Practically Perfect (21 page)

‘What do you know about red spider mite?’

‘Nothing. I’ve heard of it though. Oh!’ Her mobile phone vibrated in the pocket of her boiler suit.

‘Hello,’ said Max in a low voice. ‘I’m at Mother’s. I’ve just popped into the garden to phone you, to confirm you can still make it.’

Anna suppressed a scream as she glanced round and saw Max. He was standing outside the back door and could have seen her if he had just turned round a bit. She sank into a crouch, convinced that if he did see her in her current state embarrassment would make her explode.

‘Hi,’ she whispered.

‘Are you are all right? You sound rather muffled.’

‘I’m fine.’ She glanced at Chloe, who had stuffed a very dirty rag in her mouth to stop her giggles becoming audible. ‘Just a bit busy.’

‘What are you up to, then?’

‘Oh – er – cleaning.’ That was true, at least.

‘So you’ll have dishpan hands when I see you?’

‘Probably!’ Definitely would have been more accurate.

‘But you still want to come?’ He laughed teasingly. ‘You won’t be too tired?’

‘Of course not. I have lots of stamina.’

He chuckled. ‘Fortunately for you, so have I.’

Anna swallowed. ‘I have to go. I’m really looking forward to tonight.’

‘So am I.’ And she saw him disappear safely back inside the house.

Anna wiped her brow, mingling dirt with sweat and creating yet another very dirty mark.

‘That was Max,’ she explained to Chloe who was now tackling a stubborn clump of mould on a window pane.

‘I gathered. What did he want?’

‘I think he was just bored, actually.’ Anna sighed and leant against one of the benches lining the greenhouse walls.

‘I must say he’s keen. He rings you a lot.’

Anna smiled, the release of tension making her even more gooey than usual. ‘Yes!’ she breathed.

Chloe, keen to get Anna back into work mode said, ‘So did the man Rob told you about come last week?’

Anna snapped out of her reverie and retied her scarf that was coming loose after all their exertions.

‘Oh yes! Didn’t I tell you? He did a great job on the blockwork and plastering. I got the fireplace finished too.’ She glanced down at her hands. ‘It really does for your hands, lime, even though I wore gloves. I did the pointing with a spoon. It’s the perfect thing.’

‘I don’t suppose that did much for the spoon, though,’ Chloe chuckled.

‘No, but the fireplace looks wonderful, though I say it myself. I’ll be getting on to the staircase soon.’

‘You’re amazing, Anna, really you are,’ Chloe said.

‘The structural engineer came too. He seemed fairly satisfied.’

‘That’s a relief.’

‘I know! I was dreading being told to put in more steels.’ Anna had been convinced he’d find some extra problem for her to worry about, but his visit had gone remarkably smoothly.

Chloe, who didn’t want an explanation of this statement just then, nodded in agreement.

Eventually they declared the greenhouse finished. And it was only now that Anna realised there could be genuine embarrassment in going up to the house, rather than just the suppressed giggling sort. ‘You go and say we’ve done it,’ she said to Chloe. ‘I’ll stay here until you tell me the coast is clear.’

‘She’ll want to see both of us,’ Chloe insisted. ‘You can’t hide here and just scuttle out. It’ll look so childish.’

‘That’s how I feel!’ Anna said petulantly. ‘It was bad enough when it was just his mother, but now Max is here …’

‘He might have gone.’

‘Be a love and go and check. I’d feel so much better if he was off the premises. We’re supposed to be meeting for dinner in a couple of hours.’

‘All right,’ Chloe said. ‘You wait here.’ And she strode off towards the house, leaving Anna lurking in the greenhouse. A little while later, Chloe reappeared and reported that the car was still in the driveway. She glanced at her watch. ‘I do hope Mike has remembered to feed the boys.’

‘And Caroline, although she will be all right until I get home.’

They regarded each other, both aware that they were just putting off the evil moment. Mrs Gordon had to be faced.

They removed their boots on the back step, which took a long time in Anna’s case because they had laces and reinforced toecaps, then went into the scullery and knocked on the door that connected with the rest of the house. They could hear voices. For a moment Anna wanted to rush to Max and throw herself into his arms, but it was
only
for a moment. She would make this a funny story later this evening, but she did not want to meet him now.

They had to bang quite hard before Mrs Gordon heard them. She appeared in the scullery, seeming annoyed.

