Meet Me at Wisteria Cottage

by Teresa F. Morgan

  She tried to move out of bed. ‘Ow, ow, ow.’ Her head hated the movement. Would food help or make her feel worse? She had to try.

  Maddy plugged her phone in to charge, not liking the five percent battery life status. It triggered an OCD Maddy didn’t realise she had. She liked her phone charged; anything below fifty percent battery life made her nervous.

  She hoped she’d saved the voicemail message because she hadn’t noted the number Roy had given, and it wasn’t the same as the number he’d used to call her on. She needed a pen, some paper and some food.

  As quick as her throbbing head would allow, she donned last night’s clothes, which she found crumpled on the carpet beside the bed, and went downstairs in search of her handbag.

  Harry walked through the back door into the kitchen. ‘Oh, great, you’re up.’ Then he must have seen her expression because his smile dropped. ‘Everything all right?’

  ‘No, I can’t find my handbag.’

  ‘It’s over the bannister where you left it.’

  ‘Like I can remember where I left it.’ Her head throbbed more. Realising her tone had been inappropriate, she said, ‘Sorry, it’s not your fault.’

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘I’m supposed to be delivering my commission tomorrow, but they’ve called and asked if I can deliver it today. I need to make a note of the number so I can call him back.’ Maddy sighed with frustration. ‘And my head hurts. It’s one o’clock. He called at ten.’ She held her head in her hands and took deep breaths. However much Harry’s dining room needed redecorating he wouldn’t be overly impressed if she threw up on his carpet. ‘And how can I drive in this state?’ She hated how desperate she sounded.

  Harry placed his hand on her back, and rubbed, slow movements, up and down, soothing her. To Maddy’s surprise, her body betrayed her, relishing his touch. ‘Right, phone the man back, then get in the shower, and I’ll drive you to wherever you need to go.’

  ‘You’d do that?’

  ‘Of course. Do you want me to get you some breakfast first?’ Harry glanced at his watch, his hand leaving her spine. ‘Well, technically, lunch?’

  Maddy wanted the warmth of his touch to return but knew she couldn’t ask. ‘I can maybe stomach some toast and orange juice.’

  ‘Go call the guy back, and I’ll fetch you some food.’

  Maddy nodded, and headed back upstairs to her phone, praying she wouldn’t be sick again.

  ***

  Her heart lighter after the reassuring conversation with Mr Trewyn, Maddy came down the stairs to the mouth-watering smell of bacon cooking. Harry stood with his back to her in the kitchen, buttering thick wholemeal bread. He looked over his shoulder and beamed. He really had lovely teeth.

  God that was a bit random.

  ‘Any sauce?’ he said, placing the bacon onto a slice of bread.

  ‘Brown sauce, please,’ Maddy said, snapping out of her thoughts. ‘Is this mine?’ She pointed towards the tall glass of orange juice.

  ‘Yes.’

  She took a sip from the glass, her taste buds welcoming the zingy orange juice. Harry handed her the bacon sandwich. ‘I figured a bacon sandwich would sort you out better than a bit of toast. I had some earlier. It should still hit the spot.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Maddy gingerly made her way into the dining room, still feeling delicate. She took a small bite into the sandwich. Although starving hungry, she didn’t want to make herself feel sick by eating too fast. The mixture of melted butter, soft wholemeal bread, brown sauce and bacon did the trick. She savoured every bite and with every swallow her stomach seemed to churn less.

  ‘Have you any painkillers?’ She’d been too afraid to take them earlier, fearing they wouldn’t stay down. But now she could actually eat, she might manage a paracetamol. With the amount of pills in Harry’s bathroom cabinet, he must surely have some painkillers among them?

  ‘Yeah, sure.’ Harry went back into the kitchen, then returned with a packet of silver foiled tablets with a couple cracked open and empty.

  Maddy broke open two tablets, and swallowed them one at a time with a swig of orange juice, pausing momentarily before each swallow. She always had to think before taking tablets, as if to tell her body not to chew them first. She hated if they got stuck in her throat, it made her gag, and she really didn’t need to do that today, under the circumstances.

  ‘So what did the guy say?’ Harry pulled out a chair opposite Maddy and sat down at the table.

