Practically Perfect (26 page)

Anna took another thick slice of brown bread that he’d cut up rather roughly. ‘Don’t tell me you made the bread too,’ she said, pleased to be on safer ground.

‘I can make bread, but haven’t for a while. This comes from a local bakery. It’s very good.’

When they had both finished, Anna gathered the bowls and plates and took them over to the sink.

‘It’s all right; I’ve got a dishwasher. Priorities,’ he added, seeing her look of surprise.

‘I’d be grateful for a proper kitchen sink,’ she said. ‘Well, that was a delicious lunch, but I think I should go now.’

‘OK. I’ll just feed the dogs then I’ll drop you back,’ he said, getting up from his chair.

She looked at her watch. ‘This early? I don’t usually feed Caroline until later.’

‘I’ll do it now and then I don’t have to remember to do it when I come back.’

Anna laughed. ‘I don’t imagine they let you forget.’ She followed him into the little scullery that seemed to be the designated dog room. ‘Or do they?’

He was measuring biscuit into bowls. ‘No, but they will lie to me and tell me they haven’t been fed when my neighbour has come in and done it.’

At last they were ready, and loaded Caroline, who seemed to have fitted into Rob’s pack quite easily, into the Volvo.

‘I’ve had a lovely day,’ said Anna. ‘I feel awfully guilty when I’m not working on my house, but I’ve really enjoyed myself.’ She hadn’t quite realised this was true until she said it. ‘It was so relaxing.’

‘Do you think you’d be able to steer Chloe in the direction of the field?’ he asked. ‘It would be OK to use it if there’s no stock in it.’

‘Not a cat in hell’s chance. I’ve got no sense of direction. It’s why I like cycling. I make mistakes, but I can stop a lot and get my bearings.’

He laughed and they drove the rest of the way in companionable silence.

‘Well, thank you for today, Anna. I enjoyed it,’ Rob said as he dropped her off.

‘Oh so did I! You’ve been so kind to me and Caroline, Rob.’

‘And you’re still willing to help at my sister’s fête? It’s at the end of the month, I think.’

Anna had the impression that he was giving her an opportunity to back out but found she didn’t want to. ‘Oh yes! If I possibly can do it, I certainly will. It sounds wonderful fun.’

Chapter Sixteen

ANNA’S DAY WITH
Rob had been good for her, she decided. When, on Tuesday, she braced herself to make the first cut into her lovely reclaimed boards, she felt clear-headed and confident. It was because she was happy, she realised. Yes, she had to rush doing up her house and might have to miss the bit she liked best – choosing colours, textures and finishes – but the work was going well, she had good friends in Chloe and Rob, good tradesmen she could call on, and, of course, lovely Max.

She put all this out of her mind as she set everything up to make the first mark. She had braced the board so it couldn’t shift, and marked where she was to cut with a pencil. Mike had lent her his table saw: this was something she had intended to buy for herself but she knew it would save her having to take yet more time off to go and buy one, so she had been delighted. She took a deep breath and went for it.

There was a feeling of exhilaration that lasted quite a long time. Each piece she cut fitted the template, and when offered up to the central column, still fitted. When she finally decided it was time for breakfast, she found it was nearly twelve.

For days she concentrated on her staircase, hardly doing anything else except care for Caroline and snatch the odd meal. She spoke to Laura on the phone from time to time, but there were still no jobs in the offing for Will. Her
almost
nightly calls from Max were the highlight of her day although she’d learnt that telling him exactly what she’d done with her staircase that day was not the way to keep his attention.

‘It’s just as well you’ve got Caroline,’ said Chloe, after the fourth day. She cared for Anna by bringing her cups of good coffee. ‘Otherwise you’d never go out!’

‘Thank you so much for this!’ Anna sipped at the foam that Chloe had dusted with chocolate powder. ‘But I’m getting on very well. I’ve nearly finished! Apart from the sanding and varnishing, of course.’

‘That’s amazing,’ Chloe said, examining Anna’s handiwork. ‘This is extremely professional. But you need a day out, when it’s done, to celebrate.’

‘Oh yes. That would be marvellous.’ Anna ran a fingertip over the end of a mitred board.