‘Oh, it’s you, she said in the abrupt manner she obviously reserved for ‘Staff’. ‘Have you finished? I’ll come down and see if you’ve done a good job.’

‘Mrs Gordon,’ said Chloe, suddenly finding the dignity she’d misplaced earlier. ‘We have worked very hard all day for nothing. You were charged only the price of a raffle ticket. We are also adults, not boy scouts. I don’t think checking that we’ve done a good job is really appropriate, do you?’ She didn’t give Mrs Gordon a chance to answer before ploughing on. ‘However, if you would like to offer us some appreciation for our efforts, I would be glad to show you what your greenhouse looks like now.’

‘Oh.’ Mrs Gordon was not accustomed to being spoken to like this and she frowned, but possibly more because she’d been caught out being ungracious than because Chloe had stood up to her. ‘Yes, I do see what you mean. It’s because you both look so young that I made that mistake.’ She gave a politician’s fake smile.

Wily old boot, thought Anna. She thinks slipping in a compliment like that will make us like her. It was sort of flattering.

Chloe inclined her head.

‘I would offer you both a cup of tea,’ went on Mrs Gordon, taking the high ground again, ‘but my son is with me.’

‘That’s perfectly all right,’ said Chloe, ‘we came to work, not to socialise, and I have sons of my own to see to.’ She looked at Anna and then realised her friend wasn’t going to say a word. It would be too embarrassing if Anna ever
did
meet Mrs Gordon socially. She had to keep up her disguise.

Chloe valiantly went on, ‘I think you’ll find that we’ve done the best we could with the materials available. I dare say you’ll need some sort of disinfectant or fungicide to make sure the greenhouse is sterile.’

At the sight of Mrs Gordon’s face, Anna turned away. Mrs Gordon was obviously furious about being put in her place by a mere girl, but she couldn’t – politely – do a thing about it. Anna had thought that the desire to giggle had left her, but, at this very awkward moment, it came back. She coughed to hide the noise that escaped and nudged Chloe’s leg with her foot, catching sight of a bundle of sweet wrappers that was sticking out of Chloe’s pocket.

‘Well, thank you for supporting Greyhound Rescue,’ said Chloe, who was holding up against the giggles marginally better than Anna. ‘We must be getting home now.’

Both women bent to put on their boots, fighting laughter. Anna pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and held her nose with it. Too late she realised it was a filthy duster and was probably full of spiders. Her boots took for ever to do up, although she was doing them as fast as she could. Mrs Gordon stood over them until they were safely off the premises.

‘God! I thought we’d never get out of there without me bursting out laughing, wetting myself, or both!’ declared Chloe as they walked through the series of footpaths that eventually led to their own row of little cottages.

‘I must say, things are much funnier when you can’t laugh. I haven’t had so much fun for ages.’ Anna blew her nose on the duster she found in her pocket. ‘Oh no, I’ve stolen her duster! I suppose I should wash it and give it back.’

Chloe snorted ‘It’s not a lace handkerchief! Just forget about it! But you have now got cobwebs on your face as well as everything else.’

‘Oh well,’ Anna laughed,’ as long as I can pop in the bath later, I don’t mind.’

Chloe grasped Anna’s hands. ‘A bath, my whole wardrobe: you’re welcome to both. Lots of people wouldn’t have done the greenhouse if they were going out with Mr Sex-on-a-Stick in the evening.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘You’d better hurry!’

‘I could pop in the bath after the boys, if you like. I’m so filthy you wouldn’t want them popping in after me.’

‘You can have all the hot water you need. You have been a total star. I had no idea what a lot there’d be to do when I volunteered us both. Mike will definitely give you a hand with your house to make up for it.’

Anna grinned. ‘You’ll volunteer him, you mean.’

Chloe shrugged, her hands in her pockets. ‘I sleep with him. That gives me power and influence.’

‘And babies.’

‘I think we’ve worked out what was causing that by now. But seriously, I know how busy you are with the house, and you had to give up a whole day. Mike’s going to be home for at least another two weeks. I’m sure he’d willingly help you.’

Anna considered how reluctant she was to accept help, and then pondered how she would manage with some of the very large upright timbers she would need for her staircase. ‘That could be very useful,’ she said. ‘Although I hate to admit it.’

