by Nell Dixon
“I thought we had burglars. I was about to go to bed when I saw the torchlight.
Then I realised your car was missing.”
His body was close to mine and I realised he was only dressed in a pair of dark coloured cotton boxer shorts. “The lights fused. I think a bulb blew in the hall.” I gestured vaguely with the torch at the door leading to the hall, acutely aware that Steve was still holding my other arm in his hand.
He released my arm and squeezed through the partly blocked door. A few seconds later he was back. He switched on the kitchen light. The brightness made me blink and it took me a moment to focus. Steve eased through the narrow gap between the piled up furniture and turned on the kettle.
“You look as if you need some coffee,” he observed.
“Why is there a bath in my kitchen?” I wished I had somewhere to sit down.
My toe throbbed from where I’d tripped on the bath and I didn’t feel all that steady on my feet.
“It won’t fit up the stairs. I didn’t think it would. We need to take out the bathroom window and winch it in from outside with a block and tackle on the scaffolding.” Steve busied himself pulling mugs from the cupboard.
“What scaffolding?” I hobbled to the kitchen window and peered out into the dark garden.
“The scaffolding I put up this afternoon.”
Sure enough scaffolding framework filled the back patio. “Does the council man know about you taking the window out?” I leaned against the back door frame glad to have something solid to rest against. The room swayed slightly in quite an alarming fashion.
Steve lifted a chair from the top of the pile and set it down in front of me before handing me a mug of coffee. “No. We plan to get it all done over the weekend while he’s not likely to be around. He’ll probably find a reason to call anyway if he gets wind of scaffolding being put up.”
I sank down gratefully onto the chair. My head had begun to hurt. “What will you tell him?”
Steve smiled the disarming grin that had won him a legion of teenage fans.
“I’ll tell him I need to work on the bargeboards – which I do – so it won’t be a big lie.
We can have that window out and the bath installed in no time. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
The coffee burned the tip of my tongue. “Won’t he wonder how the bath got up the stairs?”
Steve shrugged, the muscles of his shoulders rippling beneath his tanned skin.
“There’s nothing he can do once it’s in. I’ll be careful with the window. You’ll never know it’s been disturbed.”
I rubbed my free hand across my forehead. I shouldn’t have drunk so much wine.
He frowned. “Don’t worry about it, okay? It’ll speed things up and that’s what you want, isn’t it?” His tone softened. “Go on up to bed, Kate. I’ll run you into work tomorrow. I need to call in at the salvage yard anyway.”
“Thanks.” I levered myself up from the chair still clutching my coffee.
“I’ll lock the door behind me,” he offered. He was very close to me in the confined space and I could see something in his eyes that might have been affection, amusement, pity? I was too tired and too drunk to work it out.
“Thanks for the coffee.” I went to squeeze past him when something in his expression made me pause.
He lowered his head and kissed me very gently on the lips sending a wave of heat rushing through my body.
“Nice top by the way. See you in the morning.” He stepped sideways and out through the back door leaving me standing dazed in the middle of the jumble of furniture. The key clicked in the back door.
I made my way along the moonlit hallway vowing to replace the blown bulb in the morning. Why had Steve kissed me? I’d been convincing myself all night with the help of the wine that Mike’s kisses were just as big a turn-on. With one brief touch of his lips Steve had blown that idea right out of the water.
* * *
I woke the next morning to the sound of my mobile ringing and with a thumping headache.
“Hello, darling.” my mother chirped brightly in my ear.
“Mum?” I squinted at my watch. Seven-thirty, way too early to make conversation with anyone.
“Just to let you know that Chuck and I are going away till Tuesday. I’ve stopped the milk but can you nip down and check the letterbox every now and then.
Oh, and make sure you water the hanging baskets if we don’t have any rain. I’ll be back in time to go to Louise’s scan so tell her not to worry.”
“Where are you going?” I mumbled the question out over dry lips and a tongue that felt like a piece of shag-pile carpet.
