AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Firstly, there was the issue with her foot. It didn’t matter what angle she lay at; she couldn’t get it right. Every time she shifted her body weight by half an inch, it sent the same pain shooting straight up towards her spine. That, combined with Caroline’s whale music, the fact her friend needed to take up three quarters of the bed, and the impressive yet infuriating snoring that rose from the floor below meant that Holly had the worst night’s sleep since Hope had been a newborn.
Covering her ears with her pillow, she tapped her phone to check the time, only to discover it was less than five minutes since the last time she’d checked.
‘Jesus,’ she gasped as Caroline rolled over yet again, her elbow landing square on Holly’s rib.
At three-forty, Holly gave in. There was no way she could sleep next to Caroline, so, knowing the sofa was definitely large enough for her to lie out on, she decided to try that. Gritting herself against the pain, she grabbed a pillow, then hoisted herself up.
Her eyes watered, although once she was up, the pain lessened. Still holding the pillow, she limped her way across the bedroom and pushed open the door as quietly as she could before hobbling downstairs.
Hopefully, she thought, there would be milk in the kitchen and she could warm some up in the microwave. It was a sleep remedy her mother used to use, though Holly hadn’t tried it for the best part of a decade. Still, with the travelling, the anxiety of missing Hope and the pain in her ankle, she was willing to try anything.
Groaning with relief, she reached the bottom of the stairs to discover the kitchen light was already on. There, sitting at the dining table, with his laptop open, was Evan.
‘I guess I’m not the only one who can’t sleep.’ He smiled.
20
Dressed in a dark-grey vest and grey jogging bottoms, Evan had a pair of narrow reading glasses perched on the end of his nose – he pulled them off incredibly well – which he placed on the counter as he looked up at Holly, who was still slowly edging her way from the staircase.
‘Let me guess, Tyler’s snoring?’
Holly paused, regathering her balance and preparing her muscles for the last few steps.
‘That, along with Caroline’s non-stop turning, the fact she thinks she’s the only one in the bed and she needs to listen to frog music to fall asleep.’
‘Frog music? I didn’t know that was a thing.’
‘She says it’s whale song, but there’s no chance whales make sounds like the ones she’s listening to.’
‘That sounds intriguing.’
‘Trust me, you don’t want to hear it.’
Refocusing her attention, Holly glanced at the sofa, although it seemed rude to go straight there considering Evan had now struck up a conversation.
Wincing, she took a step forward, though she had barely moved before Evan was up out of his seat and rushing over to help her.
‘I’m fine, I’ve got it.’
‘I know. But there’s no harm in leaning on someone else now and then. Jamie told me that about you. You don’t like accepting help.’
The remark surprised Holly. Firstly, because it was hard to believe Jamie envisioned her like that. The two of them had first become friends when Holly needed help fixing the roof of the sweet shop when it flooded. Then again, Ben had been the one to call Jamie. The second reason she was surprised was because it meant Jamie and Evan must have discussed her at some point. Which caused a feeling that didn’t sit quite right.
Deciding to ignore his comment, Holly gestured at the computer. ‘What are you doing up at this time anyway? You can’t be working, surely?’
‘I was.’ He pushed down the lid on his laptop. ‘But mainly because staring at a screen is the fastest way to send me back to sleep.’
It was only when he laughed that Holly realised he had been attempting to make a joke.
‘Maybe you can help me. I’ve bought this house to renovate in London. The whole place has been gutted. It’s a shell. I just can’t work out how to re-figure the two upstairs floors. Want to have a look?’
Holly glanced over at the sofa. There was no doubt it was big enough for her to sleep on and there was even a throw blanket hanging over the back that she could use. But Tyler’s snoring was even louder down here than it had been upstairs, and so she decided that perhaps an hour of staring at a screen would help her drift off too. Besides, it didn’t feel right, curling herself up and falling asleep while Evan was sitting at the kitchen table, practically looking right at her.
‘Sure, why not?’
With a slight smile, Evan opened the laptop back up and revealed a floor plan of a three-storey building. The downstairs was mostly open plan, while the two upper floors were boxed in with various bedrooms. The first thing that struck her was the six ensuites, not just because of the implied size of the building, but because she couldn’t imagine having a home that big and not having a single bath in it.
Even before Hope, she had adored a soak in a tub, and a shallow bath was a far more convenient set up for washing a wriggling little baby than a plastic tub in a shower. When Holly had first seen the cottage, there had been a shower, but the day she signed the agreement, the landlord had informed her they planned on refitting the entire bathroom, and Holly was allowed to choose the specification. She had rented properties from faceless landlords before, but they’d never been quite so accommodating as this one.
