A House to Mend a Broken Heart

by Sherlock, Alison

  But at least they were going to weatherproof the roof in the meantime by lining any holes with plastic to stop any further rain damage.

  Mr Reynolds had also managed to source a bricklayer who was beginning to rebuild the wobbly chimneys.

  ‘So that’s the roof more or less started on,’ Sam told Annie. ‘They’re also going to measure up and order new windows. They tell me that they should be delivered by the end of the month.’

  Annie nodded. ‘I saw that they’ve covered the missing ones with plastic which is good.’

  ‘It means that they can get going on the electrics and plumbing if the rain isn’t coming inside the house.’

  Annie smiled. ‘I’m just grateful for the lack of catcalls and wolf whistles every time I cross the hallway now.’

  They both glanced up to where a large team of carpenters had answered the SOS call from Mr Reynolds and were slowly beginning to build the foundations of a brand new staircase.

  ‘It’s a start,’ said Sam. ‘Or at least a proper restart.’

  And the new team of builders even tidied up their mess and tools each evening.

  By the time Alex answered his summons and arrived the following Thursday, a few more workmen had been added to the ever-increasing numbers.

  ‘I didn’t expect it to look like a UN disaster zone,’ said Alex in dismay, staring up at the scaffolding, the skips and the general disrepair.

  ‘It’s OK,’ said Sam, leading him inside. ‘We’ve got decent builders in now.’

  ‘You must be Alex,’ said Rose, heading across the hallway.

  ‘Darling! What a beauty you are!’ said Alex, stepping forward to give her a kiss on both cheeks. ‘Is that Chanel?’

  ‘Of course,’ said Rose, glancing down at her pale blue jacket before linking arms with him. ‘Now, we’re in charge of decoration, I’ve been told.’

  ‘With your sense of style and mine, it’ll be fabulous!’ Alex told her.

  ‘I just don’t know what it should look like,’ said Sam with a shrug of his shoulders.

  Alex was quiet for a moment. ‘I think it needs to be cosy but chic,’ he said, eventually. ‘It should be true to its heritage but less like a crusty old museum.’

  ‘Maybe it’ll always feel like that,’ said Sam with a grimace.

  ‘Of course it won’t,’ replied Alex. ‘It’s going to be magnificent. Come on, give me another tour and remind me what I’m letting myself in for.’

  Mr Reynolds’ team had worked quickly and efficiently so that, after only one week, there was an actual staircase leading up to the first floor. There was still no handrail and it wasn’t finished but it was solid enough to use. Sam and Annie were just relieved not to have to climb up and down the ladder each and every day.

  As they went around the house, Alex rattled off a running commentary.

  ‘I think it should be deep colours in here,’ he said as they crossed the entrance hall. ‘How do you feel about red? And a sweeping staircase to make Scarlett O’Hara envious. Darling Rose, you and your Chanel will fit in perfectly. You need lots of warm colours,’ he said as they went from the family room to the study and then the dining room. ‘The room sizes can handle a bit of wallpaper. I know just the right place to get it from. Modern, but mix in some of the antique stuff.’

  ‘There’s boxes of it packed away,’ said Sam. ‘Annie made sure it stayed safe. But I don’t know about using too much of the old stuff.’

  Alex rolled his eyes. ‘That’s because everything in your flat was manufactured in the land of Ikea, from what I can remember.’

  ‘We have to have our stuff around us,’ said Rose, looking panic-stricken. ‘Some of it has been handed down from one generation to the next.’

  ‘Never fear,’ said Alex, patting her hand in a reassuring manner. ‘I won’t let him ruin the place. Old doesn’t mean bad,’ he added to Sam. ‘Try to remember that you have a home of historical importance. ’

  Upstairs, they went through the bedrooms and bathrooms in the west wing. ‘OK,’ carried on Alex. ‘I see luxurious bathroom suites, lots of bling tiles but tasteful. I want it to look gorgeous in here.’

  ‘And a bath that’s big enough for two,’ said Rose, with a wink.

  ‘Oh, you’re sooo on my wavelength, darling,’ Alex told her.

  Sam stared at the chipped tiles and worn-out basin and bath, wondering if it would ever be truly gorgeous.