  ‘He was great. I made the excuse that my phone had died. He said to come over when I was ready. Although he’d like them before three this afternoon if possible.’ Maddy finished her sandwich.

  ‘Yeah, we’ll make it,’ Harry said glancing at his watch.

  ‘It’s in Padstow. Are you sure you don’t mind driving?’

  ‘I said I would, didn’t I?’ Harry’s eyebrows rose, in the not to argue with him type of way. When he said he’d do something, Maddy was beginning to realise he meant it.

  ***

  Feeling better, thanks to the shower and bacon sandwich, but still hung-over and tired, Maddy handed Harry a canvas carefully wrapped in bubble wrap and brown paper. They were in her garage retrieving the paintings for the commission. She picked up the other one and followed Harry, where he loaded them into the flatbed of his truck. She feared it would be muddy and grimy, but Harry had thought of everything. He’d lined his truck with a clean plastic sheet, and secured the paintings so they wouldn’t move around too much in the back of the truck. While showering and dressing – she’d chosen a cerise summer dress, smart but casual to meet her client – she tried hard to remember the night before, but nothing was coming back to her.

  ‘Are you going to tell me what happened last night?’ Maddy asked as she watched Harry close up the tailgate of his pickup. ‘I’m assuming you at least remember.’

  Harry chuckled. ‘You still can’t remember anything?’

  ‘No, I can’t,’ Maddy said.

  ‘Okay.’ Harry leaned on his truck casually, folding his arms. Everything he did was so damn … sexy. ‘I’d made some comment about getting my bedding for the sofa out of the spare room, and you insisted I slept in my bed. We were too drunk to mess about and you said it was big enough for the two of us. You wouldn’t take no for an answer. Those were your words. When you stripped off my T-shirt and pushed me onto the bed, I decided not to argue with you. You’re quite fiery.’

  ‘Seriously? You tower over me, and yet I’m fiery?’

  ‘Trust me, I didn’t want to argue with you. Not last night.’

  Maddy could feel the heat rushing up her neck and to her cheeks – her skin was probably blending with the colour of her dress right now. How the hell had she got his T-shirt off? And why couldn’t she remember it? ‘And we … definitely didn’t have sex?’ she asked.

  ‘God, no!’

  ‘Gee, thanks, am I that unattractive?’ Shouldn’t have blurted that out. Best not to know the truth.

  ‘No, no, no,’ Harry held up his hands, ‘I didn’t mean it to sound … Oh, Maddy, I mean, you’re here as a guest, and I wouldn’t take advantage of you. Besides, we were both ridiculously drunk.’

  ‘What? You mean …?’

  ‘Yes, I probably wouldn’t have been able to, you know, perform?’ Harry glanced away. ‘I didn’t even take my meds.’

  ‘Meds?’ All the stuff in his cabinet.

  Harry walked around to the cab of his truck and got in. Maddy followed and climbed into the passenger seat. This was where he was going to change the subject, she was learning.

  ‘What are the meds for, exactly?’ Maddy couldn’t help herself. Harry combed his large hand through his hair. She loved looking at his hands. Strong, hard-working, manly hands. The roughness of them stroking her smooth skin. Stop. Stop. Stop. ‘Harry, you can tell me. I would rather know I’m safe and not staying with a psychopath or schizophrenic.’

  Harry laughed. ‘I’m neither of those. They help me sleep okay, but clea
rly the red wine helped me enough last night.’

  ‘So they’re sleeping tablets?’

  ‘Not exactly.’ Harry started the engine. Reversing the truck off his drive, he said, ‘They help me, Maddy, all right?’

  Maddy could tell when Harry didn’t want to talk about things – especially about this. He concentrated on the road and changed the subject.

  Finding his sunglasses, Harry said, ‘Okay, where in Padstow are we heading?’

  Chapter 12

  Maddy shook Mr Trewyn’s hand, thanking him for his business. She had a cheque in her handbag for the sum of fifteen hundred pounds and he had two of her finest paintings. One of her best-paid commissions to date. And really she had Valerie to thank for introducing them. Both pieces were large in comparison to the more affordable pieces she sold in the gallery. To justify the price and due to their size she had put countless hours into them over the last couple of months, hence she’d feared them being damaged in the fire. Mr Trewyn had been more than happy with the price, as long as she provided an invoice for tax purposes as it was part of the cost of opening his new restaurant. She was proud of these pieces because they had been her biggest focus after Connor had left; they’d been her therapy.

