by CJ Morrow
‘Yes, it’s all about the packaging.’ Hal smiled and finally the penny dropped for Ella.
‘I’ve told you, I cannot sell it. I cannot make a profit from it. I have to respect the spring. I was specifically told that I cannot bottle it and sell it.’ Ella looked into Hal’s eyes, they were blank for a second or two then he smiled. God he looked gorge, his warm brown eyes bored into her soul. Ella shook herself.
‘Who says?’ Hal said.
‘It’s part of the covenant, one of the rules.’ Ella’s stomach rumbled as her tagliatelle arrived. ‘Mmm, this looks good.’
‘Covenant, rules, these things can be challenged. We can get my law man on it. You’re sitting on a goldmine there, Ella.’
Law man? Did he mean solicitor? ‘I’ll be fine for money once I move in and the inheritance goes into my account.’ Ella took a large mouthful of pasta, it was so good, the sauce was so creamy and tomatoey. ‘This tastes as good as it looks.’
‘You have tomato sauce on your chin,’ Hal said. He leaned over and wiped it with his napkin. Ella smiled her thanks and blushed with embarrassment; at least he hadn’t let her sit there all evening with a saucy chin.
‘I’ll talk to my law man about it,’ he said again, cutting into his steak. ‘We can be partners.’
Ella’s heart leapt, what did he just say?
‘I’ll provide the business expertise, the marketing solutions, the branding, the strapline, our unique offering and you can supply the water.’ He laughed as though he’d just told a joke. So he meant business partners. Stupid Ella.
‘I’ll think about it,’ Ella said, not wanting to spoil what might be going on between them.
Hal looked at her, his mouth formed a thin smile then he leaned over and took her hand, brought it up to his mouth. Ella’s stomach did a little flip.
‘Don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth, Ella,’ he laughed. ‘I’m sure we can work out this covenant thing. You could be a very rich woman.’
Ella smiled back at him, he still had hold of her hand and she liked it, she just wasn’t too sure about selling the spring water. And as for being rich, financially she had more money than she’d ever expected to have and a potentially lovely home – even she was beginning to realise Spring Cottage could be amazing.
‘Well, you know what I’ve been doing all day, what about you,’ Ella said, keen to change the subject.
‘I’ve been securing the finance for my latest venture, just a few more things to finalise then we’ll be ready to roll.’
‘What was that again? You did tell me.’
‘It’s a spa, as I said, run down but a great deal of potential. There’s a small hotel attached to it, so we’ll be able to offer what Phoebe calls Stay and Spray.’ He finished his steak and called the waiter over to remove the plates.
‘Stay and Spray. What’s that?’
‘Hen parties, even stag dos. A few nights accommodation, the girlies get their nails and faces done and a spray tan, hence Stay and Spray.’ Hal stopped for a moment, looked away, thinking. ‘Hey, maybe we’ll get a tattoo artist in for the stags. I need to think of a catchy phrase for that, or get Phoebes on it.’
‘Ink and Stink,’ Ella said, thinking aloud.
‘Ha. Maybe not,’ Hal said, ‘I think you’d definitely better leave the marketing to me.’ He topped up his glass from the blue water bottle. ‘So, what are your plans for tomorrow?’ Hal said.
‘More of the same, the cavalry will be over to help; they’ve been great. And I need to see about a builder. Oh, can you recommend anyone?’
‘Yes, I’m sure I can. He got his phone out, started flicking through his contacts. I’ll message you the info.’
In the car on the way home Ella fought hard to suppress her yawns; she was so tired. All this physical work was exhausting; she wondered how on earth the cavalry found the energy.
At the top of the stairs Hal stopped outside Ella’s door. He smiled. She smiled. And he waited. Ella wondered if he was going to kiss her goodnight – that would be nice.
‘We didn’t have coffee,’ Hal said, prompting Ella.
‘Ah. Right. Do you mind if I don’t invite you in. My place is small and a bit of a mess.’
Hal didn’t look offended. He reached for her hand and pulled her close. ‘Another time,’ he said. ‘I’d invite you upstairs but Phoebe’s there.’
‘That’s okay, I’m so tired anyway. All this cleaning and painting.’
