Alex snorted. ‘I don’t really entertain.’
Ellie turned to face him, trying to read his reaction. ‘But do you want to?’
He looked out at the harbour and then back at her. ‘Not really, that time of my life is over. But I can imagine living here. It reminds me of my New York place.’
‘Well, that’s good, right?’
‘It’s a maybe…’
‘Talk to me,’ said Barbara as they approached her at the apartment’s entrance.
‘It’s a possibility,’ said Alex.
‘Well, there’s only one left on our list, but it’s a cracking property and in your first-choice area. Spitalfields.’
Ellie sniggered at the now-blushing Alex and dared to swat his arm once more. Yep, still like a muscly block of granite.
‘In my defence, you made it sound so great.’ He shrugged.
They arrived outside a neo-Georgian townhouse that looked stunning with its arches, orange-red brick and huge black-leaded windows. The road it was nestled in was one of those sleepy side streets that you don’t realise exist in London until you happened to get lost and find one.
This was Ellie’s dream home – if she ever allowed herself to dreamthisbig.
‘Now, this home is bursting at the seams with original features, but also has a real liveable feel. I know one of your requirements was to have a house with a sense of history, but this isn’t austere like the first house I showed you,’ said Barbara, who seemed to instinctively know that Ellie was already falling in love with this building. She nodded with approval at Ellie’s gasp when they entered the beautiful square-tiled entrance with its sweeping staircase.
They walked through the house slowly, almost reverently. Each room was decorated in warm neutrals, but filled with unique and vibrant artwork that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Tate Modern.
Ellie hadn’t seen this brochure. Perhaps it had been at the bottom of the pile, waiting patiently for its time to shine.
A family home.
The ground-floor rooms had wooden floors, original cosy fireplaces, a large farmhouse kitchen and a dining area with gorgeous windows looking out onto a mature courtyard garden, which even had a rope swing attached to a crab apple tree in its centre. The bedrooms were all spacious; even the smallest bedroom was huge, and was currently set up as a nursery. After a quick, awkward glance in, they moved on; Ellie didn’t dare look at Alex.
As they walked from room to room, both she and Alex were silent for the first time that day.
There were five floors in total, the top one being a huge room with bi-folding doors onto a roof terrace, which when opened – as they were now – gave stunning views of Christ Church’s spire. When they reached it, they paused and stared at the sunny rooftops of London and the spires in the distance. Alex spoke first.
‘It’s perfect, but I don’t think I’m ready for this. I mean, I was… But not now.’
She was surprised by the hot stinging in her eyes. Her heart was a dead weight in her chest. ‘I understand.’
And she did.
Except, this was something shewasready for. She’d just not met her forever person yet, and increasingly wondered if she ever would. Her heart was so filled with longing, she could have sworn it was tearing at the seams. She wanted a family, a partner, someone to grow old with. A quick sidelong look at Alex’s pained, handsome profile made those seams tear a little wider.
There was nothing worse than having a dream ripped apart.
And they both knew the bitterness of that first hand.
‘So, perhaps the bachelor pad?’ she asked.
‘Perhaps.’ Alex turned towards her with sudden enthusiasm. ‘Shall I ask Barbara to make an offer on your flat in Point Clear?Unless you want me to buy you this… I mean, I can tell you like it—’
‘No!’ Ellie jolted as if she’d been punched awake. ‘There’s no way I could afford the bills for this place. Plus, it’s a family home…’
‘So, flat four it is?’
Ellie took a deep breath. They’d been back and forth over text about the available flats in Point Clear, the building her ideal flat was in. She’d already viewed the building a hundred times with Hannah or on her own. Every time something had come up for sale she’d viewed it, so she knew the building inside and out. Two flats were currently on the market, and Alex had wanted her to get the larger one, flat four – the one she’d originally wanted to buy with Hannah. ‘The one-bed is plenty of room for me, and it will be far more manageable bills-wise.’
