‘I came down early to have a bit of time before starting work on Monday.’ The more she looked at him and the more he looked at her, the more flustered she felt. ‘I was taking the opportunity to have a lie-in while I could...’
‘I don’t have to work today, totally fine if you want the place to yourself or to go back to bed.’
Jenna waved her hand. ‘No, it’s fine, I’m up now and have things to do anyway. I don’t want to mess your day up if you already have work planned.’
‘Okay great.’ He was taller than her even though she was standing on the bottom step.
‘Coffee. I need coffee.’ Jenna slipped past him, her feet slapping on the cold slate floor. ‘Would you like one?
‘Yeah, love one thanks.’ He placed his work gloves and toolbox on the kitchen table. ‘So you’re down here for the summer?’
Jenna filled the kettle and flicked on the switch. She turned to face him. ‘Yeah, for the next few weeks. I’ve got a part in a film.’
‘You’re an actress, are you?’
‘Uh huh.’
‘Oh right, yeah, I know. It’s that film where they’re taking over the place all summer. Filming around Porthleven.’
‘That’s the one.’
‘Cool.’ He sounded upbeat about it but Jenna wondered whether the locals actually enjoyed having a film crew descend on their beautiful part of the world for weeks at a time. Maybe hotel, restaurant, shop and bar owners did, reaping the benefits of lots of extra people on top of the usual tourists, but tradespeople probably found it all a bit inconvenient.
The kettle boiled. Jenna made two mugs of coffee. She didn’t even know him and she was making assumptions from the tone of his voice.
‘Milk?’
‘Just a splash, thanks. No sugar.’
She took the carton of milk from the fridge, added a dash to the mugs and handed one to Finn.
‘So, my parents said you’re working on the outside of the cottage first, sorting out the roof and damp and stuff?’
‘Yeah, that’s the plan. Starting outside and working our way in. Dad will be working with me on the roof next week. We can work around you though, one room at a time but that won’t be for a couple of weeks yet.’
‘I’ll be out quite a bit of the time anyway so it shouldn’t matter where you work. We just thought – well my parents agreed – that having me down here to oversee everything would be useful. Easier to make decisions.’
‘Sounds great.’ Finn nodded and sipped his coffee.
They were both standing, leaning against the work surface. Maybe she should suggest they sit down. No, that was a stupid idea. The heat of the coffee was making her even more flustered than she already felt. He was way too good looking to be confronted with first thing in the morning, braless, make-up free and having only just got out of bed.
‘Right, well...’ Clutching her mug, Jenna pointed to the stairs.
‘Yeah course, I need to get on too. It’ll be good to get the roof underway while the weather’s like this. Supposed to be sunny for the next few days.’ With his mug in one hand, he picked up the toolbox with the other. ‘Thanks for the coffee.’
‘No problem.’
All Jenna could think about as she went upstairs was how much of a distraction Finn Harrison was going to be. She hadn’t thought anything about his dad Gary working on the place, but his son...
The scaffolding was right outside the bedroom window. She shut the flowery curtains and started unpacking her suitcase. Apart from the old-fashioned decor and furniture, Aunt Vi’s room was the best kept room in the place. It was strange sleeping in her old room and waking up to the sound of the birds her great aunt would have heard every morning. There was very little of hers left in the room; her mum had cleared the dressing table but had left a perfume bottle that had a subtle musky scent, along with a postcard of Whitby that Jenna’s grandparents had sent to Aunt Vi in 1989 before Jenna had even been born. She leant the postcard back against the mirror and finished hanging up her clothes in the empty wardrobe.
There were no curtains at the landing windows. The floorboards creaked beneath her feet as she nipped across to the bathroom. Knocking sounded from the roof. She peered out of the window but couldn’t see Finn, only hear the rhythmic thudding. She pulled the curtains closed and ran the shower until it was warm. After living on her own for the last few months she’d underestimated how odd it would be to share the space with someone else – even if that someone was a builder rather than a housemate. She was very aware of him being around and it didn’t help that he was young, good looking and had so far left her completely and utterly flustered.
By the time Jenna had showered, dressed and put on her make-up it was mid-morning. The heat hit her the moment she stepped out of the cool cottage. She ate her toast sitting on the steps that led up to the grassy area with the battered picnic table. The steps were bathed in sunshine and the humidity from the day before had been replaced by a drier heat. She could happily sit here forever, soaking up the sun and listening to the birds singing. The scaffolding was at the back of the cottage and every so often there’d be knocking and the sound of something dropping to the ground.
A garden was the one thing Jenna missed since she moved from the garden flat she’d shared with Heidi. There was so much potential both inside and out at Bramble Cottage, and until work inside had been finished, there wasn’t a lot Jenna could do, but outside...
Jenna grabbed the gardening tools she’d brought with her and decided to start tackling