Hal pulled her in closer. Looked into her face and kissed her. It was really rather nice and this time Ella wasn’t grubby and smelly.
‘Good night. Sleep tight,’ he said. ‘And let me know how you get on with the builders. Make sure to mention my name.’
Once in bed, Ella got her phone out and went through the three builders’ numbers Hal had sent her. It was too late to ring them now, but first thing tomorrow morning, before she even left for Spring Cottage, she’d call them.
She got into bed with a smile on her face; things were starting to come together. Then she thought about Sam and the silly row they’d had. How was she going to resolve that? She couldn’t just let Sam slip out of her life over a silly bit of jealousy. She just couldn’t.
Ella was up early, dressed in her boiler-suit-turban combo and on the phone as soon as the clock hit eight-thirty. She left voice mails for the first two builders but struck lucky with the third – a real person answered the phone. She gave a brief outline of the work involved, explained how she was there all day, every day, so available whenever he needed to come round to assess the work and the builder sounded really interested.
‘I know that village,’ he said. ‘Old Gilbert Jessop’s firm usually does all the jobs there. I heard he was laid up.’
‘Yes,’ Ella said, grateful for the get out. ‘He’s broken his leg in three places.’
‘Ouch. That must be tough for him. Okay, I can come round this afternoon; otherwise it’ll be over a week ‘cos we’re starting another job tomorrow. Three be okay with you?’
‘That’d be fab,’ Ella said smiling to herself. Sod you Nathan Jessop.
‘Where did you get my name from?’ the builder asked. ‘Was it out of the Gazette? I only ask so I know what advertising works.’
‘No. No. A friend gave it to me. Hal,’ Ella said, then realised that she didn’t actually know his surname.
‘Hal. Not Hal Heddington?’
‘Might be,’ Ella said. ‘Sorry, I don’t know his surname.’
There was a silence, then, ‘Sorry love, I’ve just checked my dates again. Even if I price it up today I won’t be able to start it for six months or more.’
‘Oh.’
‘So there’s not much point in me coming really. Sorry.’ He ended the call without another word and left Ella standing open mouthed staring at her phone.
But there wasn’t any time to dwell on it because her phone started to ring – maybe he’d changed his mind. But it wasn’t him; it was one of the builders she’d left a voicemail for. She went through the same description of the work to be done and agreed a time, eleven that morning.
She made the bed, folded it back into a sofa and tidied up, just in case Hal popped round – she wasn’t going to get caught again. She was on her way out when her phone rang again, but it wasn’t the other builder she’d left a voicemail for, it was the letting agent. She told her that the landlord wasn’t prepared to accept such short notice and Ella would have to pay for the extra month that the flat would sit empty.
‘I’m sorry,’ the agent said. ‘It was always at the landlord’s discretion and it is on the letting agreement.’
‘I know. It’s just I’m so short of cash at the moment.’ Ella could hear the sigh in her own voice. She’d be moving out soon, at least it would give her plenty of time to clean the place up and make sure she got her full deposit back. And, once she moved into Spring Cottage her inheritance would come through.
Just as Ella was getting into her car her phone rang again.
&n
bsp; ‘Call central,’ Ella said, expecting it to be the third builder this time, but it wasn’t. It was Tiffy.
As a result of Tiffy’s phone call Ella arrived at Spring Cottage much later than she had planned. She felt a little bit disappointed that the cavalry weren’t queuing up outside like they had been the previous day. They’d probably given up and gone home.
She walked up the path with the keys in her hand but just as she reached it, Walt opened the front door from inside.
‘Young Ella. At last.’ He stepped aside to let her in. ‘Hope you don’t mind, the kitchen door wasn’t locked so we’re getting on with the jobs.’
‘Oh God. With all that water everywhere I must have forgotten.’
‘Not to worry. It meant we could get in.’
‘I’m so sorry I’m late. I expected to be early but I’ve had one phone call after another.’ She didn’t tell Walt about the landlord’s meanness, or about Tiffy’s odd call. ‘And I’ve got a builder coming round at eleven.’
‘Twelve,’ Walt corrected. ‘Look we’ve started on the back sitting room, or will you be using it as a dining room?’ He laughed.