“Devon, of course. We’re looking at properties by the sea. I won’t keep you as I know you need to get ready for work. See you soon.” I heard Chuck calling her as she rang off.
I lay still staring at the old watermarks on the bedroom ceiling while the pain behind my eyes subsided to a dull ache. However the throbbing in my head increased as I tried to recall what had happened last night. I closed my eyes to ease the discomfort and attempted to focus.
There had been Chianti, lots of Chianti, and a cab ride home, then the bulb had blown in the hall. Steve had kissed me and said he’d give me a ride to work. My face heated with the most startling memory. Gingerly I slid out from under my sheet and stumbled towards the bathroom. I had a wash basin now and a half-plumbed freestanding shower which I couldn’t use until the tiling was finished.
The lukewarm water I splashed over my face and body helped to clear my head. I retrieved my spare uniform from the bottom of my ironing pile and put it on.
Luckily nylon didn’t crease very much so I wouldn’t look too awful although Nasreen would be sure to comment.
The kitchen didn’t look any better in the morning sunshine. I forced two headache tablets down along with a cup of weak tea and wished my eyelids would stop hurting. It was justice on me I supposed from being so ratty with Steve and Jamie when they had pitched up yesterday morning nursing hangovers.
Mr Flibble wandered in and sat down next to his bowl.
“I suppose that’s a hint?” I opened the back door to let some air into the house and filled his bowl with cat food.
There was no sign of life in Steve’s caravan and I wondered if I’d imagined his promise to give me a lift to work. I carried my tea out onto the patio and stared up at the scaffolding that now covered the back of the cottage. The birds in their mud nests under the eaves probably wouldn’t be very happy if Steve started to mess with the bargeboards. I hoped there wasn’t much to be done with them. The carved oak pieces that sat under the gutters would be hard, and expensive, to match up.
The leaded lights of the bathroom window twinkled in the sunshine, reflecting the clear, pale blue morning sky. Steve would need help if he intended to take the frame out in one piece. It was the largest window on the second floor besides the one in the master bedroom, which was where we were storing all our tools and equipment.
My gaze wandered along to my own bedroom window and I stared intently at the glass wondering if I’d see the woman’s face again. Had she been some mere trick of the light? A flaw in the centuries-old glass? Nothing appeared and I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.
“Are you ready to go? I need to see if those couple of floorboards we need for the lounge have surfaced at the salvage yard yet and I’ve got to pick up the block and tackle ready for the weekend.” Steve had walked up behind me. I had been so intent on my examination of the windows I hadn’t heard his approach.
“I’ll get my bag.” I scuttled inside, annoyed with myself for colouring up like some adolescent school girl when he spoke to me. I was over Steve – way over him.
One quick drunken kiss changed nothing. The sooner we finished renovating the cottage and sold up the better.
Chapter Eighteen
Mike called me during my lunch break. I had managed to give Nasreen the slip and taken myself off to the park by the river
to eat my sandwich on a bench overlooking the rose garden.
“Kate, um, thank you for a lovely evening yesterday. I, um, wondered if you might be free on Saturday sometime?”
“I’m not sure. We have to do some major work at the cottage over the weekend and Steve will need a hand. We’re winching the new bath into the bathroom and it’ll literally be all hands on deck.” I tried to sound regretful. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Mike, I just didn’t want to build his hopes up when I didn’t experience any romantic vibes when we were together.
“Perhaps Saturday evening then when you’ve finished working on the house?
A quiet drink to help you relax?”
I had to give him points for persistence and I did like him as a friend. Maybe once my course was finished and the cottage had been sold then things might change.
“Okay, that would be nice, thank you.”
We agreed that he'd pick me up on Saturday at eight. Hopefully the bath would be safely in its rightful place by then and I would certainly be glad of a drink after helping Steve haul the cast iron monster up the scaffolding. I finished my sandwich and brushed the crumbs from my skirt onto the grass for the pigeons. I’d barely had the chance to pop the tab on my Diet Coke before my mobile rang again.