  In the large bedroom suite that Sam had decided to call his own, Alex announced, ‘We’ve got to get the lighting just right. I’m thinking classy hotel look with crisp white bedding. Oh and some leather, as well.’

  ‘Leather?’ said Sam, frowning.

  ‘Trust me,’ said Alex, with a nudge. ‘You could do with a little Christian Grey in here. Talking of sex, you look like you could do with some. Your shoulders are so tight they’re up past your ears. When was the last time you had any action?’

  Sam blushed, glancing at his elderly aunt who seemed to be taking all the sex talk in her stride.

  ‘Cassandra has been finishing her new album,’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘She’s back in the country tomorrow.’

  Alex gave an involuntary shudder. ‘I thought I heard the howling of wolves on my way over here.’

  Sam sighed as he followed them back along the corridor. He knew that he really ought to defend his girlfriend’s somewhat demanding reputation but most of their phone calls were borderline hysterical at the minute. She was very uptight about yet another live concert that was coming up soon and he was spending every conversation trying to calm her down, when he really could do with some support himself.

  Just once it would be nice to have his girlfriend ask about him for a change, he thought. When did he get to offload about his problems?

  Alex walked into Arthur’s room and immediately began to shake his head. ‘Your grandad can’t sleep on that bed. It’s too high and I should think that ancient mattress will set him back a few months in his recovery if he has to sleep on that. I’ll get him an orthopaedic one. Maybe even one of those electric ones that goes up and down.’

  Sam sighed. ‘Look, you’re going to have to rein in the spending a bit.’

  ‘Sure,’ said Alex, waving away his concerns with his hand. ‘I promise I’ll only buy the bare essentials. Like decent beds. New mattresses. A walk-in shower. I can get some of this furniture sent away to be polished and fixed.’

  ‘OK,’ said Sam, feeling more relieved. ‘That sounds doable.’

  ‘Of course we’ll need new curtains.’ Alex nudged a threadbare rug with his foot in disdain. ‘And lovely thick carpets.’

  Sam shook his head. ‘You’re killing me, you know that?’

  He felt so stressed. The house was all-consuming at the moment and it wasn’t as if he had an endless money pot to spend. Once it had been done up, there would be no more to save it from its monthly bills. But he had to start somewhere.

  This was the last chance to save Willow Tree Hall before it completely fell apart. It had to be right. And he needed his grandfather to love it as well.

  Sam led Rose and Alex down into the kitchen where they found Annie chopping up some homegrown vegetables to make soup.

  Alex shuddered at the derelict state of the room before screwing up his eyes and imagining how it would look. ‘I’m thinking oak in here.’ He held up a hand as Sam went to protest. ‘Don’t panic. I’m not going to have any of that yellow pine shit, OK? Trust me. No cutesy, country chintz around here. I’ll allow the tiniest bit of Cath Kidston if you want to vintage it up a bit. But not too much.’

  Rose murmured her approval. ‘What do you think Annie?’

  She gave Sam a quick glance. ‘I think it’ll look wonderful. In time.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Sam, grateful for Annie’s support. ‘The thing is, we’ve only got so much time and money, so I want to concentrate on Aunty’s and grandad’s bedrooms, the drawing room and the hallway. For now.’

  ‘No new kitchen?’ said Alex, looking a
ghast.

  ‘Not yet,’ said Sam in a firm tone. ‘The whole place needs rewiring and new plumbing. As long as the Aga still works, we can cope.’

  Alex frowned. ‘But that thing is awful.’

  ‘I agree,’ said Rose. ‘And look at lovely Annie. You look tired. Doesn’t she look terrible, boys?’

  ‘Gee, thanks,’ said Annie, blushing.

  ‘You’ve been putting this girl under far too much pressure,’ Rose told Sam sternly.

  He went to protest but wasn’t given the chance to respond.

  ‘Besides, blondes are supposed to have more fun, aren’t they?’ Rose touched the end of her hair. ‘In fact, I was thinking of going blonde myself. What do you think?’

  ‘It will look fabulous,’ said Alex.

  Sam watched as Annie appeared to relax, grateful that the conversation had moved on. But then his aunt’s focus moved back onto her once more.

  ‘What you need is a distraction,’ said Rose, patting her arm. ‘And nothing’s better for that than a nice man.’

