Page 41 of The House on Waterfall Hill
‘I think it’s something important to be a part of.’
‘I do too. Our first one is tomorrow. Just one man and his husband. I’m crossing everything it goes well.’
Just then Flick’s phone rang. ‘Sorry, I should get this.’
Flick looked at the phone as she moved back into the gift shop. It was a foreign number but she was pretty sure the country code was Australian so she answered it anyway.
‘Flick!’ came her nan’s cheerful voice from the other end of the phone. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m good,’ Flick said with a smile as she thought about Luke. ‘How’s Aunty Edith?’ Technically Edith was her great-aunt but she never called her that.
‘She’s doing well, starting to hobble around a bit. It’s a long road. And if you speak to her, you can’t tell her what I’m about to tell you.’
‘My lips are sealed.’
‘She has the hottest young carer who comes every day to help her. Well I say young, he’s probably in his fifties but that’s still a lot younger than me and he is so fit and strong. I’ve never looked at anyone since your grandad passed, but Maxwell has certainly opened my eyes. I don’t want to go into specifics because a lady never kisses and tells but we’ve had the most incredible sex.’
Flick’s eyebrows shot up in surprise but she couldn’t help smiling. Her nan sounded so happy and excited. Flick knew how that felt. ‘Look at you with your toy boy.’
‘Stop it,’ Audrey chuckled. ‘It’s just sex. It doesn’t mean anything. He’s not going to want something serious with an old bird like me. But I have caught him giving me the eye now and again, looking at me as if he wants more. Unless that’s just cataracts.’
Flick laughed. ‘And Edith doesn’t know?’
‘Her house is pretty big and she can’t access most of it right now. Let’s say there are lots of rooms we can sneak off to when he’s finished tending to her. And she sleeps a lot, or she’s busy watching her soaps or doing her crosswords. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.’
Flick smiled and shook her head.
‘Now tell me, how are you getting on with young Luke?’
‘Good, very good,’ Flick answered vaguely.
There was a pause on the other end. ‘Oh my god you’ve slept with him.’
‘Nan!’
‘You have, haven’t you?’
‘My sex life is private.’
‘Dear god, that’s wonderful news,’ Audrey went on as if Flick had confirmed it, which she probably had. ‘He’s a lovely boy and he needed someone wonderful. I’m so glad you two have found each other. But I didn’t see that coming, let me tell you. Is he good in bed?’
Flick let out a sigh. There was no point denying it anymore. ‘Yeah, he is.’
Her nan squealed on the other end of the phone. ‘This makes me so happy. For both of you. I’m going to need all the sexy details.’
‘I’m afraid you’ll have to use your imagination for that one.’
‘Spoilsport. OK, I haven’t got long, I don’t want to run up Edith’s phone bill. How is everything going in the studios?’
Flick wanted to tell her how frustrating it was that she’d been left to deliver the bad news to the artists and if her nan had paved the way they might be a little bit more supportive but she decided to focus on the positive instead.
‘It’s going really well. We’re going to reopen the café to start with.’
‘Oh no, Flick, I really don’t want to have to deal with that when I get home.’
‘You won’t have to. We found a woman, Polly, who runs a catering service from her van selling burgers, sandwiches, chips and drinks. She’s going to take it over and she’ll be in charge of everything, ordering food,cooking, serving, hiring staff if needs be. You won’t have to lift a finger but we need the café to help get a regular revenue into the place. We’re busily renovating it now, painting, new tables and chairs, new utensils and equipment. And I’m going to use the space next door to open a gift shop. I’m going to sell normal gift shop gifts but also I’m going to sell arts and craft supplies so people can have a go at creating their own masterpieces.’
There was silence from her nan which Flick was nervous about. She’d thought she’d be pleased.
