Read Online Summer of Love by Katie Fforde - Free Book Online Page B

you put the kettle on again, I’ll make a start. It won’t be so hard to make decisions when it’s not all piled in a heap like this.’
    Fiona was longer than she meant to be as she had to get the brownies in the oven. Eventually she went out.
    Sian had got on well. ‘Over there are nice pieces you might want to keep, if you don’t sell them. Several of them would be good for me to paint but then they’d have to stay here until I did it.
    ‘Now, what about those.’ She indicated a fumed-oak dressing table with too-small drawers and a very spotted mirror and matching wardrobe.
    ‘Burn or sell,’ Fiona asked. ‘Ghastly.’
    ‘OK. But what about this?’
    Right at the back, still partially concealed by odds and ends of furniture, was the most enormous cupboard.
    ‘It’s huge,’ said Fiona. ‘No one would want it. I’m not sure what it is, even.’
    ‘I think it’s wonderful!’ said Sian.
    Fiona turned to her, shocked. ‘You do? Why?’
    ‘It’s a horrid dark, gloomy thing now,’ she said, ‘but imagine it a sort of distressed Scandinavian grey, with a red undercoat. Put it at the end of a huge kitchen. It would be an armoire.’
    ‘I’m never sure what that means …’
    ‘Oh, I think it’s a posh cupboard, but this is lovely! It would swallow up an entire kitchen and have room for seconds.’
    ‘Well, you have it, darling. I don’t want it.’
    ‘Fiona! Just imagine it finished.’
    Fiona couldn’t picture it, she just saw a monster, over-powering everything and probably full of spiders. ‘I’m sorry, I just can’t. But seriously, I’m more than happy for you to have it, to do what you like with.’
    Sian considered, hands on hips. ‘The trouble is, I’d have to work on it here. We couldn’t move it ourselves and the reason I need a barn is to work on pieces like that. I couldn’t do it at home.’
    ‘That’s all right. We’ll get rid of everything we can, and anything we can’t shift, you can paint.’ Suddenly the task didn’t seem so enormous now the first bit had been done.
    They were both filthy and hot by the time they declared they’d done all they could. As well as the armoire, Fiona had given Sian a chest of drawers to work her magic on. For her part, Sian had insisted Fiona choose something she’d like painted for herself, and she’d found a small nursing chair which would be very pretty in her bathroom.
    When they’d eaten pasties and sandwiches for lunch, Fiona turned her attention to her house and the imminent dinner party. Sian, refreshed, took Rory to Annabelle’s.
    *
    A few hours later, James found Fiona in the kitchen dithering between wrapping little bundles of beans in strips of leek so she could steam them, or using streaky bacon and frying them. The first version would be fancier – and healthier – but she knew the bacon would add flavour and be delicious.
    ‘Anything I can do?’ he said. ‘You sighed.’
    She turned to him. ‘Did I? It’s probably because I can’t make up my mind about these wretched beans and my wine waiter is going to be late.’
    ‘Your wine waiter? That does sound grand.’
    ‘He’s not really a wine waiter, just a friend who was going to choose some wine for me from the cellar.’
    ‘That sounds a very pleasant task. Can I do it? I’m not a bean expert.’
    ‘Are you a wine expert?’
    ‘Not in a professional way. I’d call myself more of an enthusiastic amateur.’ He smiled and Fiona warmed to him yet more. He had a calming aura.
    She returned his smile. ‘That’ll do for me. But you have to come to the dinner party. Otherwise I can’t let you help.’ She paused. ‘Is that emotional blackmail?’
    James considered. ‘Possibly, but in a good way. And I’m very happy to accept.’
    ‘That’s such a relief. I’ll show you to the cellar. There is a lot of wine down there. It needs drinking.’
    ‘Would you like all the same wine? Or different ones?’
    ‘Just one sort of each colour, I think. But nothing too