The Perfect Match (6 page)

‘I had a very nice time, thank you.’ Alice tried to sound serious but she couldn’t help giggling.

‘Do you want to tell your Auntie Bella all about it? Over a nice cup of cocoa?’

‘If you make me tea I’ll give you edited highlights,’ Alice agreed.

‘So?’ Bella asked a few minutes later. ‘What was so special about him?’

‘He made me laugh!’ said Alice. ‘And he seemed just as interested in me as I was in his life. That’s rare, I find.’

Bella sipped her tea thoughtfully. ‘Yes it is. Very rare.’ She tried to remember when Nevil had shown an interest in her as a person, separate from him. Had he ever?

While Bella locked up and wiped crumbs from the worktop, she reflected that Alice seemed to be having more fun than she was at the moment. If only Dominic hadn’t reappeared in her life, then she’d be happy jogging along with Nevil. But Dominic reminded her of the fireworks love could produce, and seeing Alice obviously enjoying sparklers, if not actual rockets, made her feel discontented and thoughtful.

She looked around at Alice’s lovely kitchen – her eclectic collection of storage jars on the shelf above the Rayburn, the postcards and birthday cards pinned to a spare wall behind the fridge. It revealed her personality and Bella knew that if she and Nevil lived together it wouldn’t be her favourite things that decorated the kitchen, it would be his.

She wondered then what Dominic would be like to live with, and realised with a start that she hadn’t managed to erase her feelings for him quite as thoroughly as she’d thought.

BELLA PUT THE
phone down and rubbed her ear. She was in the office and had just had a very long conversation with a woman who was wondering why she’d had no offers on her house although she’d had a good number of viewings, so Bella had arranged to go over and talk to her about how to make her house more sellable.

She was making notes on just how to do this when Nevil passed her desk.

‘Can you pop into my office for a moment?’ he said.

‘Business or pleasure?’ asked Bella with a twinkle.

‘Oh, you know me – always business! And now, please, I’ve got a lot on.’ But he gave her his charming smile, reminding her why she’d been so attracted to him in the first place.

Bella had managed to put the drinks with Jane Langley and Dominic Thane to one side. She couldn’t help thinking about it, like a hand going to a sore place before you remember you shouldn’t touch it, but she had rationalised it all and concluded that she had done nothing to make Dominic angry, and so she must just put it out of her mind and get on with her life.

Now she picked up a notebook in case it really was business and followed Nevil into his room.

Unusually for him in the office he drew her into his arms. ‘So, how are you? We don’t seem to have seen each other properly for ages!’ he said.

‘You’ve been so busy! We both have.’

‘Then let’s go on a date! I’ll take you out to dinner somewhere nice.’

‘I’d love that!’ said Bella, remembering how much fun Alice had had with the man she’d met on the train. It had been like that when she and Nevil had first got together. Maybe it could be like that again. Maybe they’d go back to his house afterwards.

‘We have lots of catching up to do.’ He kissed her cheek.

‘Is that all you wanted to see me about? Arranging a date? You could have phoned!’

‘I wanted to do it in person.’ He kissed her again and then ran his hands over her body, ending with a squeeze of her bottom. ‘Hmm, definitely plumper than it was.’

Offended but not wanting to show it, Bella wriggled out of his grasp. ‘So when would you like to go out?’

He caught hold of her hand. ‘Tonight suit you? I’m very busy for the rest of the week.’

He looked at her earnestly for a moment and Bella said, ‘Fine,’ and smiled. Just then the phone rang.

‘Oh!’ said Nevil. ‘I must take that.’

‘OK,’ said Bella.

Nevil picked up the phone. ‘Hi there! Can you hang on a minute?’ Then he held the receiver to his chest and made shooing gestures to Bella. Slightly hurt, she left the room.

Why was it that lately, just when she was beginning to feel as if she might fall in love with him completely, Nevil did something that niggled her? She’d been quite busy herself and it was a bit annoying to be summoned to his office when really he just wanted to ask her out. He could have done that at lunchtime – or even sent her an email or text. And he’d been so secretive. He never usually minded her overhearing his telephone conversations.