‘You can’t have found another pot of white paint,’ Ella said, seeing that they had painted the ceiling and two walls already. ‘I’m going to reimburse you as soon as I can afford it. I cannot have you subsidising the materials as well as the doing all this work.’
‘All this work is keeping us young,’ Walt joked. ‘You pay me back when you can.’
‘What did you say about the builder coming at twelve?’ Ella said, going back to the previous conversation and wondering how and why he’d contacted Walt.
‘I saw Nathan in The Giddy Goat last night, agreed the time. Hope that’s all right, young Ella.’
‘Well,’ Ella began, looking into Walt’s earnest face. ‘I’ve got someone else coming at eleven.’
‘Oh he won’t like that.’ Walt turned away and picked up his paintbrush.
‘I don’t care whether Nathan likes it or not. It’s my cottage and I’ll decide who does the work. I’m going to ring and cancel him.’ Ella shuddered at the thought of Nathan telling her what needed doing. She fished her phone out of her bag. ‘I can’t believe this, the battery’s flat. That’s Tiffy’s fault. Has anyone got a charger?’ Ella looked around the room, the old ladies carried on humming and Walt shook his head.
‘Not one that’ll fit that phone,’ he said, without even looking at it.
Ella went into the kitchen to find Edna baking a cake in the old range cooker. ‘That smells lovely. Have you got a charger I could borrow? My phone’s gone dead.’
Edna glanced over at Ella’s phone and shook her head. ‘Cake’ll be ready in about ten minutes. Then I need to let it cool. I think we could be eating it after our soup.’
‘Well can I borrow your phone? I need to cancel Nathan. I don’t want him turning up here.’
Edna turned back, smiled then looked beyond Ella.
‘I think it’s best to let Nathan come. You’ll need more than one quote anyway.’ Walt’s voice said from behind her. Her voice was a flat monotone.
‘Okay,’ Ella heard herself say and although she was annoyed at giving in so meekly she didn’t have the heart to argue with Walt.
‘Good. That’s settled then. Let’s get on.’ Walt was instantly back to his normal cheery self.
The next hour went very quickly, Edna’s cake came out of the oven, the men were dispatched to the garden to see what could be salvaged and dig up the rest, and the builder arrived to see Ella.
‘I’m Jim Scott,’ he said, shaking Ella’s hand.
She welcomed him in, showed him around Spring Cottage, explained about the precarious plumbing, the probable rewire, the kitchen and bathroom refit and asked what else he would recommend. He had some ideas about knocking some downstairs room together, which hadn’t occurred to Ella. She wasn’t too sure about that.
‘Let me show you the cellar,’ Ella said, looking round for the keys, she was sure she’d left them in the kitchen. ‘All the water is supplied by the spring below so you’ll need to see it.’
Jim Scott stood patiently waiting in the hallway while Ella called out to ask if anyone knew where the keys were. Finally one of the cavalry found them in the bathroom. Ella had no idea how they had got upstairs.
She selected the correct key and turned the lock, turned the knob but the door wouldn’t open. She called Walt, he tried – rather half-heartedly Ella thought – then shook his head and made a ‘can’t help’ face. Jim Scott had a go too, but nothing worked; the cellar door was stuck fast.
‘This door has a mind of its own,’ Ella muttered as she made another unsuccessful attempt.
‘Let me try,’ Nathan’s voice said from behind her.
Ella spun round. Was it twelve already? She had one more futile go at the door, then stood aside and waved Nathan towards it. She stood with her arms folded and dared the door to open.
‘There you go,’ Nathan said, opening it with ease.
Ella glared at him. He smiled back, but it wasn’t a warm smile.
‘You’re Gilbert’s lad,’ Jim said, recognising Nathan. ‘I’m Jim Scott.’ Jim held out his hand to Nathan. ‘How’s he doing? I heard he took a fall,’ he said as they shook.
‘He did. He’s on the mend now, thanks’
‘You here to quote for this job?’
‘Yes.’
‘Not much point me continuing then, is there.’ He turned to Ella. ‘You’ll go with Gilbert’s lad, so I won’t waste any more of my time.’ He turned to walk out the door.
