‘Do you have everything you need?’ she asked, knowing that the guest bedroom was small and fairly basic.
‘Yes, thank you.’
Orla nodded and scuttled inside.
There was another very awkward moment that first night. The castle had two toilets, but only one of them had a shower and bath and Orla had just wrapped herself in her towel after getting out of the bath when Luke knocked on the door.
‘Orla? Are you in there?’ he asked gently.
‘I’ll be out in a moment.’
‘No rush, please!’ he called.
But she hadn’t been able to relax after that and found that she was feeling panicky again, her personal space violated.
When she’d got dressed and summoned up the courage to face Luke, she found him in the great hall, his hair covered in dust and cobwebs.
‘Thought I’d better take a shower after rummaging around the basement,’ he’d said with a grin, and Orla couldn’t help but smile.
The big thing on Luke’s agenda, he told her, was to assess what work needed doing to the castle. It was a long list which could have taken several builders and decorators many years, so he had to prioritise, asking Orla’s advice as he went. Together, they decided to focus on the rooms that were used the most: the great hall, the great chamber, one of the passageways and another room which Orla had been hoping to use for her photography. Luke looked like he was enjoying the slow process of getting to know the castle and Orla began to enjoy her role as a guide to it, taking him down into the dungeons, where the stonework was rough hewn, and then up onto the turreted platform where the views across Lorford’s coastline could be seen in all their glory.
Luke was obviously impressed.
‘I just hope I can do justice to all this,’ he told her.
She watched as he left each day to gather more materials, observing the careful way he handled everything.
‘The thing to remember is that you have to use natural materials in these old buildings,’ Luke informed her. ‘They have to be able to breathe, you see? So no dreadful man-made products like cement or emulsion. It’s all got to be natural.’
‘Good to know,’ Orla agreed.
Once they’d decided which rooms to focus on, Luke got to work, setting up his equipment in one of the many disused rooms in the castle. One Ear was as curious as Orla was and frequently kept Luke company while Orla let him get on with things.
‘It’s so good to be working again,’ Luke told her one evening.
Orla was pleased he was happy, but she couldn’t help remembering what she’d lost giving up her own work. That comforting routine – to have a project to focus on, to have something solid like a full day’s work ahead of you. It gave the mind clarity and took one out of oneself, didn’t it?
Orla couldn’t help envying Luke that.
For that first week, Orla pretty much left Luke to himself, giving him the space he needed for the work he had planned. Slowly, she found herself spending more time in his company. She found it fascinating to watch him bringing in all the equipment he needed. She had pointedly not been around while the workmen had done some of the major repairs on the castle after she’d bought it. The thought of all the noise and dust and dirt was too much to even contemplate but, more than that, she hadn’t wanted to be stared at. Business had been conducted over the phone with a project manager who’d made sure everybody knew what they were doing. To be honest, Orla didn’t really know if they’d done a good job or not. It was hard to tell with so ancient a building and she’d only had a limited budget. So it was nice to be more involved this time. And there was something else about Luke working on it – she didn’t seem to feel so self-conscious around him. She had felt a little anxious at first to have a man staying in her home and it had been awkward to wake up, knowing he was just a few rooms away and that, during the day, he might disturb her peace at any moment by entering the room she was in.
Perhaps it was because he was as vulnerable as her in his own way. The loss of his wife had injured him in just as devastating a way as she had been injured physically. Maybe that’s why she’d let him into her life so easily. Even though Orla hadn’t shared her home with anyone in many years, she found that she quickly became used to Luke’s presence and they soon learned how to move around each other’s routines, respecting one another’s time and personal space. Perhaps it was that special link they shared together. Helen.
But there were still awkward moments, such as when she’d been watching him from one of the windows of the castle as he was unloading various pots and boards from his van. He’d turned around and nodded up at her and she’d flung herself away from the window just as she did if somebody ever so much as glanced up at the castle. It was instinct. She was so used to not wanting to be seen. Only this was Luke and he had seen her fully because she had let him into her home. But she still felt like she might have made a terrible mistake letting him stay with her and she knew that the transition would be a difficult if not painful one.
It was one evening at the end of May when Orla asked Luke something that had been preying on her mind. He’d been cleaning and plastering a section of wall in the great chamber that day and had taken a shower before joining her in the great hall.
‘Something’s been bothering me,’ she told him as they sat down on the sofa together.
‘What’s that? Am I making too
