Page 36 of Fix Them Up
‘I explained how you wanted to renovate the house, and he wanted to help. So, he said I was forbidden to charge you.’
‘Can’t charge me?’ I squeaked.
‘He was pretty insistent.’ He looked away. ‘Well, you’ll have to cover costs for materials, but we won’t charge for labour.’
I gawped. ‘You can’t do that. It’s too much.’
Liam shrugged. ‘It’s not a big deal.’
‘That’s thousands of pounds, Liam.’
‘And if we needed it, we’d charge you. But we don’t, and my dad sees you as family. He likes to look after family.’ Liam rolled his eyes. ‘If he could, I think he’d do everything for free. The man is a softie.’
My eyes were watering again. I couldn’t say anything else; my emotions were all over the place, zinging around my body. Before I knew it, I launched myself at Liam, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. He stiffened, but then he relaxed, his palm to my back. I tried to hold back a sob.
‘Everyone is so nice here.’
I felt the huff of Liam’s laugh. ‘Yeah, they are. Bloody nosy, too.’
‘It’s so weird,’ I said, my eyes watering.
‘Please don’t cry about this,’ Liam grunted, ‘this isn’t anything to cry over.’
‘But it’s so nice.’ I sniffed, pulling out of our awkward embrace. ‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t apologise,’ Liam said as he lifted his hand and tucked an errant curl behind my ear.
My face warmed where his fingers brushed, and it took everything not to press my face into his palm. Liam’s eyes widened, probably as he realised who he was touching. He dropped his hand like I’d burnt him, glancing away, the tips of his ears pinkening.
‘So –’ Liam coughed. ‘As I said, we’ll do all this for free, but you have to promise to at least take some of my advice, okay?’
A trickle of guilt came in.
‘Of course,’ I replied.
Liam lifted his pinkie. ‘Swear on it.’
My lips lifted. ‘You’re asking me to pinkie swear with you.’
Liam shrugged. ‘I’m using your language, Red. Find somewhere to live,’ he said, his tone serious, ‘and we’ll do the rest.’
The guilt continued to trickle, but it didn’t stop me from wrapping my finger with his, plastering a smile on my face. Liam’s eyes still showed suspicion around the edges.
‘Deal.’
Chapter Twelve
Kat’s To-Do List
Tent
Sleeping bag
Sleeping pad
Pillow
Headlamp
