Simon gazed grumpily out at the tangled mess. Their garden took him half an hour to mow, if that. This lot would need a whole team of gardeners to get it back into any sort of order.
It was then that they heard Jo’s footsteps pounding up the stairs and Jess smiled. At least someone was enjoying themselves.
‘Come on. Let’s take a look at the upstairs. We can come down and see the rest of the rooms down here later,’ she suggested.
They all trooped up a rather splendid staircase until they came to a galleried landing where they all went off in different directions to explore. There were seven bedrooms in total up there, all of a very
reasonable
size with high ceilings and elaborate cornices. As Jess stepped into each one her imagination began to run riot. Despite the outdated furniture and the need for total redecoration, she knew that they could be made beautiful. Halfway along one landing was a large bathroom, and Jess grinned when she stepped inside it. It was like walking into a museum! Faded linoleum covered the floor and above the toilet was a cistern from which dangled a tarnished brass chain. She was sure that the bath was quite large enough to swim in, but even so she found she could look beyond its present condition to what it could be like.
At the end of the landing she entered yet another bedroom and for the first time, she felt a little nervous. The sheets on the bed had been thrown back as if someone had just stepped out of it, and she glanced around half-expecting to see someone standing there. A huge mahogany wardrobe was leaning drunkenly on one wall, with one of the doors gaping open, and inside she found a row of clothes hanging on the rail. They had obviously belonged to a gentleman, from what she could see of them. When she heard footsteps behind her she grinned. ‘Look at these,’ she said, pointing. ‘I wonder if they belonged to the old man who owned the house before it was shut up.’
She had expected Simon to answer her, but when all remained silent she turned and was surprised to find that she was alone. Thinking she must have imagined it, she moved on to the next room.
Half an hour later, the family congregated downstairs.
‘So,’ Simon said smugly, ‘have you seen enough now? The whole place wants modernising from top to bottom.’
‘You’re quite right,’ Jess agreed. ‘And I think we are just the people to do it.’
‘Oh Mum, you must be joking.’ Melanie groaned as she stared around at the gloomy interior. ‘The entire place is utterly
gross
.’
‘It is now,’ Jess admitted, ‘but it won’t be when
I’ve
finished with it. From the second I set foot through the front door I got the feeling . . . I don’t know – it was as if I’d come home somehow.’
Just then, the estate agent poked his head around the door to ask brightly, ‘So what do you think of it then? It’s a snip for £450,000, isn’t it? I reckon it could be worth a million-plus easily, if it were to be modernised.’
Ignoring the look of horror on her family’s faces, Jess said, ‘I shall be in touch to make you a cash offer. What’s more, we’d like to move in as soon as possible.’ Somehow she knew that this house had been
waiting
for her, and some time in the not too distant future, she would restore it to its former glory.
‘Here, now, just hold on a minute,’ Simon spluttered. ‘Even if we did buy the place there’s no way we could live in it in
this
state!’
‘Why not?’ Jess asked. ‘Most of the rooms will be quite habitable once they’ve had a good clean and an airing, and we can take our time moving our things in. Our house hasn’t sold yet. When it has, the money we get for it can go towards renovating and refurnishing this place.’
Simon glanced at the girls and sighed; he knew when he was beaten.
When they drove away, Jess glanced back at the house for a last look. The sun was shining on the grimy windows, and for no reason that she could explain, her eyes were drawn to one of the attics. Just for a moment, she could have sworn that there had been someone at the window, staring back at her. Probably just a trick of the light, she told herself, and then her mind went into overdrive as she began to plan all the things she wanted to do to Stonebridge House, once it was hers.
‘That’s about the lot then, missus. Would you like to sign here, please?’
Jess took the paper and pen from the driver of the van and hurriedly scribbled her name. The removal firm she had hired had now shifted all the family’s possessions into the new house and were scurrying about like ants, placing boxes in the rooms Simon was directing them to.
‘Thank you very much indeed.’ As she pressed a small bundle of notes into his hand as a bonus the man grinned from ear to ear and doffed his cap.
