Page 13 of You Only Live Once
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We wandered around the garden together for the next half an hour, Jack naming plants that I immediately forgot, and him asking me what I thought about this or that. Before I knew it, the time had passed, and we were heading back towards the house.
‘What do you use that for?’ Jack pointed to a small outbuilding with a deck attached to the front.
‘Nothing, at the moment. I had planned to make it into an office, but shortly after it was put up, we had torrential rain and storms and the thought of having to leave the house at all, even just across the garden, didn’t really appeal to me. So I chose to stay in my slippers and work in the house.’ I shrugged. ‘It’s not like I have to get away from anybody or find some quiet space.’ I gave a glance back towards the outbuilding before returning my gaze to him. ‘I have these good ideas, and then they turn out to be not so great after all. It’s a bit of a white elephant now.’
Jack looked at the building for a long moment. ‘Let’s leave it for a while and see how we go. You might come up with a better idea for it.’
I gave him a disbelieving look and turned back towards the house. He fell into step beside me. ‘This really is a beautiful place. I can see why you chose to move here.’
‘Felix and Poppy weren’t convinced, at least at the start. To be honest, I’m still not sure they’re entirely convinced, but I like it.’ I studied the back of the house, shading my eyes against the strengthening sun with my hand. ‘It probably is too big for one person to rattle around in, but I knew I wanted land around the property and it was pretty hard to find a two-bedroom with this sort of acreage.’
Jack gave a shrug. ‘You knew what you needed. This place obviously felt right when you came here, so you did what you had to do. Other people may have our best interests at heart but, in the end, these important decisions have to be our own and we know what feels right. What are you smiling at?’
‘You.’
‘Dare I ask why?’
‘I don’t know. I just never really had you pegged as the philosophical wisdom-giver type.’
He gave a brief incline of his head. ‘To be fair, I was probably less so before I went away, but life happens and you learn and you change.’ He gave me a quick glance. ‘Hopefully for the better.’
‘I suppose that depends on what life throws at you. I know I’ve changed, but there are those who would argue not for the better.’
Jack gave a small nod but remained silent. I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
‘I suppose you’d better be getting to your first appointment. Don’t want to be late.’
He checked his watch. ‘You’re right. Do you know the name of a good taxi firm around here?’
‘There’s someone that Felix uses but I can’t think of the name at the moment. I’m sure I can find one. What do you need a taxi for?’
‘To get to my meeting. Felix is going to help me try and find a car tomorrow. I didn’t really expect to be able to set up any meetings quite this soon, so I’m a bit unprepared.’
‘Well, you couldn’t turn it down. Don’t worry about the taxi. My old car is in the garage. You can use that for a while if you like. It’s only sitting there anyway so would do it good to be driven properly. I should sell it really – something else that fills me with dread.’ I pulled a face. ‘It does run, though. I take it out once a week or so and bomb it round the drive a few times. It’s quite good fun, actually.’
He looked down at me, grinning. ‘A clandestine rally driver. You’re full of hidden secrets, aren’t you?’
‘Ha, hardly. Anyway, the offer is there. It would probably do it good to have a proper run.’
‘That would be great, if you’re sure.’
‘I am. You just need to give me some details so I can get you on the insurance. We can do that now and you’ll be ready to go.’
Ten minutes later, my old car was insured for Jack to drive. I pulled it out of the garage while he went to change for his meeting and had just finished giving the windscreen a quick clean when Jack appeared.
‘You… umm… look nice.’ I tucked the cloth behind my back and wound my fingers within it, twisting it tightly until I risked cutting off the blood flow. Jack looked way more than nice, and I wasn’t prepared for the effect that seeing him in the fitted gunmetal-grey suit would have on me. His tanned skin was set off perfectly by the crisp white shirt and subtle pale blue tie.
‘Look OK?’ he asked, an endearing hint of uncertainty in his voice.
‘Absolutely. Definitely. Really good.’
Shut up, Lily!
I put both thumbs up to make sure I’d played a full hand of awkwardness.
He tugged at one of the cuffs before his hand moved to fiddle with the knot in his tie.
