Page 12 of Closer than Ever

“Speaking of which, do you want to go through the van listings on my laptop soon? I have a whole selection saved that I thought you might like.”

Hayley pushed herself up. She was wearing a long-sleeved cotton top and no bra, obviously. Anna darted her eyes away.

“That sounds great. I can’t believe you’ve found some already.”

Anna had been searching for vans for Hayley for weeks now. It had become her new hobby when she got home from the distillery. While she knew Hayley wasn’t short of money, she wanted her to get a decent vehicle for a good deal, and for it to be safe and roadworthy. Given that Hayley was buying it in the UK, she felt a sort of responsibility to help her. “It’s all good. I’ve enjoyed looking.”

Hayley smiled.

It was such an unguarded, open and warm smile. She’d missed that smile. She’d missed how easy it was to talk to Hayley so much. “How was the bed, by the way?”

“Very comfortable. Honestly, I’m fine to sleep here again tonight. You’ve been so kind to let me stay at your home I can hardly kick you out of your own bed. Just wake me in the morning. I’ll wake for coffee no matter what the hour.”

Anna laughed. “On that note, I’ll get some going.”

Hayley went to the bathroom and Anna zipped about the kitchen getting the laptop and coffee ready. She was looking forward to this.

Hayley came back in in her pyjamas still looking like a movie star and sat beside her at the breakfast bar. She focused on Anna’s laptop displaying vans and campervans of varying shapes and sizes in a list of favourites Anna had created. “Anna, what the fuck, this is so cool! Look at them all. You’ve got a whole thing going on here. I can’t believe it. Thank you!”

“It was nothing.”

“It’s everything! Let’s see what’s out there.”

***

Anna pulled up outside the car garage. This was their last viewing of the day. None of the other vans they’d seen had been suitable. Hayley’s budget was generous, but fully fitted out campervans were expensive to buy outright. This van was perfect on paper, but the interior needed a bit of doing up. Despite this, she hoped it would be the perfect van for Hayley. If it wasn’t, Anna was seriously considering doing up a basic van for her herself. Anna turned the car off. “This is it.”

The garage was popular, judging by the number of people in the waiting room. Hayley turned towards her. “Fingers crossed for this one.”

Anna asked for their contact at the reception. A man appeared in oily overalls a few minutes later. “Hiya, have you come about the van?”

“Yep. We’re Anna and Hayley.”

“Great. It’s out the back if you want to follow me around.”

As soon as they saw the campervan, Anna got a good feeling about it. It was white with a purple stripe along the side. It gleamed in the late afternoon sun.

Circling the van, they examined it thoroughly as he relayed the specs. “It’s done forty-thousand miles which for a two thousand and thirteen reg, isn’t bad. It’s got a two berth, fully fitted suite with seating area. Manual. Two-point-eight litre engine.”

“And the tyres? When were they last changed?” Anna said.

“Two years ago. They still have good tread, but if you want I can throw in some new ones for you.”

He handed Anna the service history and she scanned it. “That would be great, thank you.”

The inside was spacious but her earlier suspicions from the photos were confirmed. The worktops were worn and the cabinet doors didn’t shut completely, hanging down to one side. A table on the wall behind the front compartment took up far too much space and had stains on it. There was no mattress on the sheet of wood that must have been the bed.

Hayley was quiet as she ran her eyes around the space with a hint of disappointment. “What’s the ventilation like?” Hayley asked.

“There’re two main vents which meet regulation standards. But it can’t hurt to open the windows if you have the stove on. That’s what I always did.”

“How about the electrics?” Hayley said. “How many charging points are there?”

He pointed them out and assured them they were in great working order. Anna looked at the detailed service history again.

They walked back around to the front of the campervan. Hayley sat in the driver’s seat and ran her hands around the steering wheel. “Does it have a stereo?”

Unfortunately, all Anna could see was an old-school CD player and no USB-socket.

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