‘That’s very kind o’ you, missus. I hope you’ll be very happy here.’ Secretly he thought the woman must have taken leave of her senses to move into such a run-down out of the way old place, but he wisely kept his opinion to himself and raced off to get his men together. They had another job to do before they went home that night and he wanted to get it over and done with.
‘Right then, I reckon we’ve all earned a cuppa, don’t you?’ Jess said when the removal men had finally driven away. After a while she managed to light one of the gas rings on the outdated cooker and then she moved to the sink to fill the kettle. The tap squealed in protest and suddenly dark water squirted out of it.
‘Oh, that’s just great!’ Melanie, who was sitting at the dusty table with her father and sister, sighed dramatically. ‘Now as well as having to live in this dump we’re going to get poisoned as well.’
‘Don’t be so silly,’ Jess scolded. ‘The water will run clear in a minute. The cleaners I hired to come in and give the place a bit of a onceover said they had the same problem, but the surveyor has given the thumbs-up on all the services. The taps just haven’t been run in a long while, that’s all. Now stop moaning, Mel, and get the sandwiches I packed out of that basket over there. Then when we’ve eaten and had a hot drink we’ll set to and get your bedrooms sorted out. The old mattresses have already been carried outside and we’ll have your beds made up in no time.’
Mel glumly did as she was told as Jess attacked the table with a damp cloth. The cleaners had got rid of the worst of the dirt and grime in the rooms they were going to be living in, but she supposed the dust would be settling for some time. Soon they were all tucking into ham sandwiches and packets of crisps. Simon seemed distracted, and so she said, ‘Why don’t you go and have a proper look at the outbuildings when you’ve eaten? You’ve already said they’d be perfect for you to run your business from, and your landlord has been trying to get you out of your yard so he can build a bungalow on it. Just think of the money you’ll be saving, when you have all your stuff on your own premises.’
‘But they’re not
my
premises, are they?’ His voice was heavy with sarcasm, and as both the girls looked towards him, an unspoken message seemed to flash between their mother and father.
Completely ignoring his tone, Jess bent to feed half of her sandwich to Alfie, their Golden Retriever, who wolfed it down hungrily. They had bought him that year for Jo as a birthday present, and now he was at the curious stage where he seemed to be all ears and legs. He certainly didn’t resemble a Golden Retriever, that was for sure, although Jo adored him. Her feelings were returned and Alfie followed her about like a shadow.
‘Come on, boy, let’s go and play outside, shall we?’ Jo chirped the minute she had swallowed her sandwich, then they both flew out of the door that led from the kitchen into the garden and bounded across the overgrown lawn.
Aw well, at least those two are happy about the move, Jess thought to herself as she put the used mugs into the sink. She could only hope that as they settled in, Simon and Mel would feel the same.
Once outside, Simon gave a deep sigh. He wasn’t at all happy about the move, but had decided to hold his tongue and go along with it, although it went sorely against the grain. Up until now he had always organised everything for the family, right down to the last detail, and now he was shocked to learn that Jess was more than capable of managing on her own.
Abandoned at an early age by an alcoholic mother, Simon had then been shipped from one foster placement to another, with nowhere to call home. Despite her promises to come back for him, Simon had never seen his mother again and had grown up with a chip on his
shoulder
the size of a house-brick. He supposed that was why, when he left school, he had been determined to make something of himself and he had worked tirelessly ever since to build up his own business. He had met Jess when they were both very young, and when she told him that she was pregnant, he had decided to do right by his unborn child and marry her. Admittedly, he had found the prospect a little daunting at first, as he had never allowed himself to get close to anyone before. Even so, things hadn’t turned out too badly and Jess had always been an obedient wife – until now, that was – but he had a horrible, insecure feeling that all that was about to change. Still, as Jess had quite rightly said, the outbuildings would make a brilliant base for his business, so feeling slightly more cheerful, he set about deciding where all his equipment and materials would go.
Once Simon had disappeared inside the barn Jess turned to Mel and said, ‘How about you come and show me which room you’d like then, my love?’
