I locked eyes with Jesse. ‘If you tell her, I will kill you and make it look like an accident.’
The smile flickered. ‘Nah,’ he said after a moment. ‘But I reckon you’d hire someone to.’
‘You’re hilarious.’
‘Come on-n-n-n-n-n!’ Julie begged. ‘You have to tell us now, don’t they, Pete?’
‘I’m not sure I want to get dragged into this.’ He laughed. Pete was clearly a wise man.
‘Jules is right, though. The B&B’s a bit… rustic.’
I pointed to my house. ‘I’m getting pretty used to rustic.’
‘My point exactly. Thought you might want a break from that. In which case, the best hotel is about forty minutes’ drive away.’
‘That’s not so far.’
Jesse folded his arms. ‘And what, exactly, are you going to drive?’
I closed my eyes. ‘Shit.’ Opening them again, I found all three looking at me. Julie and Pete looked sympathetic. Jesse merely looked curious. ‘I forgot my car got pancaked as well as my house.’
‘That’s settled, then. You can stay at Jesse’s until things are sorted here,’ Julie said. ‘I’m going to make some teas. Anyone want one?’ she asked, already striding towards the outbuilding near the house where we’d moved the essentials like the kettle and mugs earlier to avoid traipsing mud in and out.
‘Sounds great. I’ll come with you,’ Pete offered, his longer strides soon catching her up, leaving the two of us alone.
‘Sorry about that.’ We both spoke the same words and the surprise burst the thin bubble of tension that hovered around us.
‘There’s nothing for you to apologise for. My sister however…’ He made a strangling motion with his shovel-sized hands, the corner of his mouth tilted up one side.
‘I’m sorry she put you on the spot.’
‘Not at all. I was going to offer anyway.’
‘Your face when she first suggested the idea would contradict that.’
‘No, no, no.’ He held up his hands, moving them slightly to and fro, the atmosphere relaxed now as we united in our mutual embarrassment. ‘That was due to Jules springing it on you like that. And in front of Pete too. I knew you’d feel awkward.’
‘I just feel like I’m imposing. You’ve already done so much. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for you, I’d probably still be sitting up there,’ I waved towards the area where a blue tarpaulin now covered the large hole in the roof, ‘hoping the tree would finish the job off.’
The smile fell away. ‘Don’t say that.’ His words were soft but I felt the full meaning of them.
‘I just meant?—’
‘I know.’
The silence hung between us for a moment, broken only by the sound of birdsong and the odd burst of laughter coming from where the men were now gathered around waiting for the refreshments to brew.
‘Let’s go and get a drink.’ Jesse tossed a look at the garden room. ‘Looks like you deserve it. You’ve certainly been cracking on with that. Unearthed anything other than monster-sized spiders?’
We fell into step as we walked back towards the others and I told him about one possible piece of treasure but that, for the most part, it was all going to have to be got rid of. Once I got myself some wheels again, of course.
‘I can give you a hand until you do, especially if it’s big stuff.’
‘I’m quite capable of lifting things, you know. I went to the gym at 5a.m. four times a week religiously.’
‘God!’ His expression was something between horror and impressed. ‘That sounds awful.’
‘Thanks!’ I replied, a little confused. From the look of him, Jesse was certainly no stranger to the gym.
