Page 55 of One Cornish Summer With You

‘We’re going to chill out inside,’ Tammy said, feeling awkward. ‘It’s been a big day.’

‘I’m not surprised,’ Breda said, though Davey stayed silent. ‘’Night. See you tomorrow, then. I think we might call it a night too shortly and turn in. This bottle is almost gone, anyway, isn’t it, Davey?’

Davey’s face was a picture. He simply couldn’t form a reply and Tammy almost wanted to laugh, even if she felt a little bit sorry for him.

‘Yes. Goodnight,’ he muttered.

Tammy silently thanked Breda for making things as easy as they could be. In one sentence, she’d let Tammy know that she knew Ruan and Tammy were going to spend the night together – and that she and Davey were too.

Tammy felt Ruan’s hand lightly touch the small of her back. ‘Come on, superstar,’ he said with a glint in his eye that made her pulse race.

‘Please don’t call me that,’ she protested, blushing again. ‘You know it winds me up.’

‘That’s why I keep saying it,’ he teased.

She burst out laughing and opened the outer door of the studio. It would be the first time they’d spent the night in her flat and the glow spreading through her mind and body told her how much she was looking forward to what the evening might bring.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Ruan had left Tammy’s after a very early breakfast and headed to Seaspray to make a start at the house. He was relieved she hadn’t asked too much about his plans for the morning since he was expecting his friends to come and clear the grounds with him. Luckily, the subject hadn’t come up, which was hardly surprising as their minds – and bodies – had been focused on far more exciting things.

He felt as if he was walking on air after a night of laughter, pleasure and growing closer to Tammy than he had ever thought possible.

On his return to Seaspray, even the scale of the renovation task facing him couldn’t dispel his general mood of excitement and optimism.

He’d already had a skip delivered the previous week, ready for the cleared vegetation. Kane and two other friends from the kitesurfing club, Leon and Rob, were bringing a low-loader, a mini digger, and a woodchipper. Leon’s father ran a plant-hire company while Rob, who was a decade older than the others, worked as a chef in Kane’s restaurant.

Ruan had decided to make a start while he waited for his friends to turn up. He didn’t feel he was making muchprogress and was relieved to see the pick-up with a trailer of equipment trundle down the track to the front of the house.

He switched off the hedge cutter and took off the goggles. It was a humid morning, and he was glad to be free of them. He’d need another shower before he was ready to take Tammy to the festival that afternoon.

Kane whistled when he descended from his pick-up. ‘Wow. It’s Jurassic Park!’

Leon stood with his hands on his hips. ‘You said it was a wreck and it is.’

Rob carried a box of pasties in his arms. ‘Mind you, it’s one hell of a wreck. It could be something really special.’

‘When it’s finished,’ Kane joked.

‘If it’s ever finished,’ Ruan said, seeing the dilapidated building through strangers’ eyes and revisiting the shock he’d experienced when he’d viewed it for the first time.

‘And your uncle left it to you?’ Leon said in wonder. ‘Must have thought a lot of you.’

‘Great-uncle and I hardly knew him,’ Ruan said, eager to skate over any more discussion about his undeserved good fortune.

‘You struck lucky. What’s it like inside?’ Rob asked, setting the pasties down on the old patio table outside the caravan.

‘The internal walls are solid enough and there are some original fireplaces, but most of the ceilings are coming down after leaks. The jungle has even managed to creep inside. It’ll need gutting, according to the builders.’

Leon winced. ‘That’s going to cost you a bomb.’

‘It is, which is why I’m glad of your help.’

‘No problem, mate. If we’re ever in trouble with the law and need a brief, we know who to come to, eh?’ Leon winked.

Ruan was about to say he wasn’t a criminal barrister but decided to laugh off the comment. ‘Thanks for bringing the pasties. I’ll settle up with you later. Want a coffee before we start?’

While the three men unloaded the digger, chainsaws and a woodchipper, Ruan made coffee, ladling in several sugars to every mug except his own.

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