‘It is hard, I’m not going to lie, but I just want to get this finished now before the Easter egg hunt on Sunday and there is so much to do.’
Alex frowned. ‘Are you on your own?’
‘Xander is out getting cleaning and painting supplies. There’s a lot involved in redecorating after smoke damage. We have to make sure the smoke staining and smell don’t seep through the new paint. And Belinda has promised to rally the troops for some of the harder jobs, like replastering if it’s needed and laying a new floor.’
‘The mayor?’ Alex said in surprise.
‘Yes, she’s been amazing.’
‘She scares me a little.’
‘Yes, but she knows how to get stuff done. And I’ve seen a softer side to her that I didn’t know she had.’
‘Right, well what do you need me to do?’
‘Until Xander comes back with the proper cleaning supplies, there isn’t a lot you can do but if you want to help with the vacuuming that would be great. Xander carried over his vacuum cleaner earlier as it’s supposedto be one of those super-strength ones. But if you don’t mind carrying mine down from upstairs you could make a start on the back room. I’m nearly done in the main shop, I think, maybe just once more would do it. We only have this generator for today and they’ve given us a couple of very long extension leads, so hopefully it will reach the back room.’
‘OK, no problem. Quinn has a cordless vacuum cleaner that lasts about an hour. If the extension lead doesn’t stretch as far as the back room, I can get him to bring it and the charging station over, so we can charge it up in between cleans.’
‘Oh, good idea.’
Alex looked over at the chocolate shop, which was currently sitting in darkness. ‘He closed his shop?’
‘Yes, I’ve been having trouble keeping him away. Easter is one of his busiest times and I hate that he’s losing money to help me, but he keeps insisting on it.’
‘He probably feels like he needs to make it up to you after all the times he messed you around,’ Alex said.
‘Or, he cares about me and wants to help.’
Alex didn’t look like she believed that but just then the cavalry arrived in the shape of Xander, Logan, Archer, Max and Etta, carrying bags of supplies. Etta was dressed in a bright green rain suit that covered her from head to toe. Her hood was pulled tight around her face. She was also wearing goggles and a mask.
‘I brought help,’ Xander said, gesturing to his brothers. He offered out a brown paper bag. ‘And a sandwich. You need to eat.’
Immy was starving and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.
‘Hello Xander,’ Alex said and somehow managed to make those two words sound cold and disapproving.
Xander flashed Alex a warm smile. ‘Hi Alex, did you have a good holiday?’
‘I did, thank you.’
Immy rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Etta. ‘And who is this?’
Etta giggled. ‘It’s me, Etta.’
‘Oh, I thought it was an alien.’
Etta laughed and stretched her arms out like a zombie and started staggering towards her. Immy squealed and pretended to run away, making Etta laugh harder as she chased after her. After a few moments, Immy let Etta catch her, screaming as the alien attacked her.
‘How’s it going in there?’ Logan asked once the attack was over.
‘There is so much dust. I’ve vacuumed the walls, the ceiling and the floor so many times and every time I turn around there’s more dust or soot or whatever it is. I think I’ve got the majority of it now. I was going to give it one more go.’
‘We have loads of dry cleaning sponges so we should be able to get rid of a lot of the soot and dust with those as the sponges will lift the dirt off the wall and absorb it. And then wash down the walls once we’re finished. Then we can see if we need to do any more vacuuming after that.’
‘OK. Alex is going to start on the back room once she’s got my vacuum cleaner from my flat upstairs.’
‘I can bring that down for you,’ Xander said to Alex.
