‘True. But it’s a plus point. Wood’s not cheap.’
I thought of my super-insulated, always warm, centrally heated apartment in London with a pang.
‘The roofers have been up and taken a look. They’re not worried about anything: fairly straightforward job as far as they’re concerned.’
‘Deal with trees falling in on houses every day, do they?’
‘Hopefully not, but they’ve done more than you’d think.’
‘Right.’ I paused. ‘I’d say good but that doesn’t seem appropriate.’
The hard planes of his face softened. ‘I know what you mean.’
‘Is it safe though? I mean, the walls and stuff?’
‘Yep. Looks like it. but the structural engineer is going to come up in a couple of days and go through just to make sure.’
‘A couple of days?’
‘What’s a couple of days?’ Julie asked as the two of them approached us. ‘The mutant spider is well away now.’ She thumbed towards the woods behind.
‘Thanks. That is good news.’ Unlike what I’d just heard.
‘The structural check on Felicity’s house.’
‘Anyone know a good hotel around here?’ I asked.
‘You don’t need a hotel,’ Julie said. ‘You stayed at Jesse’s last night. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind putting you up for a couple more nights.’ She ended the statement with a simple shrug.
‘Oh no, I couldn’t possibly!’ I replied, hastily, and did my best to communicate with my eyes to my new friend that that was a very bad idea. Now, I know people toss out this phrase when they fully intend to take up the offer of another glass of wine/a second helping of pudding/the last roast potato, but in this instance, the words had full meaning behind them. Yesterday had been an emergency. Now I at least had the opportunity to make other arrangements.
‘Rubbish. It’s ideal. You don’t need to waste your money on a hotel, does she, Jesse?’
I steadfastly refused to look at him. I’d briefly caught his look of horror, likely similar to my own, when Julie had first posited the idea, and I wasn’t about to add to either of our embarrassment now.
‘Really, it’s fine. I love a hotel anyway. It’ll be a nice break from ill-fitting windows and clanking pipes.’
‘You’ll have to go a way to find a hotel. I mean, the pub does B&B but it’s hardly The Ritz.’
‘That’s OK. I’m not fussed about it being anything fancy.’
‘Says the woman wearing an Armani jacket to clear out the garden shed.’ Julie grinned and the two men looked at me. I could practically hear Jesse revving up for an eye roll. I’d just grabbed what was nearest on the hallway coat rack this morning so as not to mess up the jacket Julie had lent me.
Julie wrapped an arm around one of mine. ‘No judgement here. I’ve just been eyeing it up all morning. It’s just that one look at you shouts “fancy”.’
‘No, it doesn’t,’ I reassured her. ‘It really doesn’t.’
Julie grinned at me. ‘There’s no denying it. You stand out like a sore thumb here.’
I felt the smile on my face morph into a rictus and clearly the others saw it too.
‘I mean that in a good way!’ Julie hurried on. ‘In that you just ooze “classy”.’
Jesse scratched his cheek. ‘You wouldn’t have said that the first time I saw her.’
I met his eyes as my mind helpfully went and fetched those mortifying images for me and held them up.Ta dah!
‘I find that hard to believe.’ Julie frowned at her brother, then looked at me. ‘Why?’
