Page 45 of Fix Them Up
FIND OLD TO-DO LISTS!!!Buy a new notebook
Book design appointments (kitchen/bathroom)
Thank-you card for Pat (for brownies)
Redesign social club event flyers (they are gross)
Call Mum back
‘So, just so I can get this right, you’ve moved in with your builder.’ Willa’s familiar voice came down the phone. She had texted me about fifteen minutes earlier:Free for a chat?I would usually be fast asleep at seven in the morning if it weren’t for the fact Liam mentioned he left the house at seven thirty.
Plus, it wasn’t like I’d slept.
I’d been too excited to start the renovation, so I was up at five a.m., like a kid at Christmas.
Willa continued, ‘The builder you’re paying has offered you somewhere to live?’
‘Well, yeah, but it’s not as bad as you think. He’s a mutual friend, I guess. He’s close with my uncle and auntie. And he grew up with my cousin, Lydia.Andhe came to my dad’s funeral.’
The explanations came tumbling out of me, and I internallywinced at the defensive tone. I did not mention the whole car park debacle but listed off my justifications with no sense of shame.
‘Isn’t that a bit weird?’ Willa asked gently.
‘No. Yes. I don’t know.’ I slapped my hand on my head. ‘I think we’re friends now. Kind of.’
‘Friends?’ Willa repeated.
I thought Liam and I were friends. Kind of. We seemed to have settled into a suspension of hostilities since the afternoon tea event at the club. Mostly. He had offered me somewhere to live and made me dinner. Friends did that sort of thing, didn’t they? And we’d both agreed that if I lived here, I would rebrand his business in return.
Friends helped each other out.
‘Yes, friends.’
I could hear Willa’s scepticism from the pause down the phone.
‘Be careful, okay, Kat. What do I always say –’
‘Don’t shit where you eat.’
‘Don’t shit where you eat,’ she repeated with vigour. ‘And you’re living with the man renovating your bloody house. What if he makes a move on you, and you have no choice but to accept? I know he’s a family friend, but – just lock your doors.’ She paused. ‘But I suppose he has the keys, doesn’t he? Given it’s his house.’ I could hear her frown down the line.
‘I’ll be fine, Wills. I promise.’
‘It’s the power balance –’
‘I’m rebranding his business in return for staying here. And you know how much I could charge for that if I wanted to.’
Willa hummed, still unsure.
‘And I’ll keep you updated. It’s all on track to finish in two months. Then, I’ll be back in London; I can buy my own place and be ready to start work again. All of this chapter about mydad will be behind me. And you won’t have to worry about me.’ I ignored the deflated feeling that gave me.
‘I always worry about you,’ Willa said dryly.
‘Hey!’ I complained. ‘How are things at work?’ I changed the subject away from my liabilities.
‘Fine.’ A single-word answer was all I was going to get.
‘And John?’
