Page 114 of The Making of Jonty Bloom
Maybe I’m not.
ONCE THEY WERE DRESSED, DEVANand Jonty explored the house. Jonty had to keep reminding himself to shut his mouth. The place was amazing: spotlessly clean, beautifully furnished…awesome. The sort of place he’d never dreamed he’d set foot in, let alone be able to stay in for a month.With a hot guy!The kitchen was part of one large living area that ran across the rear, and the island unit that held the hob, was a slab of glittering brown granite with flecks of cobalt, silver and turquoise. A bank of floor-to-ceiling bi-fold doors opened onto decking with an outdoor living area and a hot tub, the sea fifty yards beyond.
“Everything seems to be brand new.” Devan picked up a yellow cushion off the cream couch, then tossed it down.
Jonty reached out and put it in the exact position it was before.
Devan chuckled.
“I’m anal.”
Devan groaned. “Don’t…” He took a deep breath. “Want to go down to the sea before it’s dark or look upstairs?”
Jonty turned toward the stairs and Devan followed. There were two large bedrooms, one at the front, and one at the rear with a balcony that stretched the width of the house holding two sun loungers, a table and chairs. Devan unfastened the catch on the glass doors, slid them open and stepped out.
“We can have coffee and croissants up here tomorrow.” Devan came back in and locked the doors again. “Are you okay? You’re uncharacteristically quiet and it’s worrying me.”
“I can’t believe how much has changed in less than a week,” Jonty whispered.I had a job and now I don’t. And yet…“What did I do to be so lucky?”
Devan pulled him into his arms and kissed him. “I’m the lucky one.”
Jonty pulled back. “I want the bedroom at the rear.”
For a moment, hehadDevan, then the familiar smile crept over his face. “That’s tough. So do I.”
THEY BROUGHT EVERYTHING IN OUTof the car, hung up their clothes, sorted out the wet stuff, though Jonty had no hope his old suit could be revived, but maybe his shoes would live again.
He took the ingredients out of the fridge to make dinner. “This place would be perfect if it had a lazy river.”
“Do you have a thing about lazy rivers? Where is there one up here?”
“North Shields. I went once with Tay. Do any of your hotels have them?”
“One of them. In Kent.” Devan looked around. “You know what would take this place to a level higher? And not a lazy river.”
“What?”
“Your sea glass pictures.”
Jonty rolled his eyes, yet the idea made his stomach flutter, and a lump formed in his throat.
“You could sell them. They’d look great on the walls in here.”
Could I make and sell them?
I told you that!
Tay had tried on several occasions to persuade Jonty to approach some of the art galleries in the area. He’d never been able to pluck up the courage.
“It takes a long while to find the pieces of glass,” Jonty said.
Devan took out his phone and a moment later, held it up to show him. “Buy the glass online.”
“That’s cheating.”
“If you’re making it for yourself maybe, but not if you’re making it to sell. If we get the hotel, I want you to make some pictures for it. And maybe the names of the rooms.”
Jonty gaped at him.
