Page 57 of The House on Waterfall Hill
Flick had made some of her own baubles using her dandelion wishes and toadstools to make it look whimsical.
‘Hey,’ Flick said as she moved next to Luke.
He smiled as he looked up from carving a beautiful vine on the side of the tree. He gave her a kiss on her cheek. ‘Hi, did you get a costume?’
‘Oh yes.’
‘What did you get?’ he lowered his voice. ‘Is it sexy?’
‘Oh definitely, you are going to want to ravish me as soon as you see it,’ she said, quietly.
His eyes lit up. ‘I look forward to seeing it.’
They all worked quietly for a while, adding their own decorations to the tree. Even Polly came out and tied a couple of teacups on too, ones with leaves and floral patterns that she’d picked up at a charity shop in town. It was lovely to just all work peacefully alongside each other, no animosity, simply working together to support the studio. Finally it was done – well, apart from Luke’s carvings; they would probably take a little longer. They stepped back to admire their work.
‘This is wonderful,’ Alex said.
Flick nodded. ‘It really is.’
‘Dare I say it, better than the original tree,’ Ethel said, taking photos for the tree’s followers.
‘Well, I just want to say thank you to everyone for getting involved with this,’ Flick said. ‘And while I know change is difficult, thank you for embracing it and being willing to make smaller items alongside your normal pieces of art. Hopefully you’ll start to see some regular sales.’
‘We’ve already had a few,’ Katherine said. ‘All of us had visitors on the day Polly ran her taste testing and we all made sales. Mostly the smaller items but Rose sold one of her original paintings.’
‘That’s wonderful. I’m so pleased for you all. I knowthe smaller items don’t bring in a lot of money but it will all add up over time.’
‘Twenty pounds is better than zero,’ Luke said.
‘In reality, we’re not doing this for the money, although a bit extra is nice,’ Aidan said. ‘We’re doing this to help hold workshops for those with brain injuries. Some things are worth fighting for.’
Flick smiled at that, they were finally a team.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Luke was sitting in the lounge waiting for Flick to come out of her room in her pirate costume the next day. He was already dressed ready to go. Flick was really excited for him to see her costume. He wondered what it would be like. Some of the women’s pirate outfits were very sexy and revealing, with corsets, short skirts, plunging necklines. And while he would certainly appreciate that, he just hoped she’d found something she was comfortable in.
Flick opened the door a crack. ‘Are you ready?’
‘Yes, I’m sitting here with bated breath.’
‘Try to control yourself when you see me because you’re going to want to carry me off to the bedroom and have your wicked way with me.’
‘I promise to restrain myself.’
She opened the door and stepped out into the lounge with the biggest smile on her face. He stared at her, the smile growing on his own face. Flick was dressed as agiant pink fluffy octopus. She had a large bulbous head with massive googly eyes and eight curly tentacles that stretched down to the floor like a very bizarre dreadlock wig.
He felt an ache in his chest and he couldn’t stop smiling at her.
‘I’m a kraken,’ Flick said, referring to the mythical giant octopus that would consume entire boats or drag them down to the sea floor. It was a legend among sailors, fishermen and of course pirates.
Luke cleared his throat, trying to form the words because the ache in his chest was spreading. ‘Yeah, you look terrifying.’
She moved towards him, tentacles outstretched in what he presumed was supposed to be a scary way. ‘Do you want to ravish me?’
‘Always.’
But the funny thing was, he did. Not because she looked sexy, there was nothing sexy about a giant fluffy pink octopus with an oversized head. He wanted to take her to bed because he was head over heels in love with this brilliant and incredible woman and for some reason it had taken this ridiculous octopus to make him realise it.
