“That’s what you meant when you said she hadn’t walked into anything lately, is it?”
“Yes, he tends to hit first and ask questions later. The police and RSPCA have given him warnings and if he does anything else he’ll probably get prosecuted. Roman did him a favour by not reporting him.”
“But surely if you punched him he’d be likely to take it out on his wife?”
Roman laughed “Not if he wants to stay out of hospital. Let’s just say I gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse. He’s got a great sense of self preservation.”
Bella pursed her lips and shook her head “I can’t condone violence, but I’m new here so don’t really know how things are done.”
Joy changed the subject “Are you coming to the young farmers bash?”
“Yes” Roman said, “and Bella’s coming with me.”
“Ah!” The look Joy gave him was full of speculation. “That’s good, you’ll get to know people your own age and meet Roman’s friends.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Bella said, “tell me what do the women wear?”
“Everything from tatty jeans to pretty dresses. The youngsters are usually the ones in the jeans and skimpy tops.”
“So those of my age wear dresses?”
“Yes. Some more so than others,” Joy said mysteriously.
“Right thanks,” Bella smiled, “Roman would have let me come in jeans and sweatshirt.”
“Well, he is only a man,” Joy grinned, “they don’t understand these things.”
“True.” Bella’s mind was racing, wondering what she could wear.
“Now that’s sorted,” Roman butted in, “I’ll take you home.”
Joy leaned over and kissed his cheek whispering “This one’s a keeper, treat her right or leave her alone.”
Roman shook his head “Yes Mum!”
“I’m not old enough to be your mother, more like big sister,” Joy flipped a finger across his ear.
Bella watched the exchange, curiosity struggling against good manners. However after they’d said their goodbyes and were back in the land rover she asked “What was that all about?”
“Nothing. That’s the trouble with knowing people from birth, they think you never grow up.”
They drove in silence for a while before he said “I’ll bring the power saw over tomorrow.”
“That’s nice of you, but haven’t you got to work?”
“No, I pretty well please myself.”
“What about the fence that needs mending? Didn’t you get the job?”
Romand frowned, then remembered the conversation he’d had with Phil. “Oh yes, that’s in hand.”
Then he realised that he’d have to tell her the truth, he wasn’t an odd job man, but, what would have been called in the past, the Lord of the Manor. The Cowles had owned most of the land hereabouts for centuries and some of the farms were still his, since his father died ten years ago.The trouble was he liked the fact that Bella liked him even though she thought he was an odd job man. He was more drawn to her than he’d ever been to the bevy of women who’d pursued him since his seventeenth birthday. He hated the thought that she’d look at him differently when she knew he was rich and she’d definitely find out next Saturday if not sooner.
By the time they got back to the cottage it was almost ten o’clock and Bella had started yawning. The long busy day followed by the largest meal she’d eaten in weeks, plus the wine, had made her suddenly very tired. When Roman stopped the land rover he turned to her, ready to tell her the truth about himself, but as he did so she yawned again. Deciding that it would be better to raise the subject in the morning he got out and walked round to the passenger door to help her out. She put her hand in his and climbed out and seeing him gazing at her she nervously licked her lips. Roman sighed and pulled her to him gently and when she didn’t pull back he lowered his lips slowly to hers and kissed her, lightly at first but then with all the desire he felt for her. Despite herself and the alarms going off in her brain, Bella found herself responding, her arms going around his neck and her kiss deepening. Finally her brain took over and despite the tremors going through her body she lowered her arms and waited for him to release her.
As he did so and stepped back he masked his feelings with a grin and said “I must admit that I like being friends, with some benefits.”
Embarrassed at her body’s response to his kiss she shrugged and said “A kiss between friends is OK.”
“Only Ok?” he frowned, “I’ll have to up my game.”
“Oh you!” Bella fumbled for her door key, “thanks for a lovely meal, good night,” and she let herself into the cottage shutting the door behind her.
Roman stood there bemused. He’d never been treated like that before. Then he laughed and shook his head before climbing back into the land rover. He rather liked the fact that he hadn’t been able to seduce her too easily, although he did realise that she wasn’t just playing hard to get, she really wasn’t available. He pondered as he drove home, to the old manor house, that had been in his family longer than anyone could remember. She had been hurt by a man, more than he could imagine, and she was either still madly in love with him, or was afraid of ever being hurt again.
Joy had said that this one was a keeper and he gave a rueful smile as he realised that she was but he might never get a chance to find out, and it might be him who would get hurt, for the first time in his life.
Chapter 5
Bella was up with the larks the next morning, she’d fallen into bed tired out and slept soundly not waking up once.As she made her breakfast she pondered on the night before, and the way Roman’s kiss had made her feel. With Gervaise she had constantly been afraid that he would find her lacking in one way or another and when they’d had sex she was always trying so hard to please him she didn’t respond naturally. Roman’s kiss had freed her sensuality and she’d responded without thinking. Now she regretted it as she valued his friendship and was worried that it might have damaged things between them.