  ‘Or a naughty one,’ added Alex, who had sat down at the table and was flicking through the Daily Mail. ‘Oh, Kim Kardashian! Who ever told you that you could pull off that see-through skirt?’

  Annie was still looking embarrassed. ‘I really don’t need a boyfriend,’ she said in a small voice.

  But Rose wasn’t listening. ‘I know! What about William? He’s near your age and awfully good-looking. Maybe you could do better than those fancy types he goes for.’

  Annie went to open her mouth but Sam found himself beating her to it. ‘Annie does not need a boyfriend like Will,’ he snapped, spinning round to face them. ‘He has three women on the go at any one time.’

  ‘So who do you suggest?’ his aunt asked, her eyes twinkling at her great-nephew.

  Unwilling to answer, Sam spun round on his heel and quickly left the room.

  In fact, he left so swiftly that he didn’t see the smile that Alex and Rose exchanged.

  Chapter 21

  Baking a cake in an Aga was an art. Especially when the ancient Aga in question had doors that didn’t shut properly, was in desperate need of replacement and wildly varied in temperature on a daily basis.

  Friday brought many visitors, the first of whom was Beryl who had accompanied Rose so they could see the progress the new builders were making.

  Opening up the Aga door, Annie inhaled the heady scent of the Christmas cake. With some trepidation, she slowly brought it out. Yes, most of the fruit appeared to have sunk to the bottom but it smelt and looked OK. Hopefully it would taste all right as well.

  ‘Not bad,’ said Beryl, looking over her shoulder. ‘A tot of brandy each week will keep it nice and moist.’

  Annie gave a little sigh of relief that her cake appeared to have passed the test.

  They were just sorting out jars of mincemeat when Rose swanned into the kitchen.

  ‘What do you think?’ she said, twirling around.

  Rose was wearing a long red sparkly jumper over black wide-legged trousers.

  ‘Isn’t that a little young for you, dear?’ asked Beryl, raising her eyebrows.

  ‘Nonsense,’ Rose told her. ‘It’s good to stay young in fashion. Anyway, it’s Primark. Besides, there’s lots of parties coming up and I can’t wear the same thing every time. And there’s the Bonfire Night celebrations this weekend. Talking of which, do you know what happened to my winter jackets, Annie? I’ve got a couple of fake fur ones which I’ll need in the next few weeks.’

  ‘They’re packed away in the garage,’ Annie told her. ‘But I think I can lay my hands on them quite quickly.’

  ‘What a marvel you are,’ said Rose, giving her a quick squeeze.

  But as they were heading outside, Sam was just parking the Range Rover before he and Cassandra climbed out.

  Annie drew in a deep breath, wondering why she had received no warning that the famous singer would be arriving. She was wearing knee-length cream boots, a woollen cream dress and a cashmere cream coat. From her neat platinum bob all the way to her high-heeled boots, she was polished and glamorous. She seemed to gleam in the cold winter sun.

  ‘Hello!’ called out Sam, smiling at them both. He gave Rose a warm hug before turning to face Annie. ‘How are things this morning?’

  ‘Much better,’ she told him, wishing she wasn’t wearing her hair in pigtails. ‘We’ve even got hot water.’

  ‘Excellent,’ he replied.

  She found herself smiling up at him for far longer than was necessary.

  ‘You must be Cassandra,’ said Rose. ‘Nice outfit but a bit of colour would be a good idea,’ she carried on. ‘Otherwise when you stand next to a wall, you’ll disappear, darling.’ Her voice was treacle but Annie noticed Rose flash a look at her nephew.

  A scowl flickered across Cassandra’s face at the insult before it disappeared once more. ‘White is the colour for the winter season,’ she replied coolly.

  ‘I heard it was green this year,’ said Rose, still smiling. ‘According to Vogue. I can show you the latest issue, if you like.’

  ‘We thought we might stay here for the next couple of nights,’ said Sam, quickly interrupting.

  Both of them? Annie’s smiled grew rigid on her face.

  ‘I want to soak up the history of this place,’ drawled Cassandra. ‘Immerse myself in the fabric of Sam’s family.’

  ‘How nice for us,’ cooed Rose.

  ‘And I love the countryside,’ Cassandra carried on. Unfortunately a large magpie at that moment swooped down near to where they stood and Cassandra ran off shrieking, ‘Get it away from me!’

