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‘I’ll let them know he’s no longer residing at the property.’
‘Thank you.’ Holly’s hand shook as she ended the call. Laying back on the bed she stared at the ceiling. Feeling nauseous, she wondered whether she should have mentioned that Tom was there that day. Was that withholding information? Could she get into trouble? Tom was not present at the time of the fire – he had left hours before. As much as Tom had surprised her during their split, she knew he would not have tried to burn the house down with her in it. No, if he wanted to kill her for her money, he would have pushed her down the stairs, faked a suicide, created some sort of accident, not burned down the buildings reducing the value of the property. Holly shuddered, realising she hardly knew Tom any more. Although, she knew in her gut that he was no killer.
Heaving herself out of bed, the caravan shook with every step as she padded to the lounge. Having spent the weekend upholstering the caravan, it was much brighter. She had covered the seating with a leaf green material draped with pink throws. At college Holly had studied textiles alongside Art and always enjoyed working with fabric. It was totally transformed from generic caravan to a bright space, smelling of the paint she had used to cover the units to give it a sense of newness. Peeping through the new curtains, she saw Joe, Julie and Anne, mugs in hand chatting in front of the wreckage. There were enough funds to tide their wages over for two weeks. It would break her heart if she had to lay her staff off.
Holly lifted her phone, flicking through her contacts until she reached Jaz. She hesitated. Distracting Jaz from her new job with her woes would be wrong. Scrolling on she saw Ethan’s name, having already plugged his number in from the business card he had given her. Hovering over the call button she pressed it. Holly left the phone to ring twice but had second thoughts and hung up, placing the phone on the table. The ringtone split the silence.Ethan callingcame on the display.
Oh no,Holly thought and blushed as she answered it. ‘Hi Ethan.’
‘Who’s this? I got a missed call.’
‘It’s Holly.’
‘I’m so pleased you called. I’ve been thinking of you. I heard about the fire, I tried calling the nursery number but there was no answer and the mailbox was full.’
‘That’s something else I need to sort out.’
‘You never mentioned the fire when we met.’
‘I wanted a stress-free evening. My head was all over the place.’
‘I can understand that – you must be gutted. What’s next?’
‘I’m going to rebuild it. The nursery is the only thing I’ve left of my family.’
‘Awful about your artwork as well.’
‘How did you know about that?’
‘It’s on the Gazette’s website.’
‘Really? Maybe I should put a statement out that I’m rebuilding.’
‘I’ll take you into their offices today if you like? You can tell them your plans.’
Holly paused, she did not feel ready for that.
‘Sorry,’ Ethan said. ‘That’s probably too soon. I can’t imagine how I’d feel if I lost all my work. And I’m not half as good, as you.’
‘Rubbish, your compositions were brilliant. As far as the rebuild is concerned, I already had plans to convert the old barn. I’m considering rebuilding it as a community creative space attached to the nursery.’
‘Now this sounds interesting. Something positive could come of this. I might be able to help you out.’
‘I must confess, I was going to pick your brains about the plans.’
‘Great – I’ll pick you up at noon. We can have lunch then come to mine. I’ll set it up on my design programme.’