The subject of her thoughts turned up on his quad bike as she was working out the best way to make the carcasses of the kitchen cupboards more solid. Hamish was trotting along behind the bike and Misty rushed out to greet him, earning herself a growl from her elder. Presenting him with her stomach she submitted as he sniffed around her and let her know her position in his pack then at his lick on her muzzle she leapt up and squirmed, firstly at him and then at Roman.
“The pup’s learning fast,” he said by way of greeting.
Bella gratefully followed his lead “Yes, she’s very intelligent. She’s learned her boundaries and immediately comes to call.”
“That’s the thing with this breed, they bond closely with their master, if treated right, and are very quick to learn.”
Going to the pannier on the quad he lifted out a small bench saw and carried it over to her. “This should make life easier, how do you want me to help?”
“It’s so kind of you to give up your time,” Bella said. “You must let me pay you something. After all you could be earning if you weren’t helping me.”
“Don’t worry about it, we’ll talk about it later. I’ll set this up and we’ll get started. You’re the expert so just tell me what you want me to do.”
* * *
By lunchtime, the rickety old cupboards were out of the kitchen, the carcasses of the new cupboards were solid and standing in position and they’d measured up for the new doors and worktops, that would be made from the pallet wood.
Bella made a simple ploughmans of cheeses, salad, pickle and crusty bread and they sat on the old bench in companionable silence. Roman had never found a woman so easy to talk to, work or sit silently with, and wished that he was just an odd job man.
Finally he braced himself and said “There’s something
you should know about me Bella.”
She turned to him grinning, ready to make a easy quip about him being an escaped lunatic or such like, but seeing the seriousness in his eyes, her grin faded and her stomach turned over as she thought `he’s going to tell me he’s married.`
“OK” she said, “so tell me.”
Roman sighed “Somehow you got the idea that I’m an odd job man, but I’m not.”
“From what you said I assumed...”
“I’m sorry, I know I said that I do this and that but it’s to do with the running of my estate.”
“Your estate?”
“Yes, you see, the Cowles owned a fair bit of land around here, and while a lot has been sold off there’s still quite a bit left. When you heard me talking to Phil, one of my tenant farmers, he was telling me about a fence, on his farm, that he needed to mend. He gets the posts off the estate, we have our own forestry and pickling yard, where the posts are treated to stop them from rotting. He wasn’t offering me the job.”
“OH.” was all Bella could manage.
“Look, it doesn’t make any difference to us, to our friendship, I mean.”
Bella grimaced “But it does, I thought you were just a neighbour, struggling to make a living, just like me. It made me feel ok to accept things off you, because I thought, perhaps, I could do something for you in return. But you’re well off, so I can do nothing for you, it makes me feel like a charity case.”
“Oh come on, I’ve only given you an extra pair of hands and lent you a saw. The people around here help each other out all the time.”
“You’ve made it clear that you’d like to sleep with me, do all your neighbours get help like that?”
Roman was growing angry “Only the ones who aren’t `dogs`,” he said cruelly.
Bella stood up “You’d better go. Now I understand the comments when we entered the pub, the looks I got off the women, and Jane’s warning.”
Roman leapt to his feet, took her by the shoulders and shook her “You made it plain from the start that you weren’t looking for romance, and I still came to help you. I like you a lot and to be honest I haven’t met too many women I can say that about. What I have doesn’t make me any different to what I was before.”
He let her go and stood looking her straight in the eye. The part of her that Gervaise had damaged, told her to tell him to leave, but the Bella who had always tried to see the best in people, told her not to lose a friend because of her mistrust in men.
Seeing her eyes soften Roman took her hands in his and said “Hello, so nice to meet you. I’m Roman Cowle, my family have been lords of the manor for centuries, but now I’m an estate manager, taking care of what remains so that I can pass it on to my descendants.”
Bella relaxed “Hello Roman, I’m Bella Carrington, owner of an old cottage, a damaged heart and a fear of getting hurt again.”
Drawing her to him he put his arms around her and said “Taking all that into account, I’d like to be your friend, for the moment.”
Bella laid her head on his shoulder and put her arms around his waist and said “I’d like that very much, for the moment.”
They stood for a while breathing in each others essence, then they released each other and Bella said “Well, we’d better get on, there’s all that wood to cut and sand.”
They worked in companionable harmony, each grasping immediately what they needed to do and by late afternoon they had a pile of smooth, pale, attractive looking planks. Shorter pieces had been cut for the cupboard doors, and shorter still for under the butlers sink and draining board, which had been sanded and looked like new.
“What are you going to treat the wood with?” Roman asked.
“I thought I’d go over it with the finishing wax, which will seal and protect it.” Bella said running her hands lovingly over the wood.
“Good idea, it’d be a pity to spoil the natural grain of the wood. It’s amazing that it had been used for pallets.”
“It is, when you think how much prepared timber is in the DIY stores, and quite often it’s warped.”