Mel trailed ahead of her up the stairs with her shoulders stooped, but Jess was determined not to let anything spoil the day. She was well aware of the amount of work that needed doing to the house, but from the second she had set foot through the door, she could imagine it as it would look in the not too distant future, and hoped that soon her family would share the same vision.
Two hours later, the girls’ rooms were tidy and their beds were neatly made up with fresh bedding. Jess left them to put some of their clothes away whilst she went into the room that she and Simon had decided to use. It was very spacious and overlooked the grounds at the back of the house. There was a huge bay window in there, and Jess grinned as she looked out and saw Jo and Alfie racing around the lake. This would be a lovely family house, once it was finished. She tried to imagine how this room would look with the wallpaper she had chosen and with new carpets and curtains. The girls had already chosen the paper for their bedrooms, and she hoped that once the improvements had been made, they would start to feel more at home.
For now, she would only be redecorating the rooms they would be living in because of the expense. Plumbers, painters and electricians were all booked to come in. She and Simon could do the rest of the redecoration at a later date. He simply had too many commitments to do the necessary major work on the house, and was very put out
to
be paying other firms to be doing it. However, Jess knew that he would be monitoring it all very closely.
Jess was standing in the window when she saw Simon suddenly appear at the back of the house. He stood pensively looking out at the overgrown lawns and her heart swelled. Their relationship had not been going well for some time now but she loved him so much, and wanted this to be a new start for them. Simon was now in his mid-thirties and still a very handsome man. Tall and dark-haired, he had always had an eye for the ladies, which had almost ended their marriage on more than one occasion. But Jess hoped that now things were easier financially, he might settle down a little. She had lost count of the times she had caught him out in sordid little affairs and knew that now, all that had to end for the sake of the children. Their constant bickering was beginning to affect Melanie, who had become very quiet and withdrawn lately. Of course, some of the girl’s mood swings were no doubt due to her age. She was a teenager now, and Simon often referred to her tantrums as ‘the battle of the hormones’. Melanie looked much like her mother, petite and fair-haired, whilst Jo took after her father in looks. She was taller, with his dark hair and blue eyes, which made a startling contrast.
Jess looked beyond Simon to where Jo was rampaging across the grass with Alfie in hot pursuit, and then yawning, she mentally tried to prioritise the list of jobs she still needed to do that day.
As darkness fell, Melanie began to glance nervously towards the windows. There had been streetlamps outside their home in Hinckley, but here there was nothing but inky blackness and she found it slightly unnerving, as if they had been shut off from the world.
‘Everything all right, love?’ Jess asked as she flipped some bacon she was cooking for supper in the frying pan.
‘Yes. It’s just strange not to be able to see any other houses,’ Melanie told her quietly. ‘I feel sort of . . . isolated.’
‘You’ll soon get used to it,’ Jess said comfortingly as she manoeuvred the bacon onto a plate to keep warm before breaking an egg into the pan. ‘And our nearest neighbour isn’t that far away. There’s a cottage just at the end of the drive.’
‘I wonder who lives there?’ Jo piped up as she waited for her food. ‘It would be great if there was someone there the same age as me that I could play with.’
‘I have no idea, but I’ve no doubt we’ll find out soon enough,’ Jess assured her, then turning her attention to Simon she asked, ‘And when are you planning on moving all your supplies into the outbuildings?’
‘I’ve already asked Bill and a couple of the lads if they’ll help to move all the stuff here from the yard, though it’s going to take a few days. I thought we could stack all the bricks in the Dutch barn,’ he said.
‘Well, there you are then. It’s all going to work out just fine, isn’t it?’ she said.
Simon didn’t reply but merely got up to fetch the tomato ketchup, and the meal passed in silence as the family ate hungrily.
Later that night, when the girls had gone to bed, Simon broached a subject that had been concerning him. ‘Look, Jess, I know we have been able to afford to buy and do up this house with the sale of our home in Hinckley and with what your gran left you – but have you given any thought as to how we’re going to live when that money is gone? I know I could earn enough to pay the mortgage on our old house, but this is a huge place and it’s going to take some maintaining.’