‘Heard from Max lately?’ Chloe asked nonchalantly.

Anna smiled. ‘Oh yes. He phones most days.’

‘Something not right between you? You don’t seem to be talking about him so much recently,’ Chloe fished.

‘Oh no! We’re absolutely fine.’ Anna laughed. ‘He’s not exactly fascinated by the tread-by-tread account of my staircase, but it doesn’t stop him ringing.’ She took another sip of coffee, relishing its hot strength. ‘In fact, I may ask you to babysit Caroline for a night. He’s invited me to a gallery opening!’

‘Lovely! And of course I’ll babysit. When is it?’

‘I’ll have to check, and if it’s not convenient—’

‘Of course it’ll be convenient! Now, what shall we do for our day out?’

Anna regarded her friend speculatively. ‘Something tells me that you know what you want to do.’ She realised Chloe had a plan.

Chloe jumped up and down. ‘Yes I do! And I’m sure
you’ll
want to do it too! Mike says he’ll have the boys.’

‘So what is it you have in mind?’

‘It’s called a Home Decorators’ Fayre and it’s at Horsecombe House.’

‘Which is?’ Anna asked, finishing her coffee.

‘Oh, it’s a stately home, not far from here.’

Anna sighed. ‘I hardly know any of the area really. I do hope I can buy another property near here. I would like to get to know it better.’

‘And stay living near your friend Chloe,’ said Chloe.

Anna draped her arm over Chloe’s shoulder. ‘That goes without saying. Now when do you want to go to this fair?’

‘Sunday. Suit you?’

‘I’m fairly sure, but I promised I’d help Rob out at a local show his sister helps run. I’ll just have to check it isn’t this Sunday, although I’m sure he’d have told me by now if it were.’

‘Ring him then.’ Chloe picked up Anna’s mobile and handed it to her.

‘Do I have to do it now?’

‘Yes! I need to know about Sunday,’ Chloe insisted.

Anna scrolled through until she found Rob’s work number. She suspected Chloe of wanting to eavesdrop on the conversation because she still had her heart set on pairing her up with Rob.

Anna found herself surprisingly excited at the prospect of a day away from her little house, much as she loved it. She had made good progress and as she’d found the other day, she did seem to work better after a proper break. Chloe, too, was relishing the thought of time away from her boys.

‘I’ve dragged the poor things round these sorts of things before,’ she told Anna as they settled themselves
in
the car. ‘They get terribly bored and nag me for money.’

‘And that’s just Mike?’

Chloe nodded. ‘And the toys he buys are really expensive. It’ll be terribly crowded, it being a Sunday, but who cares? I feel all wind-in-my-hair, day-off-school-ish.’

‘We’re going to a cut-down Ideal Home Exhibition,’ said Anna. ‘It’s hardly
Thelma and Louise
.’

Chloe laughed. ‘When you’ve got children you’ll realise that however much you love them, a little time away makes you love them even more. Let’s hope they’ve laid on plenty of parking.’

There were several marquees leading one from another and they were all heaving with people. ‘Thank God for mobiles,’ said Chloe. ‘If we lose each other we can get back together. When I take the boys to anything like this, I stick labels on their clothes with my mobile number on them.’

‘I can see you wouldn’t want little ones with you in this crush,’ said Anna, trying to see past the stall selling pigs made from MDF which were supposed to hide your milk bottles. ‘What do you want to look at?’

‘I need a new wallet,’ said Chloe, her eyes shining at the prospect of some retail therapy. ‘And a loft ladder, and possibly a new bed. What about you?’

‘I don’t think I want to buy anything, but I would like to get some ideas.’ Anna looked round. ‘Shall we split up or – Oh, Chlo, over there. Now that’s what I call a bed.’

‘For old people!’ said Chloe indignantly.

‘Not at all. Yes, my friend would like to try it,’ Anna said to a besuited young man. ‘You go on, Chloe. Have a nice lie-down.’

It was a little cruel, Anna accepted, as she watched Chloe
being
taken through the motions, her legs going up and down, her back going down and up, both going together and then, by mistake, both going in opposite directions.