She walked through the back of the office to the car park thinking. If she’d been completely in love with Nevil any opportunity for them to be together would have been welcome, however inconvenient. But was being in love a sensible condition for an adult in full command of their wits? Probably not. It certainly hadn’t done her any good in the past. That ‘in love’ thing was really a crazy obsession that meant you couldn’t do anything except think about the person you were fixated on. It was more like a horrible virus than an emotion. It didn’t help you make good decisions either and she could only be grateful that her morals meant going after a married man was out of the question. Otherwise she might well have made the most almighty fool of herself. So she wasn’t in love with Nevil in that crazy way, but was that a problem? She sighed. It was probably an advantage. What they had was based on sensible things like companionship and friendship. There was sexual chemistry too, just not an insane amount.

Mrs Macey’s house had originally belonged to her father. She had lived there since she was a bride, over fifty years, she told Bella, and they had not been people to go in for decorating. Their last attempt at updating had been when large brown swirls were the
dernier cri du chic
and no ceiling was complete without Artex swirls to match those on the carpet. It made the already small house look even smaller and darker and altogether very unappealing to the first-time buyer.

In spite of Bella’s most flattering and tactful efforts, Mrs Macey was not open to suggestions about how her chances of selling could be improved but she did accept that no one had made her an offer and wanted Bella to help.

‘What I love about this house is the view!’ said Bella as she walked up the path to the front door where Mrs Macey was standing, arms folded, waiting for her.

‘Well, it’s pretty enough, but people still won’t buy my house.’

‘I promise you, Mrs Macey, when you make a few very minor alterations, they will. People need to be guided in the right direction.’

‘I thought that was your job. You’re supposed to sell my house for me. You’ll be getting enough from me when you do. You think you’d make more effort.’

Bella smiled. She liked a challenge, and Mrs Macey’s house would have a lot going for it if only it wasn’t in such bad decorative order. ‘I’m going to make just a bit more effort and so are you, and between us we’ll get you living with your daughter by Christmas!’ It was rather an ambitious promise but she went with it anyway.

‘Christmas! It’s still only June! I want to be moved by Michaelmas!’

Bella realised that Mrs Macey had never been through the process of selling a house before and didn’t have any idea of how long it could take. She smiled reassuringly. ‘The end of September is rather optimistic and the whole legal thing takes a while, but if you work with me – and a couple of workmen I know – we might just do it.’

Mrs Macey shook her grey head. ‘I’m not spending a fortune on work I’ll never get the benefit from.’

‘Ah, but you will get the benefit! Your house will sell. Now let’s see what really needs to be done.’ Bella decided that Mrs Macey probably preferred straight talking. ‘Have you still got a cat?’

Mrs Macey frowned. ‘My Tibby died last back end,’ she said.

‘But her memory lingers on! I think we need to get rid of all these carpets. They smell. People think the house is damp.’ Without waiting for permission, Bella bent and lifted the corner of the carpet in the hallway. As she’d thought, under it were stone flags. And yes, they were damp.

‘I’m not paying for a new carpet!’ Mrs Macey was weakened but still fighting.

‘You won’t need to down here. People love these flags. We’ll just get rid of all the carpets, give the floor a good wash and put down a couple of rugs. Rag rugs would be best,’ Bella added, her fondness for interior design getting the better of her. With luck they could make the damp look as if it was because the flags had just been washed.

‘I’m too old to go pulling up carpets. And then what would I do with them? I expect if I left them in the garden, to keep the weeds down, you’d say they made the place look untidy!’

Bella smiled again. ‘You’re absolutely right, I would say that. What I suggest is that I get my man in, let him do all the heavy work – take away the carpets, maybe give the place a lick of paint here and there, fix a few things – and you’ll sell this house in a brace of shakes.’

‘And how much would it all cost?’ Mrs Macey was suspicious, especially of estate agents. Everyone knew they were a bad lot.

‘Five hundred pounds, but you’d get that back from the price of the house.’

‘How do you know? How can you be so sure? I don’t want to be here another winter with no carpets, do I?’

‘That won’t happen,’ said Bella, her mental fingers crossed. ‘This house is an undiscovered gem.’ She knew it was – she’d written the details herself.

‘Lots of people have discovered it,’ said Mrs Macey, ‘they just haven’t seen it as a gem.’

‘They will if you go along with my suggestions.’ Bella was genuinely convinced this was true. It was a really lovely cottage, tiny and with no damp-proof course or central heating, but in a lovely spot. It was a perfect love nest for a young couple starting out.

