“Yes, please, that would be lovely.”
Shaking his head, he started to head into the kitchen, then stopped, thinking back to what Betty had said earlier. “Look. I can’t promise Ed’ll want to put up any decorations since the bungalow will be going on the market soon, but I’ll ask. Okay?” No harm in asking.
“Thank you.”
As he walked, he sent a text to his brother.
He might not be able to persuade Ed to have any Christmas lights in his garden, but there was no reason they couldn’t put some in Betty’s for her to look at.
WHEN ED OPENED the door he was fully clothed, much to Oliver’s disappointment. “Hey.”
“Morning.” Ed’s gaze swept over him, no doubt realising Oliver wasn’t dressed for decorating. “Um...”
Oliver ran a hand over the back of his neck. “Yeah, I didn’t have your phone number, so...” He held out his hands in a so-here-I-am gesture. “I need to go get a Christmas tree this morning, but I can help you decorate when I get back?”
“It’s only the start of December.” Ed frowned as though it was way too early to be thinking about such things, and Oliver huffed out a laugh.
“According to Betty, we’re one of the last homes to get one.”
Ed hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “Pretty sure I’m going to be the last one. Or the only one without one.”
“You not going to bother?” Betty might want hers a bit early, but Oliver couldn’t imagine not having one at all.
With a shrug, Ed shoved his hands into his jeans’ pockets. “I don’t know, probably not.” He sighed. “It’s not really...”
“Home?” Oliver offered, wondering—not for the first time—if Ed felt like a guest in Elise’s old bungalow. He’d seemed relaxed enough when they were decorating, but it must be odd living somewhere that you hadn’t paid for, hadn’t spent hours trawling the estate agents’ pages searching for, and had no plans on remaining there for more than a few months. He imagined it would be hard to call ithome.
“Yeah, something like that.”
The moment bordered on uncomfortable, so Oliver fished his keys out of his pocket. “I won’t be too long, hopefully.” He had no idea how busy the Christmas tree place would be at this time on a Saturday morning. “Want me to come over when I get back?”
Ed eyed the keys in Oliver’s hand, the lines appearing on his forehead telling Oliver he was thinking hard. “Is that your Fiesta out front?”
“Well, it’s Betty’s, but she gave up driving a few months ago.” After much gentle persuasion from everybody. Oliver shuddered at the thought of her out on the roads. Her mind might still be sharp, most of the time, but her eyesight, not so much. Although still apparently legal for driving purposes, borderline as it was. “It’s cheaper to run than my old one, so...” Not that Ed had asked for his vehicular history.
Why was he so rambly this morning? Jeez.
It wasn’t as though Ed was paying him to help decorate, and he wasn’t shirking the whole day. Still... Oliver felt unsettled, like he was letting him down.
Ed’s sudden smirk took him by surprise. “How exactly were you planning on getting a tree in it? You getting one of the tiny ones?” He demonstrated by lowering his hand about 3 foot off the ground.
“Er... no?” This time last year he’d had his Passat Estate. Old but reliable, and with a huge boot space when you put the seats down. Rob was at work, not that it made a difference, his car was a saloon. No way were they squeezing a good size tree in there. “I could put it on the roof.” Did he have something to tie it on with? Fuck’s sake. Running a hand through his hair, Oliver did a mental inventory of Betty’s garage. He was pretty sure he’d seen something in there that might—
“Give me one sec,” Ed said, holding up a finger before turning and disappearing down the hallway towards the kitchen.
A moment later Oliver heard Ed’s voice, obviously talking to someone on the phone, but the words were too quiet to make out. When he reappeared a minute or two later, keys and wallet in hand, Oliver raised a quizzical eyebrow.
Ed grinned. “Aiden said we could borrow his van. I’m insured to drive it, so if we go pick it up from his house, I’ll take you to get your tree.”
“Oh, that’ll be so much better, thank you.” Oliver didn’t point out that his own insurance would cover him to drive it third party. “I wasn’t looking forward to driving with a tree strapped to my roof that was as big as the bloody car.” And this way he got to spend the morning with Ed. Which if he was honest, was the part that had bothered him most. Spending his Saturday painting he could easily do without, but working alongside Ed, watching the way the tip of his tongue peeked out when he concentrated on not catching the ceiling with his roller? That he would miss.
Oliver wondered if he made the same face while he concentrated on... other things. Before his imagination took a filthy turn, Oliver took a step back, smiling. “Shall we go?”
“Yeah, come on.”
Oliver waited for Ed to lock up, then led him down the path in the direction of his car.
“No, take mine.” Ed steered Oliver back to his driveway, his hand on Oliver’s lower back a featherlight touch, but Oliver almost shivered at the contact before he caught himself. He opened his mouth to protest since it was his tree they were going for, then Ed added, “I can leave mine at Aiden’s and pick it up later. If I throw in dinner, he might even drive it back for me and collect his van.”