‘Actually it was lucky that happened,’ said Chloe, after she had been rescued from a position she was familiar with from yoga and was stuffing a business card into her bag. ‘It meant I didn’t have to buy one. It was quite good though. The boys would love it!’

‘I know you promised you’d bring them something back but I think that’s going too far. Oh look!’ She pointed. ‘A jacuzzi bath.’

Chloe spotted her chance for revenge. ‘Yes!’ She marched purposefully towards the stand and smiled broadly at the slim blonde woman who was calling out to the crowd with very little hope of being answered. ‘My friend would love to borrow a swimming costume and have a go.’

‘No I wouldn’t! Don’t be silly.’ Anna tried to walk on but Chloe took her arm and pulled her back.

‘When was the last time you had a bath?’ she said, just loud enough for the woman in charge to hear.

‘Yesterday, as you very well know!’

‘Hi! I’m Tina,’ said the woman, who had looked at Anna and decided that although her hands were in a terrible state, she was clean. ‘If you demonstrate it for us, we’ll give you all these lovely products free.’ She made a sweeping gesture with her hand, that appeared to Anna to have Tipp-ex on the ends of the fingernails. But there was an impressive array of products that included a foot spa.

‘Go on!’ urged Chloe. ‘Those are nice things. I love that brand! I’ve always wanted a foot spa.’

‘You do it then,’ muttered Anna inaudibly. Out loud she said, ‘Why didn’t you hire a model if you wanted your jacuzzi demonstrated?’ She was heaving with suspicion.

‘We much prefer to save the money and pass the saving on to our customer,’ said Tina, looking expectantly at Anna.

‘But I’m not a customer!’ Anna protested.

‘You might be,’ said Chloe. ‘You have got to put a bathroom in, after all.’

‘I’m not going to supply whoever buys my house with bath foam, honestly, Chloe. Come on, let’s look over there, I see some rather nice baskets.’ Anna tried to move away, but Chloe kept a firm hand on her arm.

‘We might be able to do a bit better than that,’ said the saleswoman quickly. ‘I promise you and your friend will do very well out of it.’

‘Oh go on!’ Chloe pressed her.

‘You do it!’ insisted Anna, feeling increasingly trapped.

‘Can’t.’ She leant in confidentially and whispered, ‘I’ve got my period.’

Anna sighed. The saleswoman saw the chink of Anna’s weakness widening and pounced. ‘Just slip this on.’ She handed Anna a swimsuit. ‘And then come and try it.’

‘Do I have to keep my knickers on? If so, I’m not doing it. I’m not going round in wet knickers all day for a bottle of bubble bath and a foot spa.’

‘We’re offering you much more than that – and your friend. And take these.’ Tina was a professional and thrust a pair of paper knickers into Anna’s hand before she could get out of reach. ‘In there. There’s a lovely little cubicle.’

Deciding that the person who put the word ‘slip’ in conjunction with a swimming costume had never worn one, Anna took off her clothes as fast as she could in the cubicle, which may indeed have been lovely, but was hardly bigger than a coffin. Eventually she emerged, grateful that her reunion dinner meant that her legs and armpits were moderately hair free. If she kept her arms clamped to her sides the regrowth shouldn’t show too much.

‘Lovely!’ said Tina, beaming at Anna, relieved to have found a volunteer – albeit such a reluctant one – at last. ‘That fuchsia really suits you. Now come this way and step into the tub.’

Anna regarded Chloe, who looked as if she was giggling already. ‘I’m doing this for you! I don’t even want a foot spa!’

The water in the tub was just slightly cooler than was comfortable. Anna sat down nobly. ‘Right, well, it seems – just like sitting in a bath, really.’

‘You haven’t got the bubbles on!’ Tina pressed a button and instantly the water bubbled.

It was quite pleasant and would have been more so had the water been hot enough. Anna lay back and pretended to relax. To her horror she noticed a crowd had started to form. Chloe gave her a little wave from the front. Anna scowled back.

‘Er, would you mind if we took a photo?’ said someone.

Anna sat up immediately, water sloshing about her. ‘No, really, I don’t think so.’

‘It’s for the local paper,’ said the man to Tina, ignoring Anna.

Tina was ecstatic. ‘Oh great! A bit of free publicity. The office will be thrilled!’