‘Coming,’ Elle shouted, bounding down the stairs and opening the door to discover Wilson, Jack and Aiden grinning back at her.
‘The cavalry has arrived!’ they all chorused.
Elle was dumbfounded. ‘What are you all doing here?’
Wilson thrust his phone in the air. ‘We are your knights in shining armour!’
Elle was a little suspicious that Wilson had used exactly the same phrase as Pippa. She glanced over her shoulder to see Pippa hovering on the bottom stair, looking rather sheepish.
‘I’m assuming this is your doing?’ She pointed at Pippa, smiling.
‘Absolutely! Thanks, lads. We were beginning to lose the will to live.’
‘We have wallpaper paste, brushes, scissors, gloss, masking tape – oh, and not to mention a bag of chips each for the lovely ladies.’
‘Thank God!’ Elle exclaimed, ushering them inside. ‘But shouldn’t you lot be doing something more exciting on a Saturday night?’
‘Wewerein the pub but we couldn’t leave you to struggle. And then we bumped into Aiden, so we roped him in too,’ said Wilson, stepping inside.
‘Wrong place, wrong time for you then, Aiden.’
‘Luckily for you two, I’ve just finished decorating my own house, so I’ve had a lot of practice.’
Elle smiled gratefully at them. ‘I could kiss you all.’
‘Here you go – chips! Why don’t you two go and devour this lot while they’re still warm and point us in the direction of the room,’ Jack said, handing Elle a white plastic carrier bag. The smell of chips drenched in salt and vinegar was absolutely divine.
‘Thank you! You lot really are our knights in shining armour,’ she replied.
Without any hesitation, Pippa pointed them up the stairs and directed them to the bedroom on the left. They watched as the three of them disappeared before she whisked Elle towards the kitchen, smiling.
‘You’re terrible, Pippa!’ Elle said, laughing as she placed the bag on the table and grabbed a couple of plates.
‘I know,’ she agreed. ‘But they didn’t have to come, did they? They could have pretended they were busy.’ Pippa plonked herself at the kitchen table and began to unwrap the chips.
‘True,’ Elle replied, rattling around in the drawer for knives and forks before sliding a tray across the table towards Pippa. ‘Here you are. Let’s eat in the living room.’
‘I didn’t actually think they would come,’ she admitted, popping a chip into her mouth.
‘Who are you trying to kid?’
Pippa looked up with a wicked glint in her eye.
‘From what I’ve seen – or call it woman’s intuition – I thinkbothWilson and Aiden have a teeny crush on you. I think you knew they would turn up.’
‘Maybe!’
‘What are you up to, Pippa Lawson?’
She arranged her face into an innocent expression. ‘Nothing. I just realised I wasn’t cut out for decorating.’
‘I think that goes double for me. I wouldn’t even climb the ladder!’
Although Pippa hadn’t moved in yet, Elle was already enjoying her company. The house had certainly come alive.
They could hear the sound of activity above and music filtering down the stairs.
‘I love this song,’ said Pippa, as she began to lip-sync to Adele’s ‘Hello’.
