How are you doing with it all now?she asks, because she remembers that he’s still having to deal with all the gossip and speculation in their wider friendship group.
I don’t let it get to me.
Yes, she believes that. He’s dependable, solid, but not in a boring way. She finds him anything but boring. He’s a safe pair of hands. Someone who can take care of the person they’re with, if how he’s been by her side for the last couple of months is anything to go by. She hopes things won’t change when she finally goes home.
Home …
She flops back on her bunk and stares at the ceiling. Her return flight is booked for May. How can she last another four, almost five, months without seeing him face to face?
She raises the phone above her face and typesI miss you.
Likewise.
She sighs, and happiness seeps through her body like warm caramel. And as her eyes drift over the different bubbles that make up their most recent conversation, an idea forms in her mind. A solution.
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
Present Day
I’m just hiding my wedding binder back in the wardrobe when I hear a crash from downstairs and a shout.
I run out of the annexe, across the hall, and down the stairs to the lower level. ‘Gil? Is everything okay?’
There are only three doors down here. The first one is old and sturdy and locked when I try it. The second room is empty, bar some truly ugly carpet in an aggressive shade of orange. I find Gil in the third room, staring at a pile of wood on the floor.
He stares at the pile of wood, then up at me. ‘Bugger.’
‘What is it?’ I ask.
‘A bookcase,’ Gil replies.
‘Not any more,’ I say, and then I can’t help myself – I start laughing. I know it’s horrible, that he might have hurt himself and I’m being incredibly insensitive, but then Gil laughs too. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh like this before – not a short huff of agreement, but a full-bellied rumble. When I accidentally let out a snort, it only makes us both laugh harder.
I’m still getting it all out of my system when Gil sobers and starts picking up pieces of wood and stacking them against a side wall.I can now see that there are holes in the wall above a row of cabinet doors that stretch down one whole side of the room, probably about fifteen feet. I also spot some ugly gouges in the wall, some still containing Rawlplugs, and realize this was probably on its way to being a stunning built-in storage cabinet. If half of it wasn’t on the floor, of course.
‘I think I underestimated how heavy it was going to be,’ Gil says.
I look at the wall. ‘You might need a different-sized Rawlplug,’ I say.
Gil raises his eyebrows.
‘You’ve seen the shelves in our living room. Do you really think Simon put those up?’
He nods, as if this new information makes complete sense.
‘What are you doing down here?’ I look around the room and it’s clear that there is fresh flooring, and the otherwise smooth walls are the telltale soft putty pink of new plaster.
‘I’m turning this one into another bedroom. Possibly for kids. I was thinking about built-in bunk beds over there.’ He points to the alcove on the opposite wall to the shelving.
My mouth twitches. ‘I’d make sure you’ve got those shelves nice and strong before you try anything that is supposed to hold a human body.’
‘Ouch,’ Gil says, totally deadpan.
I take a proper look at the room. It must be underneath the kitchen, next to the jetty. ‘What was this before you decided to turn it into a bedroom?’
‘All of the space down here was functional space for the maintenance of small boats. This one used to be a sail store.’
‘What are you going to do with the other rooms?’
