CHAPTER 26
The skip outside Eliza’s house this Saturday afternoon was full to the brim with broken tiles, chunks of plaster, and an awful lot of garden debris. A sign in her front garden told the world the name of the construction company doing the demolition, should they want their house beaten up, too. Eliza had told me it was an extensive renovation, but I hadn’t appreciated the scale until I arrived at the front door.
I knocked on the door, which was ajar, but I was pretty sure nobody was going to hear me over the hammering and drilling coming from close quarters. I called out as I stepped inside, my voice echoing off smooth plastered walls with dangling wires and the occasional punched hole.
I walked past three builders having a coffee and phone break, and spotted Eliza out the back, directly in my eyeline. I walked through the half-installed kitchen and out the bifold doors, to where Eliza stood in what would be an impressive courtyard garden when it was tidied up, but was currently full of excess tiles, a cement mixer, three bikes, and a ton of roofing material.
“I’m not going to do that, and it’s not fair of you to ask me.” Eliza’s voice was firm, with an edge to it I hadn’t heard before.She had her back to me, so it was only when I stepped closer that I realised she was talking on her phone.
I took a tentative step back, not wanting to be caught earwigging.
“I am holding up my side of the bargain. You’re the one going back on what we agreed.” She lowered her voice. “I’ve told you before, I’m not doing that. Especially not now.”
Who was she talking to and who was she talking about? Did it have anything to do with me? All my senses went prickly.
“You know what, I don’t need this. I’ve agreed we’ll speak tomorrow. Just leave me to have my Saturday in peace.” She paused while whoever was on the end of the line said something. “And that’s the reason I am where I am.” Another pause. “Yep, see you then.”
When the conversation ended, she stuffed her phone into the pocket of her baggy jeans, and shook her head.
I wanted to let her know that I was here, but this was a really inopportune moment to announce myself. However, short of teleporting out the door, then coming back in as if I’d heard nothing, that wasn’t about to happen. I cleared my throat.
When I did, Eliza spun around, then clutched her chest.
“Oh my god, it’s you.” She blushed furiously, then glanced over my shoulder. “Did you just arrive?”
I nodded to give her the reassurance she wanted. “Just walked through the door. I shouted, but then I saw you out here.”
She patted her back pocket, and wouldn’t meet my stare. “Right. I didn’t hear you.” She pulled back her shoulders and took a deep breath. “Welcome to my humble abode.”
As well as her baggy jeans, Eliza wore a blue sweatshirt that brought out the colour of her eyes, and was far more casual than her normal style.
She’d clearly been on site many times, and knew what to wear. I was the numpty who’d shown up in black jeans, and was surely going to leave with them covered in a thick layer of dust. There was already dust in Eliza’s hair, along with a smudge of something dark across her cheek. Maybe she’d fare better out of the rat race than I’d given her credit for.
I pushed aside my unease as much as I could. If I’d turned up five minutes later, I wouldn’t have heard what I did. Eliza could speak to whoever she wanted. This was her house, and her life. When it came down to it, we were work colleagues, who had sex once a month at weekends.
Which was a hugely depressing description of our relationship.
We walked back into the half-finished kitchen, and I fished in my bag and handed over the Farrow & Ball paint charts that I’d told her I’d drop off this morning, now she was back from Scotland. I’d redecorated my own flat using them last year.
“Thanks for bringing these around, I appreciate it.” She placed them on a pile of flat bags of concrete currently serving as a makeshift table.
“No problem. They might have changed the colours a bit since last year, but the key ones will still be the same.” I glanced around. “I know you said you were renovating, but this is something else.”
She stood, and gestured around the space. “It needed it, there was a lot of damage. Plus, this whole downstairs was a series of smaller rooms. I took it back to brick, opened it up, extended as you can see, and put in more glass and an island.”
Even though I knew the project was due to finish in a couple of months, it was still hard to visualise completely. Max was once a property developer, which meant this didn’t faze Eliza as she’d grown up around it. It’s probably why she was so unflappable inbusiness, too. Eliza knew she could take on projects, break them down into smaller pieces, and get them done.
Was that how she was viewing me? Charming me, getting me into bed, softening me up so her dad could buy the company and profit big time?
My heart told me not to be ridiculous. She wasn’t a money-grabbing thief.
Yet my head and my mother’s warning told me to tread with care. I itched to ask about the phone call, but knew I wouldn’t.
“When I started this, I was hoping this was going to be the place I could call home, you know?” Her voice was quiet, delicate. “Somewhere I can be who I really am, away from my dad and all his expectations. But lately, I’ve been thinking maybe I need to move further away, make a proper break. I could rent this out or sell it. Start again.”
My eyebrows shot up, but my stomach filled with a thousand pebbles. “You’re thinking of moving? But I thought you were excited about this house.”
And what about us?
