‘Can I go and get him?’ Florrie tugged on the hem of her mum’s t-shirt.
‘Not yet. Let Aunty Hannah see where he is.’ Sophie smiled at her daughter.
As Hannah climbed up the stairs, familiar creaks of the floorboards beneath her trainers, she frowned. What could she hear? Alfie had gone quiet, but there was another noise, one she couldn’t quite pinpoint. If she hadn’t been inside the cottage, she would have said it almost sounded like a breeze. Reaching the landing, Hannah turned before letting out an audible gasp.
Chapter Three
‘What is it, Hannah?’ Gemma called up the stairs.
‘It’s...’ Hannah stepped onto the landing so she had a better view. She wasn’t even sure what she was looking at. Tilting her head back, she spotted a huge jagged hole in the ceiling with cracks splitting off in all directions and... she could see sunlight. There must be a hole in the thatch. Looking down at the carpet beneath her feet, a deep growth of mould had discoloured the cream of the carpet and was growing up the wall beside it. That would explain the problem with the electrics. Hannah turned as she heard the thump of footsteps behind her.
‘Yikes!’ Halting beside her, Gemma gripped Hannah’s arm as she surveyed the carnage in front of them. ‘What on earth has happened here?’
Shaking her head, Hannah finally found her voice. ‘I don’t know. Something must have damaged the thatch. There must be a hole in the roof.’
‘What could have caused this? I mean, roofs don’t fall in just because the place has been left empty, do they? Unless they were left for decades, I mean.’ Gemma stepped forward, peeringup through the hole in the ceiling. ‘The rain must have literally come straight through the ceiling.’
‘Uh-huh.’ This wasn’t going to be a quick job, was it? Gone were her plans of cleaning the cottage, perhaps putting a few things into storage before getting an estate agent round and putting it on the market. No, she’d be here for far longer than the two months she’d given herself. She’d have to get someone to fix the roof - and how many thatchers were out there? Few, she gathered, and likely zero who had an opening in their diary right about now. Plus, she might need a whole new thatch too. It wouldn’t be just a case of fixing one small hole; the damage might indicate a larger problem too.
Leaning heavily against the wall behind her, she dragged her fingers through her hair. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t stay here that long. It had taken her four years to force herself to walk through the door again. She couldn’t live in the cottage, with her grandad’s stuff around her reminding her of what she’d lost. She just wasn’t strong enough. She needed to be moving. She needed to leave.
‘Oh, Hannah.’ Sophie spoke quietly beside her.
Turning, she fixed her eyes on her friend, hoping to block out everything else. ‘What am I supposed to do? I’m going to be stuck here for ages now. I’ll have to get it fixed. I can’t sell it like this. I...’
‘Hold on, I’ll give Josh a call. See if he has any space.’ Sophie pulled her mobile from her pocket and began scrolling.
‘Josh? Your brother Josh?’ Hannah bit down on her bottom lip, hoping nobody would notice the flush of self-consciousness she felt coursing across her skin at the mention of his name. Not by Sophie, at least. She glanced quickly at Gemma, who had an enormous grin plastered to her face whilst her eyebrows had shot up so high her fringe almost entirely covered them. Shakingher head slightly, she narrowed her eyes at Gemma before turning back to Sophie.
‘Ah, he’s not picking up.’ Lowering her mobile, Sophie grimaced. ‘I’ll speak to him later, though. Even if he’s too busy at the moment, I’m sure he’ll be able to recommend someone else.’
‘Doesn’t he still live in London? I thought he went back? What does he know about roofs?’ Hannah tried her best to keep her voice steady. The thought of seeing Josh again after the way they’d left things the last time she’d seen him filled her with dread.
‘Nah, after he came back just before your grandad… you left, he decided to stay. He’s retrained and now has his own roofing business.’ Hannah tilted her head as Florrie called for her. ‘Sorry, I’d better get going. I’ve got to drop Florrie off at my parents before running to work, but I’ll let you know what Josh says after I’ve spoken to him.’
‘Okay, thanks.’ Hannah nodded as she gave Sophie a quick hug before watching her run down the stairs. Turning back to the mess in front of her, she tried desperately to ignore Gemma staring at her.
‘What’s going on...?’ Lucy thudded up the stairs before coming to an abrupt stop beside the two of them. ‘Jeepers! No wonder Sophie looked as though she’d seen a ghost.’
‘Yeah. It’s not great.’ Hannah stepped forward and ran her hand down the damp wall, her heart still pounding from the news that Josh had never returned to London. He’d been back about three months before her grandad had passed away, taking a break from his corporate role and having a break from his long-term relationship, but she’d always assumed he’d gone back to London. He’d loved London – the Big City as he called it. During a brief conversation before Hannah had sliced their friendship in two by telling him how she felt about him, how she’d always felt about him, he’d said the buzz of the cityenergised him. How had she been so stupid? He’d been on a break from his long-term girlfriend, Tasha, at Tasha’s request too, and everyone knew what a break meant. And it didn’t mean that the relationship was over. Not that Josh would have ever reciprocated her feelings anyway. Absentmindedly, she knelt and touched the green growth on the wall. It was wet and flakes of plaster rained down onto the ruined carpet.
‘Wait. Stop! Don’t do that! It might make you ill or bring the wall down.’ Lucy gripped Hannah’s shoulder and pulled her back. ‘I happen to have a date tonight, so if you could leave the whole burying me under a ton of thatch and plaster thing for another time, I’d be grateful.’
Nodding, Hannah shoved her hands in her pockets to avoid the temptation to touch it again. Turning to Lucy, she tried to focus on what she was saying. ‘Who with? Who’s your date with?’
‘This guy called Graham. He’s from a dating app, but he sounds so lovely. Really down to earth.’ Lucy grinned. ‘I think he might be the real deal.’
‘You said that last week about Dave too.’ Gemma shook her head.
‘Doug. It was Doug.’ Glancing down, Lucy used the toe of her trainer to move a little plaster.
‘Well, Lucy isn’t the only one with a hot date in the near future, is she?’ Gemma nudged Hannah’s shoulder, her eyebrows wriggling.
‘A date? I’ve not even thought about...’ Hannah blinked. When would she even have time to date, especially now with the cottage to sort out, not to mention the fact that dating was the last thing on her mind?
‘Oh, who?’
‘Josh is coming round to rescue the damsel in distress.’ Gemma flipped her hair over her shoulder dramatically.
