She opened the door and kicked a sad bra that had seen better days under the bed.
‘Just pop the box down on the floor,’ she said casually.
‘You don’t have any drawers or a wardrobe,’ he said, looking around.
‘No. That’s on the to-do list. Along with one thousand other things.’ She swallowed, trying to not show her nerves at him being in her room.
Get it to together, Clara. He’s not here to undo your bodice and ravage you, although you wouldn’t say no, but seriously, get it together, girl.
Henry was measuring an area of space with his hands and then walking in weird robotic-style steps and counting.
‘Are you okay?’ she asked.
‘Just working out where I can put a chest of drawers and a wardrobe.’
‘You don’t have to worry about that,’ she said.
‘But you need somewhere to put your clothes.’ He seemed genuinely confused.
‘Henry, you are doing so much for me already, I can’t ask you to manage my clothing situation.’ In her head, she heard a pithy comment about him managing her undressing situation but didn’t say it, even though she was thinking about how clever she was.
‘If we were closer, I could but I respect your boundaries.’ He pretended to tap a cigar from the corner of his mouth like Groucho Marx.
‘What on earth are you saying, Henry?’
‘Nothing, nothing.’ She saw him turn ever so slightly red.
They both knew what the other was thinking, she realised, and she started to laugh and then so did he.
‘God, there are so many double entendres going through my head.’
‘Me too, sorry.’
‘You want my knickers in your drawers,’ she said, having trouble getting the words out when she was laughing so hard.
‘I want to open your drawers,’ he said wiping his eyes.
‘I want you to manage my clothing situation, and by that I mean unclothing me.’ She screamed with laughter.
‘I want to kiss you,’ Henry said suddenly.
The laughter stopped and they stood facing each other.
‘I want you to kiss me,’ she said, feeling the familiar ache in her body when she thought about him.
Henry moved towards her, and she met him halfway. Still not touching, her eyes searched his face.
‘You’re gorgeous,’ he said.
‘So are you,’ she whispered.
‘I think about you all the time, Clara.’ His voice sounded tight and his words were rushed.
‘I think about you too, Henry,’ she whispered and moved closer to him.
He leaned down and she closed her eyes when she heard a huge crash and a scream.
‘Pansy,’ they both said then raced down the stairs and out of the cottage.
Henry went out the back door and Clara out the front door. They ran around the garden and saw Pansy standing pointing at the van.
‘Oh fuck,’ said Henry as he ran towards Pansy and scooped her up into his arms.
Clara looked at the van.
A huge branch from the oak tree above had fallen on the van, crushing the roof in the middle. It would have killed anyone who was sitting inside at the little booth where they had eaten the night before.
‘Oh God,’ said Clara. ‘Oh my God! What if you were in there?’ She started to cry and couldn’t stop.
‘But we weren’t,’ Henry said calmly as he walked to her side, Pansy still in his arms.
‘But what if you were? Oh God.’ Clara couldn’t even fathom the disaster had they been inside the van.
‘But we weren’t,’ said Henry again, putting his arm around her shoulders.
‘And if we were, we would have smashed-in heads now,’ said Pansy. ‘So it’s good we weren’t inside and if we go inside we will have to wear a helmet like Rachel wears for her bicycle.’
Clara started to laugh through her tears. ‘Yes, we will have to all wear helmets,’ she said.
The three of them stood looking at the van, Henry’s arm around Clara’s shoulders and Pansy in his arms.
‘Well, this puts us into a bit of a quandary,’ he said.
‘You will have to stay with me,’ she said. She felt his hand on her shoulder tighten and then release.
‘I don’t expect you to do that,’ he said.
‘I know but you must. I have a spare room.’ She said it as though it wasn’t a big deal but it was a huge deal. It was a loaded gun and all Henry had to do was pull the trigger and he could be in her bed in a heartbeat.
Pansy jumped down from Henry’s arms.
‘I get to sleep in the cottage? In a house?’ She ran inside and left Clara and Henry outside.
‘I’ll sleep in the spare room with Pansy,’ he said. ‘I’ll try to grab the mattresses from the van, once I get the branch lifted off.’
His arm was still around her.
She didn’t want him to move his arms away but he did and she felt the energy in her body dissipate.
‘I’d better check on the van,’ he said. ‘I’ll have to call the insurance company and take photos.’
Clara nodded. ‘Sure, I’ll go up and see how the room will work for you both.’
She turned to walk inside as Henry went to the van and opened the door and looked inside.
‘Oh God,’ he said. ‘Oh Naomi.’ He sat on the steps of the van and put his head in his hands.
Clara rushed over to see what he was looking at. She stepped around him and looked at the inside of the van. On the floor was a smashed wooden box and grey coarse sand was all over the floor.
Clara sat next to Henry on the step of the van and took his hand.
‘I am so, so sorry,’ she said. ‘It’s awful. Really.’ She rubbed his back as he cried. He wept like she had never heard a man cry before, body-racking sobs that shook the van’s steps as his head ended up on her lap. She stroked his hair until the sobs subsided, and she realised then that the crush had dissolved and had been replaced by a deep and real love, just like
