‘Of course.’ She didn’t need to know this was only his first week in business by himself since finishing his training.
The plan had been he’d move to Cairn Dhu to work alongside his grandad, who would come out of retirement for long enough for Euan to be apprenticed to him before going it alone, but Clyde’s stroke had put paid to that, so he was out on his own for now.
‘I’ve some outdated wiring in one of my rentals on the high street, needs bringing up to code,’ Carenza was saying, and Euan felt the need to check with a glance that the big shed doors were indeed closed and Senga Gifford wasn’t about to burst in again and blab about the mess he’d made with the primary school job.
He glanced down at the card she’d thrust into his hand.
Carenza McDowell
Winner ‘Rental Expert of the Year
(Cairngorms Region)’
three years running
Fifty property portfolio
This could be his big break. The school thing could be forgotten about with this woman’s backing.
‘Come to my office on the high street, nine o’clock, Monday,’ she instructed, allowing him to climb back down to ground level. ‘I’ll supply you with the property address and arrange for you to collect a key. All being well, we can discuss your hourly rate and any potential future employment.’
‘Wow! Right, thanks.’
‘All being well,’ she repeated in a warning tone and indicating with an elegant sweep of her hand the clothes hanging on the rail.
‘Ah!’ Euan realised he’d walked straight into a trap. ‘I see.’
Carenza’s red painted lips curved in victory.
‘Is this… see-through?’ Euan asked, while the girl held the first garment up to his body in the makeshift dressing area at the very back of the shed between the storage shelves.
‘You don’t have to do this, honestly,’ she said again.
Euan hadn’t been able to protest a moment ago, not when Carenza was making it clear she’d send zero work his way if he didn’t bend to her will, but that was before he’d seen the collection up close. It was incredible stuff, only it was meant for an elegant, chiselled model, not a scruff like him.
He seriously wanted to back out, but the girl was handling the garments in such a careful way he could tell they were precious objects. Added to that, she was putting trust in him just by allowing him to put them on his body, even if it was, as Carenza had been keen to impress upon him, ‘a simple matter of walking up and down the repair shop a few times’.
‘What’s your name?’ he asked.
‘I’m Peaches.’
‘And that’s your mum?’
‘Yep.’
‘I’ve seen her picture on all those To Let posters on the high street. She owns half the town, my grandad says.’
Was that a stupid thing to say? Peaches seemed to shrink a little.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean anything…’
‘No, it’s true, pretty much.’
The fact seemed to sit uncomfortably with her. Clearly not a discomfort shared by Carenza, who was booming away in the middle of the big shed about how important this rehearsal was. Only Mr and Mrs McIntyre were left through there to listen to her.
‘I used to get a lot of stick at school,’ Peaches whispered. ‘About Mum buying up houses and flats, turning family homes into expensive rentals and holiday homes. Pricing out the locals. That’s what they say about her.’
Euan thought it best not to mention he’d heard his grandad complaining about the same thing. He’d said the reason Euan couldn’t find a place of his own when he moved back here was because huge swathes of the Cairngorms were now extortionate for renters and completely out of reach for young buyers.