  ‘Oh dear,’ said Rose, shaking her head. ‘One for sorrow.’

  But Cassandra was too busy making her escape to see where she was going and her high heel got stuck in a patch of mud that the builders’ vans had churned up.

  ‘Goddamn it!’ she snapped. ‘Help me!’

  Sam went over to pull up her ankle to free the boot whilst Annie desperately tried to suppress the giggles that threatened to break free.

  Unfortunately at that moment, Cassandra glanced up and caught her amused expression.

  Annie instantly let her face drop but it wasn’t quick enough.

  *

  Whilst Sam took Cassandra inside for a reviving cuppa or perhaps something stronger to offset the shock of the countryside, Annie and Rose carried on their original journey to the garage.

  It was still packed to the rafters with various boxes. Annie had a flashback to being trapped in there with Sam for the whole night. Her vivid imagination unexpectedly prompted her to wonder what else might have happened between them and caused her cheeks to glow pink with heat despite the freezing cold temperature.

  Rose shivered. ‘This is why I need my warm going-out jackets,’ she said, her breath showing in the air.

  Annie headed over to a pile of trunks that she had used to pack away all of Rose’s glamorous clothes collection. She pulled the first one down and opened it but it only held a ton of miniskirts and dresses.

  Rose picked up a black and white skirt. ‘Mary Quant, of course,’ she said. She glanced over at Annie and stared down at her jeans. ‘Right. I’ve decided I can’t bear you in jeans any longer. I’m staging a fashion intervention here. Go behind those boxes and try it on.’

  Annie shook her head. ‘It’s below freezing in here.’

  But Rose wasn’t to be put off. ‘You’re young. You can cope. Go on.’

  Annie rolled her eyes but did as she had been nagged to do and hid behind the boxes. She slipped off her jeans and slid on the tiny skirt.

  ‘It barely covers my bottom,’ she called out.

  ‘Glad to hear it,’ came a deep masculine voice from the other side of the boxes.

  Annie peered around the corner and to her horror saw Sam standing next to Rose.

  ‘Come on,’ said Rose. ‘It’s only us out here.’

  Only Sam to embarrass herself in front of, she thought. So she tugged down the
miniskirt as far as she could and stepped out from her hiding place.

  ‘Fabulous!’ announced Rose, beaming. ‘I knew you were in there somewhere. A young woman of twenty-eight and not of pensionable age. Always dressed in those jeans. You’ve got such a lovely figure. She should show it off, shouldn’t she Samuel?’

  Annie built up the courage to glance across at Sam who was smiling. ‘Absolutely,’ he murmured. And the look in his eyes as he gave her a slow once-over made her blush once more.

  Unfortunately Cassandra arrived at the door at that moment. ‘I was wondering where you had got to, baby.’

  Sam barely glanced around to see his girlfriend as he was still staring at Annie.

  Cassandra looked from Sam to Annie, briefly narrowing her eyes before breaking into a fake smile. ‘That really suits you,’ she said before abruptly turning her back on Annie. ‘Rose, honey, you must show me your fashion collection at some point. And I’ve got some fabulous pieces I’m sure you would love to see.’

  Annie took advantage of the diversion to dash behind the boxes and change back into the safety of her jeans once more.

  *

  Afterwards, Sam helped lift down a few of the heavier trunks for Annie to search through before Cassandra announced she was cold and wanted to return to the main house.

  ‘Not much warmer in there,’ murmured Rose once both Sam and Cassandra had left.

  ‘You don’t like her much, do you?’ asked Annie, opening another trunk.

  ‘You don’t live to my age without getting a feeling about people,’ Rose told her.

  ‘Maybe she had hidden qualities,’ said Annie, pulling out a coat from the tissue paper.

  Rose snorted a laugh. ‘Darling, her qualities are hidden so deep that we’d need one of Mr Reynolds’ diggers to find them. Ah! Here we are!’

  They found the coats that Rose had wanted, as well as a few more that she had forgotten about. Also hidden was a jewellery box that she wanted to take with her as it had some vintage dangly earrings for her party outfits.

  Back in the kitchen and warming up in front of the Aga, Rose lifted out a beautiful tiara from the jewellery box.