Page 45 of A Second Chance in Seabury
He gently wafted his hand through the air, brushing a few bees aside as though he was chivvying curious children away.
‘Ladies first,’ he said.
‘Okay…’ Hannah paused, doing her best to gather herself. ‘I just got a call from the estate agent. They’ve got someone who wants to give me an obscene amount of money for the house, as long as I don’t offer it to anyone else.’
‘Oh. Well, that’s… wow.’
David’s voice sounded flat inside his suit, and Hannah wished that she could see his face. In fact…
‘Hey, I don’t suppose it’s safe for us to take these mask bits off, is it?’ she said. ‘I’m roasting!’
‘Completely safe,’ said David. ‘Need a hand?’
‘Yes please!’ she laughed. ‘Jason clipped me in back up at the house.’
‘Wait—you walked all the way down in the suit?
‘Worse,’ she chuckled. ‘I rode down on the bike.’
‘Now that’s something I wish I’d seen!’
‘Well, you might be in luck,’ tutted Hannah. ‘I’m pretty sure Lou caught the whole thing on her phone.’
‘You,’ said David, releasing the last of her clips and gently lowering her head covering, ‘are a legend in your own lunchtime.’
Hannah grinned. ‘You make that sound like a compliment.’
‘Oh, it definitely is,’ he said, his smiling face appearing right in front of her as he dropped his own hood. ‘Hi.’
‘Hi yourself,’ she said. ‘And thank you, that was getting very hot in there.’
David smiled again, but his eyes looked sad. ‘I wish you weren’t leaving. I rather like you in this get-up.’
Hannah’s heart did a little flip, and she felt herself go pink. ‘I didn’t quite get to the end of my bit of news.’
‘Oh,’ said David.
‘So… that obscene amount of money they offered me?’ she said. ‘I turned it down.’
David’s eyebrows flew up. ‘Wait, what?!’
Hanah shrugged. ‘It wasn’t enough.’
‘So… what? Are you trying to get them to raise their offer?’
‘No,’ said Hannah, unable to keep a smile off her face. ‘I told them that the house isn’t going to be for sale after all.’
‘I… don’t understand.’
‘Every time I thought of leaving it behind… of leaving Seabury behind…’ She paused and shook her head.‘It just didn’t feel right. I realised that no offer was ever going to be high enough to tempt me to part with the place. So I’m keeping Millie’s house.’
‘You are?’ said David, his eyes wide.
Hannah nodded. ‘Yep. In fact, I’m going to be moving in.’
‘Really?’
‘Really,’ said Hannah, returning David’s beaming smile. ‘Anyway, that’s my news. What’s yours?’