  Mr Trewyn had wanted a couple of paintings to give the flavour of Cornwall and Padstow to be hung in his wife’s new restaurant. He’d shown Maddy the two bare walls where he wanted to hang the pictures, large spaces in need of impressive coverage.

  ‘You know, if you’d like to hang a couple of pieces in here to sell, I’d be happy to do that, too,’ Mr Trewyn said. ‘It’s good to support local businesses.’ He was a handsome man, even for his age – somewhere in his early sixties – and he looked and acted younger than he probably was. A charmer. Maddy could see why he ran front of house in the restaurant and his wife was the chef. ‘I might see if my daughter is interested, too. She and her husband own a restaurant here in Padstow as well – From Under The Sea, it’s called.’

  ‘Okay, thank you, Mr Trewyn.’ Maddy had seen the restaurant but had never eaten there.

  ‘Roy, please …’

  ‘Roy.’ Maddy gently nodded and smiled. ‘I’ll see if I have a couple of pieces in my gallery to fit your restaurant. I’m not sure if you’ve caught up with Valerie recently, but I’ve had a bit of disaster with my house.’

  ‘Yes, she did say. You’ve had a house fire. I’m sorry to hear that.’

  ‘Thank you. My head is all over the place, and I’m not painting as much as I should. So, in the meantime, could I leave some business cards?’

  ‘Of course, because I’m sure these pictures will gather lots of interest – can’t wait to show Anne – but they’re a bit of a surprise.’

  ‘Oh gosh, I hope she likes them.’

  ‘She will love them, don’t you worry.’

  ‘Well, in return, please give me some of your business cards, and I’ll put them in the gallery. I’ll keep them by the till. And I’ll try to come to dinner one evening. I’m dying to see them hung in place.’

  ‘That would be lovely. I’ll give you a discount off the food.’ He winked, then glanced at Harry waiting by the front door, keeping an eye on his precariously parked truck. ‘Get the boyfriend to treat you. I can tell you’re newly—’

  ‘Oh, no, Harry’s not my boyfriend. He’s my neighbour.’

  Roy gave Maddy an unconvinced expression. ‘We open Friday evening, but we’re full to the brim. Give me a call and we’ll fit you in over the next couple of weeks.’

  ‘Fantastic.’

  ‘Thanks again for dropping these over a bit earlier. I realised tomorrow would be too much of a rush with all the final touches.’

  ‘Thank you for giving me the commissions.’

  ‘My pleasure. Tell Val we’ll catch up soon.’

  ‘I will.’ Maddy smiled and waved, then joined Harry, who nodded and signalled his goodbye to Roy too.

  ‘We have to come here for dinner one evening. It’ll be my treat for you driving me around.’

  ‘Great, I was admiring the menu. It’s a date, I mean deal,’ Harry quickly corrected himself as Maddy’s expression must have shown her surprise.

  ***

  ‘How’s your head feeling now?’ Harry handed Maddy a cup of coffee. She looked deep in thought, elbows leaning on his dining room table, with the patio doors open and the summer breeze cooling the air. Wisps of her hair fluttered with the moving air, the sunshine highlighting the gold, reds and blondes.

  He watched as she came out of her reverie and took the mug. ‘Thank you. Head is feeling better, and I also feel better now those paintings are with their new owner.’

  ‘Well, I’m going to make the most of the sunshine and cut your front and back lawns.’

  ‘You really don’t have to.’ Maddy looked up at him, frowning. Could she remember the conversation they’d had on the drive last night?

  ‘Oh, I do.’ It irked him to see her front garden looking scruffy, and now he was on better terms with Maddy he could use it as an excuse to tidy up her garden.

  ‘Why do you say it like that?’ Beautiful green eyes stared up at him, questioningly. Now no longer the neighbour from hell, as he was getting to know her more, Harry appreciated her prettiness. In fact, something inside him stirred. Please do not let it move to my groin.

  He coughed to clear his throat. ‘I mean it’s the least I can do. You’ve got enough on your plate.’Plus, he could do with the therapy.