It was Lou.
“Well? How did it go?” she demanded.
“The dinner with Mike, you mean?”
“Well duh, what else exciting is happening in your life?”
Apart from the ghost, having no bathroom, my mother remarrying, and my sister being pregnant by some mystery man? Nothing.
“We had a nice dinner, I drank way too much Chianti and I got home to find I had a bath in my kitchen.” I kept my tone deadpan and pictured my sister rolling her eyes in despair.
“Yes, but did he light any fires this time? You know, give you that buzz?”
My gusty sigh probably deafened my sister.
“I’ll take that as a 'no', then. Are you going to see him again?” Lou persisted.
“Yes, he’s taking me for a drink on Saturday night, Miss Nosey. Anyway enough of my love life, have you come any closer to finding your mystery man?”
Now it was her turn to sigh. “Nothing, I’m going to stake out Benny’s for a few nights to see if he shows up. If he doesn’t then I’ll have to wait till Sophie is back from Cyprus to ask her if she knows who he might be. I don’t suppose you’d fancy coming out for a drink one night to keep me company?”
The idea of spending my evenings sitting in Benny’s bar with Lou didn’t fill me with joy. “I have to start pulling my weight with the cottage renovations. We need to get the cottage on the market in the Autumn and there’s tons to do.”
“Oh.”
Now I felt guilty. “I’ll try and come with you one night next week. Mum called this morning by the way. She’s looking at houses by the sea in Devon this weekend with Chuck.”
Lou gave a snort of derision. “At least it must be his money he’s spending.
Mum hasn’t got any so I suppose it must be love.”
“I suppose so.” Love; it made everything so complicated.
“So long as Mum doesn’t get hurt. I still wish we knew more about him.”
I knew what she meant. “I know, it’s all happening so fast.” Too fast.
“Listen, I’d better go. My lunch break is nearly over. Are you still up for a takeaway tonight?”
“Sure.” I’d forgotten it was Friday. “Are you up for it though? Not still feeling queasy?”
“I’m fine by tea-time. It’s the mornings that are a bit ropey. I’ll get a Chinese.”
After she’d rung off I strolled back to work enjoying the sunshine and feeling a little better for my hour in the fresh air. I was in such a good mood I even managed to put up with Nasreen for the rest of the afternoon.
I arrived back at the cottage to find that Steve had moved a couple of my chairs into the lounge now that he’d replaced the rotten floorboards in there. He’d even rigged up a temporary table using his work bench so I’d have somewhere to rest a plate while I ate.
“What do you think? The bath should be upstairs by Sunday and you’ll be able to eat in the kitchen for a week or so till the units arrive. By then we should be able to start emptying the dining room.” He stood back admiring his handiwork, a satisfied expression on his face.
“Great. Thank you. Lou’s coming tonight with a Chinese takeaway if you want some.” I don’t know what made me offer. I suppose it was that he’d taken the trouble to try and make the cottage a bit more liveable for me while we moved things around. I wished we could have emptied the planks and tiles from the dining room so I could have sat in there instead of the lounge though. There was something about this room with it’s huge open fireplace that sent shivers up my spine.
He picked up the broom from the side of the fireplace and began to sweep some of the sawdust from the floor. “Sorry Kate, I need to pop out.” He swept the mess into a dustpan and glanced at his watch. “Actually, I’d better get going. I need to go and grab a shower first.”
“Shower where?” He couldn’t possibly have finished tiling and grouting the shiny new shower upstairs and surely he couldn’t have one in the tiny confines of his caravan?
He looked a little uncomfortable and I guessed the answer. Of course, he would be going to meet Chloe at the pub. He’d shower there.
“Never mind. I won’t hold you up.” I knelt down to pick up the dustpan so he wouldn’t see my face.
I heard him clear his throat. “Thanks Kate. You’ll be around tomorrow, won’t you? I’ll need all the help I can get with the lifting.”
