and left soon after Luke’s announcement. Everyone was still happily chatting away as the hot chocolate mugs were rinsed and the last of the tools were cleaned and locked away. Nell was none too happy about being wrenched from her friends, but it was gearing up to rain and I wanted to get back to the house.
‘Thanks for coming over, Freya,’ said Luke when he spotted that I was about to go. ‘I know it’s your day off, so I really appreciate it. It was kind of you to find the time.’
But not nearly kind enough, according to some, I couldn’t help thinking. And justifiably so.
‘Any plans for the rest of the weekend?’ asked Kate.
‘Absolutely none,’ I told her, ‘it’s going to be bliss.’
I kept my head down as I walked by the studio. Finn hadn’t come to find me after our clash over Nell the week before and I had no intention of making the current situation worse by drawing his attention to it. I was sure Chloe had got the wrong end of the stick and he hadn’t left because of me at all. At least, that was what I told myself.
I was hard-pushed to reach the state of ‘bliss’ I had told Kate my plans to do nothing would transport me to. In fact, I couldn’t seem to get within miles of it. Having the chance to sit down and do nothing for two days always felt like a good idea in the middle of a busy working week when my muscles ached and there was rainwater trickling down my neck, but the reality didn’t quite live up to expectations. When the opportunity for a lazy weekend did finally fall at my feet, the hours felt far longer than sixty minutes and I soon became bored.
Consequently, on Saturday afternoon I ended up changing the bed, catching up with the washing, vacuuming, dusting and scrubbing. Not that anything really needed doing. Kate had given the place a more than thorough autumnal spruce up, and it wasn’t as if I’d been at home long enough to conjure too many dust motes, but the activity did go some way to occupying my mind.
By the time I had decided to take Nell for a walk, the light was fading and it had started to rain heavily. I pulled the curtains, then fired off a quick text to my father telling him my first working week had gone well and Mum needn’t worry about airing out my old room, before cooking a less than comforting frozen pizza and taking myself off for an early night. I didn’t message Peter to tell him about my change of heart about Finn because there didn’t seem much point.
* * *
I woke early on Sunday, refreshed from a surprisingly good night’s sleep and feeling pleased that the skies had cleared and the sun was back. There was a reply from Dad on my phone which suggested that he and Mum were appeased by my message, which was a relief, and I threw back the duvet, determined to make the most of the day and not waste a second of it by striving to reach nirvana by doing nothing.
‘Come on,’ I called to Nell, once I had tamed my hair into some sort of submission and was dressed. ‘Let’s go for a wander.’
The early morning air was chilly but invigorating, with the sun already shining, and our walk was long and brisk. Nell could easily keep pace with me and the grin on her face told me that she was enjoying stretching her legs every bit as much as I was. There weren’t too many people about either, so our progress was unhindered and we returned to the square panting but both feeling much revived.
I had let my mind wander as I pounded the pavements and even though I still had no plans to offer to run any workshops for Luke, I did unpack a few boxes containing various craft projects that I had enjoyed during my time at Broad-Meadows. I wasn’t going to be tripped up again by having nothing planned for the weekends and had just finished setting everything out on the table when the doorbell went.
My first thought was that it might be Finn and I checked the state of my hair in the hall mirror before answering. I was annoyed that that was who my thoughts had immediately sprung to. I had no idea why he would go to the effort of seeking