‘Thanks.’
‘We OK?’
I nodded.
‘Good. I’ve got a bit of work to do. Did you want to set up an office somewhere so you can get started?’
‘Oh, no. That’s fine. I can just sit in the kitchen.’
‘You could. But even if the house is deemed safe tomorrow, there’s nowhere suitable over there for you to set up an office. The one room that was closest to being finished is the one with the hole in the roof and, even if it wasn’t, it’s more ideal to separate work and home if you can.’
‘I’d thought about possibly making one of the bedrooms into a home office, but the garden idea was good too if the outbuilding could be insulated and have power, and so on. Not that I have a business to run from it.’
‘You do now.’
I let out a small, disbelieving laugh. ‘One job does not make a business, Jesse.’
‘True. But I know of a few properties under my business alone that will need interior skills shortly and I’m sure other work will come up pretty quickly. Gina left a pretty big gap in the market when she emigrated. I’m sure some of that has been filled but your style is elegant and timeless and that’s what a lot of people, especially around here, want. They don’t want outlandish schemes or colours that seemed like a good idea at the time but a fortnight in gives them a migraine every time they go into the room.’
‘I can do bright and funky when it’s needed.’
‘I’m sure. I can already tell that you follow the brief you’re given, whatever that is, but put your own spin on it. That much is obvious from the photos you showed me. But your natural style is what I’m after. The ideas you had at the house, the aesthetic that you naturally spoke about for it, are exactly what I’m looking for.’
My arms folded across my chest again.
‘Uh-oh.’
‘What?’ I frowned.
‘You’ve gone into defence mode.’
‘I do not have any mode, defence or otherwise.’
‘Yep, you do. So let’s have it.’
‘Have what?’
‘Whatever’s on your mind. Then we can straighten that out and get on with our work.’ He hooked his thumbs onto the pockets of his jeans and waited.
‘You can wait all day. You’re wrong.’
‘No, I’m not.’ He looked at his watch and I felt my arms tense even more.
‘You really are terribly annoying. You do know that, don’t you?’
He sucked in a deep breath. ‘I do,’ was the reply as he released it.
‘OK, fine. I’m still concerned that this is a pity job and I’m not comfortable with it. You’ve already done so much, and got others to do so much, for free and… I can’t repay that. I never have, and never will, accept anyone’s pity or charity. It just all seems very convenient that your favoured interiors contact left the same time as I arrived in the area.’
‘We already went through this.’
‘We did but, like I say, I don’t buy it.’
‘Do you believe that sometimes the only explanation for something tragic is that people were just in the wrong place at the wrong time? That as much as you try to find a reason for something bad happening, there’s just no logic.’
I paused. ‘Yes, I suppose so.’
‘Then doesn’t it follow that sometimes someone can be in the right place at the right time for good things to happen too?’
