her last night once he was off duty and said he’d help her today on one condition – that they took the late afternoon off and headed out for a walk. She’d agreed to it right away.
They’d driven to the hardware store and hired a sander and bought wood stain. With the pale buttercup walls in the lounge and hall that Maddie had painted, all that was needed was to sand the floors in the hall and lounge too. The floorboards were in good condition, but they needed sprucing up.
Maddie glanced at the kitchen as she walked past. It was a job for another time. She had been looking at new kitchens online but they were very expensive. It would have to wait, but she knew she’d need to fit a new kitchen in before she sold the cottage. And where would she go then? She decided not to think about that for now. First, get the cottage ready, and then selling it would release some much-needed money, especially in light of Tim’s revelations.
Greg had put all the furniture to one side of the room and covered it in an old sheet. He handed Maddie a mask.
‘What’s that for?’
‘The dust!’
They both put on the masks as she started to giggle. ‘You look ridiculous!’
‘And so do you!’ Greg burst out laughing. Then, somehow, they were both on their hands and knees on the floor, speechless with laughter, tears gathering in Maddie’s mask from giggling so much. She sat cross-legged on the floor after a while and put her mask on top of her head, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand.
‘I can’t remember the last time I laughed like that!’ She glanced over at Greg who was smiling at her. It was as if some pressure-cooker had exploded in her, releasing the Old Maddie, the girl who used to have fun. Bali had been a starting point, but boy, look at her now!
‘Me neither.’ Greg was grinning, then he stood up, walked over to her and ruffled her hair. She caught hold of his hand in hers, brought it down to her mouth and gave it a gentle kiss. He touched the side of her cheek, looked out to the bay and back at her. ‘Right, Maddie Brown,’ he said, straightening up, ‘I’ll make a start here and you watch.’
Greg turned the machine on and slowly started to make his way across the floor. The once-dark wooden floorboards turned golden underneath as he carefully hovered the machine along each board.
After a while, Maddie started in the kitchen, scrubbing out the cupboard outside and in. She was going to paint the cupboard doors as a temporary facelift before she replaced the whole lot. She had bought some pale mint-coloured paint and had a small roller blind in green and white gingham to freshen up the kitchen window.
When she went back into the lounge to check, sweat was building up across Greg’s forehead. After another twenty minutes Maddie suggested a tea break. He turned the machine off and opened the window; dust was dancing around the lounge, caught in shafts of sunlight.
‘I’ll just go and empty the bag,’ he said, fiddling with the machine as Maddie put the kettle on. When he returned Maddie had made two cups of tea and placed them on the kitchen table.
‘How long do you think the rest of it will take?’ she asked, taking a sip of tea.
‘Probably be finished after lunch. It’s not too big an area. Then this afternoon we start staining it, but it has to dry before the second coat.’ He stood up and put his tea cup down on the draining board.
‘Well, it doesn’t look too difficult.’
His eyebrows were dancing as he turned back round to her, ‘You think? Your turn next!’ He walked past and squeezed her shoulder.
‘You’re on! How hard can it be?’ Maddie put her tea down, walked into the lounge, clipped back her face mask and turned the machine on. It was so easy, being with him.
She could hardly move it. ‘Jesus, this is heavy!’
She looked round to see Greg leaning on the doorframe, biting his lip.
‘OK, you win.’ She threw her hands in the air. ‘This is bloody hard!’
He grinned and walked towards her, stopping by the fireplace as he picked up the picture of Olive and Ed in the garden, turning it around in his hand.
‘This taken here?’
Maddie nodded. Ed had loved it here, the happy times in the garden, taking him across