I sighed. “And why your parents love it.”
In one hundred metres, turn right, the satnav suddenly instructed.
“Does that mean we’re here?” I asked. Straightening myself up in my seat and wishing I hadn’t been forced to spend most of the journey with my head out of the window, I raised a hand to smooth down my windswept hair.
Leo flicked on his indicator, and we took a sharp right onto a narrow lane. Wide enough for just one car, we wound down towards the sea. “We certainly are,” Leo replied with a smile.
As the house came into view, it looked nothing like the one Leo and his brother had talked about. Apparently, when Grace and Bill had originally purchased the property, there hadn’t been much thatch left so it was basically roofless. The exterior paintwork had long faded to a dirty dull grey, while the windows and doors had been boarded up to protect the inside from the elements. Not that there had been anything to protect. After years of abandonment, the interior walls had turned green as damp and mould took hold. There was no garden as such, merely an overgrown plot.
“I can’t believe this used to be a wreck,” I said.
“Me neither.” Leo had seen some of Grace and Bill’s photographs from before works started and during. Plus, he’d had the odd tour via video call. But as we turned off the lane and pulled onto the drive next to the newly renovated garage, it was clear neither had done the place justice and Leo’s face lit up as much as mine.
The roof, which appeared strong had been completely rethatched, while the house’s exterior was painted a brilliant white. The window frames and hardwood porch door were a vivid red and the plot was now a proper garden with flowers beds that bloomed bright with helenium, astrantia, and verbascum.
“Oh. My. Word,” I said. Best of all was the house’s view – a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree vista of the Atlantic Ocean. The wind whipped my hair around my face as I climbed out of the car for a better look, but pushing it away, I didn’t care. Listening to the crashing of the waves, I was entranced.
“Isn’t that something,” Leo said, leaving Otis on the back seat while he joined me.
I felt his arm wrap around my shoulders as we stood there for a moment, soaking up the sight and roaring sound.
“This place is incredible,” Leo said.
“Stunning,” I said.
“Thank the Lord, you’re here!” a woman’s voice called out.
We spun round to see Grace racing out of the cottage door, her arms outstretched ready to greet us. She wore scruffy baggy jeans and a loose-fitting sweater that hung lower at one side, and her long grey hair was tied up into a bun. “Leo,” she said, through the biggest of smiles. Throwing herself at him, she squeezed him in a tight embrace. She, at last, stepped back to take a good look at him. “I see this young lady’s been looking after you.”
He smiled, before giving me a wink. “It’s more like the other way around, Mum.”
Turning her attention to me, Grace wrapped me in a welcoming hug. “And that’s just the way it should be,” she said. “It’s so lovely to meet you in person at last, Tess.”
“Son!” Bill appeared in the doorway. Rushing out to join us, he too encircled his arms around first Leo and then me. “It’s good to finally have you here. Both of you.”
“It’s great to be here, Dad,” Leo said. “Although I am wondering what’s happened to you both?” He mock frowned at Bill’s woolly hat that struggled to contain his wild grey curls. He took in his dad’s paint-splattered overalls, and sturdy black boots, before turning to his mum and raising his eyebrow at her choice of dress. “It seems the house isn’t the only thing around here to undergo a transformation.”
I stopped myself from laughing. According to Leo, Bill was once a suited and booted kind of chap. While Grace used to have blonde hair and wore the full works when it came to make-up.
“Cheeky,” Grace said. “You can’t shift that lot in a pair of high heels.” She pointed to a huge mound of peat that sat next to the garage we’d parked by.
“It’s a different way of life out here,” Bill said. “There’s always work to be done.”
“Worth it though,” I said, looking out to sea once more.
“You can say that again,” Bill said. “Beats shuttling back and forth to Leeds every day, I can tell you.”
Leo had explained that before their retirement, Bill had been a city IT expert, while his mum had owned a successful hair salon.
“What about you, Grace?” I asked. “Do you miss your work?”
She indicated her surroundings. “What do you think?”
Otis whined. He bounced up and down on the back seat, prompting Leo to lift the boot lid. Otis clambered over the headrests and jumped out to freedom, while Leo pulled out our bags.
“Come on. Let’s get you both settled,” Bill said, ushering us inside.
Entering through the porch, I couldn’t help but admire what Bill and Grace had achieved. “This is gorgeous,” I said. A staircase to the right led upstairs, while the rest of the space made up Grace and Bill’s main living areas. The ceilings were double height, showing off some of the original beams and the white walls, wooden window lintels, and slate floor were perfect for the old cottage.
