Page 25 of Her Fixer Upper

‘Eh, don’t panic, love, I’m perfectly steady on my pins,’ he said, although I noticed that he didn’t let go of me.

Ted, sensing that the attention had moved away from him, consented to being caught, although he still gave Charlie a challenge by keeping his jaw clamped tight. Eventually Charlie managed to prise it open and removed a half-chewed duster.

‘Not a rat, thankfully. I think Ted was offering to help us.’

‘He would probably do a better job,’ I said.

Ted gave a happy shake in response, sending bits of fur and slobber flying in all directions.

‘Thanks, matey,’ said Charlie, wiping stray saliva from his already filthy jeans. He reached down and scratched Ted’s head affectionately. ‘Lovely to have you giving the house a properly lived-in feel. Now then, Arthur, can we offer you a cup of tea? I was about to put the kettle on. Cleaning the bathroom is thirsty work.’

‘Interesting use of the word “cleaning” there, Charlie,’ I couldn’t resist interjecting, my frustration at his lack of efficiency bubbling to the surface once again. Charlie feigned ignorance.

I helped Granddad ease himself down into one of the folding chairs. It was a bit lower to the ground than I would have liked and I was worried about how we would get him up out of it, but we didn’t have any choice.

‘That would be grand. Thanks, Charlie boy. How are the two of you getting on? No regrets?’ asked Granddad, cutting to the chase in his customary manner.

‘Many, and varied,’ I said. ‘So far we’ve been more successful at making a mess than clearing it up.’

Granddad nodded. ‘I noticed the smashed glass out front. I’m afraid my house-warming present has been a little too late.’

‘You didn’t have to get us a present, Arthur. All the advice and support you gave us when the survey came through was a present enough,’ said Charlie, snatching the words right out of my mouth.

‘Nevertheless, it wouldn’t be right not to mark this momentous occasion with something special. I decided to go for something practical. You may have heard it being delivered a short while ago.’

Granddad gestured for us to go through to the living room.

‘Take a look out of the front window.’

I led the way, Ted dashing back and forth between me, Charlie and Granddad, unsure who was the most exciting prospect.

I rubbed the grimy glass with the sleeve of my sweatshirt, and gingerly knelt on the deep windowsill so I could get a proper look. Charlie went to the other window, but stood a little back from it, thankfully more cautious after the drama with the upstairs one this morning.

‘Granddad, that’s the best present anyone could have given us,’ I called back into the kitchen. If anyone had told me a year ago that I’d be thrilled to be presented with a hired skip, I would have laughed at them, but today the cavernous yellow thing was definitely a joy to behold.

‘It belongs to the granddaughter of a former colleague. She runs the family building business now, and I’ve hired it for the duration of your renovation project. When it’s full, give her a call, and she’ll replace it with a fresh one.’

‘I fear that’s going to be a regular occurrence,’ said Charlie. ‘Right, let’s get that tea sorted. I could do with a rest.’

It was good to sit in the kitchen with Granddad, enjoying a hot drink even though I felt guilty having a break as we’d barely got started. We talked over my list of jobs and I took notes as Granddad described a less-risky method of stripping the wallpaper. Charlie meanwhile entertained Ted by throwing the duster for him to fetch. The little dog snuffled around the nooks and crevices of the room, dragging bits of rubbish out from the dark corners along with the duster. He failed to discover any creatures living or dead, but that didn’t mean they weren’t lurking there. Granddad seemed in no hurry to return home, even though he couldn’t be comfortable sitting on the low camping chair in the draughty house.

Eventually, though, he checked the time on his phone and sighed. ‘I should probably be ordering a taxi and getting going.’

‘Didn’t you drive, Granddad? I thought you’d parked round the corner to leave room for the skip lorry to drop its load off.’

‘I decided it would be easier to get a cab for that very purpose,’ he said, although there was something shifty in his expression which made me wonder if that was the true reason. I made a note to try to ask Mum about it. I’d have to make my question subtle – no point in worrying her pointlessly – but Granddad loved driving, and if he was choosing to rely on taxis instead, there must be a good reason behind it.

He made a point of moving the conversation on. ‘Have you got your internet installed yet? I’ve been collecting some useful renovation channels on YouTube. I thought they could be good for you to follow for step-by-step instructions when I’m not able to pop round to help.’

‘That’s very good of you, Arthur,’ said Charlie. ‘We’re still relying on our mobile phones at the moment, but getting the internet working is high up on my priority list.’

‘Once we’ve got the bathroom functioning,’ I said. ‘We’re both going to become miserable pretty quickly if we can’t get rid of the grime at the end of the day.’

‘I reckon another hour of work, and the bathroom will be cleared up enough for us to be able to take a shower. The water won’t be hot, but it’ll be better than nothing.’

I mentally added another couple of hours to Charlie’s estimation.

A car horn hooted outside.

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