of the blue.
‘Have you lived here long?’ she asked tentatively.
He gazed at her for a moment before answering. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Not long. Just a few weeks.’
‘Ah.’ Eve nodded. ‘You’re still making it your own, then?
Not that you have to do a thing to it. It’s lovely as it is.
It’s … well. It’s an amazing house, obviously.
’ She gave a small laugh. ‘I just meant that … you know. You’re doing the loft conversion.
So you obviously know a thing or two about renovating houses. ’
He took a sip of his tea and nodded. ‘I do, actually.’
‘Oh?’ Eve raised an eyebrow.
‘Well, I used to work on a lot of renovations,’ he said. ‘Back in the day.’
‘Where?’ Eve asked.
‘In London. Where I grew up.’
‘Which part?’ Eve asked.
He eyed her. ‘Clapham.’
‘I knew it,’ she said. ‘I could tell by the accent. I’m from Dulwich. Although I’ve lived in Oxford since I was eighteen, so I’m not sure if I’ve got much London left. Or should I say, Lan-den,’ she repeated, pronouncing it with a cockney accent.
‘You have a little,’ he said, smiling. ‘So, are your parents still there?’
‘No. They moved to France a few years ago. I have a sister and two nieces, though. And a brother-in-law. They live in Kew.’
‘Kew. Nice,’ he said.
‘Well, yeah. It is. And her house is lovely.’
He nodded. ‘And yours?’
Eve pulled a face. ‘Unfortunately, mine isn’t. It’s only a rental. I need to buy somewhere, really. Yet another thing I keep putting off.’
‘You said you lived in Marston?’
‘Yes. Just across the Parks from here.’
‘So, where would you like to live?’ he asked.
Eve thought about this. ‘You know what? I really have no idea. I don’t even know what I can afford. Maybe that’s why I haven’t got round to it.’
‘Would you be looking for a project?’
‘I wouldn’t be frightened of a bit of work, if that’s what you mean. This might sound weird,’ Eve said, nodding towards the window behind the sink, ‘but I’ve always felt a little excited by the sight of scaffolding.’
This made him smile.
‘It’s just the potential, you know,’ she explained.
‘For something amazing to happen, for a sad, jaded space to be transformed into something incredible. Something new.’ As soon as she said it, she flushed, thinking this sounded like a metaphor, as if she were that sad, jaded space waiting to be improved.
Joe gazed at her for a moment, then he said, ‘I can show you it, if you like.’
‘The loft conversion?’ Eve asked, surprised.
‘Yes. Do you want to see it?’
‘Yes please!’ Eve couldn’t think of anything she would like more.
Joe scraped his chair back, looking pleased. ‘Come on, then.’
She followed him out of the kitchen and into the hallway, which was light, bright and beautiful.
Through an open doorway, she could see a room that looked like a study, with a desk and a piano and a wall-to-wall bookcase stuffed with hundreds upon hundreds of books.
She followed him up the stairs to a huge landing, past a table with an antique clock and a chair with a tartan throw over the back, and then up to a further landing that had an open door to a bedroom with wooden floorboards, where she caught sight of an oriental rug and more books.
There were pictures and paintings on every wall, not necessarily all to her taste, but they contributed to the overall atmosphere, which was unreservedly one of old money, of wealth, so much so that Eve was now doubting herself all over again.
What on earth could she have that Joe wanted?
She wasn’t poor, but they clearly lived in very different worlds.
They went up yet another flight of stairs and when they got to the top, Joe opened a door that led to another, smaller staircase.
They had to duck their heads a little as they went up.
Joe climbed onto the chipboard floor and Eve took his place on the step above, her head peering over the edge, and there it was.
For a moment, she was stunned into silence by the vastness of the space around her, by the light streaming in from the series of windows that stretched from one brick gable-end wall to the other.
All she could see was sky. So much sky. Up above them, a row of silver insulation boards had been cut into the rafters and were catching the sunlight, glinting like mirrors.
Joe eyed her, grinning. ‘Do you like it?’
Eve’s mouth was open. She reached up a hand and flipped it at her chin, pushing her jaw shut.
Joe laughed and said, ‘There aren’t any walls up yet. It won’t always be this big.’ He reached out a hand to help her up. ‘The floor’s fine to walk on,’ he said. ‘Just watch out for the odd nail.’
Eve took his hand. His touch felt warm, his grip strong.
He tugged her up and together they walked across to the window.
Eve felt a little giddy as she looked out.
In the distance was a magnificent view of Oxford: the spires of the university colleges, St Mary’s tower, Carfax.
Immediately below her was the wide green stretch of the Parks, and to her left, the river.
‘This view,’ Eve said. ‘It’s to die for. Literally.’
‘Literally?’
She shot him a smile. ‘Yes. If this were my final view of the world, I’d be happy.’
Joe laughed. ‘Well, then, wait until you see what it’s like from the outside.’
‘We’re going outside?’ Eve asked warily.
Joe’s answer was to tug open a window. A gust of air made Eve catch her breath. ‘This,’ he said, pointing to a chair on the scaffold plank just below them, ‘is my temporary balcony. Would you care to join me?’
‘Oh my God,’ Eve said as he climbed out of the window and onto the scaffold board, then turned and helped her do the same.
‘Oh my God,’ she said again as she walked tentatively towards the front edge of the platform.
It reminded her of the times when, as a child, she’d stood on the top diving board at the local swimming pool, shaking as she looked down at the sheer drop beneath her, only this was a drop that could be deadly with one wrong move.
All it would take was a brief loss of balance or one misjudged step.
Joe moved over and stood beside her.
‘Oh my God,’ she said for a third time, turning to her left as the wind caught her hair. ‘You can actually see where I live.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. Just there,’ Eve said, laughing and pointing. ‘You see the bridge? And then the path beyond it? And then the rooftops of the houses behind the trees?’
He nodded, following her gaze.
‘Well, I’m just there. That’s where I live.’
‘Good,’ he said. ‘I can wave to you.’ And then, still gazing outwards, he said, ‘I’ll come up here and say goodnight to you before I go to bed.’
Eve eyed him, feeling a small thrill at his words. She had never been very good at flirting, but … was that what this was? ‘OK,’ she grinned.
‘Unless I’m with you, of course,’ he added.
Eve felt his words in her stomach, and then in her chest. She felt the kind of butterflies she hadn’t felt for two and half decades. Her sister had been right. Those words were unmistakable.
She turned to look at him and he smiled.