her breastbone. A hot, hard ball of pain burned in the back of her throat and she couldn’t swallow.
‘Are you okay?’
Ava blinked and turned to find Killian staring at her oddly.
‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘why?’
‘You’re crying,’ he frowned.
Ava lifted her hand and felt the wetness on cheek.
‘It must be the dust,’ she muttered turning away in embarrassment. Had she been crying? Worse still, why hadn’t she realized it?
Killian stared at her silently, his expression unreadable as he studied her.
‘Come on,’ he said finally and nodded toward the door, ‘I’ve seen enough for the moment. Why don’t we get some fresh air and talk outside?’
She nodded mutely, not trusting her voice as she followed him from the room and headed toward the stairs. A static prickling sensation began to tickle between her shoulder blades causing her to momentarily pause and glance behind her but there was nothing there.
Shaking off the strange feeling she hurried to catch up with Killian as he stepped out of the main doors and into the bright sunlight.
As the warmth began to seep back into her body, she found herself closing her eyes, tilting her face toward the sun and drawing in a deep breath, the sad, lonely feeling she’d experienced earlier slowly dissipating.
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’
Ava opened her eyes to find Killian holding out a bottle of water and watching her curiously.
‘I’m fine,’ she took the bottle gratefully and unscrewed the cap. ‘Such a lot has happened in such a small space of time, I guess I’m still trying to process it all.’
He nodded in understanding.
‘Well, I don’t know that my initial assessment is going to lessen the load or add to it.’
‘Lay it on me,’ she leaned back against the stone wall and took a sip of her water.
‘Well, she’s solid,’ he tipped his head back and took a massive gulp of his own water. ‘They sure don’t build ‘em like they used to. Don’t get me wrong there’s a shit ton of work involved, but the bare bones of her are sturdy and she’s a beauty. Early to mid-19th Century, there’s a lot of original features that can be saved, but just as much will have to be stripped out and replaced. It’s a hell of a job.’
‘How much hell are we talking?’
‘On the exterior alone,’ he rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully, ‘it’s tough to tell until we’ve got some scaffolding up and can take a closer look, but from what I can see, some of the mortar between the brickwork is crumbling, that will need attention asap. All of the windows will have to be stripped out, you’d want to keep the originals, so they will need to be refurbished and all of the glass panes repaired or replaced. That alone will take a specialist craftsman.’
She watched as he leaned down and scooped a chipped roof tile from the long grass.
‘Can’t tell just how much damage the roof has sustained from here, but most likely that will need to be repaired and re-tiled. We can use newer ones, but in order for them to match we’ll need to see if we can get our hands on originals saved from other old buildings. All the doors will need replacing, all the chimneys cleaned and repaired. The balcony railings will need to be checked, but they’ll probably need to be replaced too. The whole place will need wiring as its never had electricity, plumbing, or heating. The drainage will need to be looked at and that’s just the basics. The interior is a whole other story. We’ll be able to get a better look at the ground floor once the boarding is down and we have some light to work with, but walls, ceilings and floors will all need replacing. The list is endless.’
‘Uh-huh,’ Ava replied absently as she stared up at the house.
‘Ava,’ he drew her attention back to him. ‘The house has been neglected for so long, we could quote you, get halfway through the build and find a whole host more problems. It’s a money pit. Given the age of the property it’s going to be a lot of conservation work. You’ll need specialist craftsmen and women, and that won’t come cheap.’
‘How much, ballpark?’
‘You’re easily looking at seven figures with a re-furb on this scale.’
She turned and looked up at the house again; this time she felt a very distinct tug deep in her belly.
‘Okay,’ she decided.
‘Okay?’ he frowned, ‘okay? Ava did you hear what I just said?’
‘Every word.’
‘You’ve seriously