“I’ve got to go into Plymouth tomorrow on business, but I’m free on Thursday, if you need any more help.”
“Thanks, but what you’ve done today is great. It’s just a case of putting the doors together, fixing them to the cupboards and making the work benches. I was so lucky to get the hinges with the old carcasses.”
“You’ll need to sink them into the doors. Have you got a set of circular cutters?”
“Yes, there’s some with a heavy old drill I found in the lean to. God knows what Lucy did with it.”
Roman laughed “She was an amazing old lady your Aunt, but I don’t think she could have used it for over half a century.”
“No, but it still works. They made things to last in those days. It was stored neatly in a toolbox along with the drill bits and a couple of screwdrivers.”
“Tools like that would cost a fortune today,” Roman took hold of her hands. “I’ve enjoyed today, but I’m still going to demand payment,” and with that he pulled her to him and kissed her deeply and sensually, until she was gasping for breath. When he let her go there was a satisfied gleam in his eyes and he said, “I really like you Bella Carrington, so much that I’m prepared to wait for your trust.”
Bella swallowed, her mouth dry although elsewhere she had moistened, “I like you Roman, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to trust completely ever again.”
He ran his fingers gently down the side of her face “Anything worth having is worth fighting for,” he said leaning forward for another, gentle, kiss.
Bella’s damaged heart fluttered and she prayed that he would keep fighting for both of them.
Whistling for his dog he climbed aboard his quad and started it “I’ll pop over Thursday, you might need a hand to get the worktops in place. Bye,” and he drove away. Bella watched him go, Misty at her side, then sighing turned back to her work.
Chapter 6
The next morning when Bella woke it was raining, and she was pleased that she’d taken the time the evening before to stack the newly cut timber in the open barn covered with an old tarpaulin. The weather ordered her work for the morning, so, after breakfast, she mixed paint for the kitchen walls, and the inside and outside of the cupboards she’d repaired. As she was aiming for a shaker style look, she added a little out of the blue and grey match pots, to the remains of the giant tin of white emulsion she’d bought, until she had the bluey/grey colour she was aiming for.
By lunchtime all the painting was finished and as she cleaned the roller, tray and brush she’d used, she was thinking of how to make the doors and worktops. Ideally she’d like to dowel and glue the lengths of wood together so she decided to go to her favourite large shopping complex that afternoon. So, after a lunch of cheese, bread and an apple she changed into cleaner jeans and shirt, and set off.
Before she’d gone to bed the night before she had investigated Lucy’s old clothes, in the hope that there might be something she could adapt to wear to the barn dance. In a large trunk, in the attic room, she’d found a pile of cotton dresses, circa 1960’s, and one in particular delighted her. It was white cotton with large red floral roses all over it, and when she tried it on it fitted to perfection, apart from the short sleeves being a little tight over her shoulders. The style, with darts over her bust, a nipped in waist and yards of material in the skirt, showed her slimmer figure to perfection. Along with the sleeves the only thing that dated it was the Peter pan collar, but she knew that she could make it look more modern.
As she drove to the superstore she passed a large tile outlet and it occurred to her that she might get some tiles for the splashback behind the sink and worktops, so on impulse she turned back to it, hoping that they would be working in the same way, that the store she’d used in Bristol had
.
Gathering her courage around her she walked into the brightly lit sales area and up to the counter. The young male sales assistant returned her smile and asked how he could help her. When she explained what she was after he asked her to follow him and took her through to the back of the shop. This was where all the tiles were stacked in boxes with a few on display above them, and to her delight he took her straight to what she was looking for; the discontinued ranges, with broken boxes and tiles scattered everywhere.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” the young man, Alan, asked.
“Yes, thank you,” Bella grinned at him, “how does this work here?”
“Take as much as you like and put a donation in the `Help for Heroes` or the `Air ambulance` box.”
“Fantastic, now I’m going to be cheeky and ask if you’ve got a couple of strong boxes.”
Alan laughed “Yes, you upcyclers always have a cheek, but I’ll find a couple for you.”
Driving on to her destination Bella grinned happily to herself. In the back of the van were two boxes full of a variety of tiles, mostly four inch, for continuity of style, but in a myriad of colours chosen to complement the bluey/grey walls, and `Help for Heroes` was twenty pounds better off. She felt a bit mean at not having bought the tile fixative and grout off Alan but knew that it would be much cheaper in the superstore.
She quickly found what she was looking for in the store and was on her way to pay when on passing the clothes section she spotted some pretty bras and panties. Telling herself that she couldn’t go out on Saturday in her old greyish bra, held together with a safety pin, she stopped to look. They were so pretty and lacy, and inexpensive that she bought two sets, in white, although she would have loved some in the pretty pastel colours available. However she told herself that white was practical as she could wear them under anything. The style was sweetly pretty, unlike the sexy, sophisticated ones Gervaise had insisted she wore.
On the way back to the van she bought herself a large pasty and some fruit, from the many small concessions clustered around the main store, for her meal that evening.
The Wishing Well Page 5