and pass the time by dealing with laundry, spring-cleaning her flat, and even, horror of horrors, washing her mammoth windows.
She rang Harry after working on her laptop for a while, and told him she could top up Ian’s present wage a little. ‘Once I get the official report and make Mr Groves a firm offer, you can sound Ian out. If he’s keen tell him to come round here to the flat one evening and we’ll sort it.’
‘He’ll jump at it,’ Harry assured her. ‘So, what are you doing today, then?’
‘Housework I haven’t had time for lately,’ said Sarah gloomily. ‘Including the windows, heaven help me.’
‘I’d better do that for you,’ said Harry, to her astonishment. ‘You’d be up and down a ladder like a monkey on a stick with the size windows you’ve got. Probably break a leg or something.’
‘Harry, I can’t ask you to clean my windows!’
‘You didn’t ask, I offered. I’ll see you in half an hour,’ he said firmly.
Only too happy to be relieved of the task she disliked most, Sarah loaded her washing machine and then got on with her cleaning, her mind on her evening with Alex. It was strange that dinner at the Pheasant with Dan Mason had merely been a way of killing time, whereas with Alex it had been pure pleasure from start to finish. Something she’d never felt with anyone before. Probably because he was nothing like the spoilt rich kid of her first impression. He’d worked hard to earn his crown. And he was no slouch in the kissing department either.
Sarah stood still in the middle of the room, her heart thumping again at the thought of Alex’s kisses, until the doorbell brought her back to earth with a bump and she ran to open the door to Harry, who’d come armed with a telescopic ladder.
‘Right then, boss, I’ll get started.’
‘This is very kind of you, Harry,’ she said gratefully.
‘I had nothing better to do. But not a word in the pub, mind,’ he warned.
Sarah grinned. ‘My lips are sealed. How about a cup of coffee before you start?’
‘No thanks, I’ll wait till I’ve finished. I’d better clean these shutters first,’ he said, eyeing them. ‘Might as well do the job properly. Got a bucket and some cloths?’
While Harry worked Sarah carried on with her own chores, and at intervals wrung out cloths for him and supplied fresh water. At last he stood back, eyeing pristine white shutters and gleaming glass with a grunt of satisfaction.
‘All right if I go out through the long window?’ he asked. ‘Might as well do the outside and finish the job.’
‘You’re such a star, Harry,’ Sarah said fervently.
‘You’d best close the shutters a bit; I’ll see better,’ he said, and went out, pulling the window ajar behind him.
Sarah closed the shutters to halfway, then went up the steps to put fresh covers on her bed. She straightened in surprise at a knock on her door instead of the sound of the bell. She ran down, expecting one of her neighbours, and opened her door to find Dan Mason grinning down at her, so irritatingly sure of his welcome Sarah found it hard to summon a smile.
‘Someone was delivering a parcel as I arrived so I sneaked in at the same time,’ he said. ‘Can I come in?’
Sarah nodded reluctantly, wishing she could say no.
Dan walked past her, looking impressed as he took in the proportions of the room. ‘God, Sarah, what a place!’
‘It was a music room originally, but I made some modifications.’ Which was an understatement for a work programme which had started with tearing up lino and treating floorboards, progressed to building the windowseat and sleeping platform, and finished with the installation of her double row of shutters.
‘But where do you sleep?’
‘Up there,’ Sarah said, waving a hand at the platform.
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Romantic, but not much room for overnight guests.’
‘None at all,’ she said shortly. ‘Why are you here, Dan?’
He smiled, moving closer. ‘To get my request in early for your company at dinner tonight. Not the Pheasant again,’ he added quickly. ‘The weather’s good, so we could drive to a place I know near Ross.’
She shook her head. ‘That’s very kind of you, Dan, but I’ve got something on tonight.’
‘Two nights running with Alex Merrick?’ he demanded, his bonhomie suddenly gone.
‘As it happens, no.’ Her chin lifted. ‘But even if it were it’s my business, Dan, no one else’s.’
His mouth twisted. ‘Oh, I get the message. The Crown