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HOLLY WRAPPED HER HANDSaround her hot mug and watched as Joe helped Ian and Elsie finished putting up the shed. Elsie and Ian were so good together, each one working completely in tandem with the other, almost as though they could read each other’s minds. She still couldn’t believe they’d only been together as a couple for a couple of years.
‘Oops, sorry. I think I’ve been holding this one wonky.’ Joe stood back and looked at the final panel, the end he’d been holding held at a slight angle.
‘Don’t worry, lad. We’ll soon fix that. I’ve not finished securing it in place yet, anyway.’ Looking up, Ian shifted it a few millimetres. ‘There you go. Hold it steady there, would you?’
‘Like this?’
‘That’s right. Thanks, lad.’
Holly smiled. Joe had always been one to help others. He was the one to throw money into a busker’s hat before any of the watching crowds, the one to rush ahead and hold the door open for a parent struggling to push their buggy through as well as propping the heavy door with their foot. Without fail, he always bought an extra tin of beans or box of cereal to slip into the supermarket collection for the local food bank.
‘Perfect.’ Ian stood up and stepped away, looking proudly at the work they had done.
‘Great.’ Joe began looking through the pile of wooden panels still left propping against the back wall. ‘Is it this one we need for the roof?’ He pulled one away.
‘Yes, love, that’s right.’ Elsie grinned as she helped Joe drag it across the floor. ‘Have you done this before?’
‘What build a shed?’ Joe shook his head. ‘My dad is into woodwork, though. He has been since I was a child, so I’ve picked up on one or two things.’
‘It certainly looks as though you have.’ Ian grinned as he set a stepladder up, positioning it next to the walls of the shed.
Holly sighed. Whoever this woman was that Joe was interested in, was a lucky girl. She felt the fierce heat of embarrassment flush across her face. She swallowed. Why did she feel embarrassed? Because she thought the person Joe ended up with was lucky? She always had. Joe was a great guy, so why was this any different?
Taking her hands away from her mug, she looked down at her plaster and smoothed the edges down. This was no different from any of his relationships in the past. She looked at him as he reached up, helping Ian position the shed roof correctly. Why was she suddenly feeling butterflies in her stomach when she looked at him?
It was because of what Elsie had said about her and Ian being best friends before they’d got together. It must be. But she and Joe were different. Their friendship wasn’t the same as the one Elsie and Ian had had. It couldn’t be. Their friendship and turned into a relationship. Hers and Joe’s wasn’t going to. Yes, they were close, the best of friends out of the small group of the four of them, but that didn’t mean we anything. and it meant even less now that he had admitted to liking someone else.
Shaking her thoughts away, she downed the rest of her coffee and stood up. ‘Here, let me help again.’
‘Are you sure, love? You don’t want to put any pressure on your finger. That was a deep cut that was.’ Elsie frowned.
‘No, it’s okay. It’s fine now.’ Holding up a piece of the roof, she turned away and winced as her finger scraped against the edge of the panel.
Chapter Eleven
