Waving a hand at the black screen Oliver said, “It’s been a bit dodgy for the last few weeks, but I could usually get it to work by moving it back and forward for a bit. With the screen right back, it seemed to be okay.”
“It’s probably either the screen itself or the cable. Want me to take a look?”
“Ooh, would you?” Betty asked, beaming up at him.
Ed smiled back at her. “Of course.” He turned to Oliver. “Unless you’d rather take it somewhere else?”
Truth be told, he’d rather not take it anywhere. All his spare cash went towards his house deposit. Having his laptop fixed hadn’t featured in his plans. “Um...” He palmed the back of his neck. Oliver had his phone; he could manage without his laptop for a while, but recently Betty had mastered the use of Netflix. He couldn’t bring himself to stop her watching her shows.
“Look, if you’d rather go elsewhere, it’s totally fine—”
“It’s not that.” He closed the laptop lid and ran a hand through his hair. “How much do you reckon it’ll cost?”
Ed eyed the laptop. “Depending on what’s wrong, probably between sixty and a hundred and ten pounds.”
Oh. Oliver had expected it to be way more.
“But I wouldn’t charge you anything,” Ed added, smiling at Betty.
Oliver shook his head. “Don’t be daft. I’m not letting you fix it for free.”
“Betty was Elise’s best friend. She’d come back and haunt me if I charged you a penny.” He had a stubborn set to his shoulders.
“You look just like Elise.” Betty laughed. “She’d get that same expression when she wanted her own way.”
Ed’s lips twitched. “And did it work?”
“All the damn time.”
Oliver knew when he was beaten, and to be honest, he really didn’t want to take it somewhere else and pay loads. But nor did he want to take advantage. There must be something...His toolbox sat against the far wall where he’d left it the day before. “You said you’ve got some DIY to do on your bungalow before you sell it, right?”
Ed looked puzzled with the sudden conversation change. “Yeah. A bit of painting and some other bits. Why?” His expression told Oliver he had an inkling where this was going.
“You fix my laptop, and I’ll help you fix up the bungalow.”
“That’s really not necessary, I—”
“Deal?” Oliver raised an eyebrow and held out his hand.
Ed’s smile bloomed into a grin, and he clasped Oliver’s hand. “Deal.”
He said his goodbyes to Betty, and Oliver walked him to the door. “I’m free all weekend after ten thirty on Saturday,” Oliver said as he unlocked it and pulled it open.
“I’ll probably be catching up with a bit of work on Saturday, but Sunday’s good if you’re free?”
“Sunday it is.”
Ed’s smile was small, tentative. “I’ll see you then.”
Oliver watched him walk down the path and disappear next door before shutting the front door and locking it. He leant on it for a moment and closed his eyes.
When he walked back into the kitchen, Betty looked up from her crossword, a twinkle in her eye. “Elise was right. He’s a lovely young man. A shame he’s not planning to stay.”
“Yeah.” Oliver recognised the unfortunate flare of excitement deep in his belly and sighed.
“I rather like him,” she added, reaching down to stroke one of her cats.
“Me too, Betty. Me too.”