  ‘I’ll be glad when someone from the insurance company can come, then I can crack on with getting my house back to normal.’

  ‘If I tidy the front up and give the back a mow too, at least we’ll be able to see your house and know it’s tidy on the outside.’

  Maddy shook her head at him and started idly scrolling through her phone, looking through Facebook. Apparently, she’d been left a lot of messages of encouragement from her close friends who had learned of her news about the house fire.

  As Harry mowed the grass, using the strimmer around the edges, he pondered over the night before and how drunk they’d got. He had no idea what had made him kiss Maddy other than blind drunkenness. Surely? But she was pretty. He hadn’t liked how she’d called him an old fogey. The kiss couldn’t have been bad, because she’d deepened it, rather than pushed him away. Then blushed sweetly when she’d realised what she was doing and had pulled out of the kiss.

  To hold a woman again, and kiss her like that, had ignited something in Harry. He hadn’t felt lust like it for a long time now. Maybe he was getting over Karin. Maybe he could finally move on. But he was afraid of lust turning to love …

  And should he really fool around with his neighbour? What would happen when these things went sour? Because they would. They always did.

  But holding Maddy in his arms, aware of her softness pressing against him, had been such a great sensation. He’d used a lot of willpower last night not to seduce her further as he’d known she was too drunk. And so was he.

  Because Maddy’s gardens, front and back, were small like his, it didn’t take him long to cut the lawn. So, enjoying doing what made him feel at his best and trying not to think too much about what it would be like to go to bed with Maddy, Harry grabbed his hedge-trimmer out of the garage, and tidied the hedges and bushes, and even started to dig over some of the beds in the back.

  ‘There you are,’ Maddy said, holding out a bottle of Stella in one hand and a can of Coke in the other, clearly having raided his fridge. The skirt of her dress fluttered in the breeze, revealing more of her legs. ‘Thought you might want a drink. But with it being hot, I wasn’t sure what you’d fancy.’

  Harry wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm and grabbed the bottle of lager, popping the cap off with his hand. ‘Thanks,’ he said. How long had she been there? Harry had his shirt off now, and was working in nothing but his khaki shorts, his body glistening with sweat. ‘Have you been enjoying the view?’

  Maddy’s lips pouted, trying to hide a
smile. Her eyes were definitely giving him the once over. ‘Yes, I have, the garden looks fantastic, thank you.’ Dropping her gaze, she opened the can of Coke and took a sip from it.

  No way was she checking out the garden. More like the gardener. Harry smirked, then took in large gulps of the ice cold Stella, the liquid cooling and refreshing him.

  He raised his bottle. ‘You’re not joining me?’

  ‘Oh, no, I drank way too much last night. Need to give my liver the night off.’ Maddy raised her Coke can. ‘How long will you be? I think I should repay you for making my garden look so lovely by at least cooking you dinner again.’

  Harry shrugged. ‘Another half hour at the most.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll go rummage through your cupboards.’

  Harry watched, mesmerised, as Maddy walked out of the garden, her pink dress accentuating her slim frame.

  Maybe if the feeling was mutual, maybe they should get each other out of their systems … and then simply stay friends afterwards.

  What was he thinking?

  She’d only been under the same roof as him for a few nights and he was already thinking about getting into bed with her. He should be ashamed of himself.

  And besides, it never ends in a friendly way, Harry.

  ***

  Maddy busied herself in Harry’s kitchen, opening cupboards to see what lay inside. It wasn’t quite like her kitchen where she had tins and jars of ingredients, herbs and spices to hand so she could pull together her favourite pasta recipes. Harry tended to buy what he needed and use it. His cupboards were not well-stocked like hers were. Although currently he had more in his kitchen than she did, because everything of hers had perished in the fire. She tried not to dwell on that too much. It made her angry.

  ‘Okay, he has a tin of chopped tomatoes,’ she said pulling it out of a top cupboard. ‘I can make a basic sauce with this.’

  Harry liked his pasta. Of that, he did have plenty in stock. It wasn’t like he didn’t burn off the carbs. And there was still some bacon in the fridge. She rummaged a bit more, finding some other ingredients and vegetables to add flavour to the sauce and started cooking.