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“Oh wow, that’s great, thanks.”
“All right to go out this way?” He gestured toward the sliding door out to the patio.
“Of course.”
He clapped Matt on the shoulder and went out, taking Bess with him.
“So I hear you have an amazing idea for the kitchen,” Matt said, turning to Lucy.
I leaned against the counter with my arms folded as Lucy told Matt her idea, hugely enjoying watching the dynamic between them. There was clearly a lot of affection there, but also a very lively ongoing teasing that was very entertaining for me. As an only child, I could only dream of having this sort of relationship with someone else.
Once Matt agreed to Lucy’s plan, they went through the samples and before I knew it, the whole kitchen was planned and organized. When Lucy Cooper set her mind to something, it appeared, it got done. Matt was furiously making all the notes Lucy was firing at him when Gabe stepped onto the patio.
I went out to meet him. “It’s a serious operation in there,” I smiled, closing the sliding door behind me.
“Luce planning your whole kitchen, is she?”
“She sure is,” I replied with a giggle.
“She’s a real firecracker when she gets her teeth into something. Are you happy to sit out here? We’ll leave them alone to figure it out.”
“Sure.”
“I’ve never been here before. These gardens must have been really something back in the day.”
I smiled fondly. “They really were. I used to visit as a kid, in the school holidays. I spent hours and hours out here. It was paradise.”
“I bet. Some of the camelias and azaleas are the biggest I’ve ever seen. Ruby sure knew what she was doing.” He gazed out over the gardens. “It’ll be a real treat for me to get it looking its best again.” I followed his gaze, imagining how it would look all cleaned up, weeded, trimmed, cleaned out. I turned back to him, found his eyes on me, smiling. “I’ll do it justice, I promise. Ruby had a good eye: she really knew what she was doing. It won’t take much to bring it back.”
“Okay, thank you.”
He handed me a piece of paper. “If you’re happy with the quote, we’ll be able to get going on it straight away.”
“That would be amazing,” I said, taking the paper from him. It was much cheaper than I’d been expecting, and I shot him a suspicious look.
“I keep my prices at the lower end, so we don’t have to struggle to get work.”
“Okay…” I was still uncertain.
“Honestly. We have super low overheads and since it’s just me and my brother, no employees to pay. We just split the profits.”
He sounded sincere. Finally, I nodded. “Thank you, then. This is beyond great. It would be amazing if you could get started tomorrow.”
“You got it.” He leaned back in the chair, gazing out at the garden dreamily, patting Bess gently with the toe of his boot. He had a peaceful way about him, I thought. Very…Zen. It was nice.
The peace was shattered when Lucy opened the sliding door. “Zara, we need you in here to settle a disagreement. Gabe, you may as well come too.”
Gabe pushed his chair back with a chuckle and got to his feet. “Come on, Zara, let’s see what we can do to end the war.”
I followed him inside, holding the door open for Bess.
“We’re going to get some premade doors and spray them ourselves.”
“Wait, what’s with the we shit?” Matt teased Lucy.
Ignoring the interruption, Lucy said, “Matt thinks this shade is better,” as she laid a color card on the table. “But I think this one.” Laying a second one next to it, she looked at me expectantly.
I swear, they were exactly the same.