‘You seem very sure of yourself, young lady, but supposing you’re wrong? Supposing someone comes in here and says, “No carpets, I won’t buy it.”?’

Bella became firm. ‘People are mean. If they don’t like the carpets they’ll try and beat you down, make you take less than the asking price. Trust me, less is more.’ It certainly was when you were talking about swirly brown monstrosities that stank. ‘If we work together to get this place shipshape, spend a bit of money on it, it’ll sell—’

‘In a brace of shakes. I know, you told me.’

Bella was in an in-for-a-penny-in-for-a-pound mood. ‘And if you really want a quick sale, you’ll let us get rid of the kitchen.’

Mrs Macey and Bella went into the kitchen together. Broken Formica units the shade of old mustard were topped by piles of saucepans and crockery. An electric cooker with only two plates stood next to a dresser loaded with china animals and a faded dinner service, just too new to be ‘retro’. It was a mess. The best part for Bella was the deep window sill where two old clay pots full of scarlet geraniums stood above the Belfast sink but which was marred by rows of empty jam jars, many of which had dead spiders and flies in them.

When she’d had her clean-up, she’d take new photographs and just have the pots and the deep sill. It could look straight out of
Country Living
magazine.

‘I know it’s hard for you to imagine,’ said Bella. ‘But if you let my man take out all these units, pull up the lino, clean the floor, and just leave your cooker, the sink and a table and chairs and the geraniums, it’ll be snapped up. And I know you’ve got a table upstairs that would do perfectly.’

Mrs Macey muttered, but she hadn’t shown Bella the door yet. Bella pressed on. ‘If we just spent a bit of time and money – not very much of either – you’ll have people fighting each other for it. You might even get more than the asking price!’

As Mrs Macey had been very impressed by the asking price as it was, not having kept up with the rocketing hikes in the market, this appealed to her. ‘Well . . .’

‘Would you like me to talk to your daughter? Maybe you could stay with her while the work is done?’

‘It’s not easy to get there. Her Pete’d have to come and collect me . . .’

‘I’ll drive you!’ said Bella, knowing that Mrs Macey’s daughter lived three-quarters of an hour away. ‘And I’ll make sure everything is all right here while you’re gone.’

At last Mrs Macey was satisfied and the arrangements made. Bella felt a bit sorry for her son-in-law, who probably wasn’t up for having his mother-in-law to stay before the annexe she was to live in was complete, but they’d all appreciate the extra Bella was sure the house could achieve if only a few basic things, including the lingering smell of cat, was dealt with.

Exhausted but content, when she got back to her car Bella pulled out her phone and called the man who would turn Mrs Macey’s house from hovel into extremely desirable cottage full of original features. ‘Jim,’ she said when he answered. ‘How is my absolutely favourite person in the entire world?’

Jim chuckled. ‘I’m busy, Ms Flatterer, how are you?’

‘Well, thank you. I’ve got another job for you. Are you really busy?’

‘I am. Your blokey has got me doing all sorts, but I’ve always got time to fit you in.’

Bella frowned. No one was supposed to know that she and Nevil had a relationship outside the office but apparently they did. She decided to ignore the reference to it. ‘It’s not actually a big job. More getting rid of stuff than joinery.’

‘That should be OK, then. So, how long have you and Nevil been an item, then?’

‘Oh, well, not all that long. And we’re not really an item – it’s very early days.’ This was a lie – they’d got together quite soon after she arrived, but she couldn’t help feeling now that it had been some kind of rebound thing. And emotionally it didn’t feel as if they’d gone beyond the initial attraction. ‘Now, to get back to Mrs Macey’s – it’s a gorgeous little cottage, groaning with original features, hiding under a whole load of tat.’

She went on to detail what was required. Jim gave her a day when he could do the work and Bella made another call to Mrs Macey’s daughter.

As she drove slowly along the lane from Mrs Macey’s house, she thought about the area. Now it was a wooded valley, but once it had been the site of a brick works and the half-dozen houses that overlooked the valley had originally been built for the workers. Before the turn-off to the lane there was a small village green overlooked by a well-respected primary school. A short walk away there was a church and a pub. If only the little hamlet had a shop it would have been the perfect place to live, but shopping still required a car drive of twenty minutes to the nearest small town. But aesthetically it was delightful, and convincing buyers they wanted to live there wouldn’t be difficult.