Page 11 of You Only Live Once
‘I only have a good side,’ he said with a wicked grin that immediately belied the words he had just said.
‘You’re forgetting I know you of old. You can’t pull those lines on me.’
‘People change.’
I couldn’t argue with that. People did change. But with a face and body like Jack Coulsdon-Hart’s, I found it hard to believe that he now only had a good side. Added to which, somewhere deep down, I couldn’t help think that if that was true, it was a crying shame.
‘What time is your first appointment?’
‘Not until half ten,’ he replied, the slightest antipodean twang resonating in the odd word, something else his parents probably wouldn’t be thrilled at. Personally, I liked it, it suited him. ‘If you’ve got time, you could show me around the garden and perhaps, when I’m not working, I could help you make it a little bit more manageable.’
I couldn’t help grinning. ‘You appear to have learned some tact on your travels.’
‘I’ve always been tactful.’
I begged to differ, but as the only way to disagree with him was to bring up the night of my teenage mortification, I vowed to keep silent.
‘I know the garden is a bit out of hand and I should have got someone in before now, but I…’ I paused. ‘I didn’t really want to deal with it. And the longer I put it off, the harder it was, and now I’m too embarrassed to get anybody in.’
‘Why on earth are you embarrassed?’ Jack asked.
‘I imagine you’ve already at least stuck your head out of the door and seen what a jungle it is out there. It was beautiful when I moved here.’
‘It’s beautiful now,’ he said glancing out of the window. ‘Just in a different way from how it probably was.’
‘Again with the tact.’ I laughed. ‘But I agree. I know Felix gives me a hard time for it, but I like that wild and free feeling that I get from the garden in its current state. I do realise, however, that it would be better if it was a more managed wilderness rather than the current plant free-for-all it is at present. I did try to look after it. I know it doesn’t look that way, but I literally had no idea what I was doing. I’m sure Poppy’s told you about the rather expensive plant I dug up thinking it was dead.’
‘It may have been mentioned once or twice.’
‘Well, I rather lost confidence after that and it sort of grew, quite literally, from there.’
‘OK, but everything is fixable. If you have time, we could look together now?’
I agreed.
‘Why don’t you meet me outside when you’re ready and we can assess things properly.’
I hesitated.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘I just think that you’re probably going to get a lot more work than you think and a lot quicker than you plan. I know when I did start looking for a designer and help, it wasn’t that easy to find a decent landscaper around here. The fact that your previous clients from ten years ago are desperate to have you back says a lot. I just have doubts that you will want to come home from one job to start on another.’
‘This wouldn’t be a job. This is something I could do in my free time. For fun.’ He shrugged his broad shoulders and I tried not to notice the muscles ripple beneath the white fitted shirt. I gave myself a mental slap. I wasn’t a teenager anymore, and I certainly wasn’t about to start mooning over Jack Coulsdon-Hart again.
‘Only if you’re sure, but please don’t feel that you’re obliged to do anything while you’re here. And, obviously, anything that you do I will pay full rates for.’
‘No, you won’t.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘You heard me.’
‘I did hear you, which is exactly why I said I beg your pardon.’
‘You know that doesn’t make sense, right?’
‘Yes, it does. It means don’t be so ridiculous, of course I’ll be paying you.’