“Sure. I’ll be here.” I busied myself with the pile of sawdust, only straightening up when I heard the lounge door close and I knew for certain he’d gone.
My hands shook as I carried the dustpan to the window to empty the contents into the garden. Much to my disgust a large tear plopped onto the empty pan and I dashed a hand across my eyes to prevent any more from falling.
“This is ridiculous. I dumped him. He is the dumped and I am the dumper, why should I care if he has someone else?” Now I really had gone crazy, talking to myself in an empty house.
Even as the thought crossed my mind the skin on my arms prickled into goose flesh and the lounge door which Steve had latched behind him drifted open. I waited, half expecting Steve to pop his head round and say he’d forgotten something or for Mr Flibble to come strolling in.
Nothing.
The door stayed half open. I crossed the room to look at the catch. All the internal doors in the house were made of painted vertical wood panels and fastened with heavy iron latches. I had heard Steve latch the door shut behind him. It couldn’t have come open by itself.
“Oh, this is ridiculous! If there’s someone here I wish you’d stop messing about and show yourself.” I wished the words unsaid as soon as they’d left my mouth.
I’d watched enough episodes of Most Haunted to know that calling out to a spirit was a stupid thing to do. Especially as I was alone.
* * *
The strange young woman was in the house again. She had to be a spirit, her form appearing swirly and translucent next to the heavy oak settle, yet curiously I did not sense that she meant me any harm or that she was malicious. I froze in the place where I stood wondering if she could see me.
While I watched, I heard her call out, commanding me to show myself as if I were the spirit and she the one who was flesh and blood. The unexpected clarity of her voice startled me and I jerked, dropping the plate I had in my hand so that it crashed to the floor to land on the boards. It was the first time I’d actually been able to hear her voice clearly. I wished I knew who she was and what she wanted.
* * *
The crash of china breaking resonated behind me and I turned around to see Steve’s mug, which he’d left on the end of the make-shift table, lying smashed on the newly fitted floorboards with the dregs of his tea staining the wood.
“Oh
shit.” I ran out of the cottage, my legs shaking and my heart banging against my chest.
I headed straight for Steve’s caravan and pounded on the door with my fist. I didn’t dare look around in case it – whatever it might be - had followed me. Tears streamed down my face.
There was no reply. He must have collected his things and gone straight to the pub. I swallowed a gulp. Now what? My bag was inside the house with my car keys and my phone and there was no way I was prepared to go back inside there on my own.
I looked around the street to see if there were any signs of life in the other houses nearby but everywhere was silent with not a soul to be seen.
“Kate? What’s wrong?” Lou came hurrying towards me from the direction of the cottage. “The door was open and there was no one there. Oh, you’re crying? Kate what is it?” She rushed towards me, a frown creasing her forehead.
“Oh Lou, I can’t go back inside there. There’s something wrong with that house.”
She wrapped her arms around me and I sobbed onto her shoulder trying to explain what had happened in between the tears. I don’t know how long it took before I finally shuddered to a halt. Lou patted my back and handed me tissues from her pocket.
“Kate, I’m sure there’s a perfectly rational explanation for what happened.
You said yourself you’ve watched a lot of those spook programmes on TV. Maybe it’s messing with your mind a bit, you know all this research into the history of the house and stuff?” She peered anxiously into my eyes.
“There is a ghost in that house.” I knew I was right.
“Look, our takeaway is going cold. I dumped it in the bath that you seem to have filling your kitchen. Let’s go and get our supper. We can sit on the patio to eat if you like, under the scaffolding. You’ll feel better once you’ve eaten.” She tucked her arm through mine and drew me back along the garden path to the back door of the cottage.
I gave my eyes a final dab and sucked in a breath. “Okay.”
Lou left me sitting on the patio next to a scaffolding pole while she went inside to collect our supper and some cutlery. I wasn’t great with chopsticks at the best of times and with the way my hands were shaking now it would take me all my concentration just to manage a fork.