Page 19 of The Forever Cottage

‘Afternoon,’ said Charles snippily, standing over Rob, who was on his haunches, pegging out his tent to dry. ‘I’m Charles, Tess’s husband.’

‘Hello.’ Rob eased himself up to a standing position, towering over Charles. He held out his hand to him and nodded while Tess breathed an inward sigh of relief. ‘Rob, I’m a friend of Tess’s. Good to meet you.’

‘So I hear. A new friend, I’m guessing?’ Charles said with a questioning expression.

Rob’s gaze swept over to Tess, whose face gave away her discomfort.

‘Yep, we have mutual friends,’ explained Rob casually. ‘Tess is doing me a big favour. I’m staying here while I wait for my new place to go through. Should only be for a few weeks.’

‘So you are living here then?’ Charles blustered, turning to glare at Tess, clearly unhappy with the arrangement. He turned his back on Rob. ‘You can’t just make these kind of decisions unilaterally. You need to keep me informed.’

She bit on her lip to stop the torrent of words from escaping her mouth as an anger steamed around her body, thinking of all the decisions Charles had made without giving her a second thought. She rolled back her shoulders, looking past Charles at Rob, who gave a barely discernible shake of his head.

‘Look, Charles, just go, will you.’ She pointed to the gates, in case he’d forgotten his way out. Discreetly, Rob turned away to continue what he’d been working on, close enough to still hear the conversation between Charles and Tess, but with enough distance to give the pair of them some privacy.

‘Fine, I will. Let me know how Marjorie gets on, won’t you? If I can help, then you only have to ask.’

‘No, thank you. Now, get out!’ she said, physically manhandling him across the driveway. She really didn’t need Charles’s kind of help.

15

‘Are you okay?’ Rob asked, once they’d heard the roar of Charles’s Jaguar disappear down the lane.

‘Not really,’ she said, making fists with her hands and banging them against the sky. ‘My husband is insufferable and I would never have wanted to inflict him upon you. Sorry about that.’

‘It’s fine. I’ve suffered much worse abuse over the last few months,’ he said with a wry smile. ‘Are you sure you’re okay? Do you need a hug?’

His offer felt heartfelt and welcome too. She nodded, not needing to think twice about it, and he wrapped her in an embrace, her eyes closing momentarily. Sensing that it felt dangerously comfortable and reassuring, she pulled away and uttered her thanks.

‘I’m guessing he didn’t know I was staying here then?’

‘No,’ said Tess defensively. ‘He relinquished all rights to know what I was doing when he walked out the door. He’s…’ She stopped herself. What on earth was she doing offloading her frustrations onto Rob? She’d offered him a place to stay at Hollyhocks Cottage, a chance to get himself sorted before he moved on with the next phase in his life. The last thing he needed was to be weighed down by Tess’s marital problems. Not when he had enough problems of his own.

‘I get it,’ he said, his eyes latching onto hers. ‘And I can understand where Charles is coming from. Poor guy. It must have been a shock coming face to face with some randomer who’s moved into his office.’ Rob’s lifted eyebrow and upturned quirk of his mouth lifted Tess’s spirits and she burst into laughter.

‘Ha! Serves him right. Although the days of it being an office are long gone. I think it’s much better suited as an annexe. I hope you’re finding it okay out here?’

‘Honestly, it’s great, and I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay. It’s got everything I need and it’s such a peaceful and quiet spot. It’s almost like being on holiday in a forest lodge somewhere. You need to be careful, though; you might never be able to get rid of me.’

Tess’s gaze caught on his and she returned his smile.

‘Don’t look so worried,’ he quickly added. ‘I wouldn’t do that to you. In fact, I’m speaking to a couple of contacts next week about possible jobs, so I’m hoping I might be able to make some plans soon.’

‘Great, although there’s no hurry as far as I’m concerned. Take as long as you need.’

‘Look, I’ve been thinking. I should earn my keep while I’m here so if you’d like me to clean the gutters or mow the lawn and dig over those flower beds then I’d be more than happy to help. I could get started this afternoon.’

‘You don’t need to do that.’

‘I know, but I’d like to. My way of paying you back for your hospitality.’

‘Well thank you, if you insist, that would be really helpful.’

Tess had always managed to keep on top of the maintenance of the garden. The lawn area was relatively small as most of the space had been given over to raised beds, vegetable plots and a wildflower meadow, with the rest of the space laid with gravel and bark decorated with pots of flowers and shrubs. Admittedly, over the last couple of weeks, she had done the mowing less frequently and had even thought about getting in someone to help out over the summer months when everything grew alarmingly, so Rob’s offer was extremely welcome.

‘Do you fancy a cuppa or a cold drink before you get started?’

‘A cup of tea would be great, thanks. White, no sugar,’ he confirmed.

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