‘Great. I’ll be waiting on the edge of my seat to hear from you.’
James managed – with a fifty-dollar bribe – to convince the men to hold off for a few minutes on beginning the marquee erection.
Then he found and speed-read the party-related notes. Okay. Amy was Dina’s daughter and she was turning eighteen today – Dina must have been very young when she had her – and on Saturday evening she was having a big birthday party in the marquee that was about to be erected in Cassie’s field. The only access to the field was via Cassie’s, or James’s – depending on how you looked at it – garden, or by boat; and if he didn’t want things to be delivered via the garden he should let Cassie know as soon as he arrived, so that she could organise for the deliveries to be made by boat, but she’d be incredibly grateful if they could use the garden, which would barely inconvenience James at all and would be cheaper.
There would be caterers. There would be portable toilets. There would be several hundred guests in total, because a lot of the islanders would be coming plus other friends. And James would be a very welcome guest at the party.
And she had another party planned for this summer. Laura’s eightieth.
Right. If he was honest, James didn’t really mind about there being a party in the field or about his garden being used for access. If you’d asked him before he got here or even at the weekend, he wouldn’t have been happy at the thought of having his peace shattered and having to spend a lot of time with his neighbours, but as it turned out he wasn’t loving the solitude thing, so, no, he didn’t mind enormously.
Hedidmind, though, about the principle that she hadn’t told him in advance about either the Wi-Fi or the party hosting. Was he going to get any more unpleasant surprises?
He went back outside and told the men that they were welcome to go ahead, and then he called Cassie back.
‘Hi. So, I’m not convinced it’s okay to rent a house to someone and then, after they’ve signed on the dotted line, in factarrived, tell them that they’re throwing an enormous, or indeed even a very small, party,’ he said.
There was a very long pause. He was not going to fill it. Silence was always the best negotiation tactic.
Eventually, Cassie said, ‘The party’s in the field, which is not part of the rental agreement although obviously you can use it if you wish, and I left the notes asking you to let me know if you didn’t want to allow access through the garden as then they would have brought it by boat. And while you might not want to attend or listen to a loud party at that proximity to the house, it isn’tthatclose, and it isn’t on the land you have rented and there are big events in venues in relatively close proximity to your flat hereall the time. Like both the parks.’ Oh, please.
‘I’m sorry but that’s a ridiculous comparison. You go to London, you expect noise. You come to an island in the middle of nowhere, you expect silence. I mean, obviously.’
‘What, so people on islands don’t have parties? You’d complain if your neighbour threw a party?’
‘Maybe.’ What James should probably do now was readallher notes, find out to what extent it could be argued he was in the wrong. ‘Okay. Well, I’ve told the men to go ahead with the installation.’
‘Kind of you.’Verysarky. ‘Bye then.’
The notes were incredibly long. It took way longer to read them than it took to erect a large marquee on a somewhat uneven and still wet field. James took a break from the notes to see the men off and then got back to them.
On paper, Cassie was warm and friendly. Like she’d been during their few amicable phone conversations. Funny, too. And remarkably loquacious. You wouldn’t think one person could have so many mini-anecdotes about their home and one smallish island. Or that all the anecdotes would be enjoyable to read. He almost wanted to meet some of the people she’d written about.
He should probably call her back.
‘Hi.’
‘I read the notes a little too fast initially and I missed the bit about the party. Apologies. Obviously I’m happy for it to go ahead and I’ll keep an eye out for the catering deliveries.’
‘You didn’t read them at all before, did you?’
‘No? In my defence they’re extensive and I’m not a big reader.’
‘You don’t read work stuff?’
‘Yes, I do, but I don’t read for leisure. Anyway. I’m trying to thank you for leaving them for me. I enjoyed reading them and thanks for taking the time to write them.’
‘Okay, well, no problem.’ Sounded as though she was smiling.
Mid-afternoon, he decided that he’d better go and check on Laura. Strangely, he didn’t object that much now to visiting her. Too much solitude could get to you.
There was no doorbell at Laura’s. James banged hard on the door. It opened way faster than usual.
‘Hey, James.’ It was Dina. This was the first time he’d seen her inside. She was even more attractive when she wasn’t soaking wet in a field. ‘How are the animals? And have you made any progress on the Wi-Fi? Laura and I were just talking about you.’
James nodded. It was apparent that the arrival of a stranger on the island was big news.
‘Come through.’ She turned round and led the way to the kitchen at the back of the house.
