Page 30 of The Life Daisy Devlin Designed
“That’s probably the fellah who’ll be stripping all this out with me this morning.”
He left to answer the door, and returned with a solidly built man in his mid-twenties, who sported a man-bun and a tattoo that curved up around his neck.
The newcomer looked Daisy up and down, and gave a broad grin. “Heyya, love. Nice place!”
Kenny shot him a glare. “Alec, this is Daisy Devlin, the interior architect for this job.”
Alec seemed even more amused. “Interior architect? Fair fucks.” He turned to Kenny. “Where do I start?”
“We’re starting with those old kitchen cabinets. Don’t touch the Aga or the table.”
From the hall came the sound of a woman’s voice, and then Matt’s laughter.
Kenny tugged on his beanie. “Sounds like the new electrician’s here. She’ll be looking over the place, although we probably won’t need her just yet.”
Matt came back into the kitchen with a young woman with dyed-black, curly hair. She sported a variety of piercings, black eye make-up and black lipstick, which lent her a distinctly gothic look. She looked about seventeen, Daisy thought, a bit nervously.
“Hey, Kenny!” The young woman nodded to the others.
“Niamh, this is Daisy Devlin, the interior architect,” Kenny said.
Daisy smiled warmly at her.
Niamh returned her smile and flicked an interested look at Alec. “Who are you?”
“Alec is one of my carpenters,” Kenny said.
Alec gave a snort of laughter. “I suddenly feel very old.”
Niamh gave him a hard stare, before turning back to Kenny. “I’m gonna see how much basic work I’ll have to do, but I’m guessing you’ve got plans, yeah?”
He gave a brief nod. “Go ahead.”
“I can show you around,” Matt offered.
Niamh beamed up at him. “Lead the way.”
“Will you be around for a while, Daisy?” Kenny said after they’d left, and Alec had started stripping out the kitchen units.
She nodded. “I’ve measurements to take, and I want to get some orders in. Listen, there’s been a bit of a complication – Matt’s signed a deal with a music promoter to put on a series of summer concerts in the grounds. They’ll kick off at the start of June, so I’ve landscapers starting their work in a few days. It shouldn’t interfere with your work, though.”
Kenny ran a hand across his stubble beard. “You hoping we all get finished by then?”
“Do you think you can?” Daisy raised an eyebrow.
He looked around. “Nothing like a challenge.”
“I thought I’d take refuge up here for a while – there’s a lot going on downstairs.” Matt appeared at the door of the master bedroom as Daisy was taking measurements down the centre of the room.
“Oh, hi. All good?” She straightened up.
Matt pulled a face. “Niamh and Alec seem to be having some sort of disagreement about something, so I thought I’d stay out of the way.”
“What?” She rolled her eyes. “Kenny’s around, he’ll sort them if he needs to. Alec is new to the crew. Sometimes guys have a hard time working with women.”
He nodded and walked over to the window.
She let her gaze wander to the single photo in the room, displayed on the marble mantelpiece above the large Georgian fireplace.