‘Hey,’ Ella called after him. ‘But we haven’t finished. I’m not going with Nathan. I want you to quote,’ she called as Jim reached his car. She ran up to him. ‘Please, I want you to quote.’
‘Look. There’s not much point. I shouldn’t have come out here. I only came because Gilbert is off sick, I didn’t realise his lad was back.’ He got in his car and drove away, leaving Ella standing on the pavement, her mouth gaping. ‘What is this?’ she muttered. ‘Builders’ mafia?’ A question she repeated when she went back into the cottage to find everyone, including Nathan, in the kitchen sitting down to soup. No one answered her question but Nathan did at least laugh.
‘Sit here, Ella,’ Walt said, patting the empty seat between him and Nathan.
She glanced up and down the table; there was nowhere else to sit. Short of taking the chair away and putting it on a corner – which would have looked petty – she had no choice.
The cavalry chatted to Nathan about his dad’s health, how the building business was going and then about his music.
‘Did you know that Nathan’s a musician?’ one of the old ladies said. ‘He did a song or two in The Giddy Goat this week.’
‘I bet he did,’ Ella said. ‘I’ve heard him perform before.’
‘You’ve never heard me sing,’ Nathan said, helping himself to another bowlful of soup.
‘I’ve heard your songs. I’ve heard your words, even if you get others to sing them.’
‘Talking of Charlie, I hear that you have upset Sam.’ Nathan tore off a hunk of bread.
‘Actually, she upset me. So get your facts right. Though I don’t know what it’s got to do with you.’
The rest of the table went silent. Eyes flicked between Ella and Nathan. Ella felt uncomfortable. Nathan carried on mopping his soup bowl out with bread.
‘Anyone for cake?’ Edna said. ‘Fresh baked this morning in Ella’s very own oven.’
Nathan had two pieces, then he finished Ella’s off when she couldn’t quite manage it all. Ella couldn’t imagine sophisticated Hal eating someone else’s leftovers.
Everyone got up from the table; lunch had taken over an hour, mostly because they all seemed to be fawning over Nathan.
‘Let’s get this done,’ Ella said. ‘Let’s start in the cellar since you’re the only one who can open it today.’ She stomped down the stairs and Nathan followed her.
Ella headed t
owards the cupboard so that she could lift the hatch and show him the water, but Nathan headed off to the far side of the cellar, pressed the wall then lifted a panel out. Behind it were an array of pipes and valves.
‘I didn’t know that was there.’ Ella peered over his shoulder as Nathan inspected the pipe work.
‘And now you do,’ he said.
Ella made a face to the back of his head.
He pulled a little torch out of his pocket and shone it into the recess to get a good look, then got down on his hands and knees to inspect the pipes further.
‘I can’t be completely sure until I test it properly, but this pipe work is looking good. I think my dad replaced this about ten years ago, so it should be okay.’ He stood up. ‘The rest of the house is a different story, I think.’ He moved across to the stairs.
‘Do you want to see the spring, or not,’ Ella said, her voice sounded horribly sulky.
‘I might as well while I’m down here. But I can tell it’s good by everyone’s perky faces. It came through to my parents’ cottage this morning. It’s tasting pretty sweet. My mum was feeding jugs of it to my dad.’ He laughed and shook his head.
Ella didn’t know what to say to that.
She shot the bolts and cranked up the hatch. Beneath them the waters swirled. They both stepped to the rim and looked in.
‘It’s calm down there today,’ Ella said, inhaling the spring’s sweet aroma. ‘When I showed it to my…’ she hesitated, ‘friend yesterday it shot a big angry spout out.’
‘At you or your friend?’
Ella frowned at Nathan. ‘I don’t think it was at anyone,’ she snapped, turning back to wind the hatch back down.
They went upstairs next; Nathan inspected the electric switches and what he could see of the wiring. He went up in the loft via a tiny hatch above the stairs while Ella held onto the ladder he had brought in from his van.
‘Come up and have a look,’ he called. ‘The underside of the thatch is amazing.’
‘No thanks,’ Ella shouted back, thinking of the spiders and God knows what else that might be up there.