They arrived back at Chloe’s cottage and were greeted with cries of: ‘Don’t disturb us, we’re watching a really good film,’ from the sofa.

Chloe smiled and gestured for Anna to follow her
upstairs
. ‘Let’s look at clothes while we run the bath,’ she said.

‘I should get some of my own, really,’ Anna said as she padded up behind Chloe.

‘Rubbish! No point in spending money on things you’re only going to wear once.’

‘I don’t see why she shouldn’t,’ Mike shouted up the stairs. ‘You seem to do it all the time.’

Chloe gave Anna a lift to the gastro-pub that Max had selected for their evening. To be fair, he had offered to pick her up, but Anna felt shy about showing him her house just yet. He was an architect who built very cutting-edge buildings (Anna had looked him up on the Internet); hers was an old cottage being done up by a one-woman band and a few helpers, to listed building regulations. He was bound to see it when he took her back (she hoped), but she wanted to have had a lovely evening before she exposed her home to his critical gaze. After all, if she invited him in for coffee, he might have other things on his mind apart from the fact there was no staircase. His faintly suggestive remarks on the phone had given her a pang of desire that was unexpected. He was so gorgeous, he could be quite sleazy and still be the sexiest man on the planet! Her heart gave a little skip at the thought.

She wasn’t wearing the long black gloves, although after today her hands were in an even worse state than they had been when he last saw them. She thought about his reference to dishpan hands and rubbed in more hand cream. She was wearing a knee-length skirt (Chloe’s), long boots (also Chloe’s), and a fitted V-necked cardigan that they’d found at a charity shop Chloe had taken her to in town a few days ago. Chloe had managed to darn the little hole they’d discovered later. She’d also insisted that
Anna
wore her best black jacket. ‘You deserve it,’ she had insisted when Anna had protested. ‘I hardly get to wear it anyway.’

Mike had grunted.

The whole effect was, Chloe declared, an understated look that would take Anna anywhere. ‘As long as it takes me to the Grey Mare,’ Anna had said, fighting down the butterflies that were making it difficult to speak, ‘although I thought you’d said you’d give me a lift.’

Chloe had raised her eyes to heaven, sprayed Anna heavily with scent, making her sneeze, and told her if she didn’t get into the car now she’d be late, and then what would happen?

Aware that Chloe, like Laura, did sometimes think of her as another of her children, Anna didn’t take offence, and got into the car. She had the number of a local taxi firm, in case, for the return journey, and a wad of cash, ditto.

‘Anyone would think I was a sixteen-year-old going out for my first date with an older man,’ she said mildly.

‘Well, you practically are!’ declared Chloe, starting the engine. ‘You’re a child in the clutches of a wolf!’

‘I like wolves. And anyway, he’s not that much older than me. I’ll have a lovely time.’

‘Well, I hope you do,’ said Chloe, abandoning her role of parent for a second. ‘But just—’

‘Be careful. I know. Honestly, Chloe, this isn’t the back streets of Brixton, you know. This is the posh end of rural Gloucestershire. What can possibly happen to me?’

As they had at last arrived, Chloe didn’t have to answer that particular question. ‘Do you want me to wait?’ she asked Anna, as she unbuckled her seat belt. ‘Then if he’s not there, I can come in with you and have a drink so you don’t have to wait on your own?’

Anna didn’t like the idea of sitting at the bar waiting for her date, but the thought of trying to explain away Chloe’s presence was worse. ‘No thank you, I’ll be fine,’ she said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. ‘And as it’s a quarter to eight already, he might be waiting for me.’

‘Fine.’ Chloe kissed Anna’s cheek, probably because she always kissed Mike when she dropped him off anywhere, and Anna made her way into the pub.

The boots took a bit of getting used to, but they made her legs look longer, and although Anna was normally quite happy with her shape, going out with Max was rather nerve-racking. And the fact that she had been so dressed up when he’d last seen her didn’t help. He hadn’t even recognised her when she’d been in an extreme version of her normal clothes, although to be fair to him, she hadn’t allowed him to see her face.

All these thoughts flashed through her mind as she made her way to the bar. She wondered why on earth she had let herself in for such a terrifying experience before she remembered she was doing it for Max. She’d have walked over broken glass for him, and shouldn’t baulk against walking over a carpet in high-heeled boots!

Chapter Thirteen