He stepped out into the hall and grunted as he collided heavily with someone in the shadows. They both stumbled. It took Nathan a beat to place the man in front of him in the dim light.
Simon.
Simon’s gaze flicked past Nathan to the bedroom behind him, then settled with an expression that was hard to read.
‘I’ve been trying to find you,’ he said.
‘I was looking for Ilse.’ Nathan could hear the defensive note in his tone and cleared his throat. He didn’t have to explain.
‘She went riding along the drive about an hour ago.’
‘Oh. Thanks. And what did you want?’
‘Phone call for you.’
‘For me?’ Nathan couldn’t think of a single person who would want to speak to him. ‘Who is it?’
Simon shrugged. ‘Someone you’ve been trying to reach, apparently.’
It was the electrical contractor.
‘Dave,’ Nathan said, as he heard the man’s voice. ‘How’s my coolroom?’
‘I couldn’t tell you, mate. I was out at your place on Friday like we arranged, but I couldn’t get in.’
‘To the coolroom?’
‘To your house. It was locked.’
‘But –’ Nathan squeezed his eyes shut. ‘Shit.’
The only time he ever bothered to lock his doors was when Xander was staying. The chance of the kid’s laptop getting stolen was zero, but it seemed to make Xander feel better. Dave’s voice was crystal clear down the line. That didn’t bode well. He must be somewhere well populated. ‘Please tell me you’re still in the area,’ Nathan said anyway.
‘Nup, sorry. Had to head home. Christmas with the kids.’
‘Christ.’ Nathan had been waiting three weeks for the contractor to get enough jobs to make the trip from St Helens worth his while. ‘You couldn’t have broken in?’
‘Well, I could have.’ Dave sounded mildly offended. ‘But I didn’t know how you’d feel about that.’
‘I would have felt fine about it. I need the bloody thing working.’
Dave allowed a brief silence to convey his displeasure with Nathan’s tone. Nathan took a breath.
‘Sorry, mate. Not your fault. When are you coming back?’
‘Not ’til the first week of Feb.’
‘February!’
‘And only if another couple of jobs come in.’
‘I can’t wait until then. I need it fixed now. Harry reckons the water might be coming.’
‘If it floods, I’ll be even longer.’
‘So what am I supposed to do?’
‘Look, I can talk you through a few ideas,’ Dave said. ‘Got a pen?’
