Aware that he was busy and it was very kind of him to try to find her somewhere for her loom, Helena said, ‘When is good for you?’
‘Now, actually. I could start another job but then I’m due over at another part of my vast empire.’ His tone was expressionless and it made Helena smile.
‘I could do now too. Just let me get a jacket. It’s still not warm, is it?’
A few minutes later she swung herself up into his pickup.
‘It’s not far, we could walk really, but we’re both busy,’ he said. ‘It’s an old barn I’m converting. But it’s not a priority – haven’t currently got the cash to do it up.’
‘I’m never sure about barn conversions,’ said Helena. ‘How on earth do you heat them? They’ll never be cosy with the heat going straight up to the rafters, which would get dusty and be hell to clean.’
He laughed. ‘You’re probably right about the rafters, but underfloor heating solves the other problem. This’ll have a wood burner as well. For the look of it really. When I’ve finished, it’ll be energy neutral, more or less.’
‘Oh, very green!’
‘I try to be. I hope to sell this one for loads of money and then I can reinvest in some more affordable housing.’
‘Very philanthropic,’ she said, but more seriously this time.
‘I try to be,’ he repeated.
Helena glanced across at him and caught him looking suddenly very serious. There was a glint of real determination in his expression. She looked out of the window quickly. There was something behind the jolly-builder exterior of Jago she didn’t want to disturb.
He pulled back a large sliding door to a substantial barn. It was empty of agricultural trappings but although there was a wooden floor and staircase, indicating where the bedrooms would be, the rest was still as it had been when it had been a working building.
‘So you see, it’s a work in progress,’ he said. ‘You could put your loom in here in return for a bit of lime mortaring.’ He indicated the huge gable end of the barn.
‘Just a bit. Can’t you plaster it?’
‘I could but people love a bit of exposed stone and I’m building to sell here.’
‘I think too much exposed stone makes it look like a prison,’ said Helena, aware she might be doing herself out of a work space.
‘I like to give buyers a certain amount of choice. I’d need to point it anyway. Those gaps in the stone need filling, whatever the final finish is.’
‘It’s a big space!’
‘Too big?’ he asked. ‘I’ve got industrial heaters you can use if you feel cold.’
‘Summer is on its way – they tell us – and if I could just be in here until I’ve done enough work for my big exhibition that would be great.’
‘Presumably it takes a while to set the loom up?’
She nodded. ‘It does. But as I insisted on having a large loom instead of just the small ones that Amyhas, I have to pay the price. I can do much bigger stuff on a large loom.’
‘I haven’t met Amy yet. I’ve been remiss as a landlord.’
She laughed. ‘We must make a plan so we can get together. If I don’t do it, she will! And when she’s met you, we can tell her, and for the moment her only, that we’re an item. I can’t wait to see her reaction!’
Helena couldn’t help feeling relieved that she had seen Jago before Amy had. Whoever Amy had her sights on just this minute may well have not got a look in had she seen Jago.
Chapter Seven
‘Mrs Claire? It’s Leo Simmons, the house valuer.’
Gilly wouldn’t have admitted to anyone how excited she was to hear Leo’s voice at the other end of her landline, a couple of days after he had valued the house – and not because she was desperate to know the value.
‘Gilly, please. Hello, Leo.’
