the place looked like before, but the space you have now is amazing.’
Jake had to admit Emma’s enthusiasm was justified here. He’d worked on garden designs for some of the houses Oscar Matthews had renovated so he knew his friend did good work, but to be honest it was hard to believe this was the same room the village congregated in whenever Crispin Harlow called a Whispers Wood meeting.
Oscar had installed a stud wall at one end of the room, presumably so that a small kitchen area could be included behind it. The new wall was now kitted-out with dark-stained oak cabinetry that could give the hand-crafted mahogany bookshelves from the library at Knightley Hall a run for its money.
A couple of feet in front of that there now stood a stunning oblong bar. Oscar had mimicked the traditional Georgian design of the windows by making simple rectangular panels inset into the base at regular intervals and then painted it in thick cream gloss to match the architraving. The bar’s surface was a polished mid-tone marble that picked out the cream of the base and the darker stained oak of the wall shelves. A sturdy kick-bar and hand-rail in burnished copper had been fitted along the outside, and suspended above the bar was a series of small chandeliers surrounded by a glass and copper-piping racking system. A fresh lick of eau de nil paint on the walls and all the original features had been buffed, shined and polished.
The large reception room also now housed a selection of wooden tables and chairs that looked stackable for meetings or for Trudie’s am-dram productions.
‘I hope it’s okay I got started already,’ Emma smiled. ‘I wasn’t sure if you’d like refreshment for your meeting, but there’s already a pot of breakfast tea brewing or, I can make coffee, if you prefer.’
‘Tea would be gorgeous. Hi, I’m Juliet,’ Juliet said, reaching over with a warm smile to shake Emma’s hand. ‘Sorry I wasn’t around to meet you when you got here. It’s my cottage you’ve moved into. Did Kate show you where everything was? How it all worked?’
Jake watched the tiniest hesitation hover behind those brunia berry eyes and then Emma was smiling warmly and gushing, ‘Everything is perfect.’
‘You’re sure?’ Juliet queried maybe seeing the merest hesitation as well. ‘Heating’s a bit temperamental and I meant to warn you about the cats.’
‘Ah. I think I met one of them this morning. I woke up with the weirdest feeling like I was being stared at. Turned over, and discovered I was.’
Juliet laughed. ‘If it was a ginger Tom it was probably Aramis getting a quick look to report back how stunning you are. If it was a Persian and staring at you like he’d never met a stupider human, then it was Catty McCatface.’
‘It was definitely the second one.’
‘Sorry about Catty. He knows we’ve moved house, but,’ Juliet sighed, ‘well he’ll do anything to maintain his ornery rep.’
‘I probably shouldn’t try to make friends, then?’
‘God no, it’ll only make him laugh at you more. The best way to win him over is to pretend he doesn’t exist.’
‘Treat him mean, keep him keen, huh?’
Jake watched Emma’s bee-stung lips form a quick smile. It occurred to him that she didn’t look like she had a mean bone in her body, but then looks could be deceiving, couldn’t they?
‘So you two have already met?’ Kate asked looking between Emma and Jake.
‘We certainly have,’ she replied, and then with a huge wink, added, ‘He thinks I’m beautiful.’
‘She prefers to call me, Sir,’ he quipped back.
‘Sir?’ Daniel asked as he walked into the room carrying one small box of lights. ‘That’s a new one. Hi, I’m Daniel,’ he said, offering his hand in introduction to Emma, ‘and I’m pretty sure this one,’ he said with a nod to Jake, ‘actually answers to Oi, You, as well, okay?’
‘Good to know,’ Emma said and looking at him added, ‘I actually tried him out on Eeyore.’
‘Eeyore?’ Daniel threw his head back and laughed. ‘Priceless.’ And then made the mistake of looking at Jake, and correctly interpreting the glint of murderous violence in his gaze, cleared his throat and said, ‘Um … that doesn’t sound like him at all.’
Emma gave Jake a look suggesting she wasn’t often wrong and it annoyed the hell out of him that he should care what she thought. ‘I’ll probably come up with a few other names for him while I’m here,’ she added.
‘Depends how long you’re here for, I suppose,’ Jake replied, and if she wanted to infer from his statement that he didn’t think she’d last five minutes, he had absolutely no problem with that.
‘Unless I decide to bar him on opening night, that is,’ she said with another grin at him.
‘What the hell could you bar me for?’ he asked with a frown.
‘Oh, I don’t know … maybe cruelty to cows?’
He opened his mouth but before he could say anything she turned and asked, ‘Daniel, what’ll you have to drink?’
‘Cappuccino please.’
‘Coming right up.’
‘And I’d like a Cortado, please,’ Jake decided, thinking he might cope better with the bar between them.
‘Sure,’ she said, walking up to the machine that had been installed behind the bar and then busied herself pressing buttons and pulling leavers, giving every impression she was the new Doctor getting the TARDIS started.
With Juliet making a call on her phone and Daniel and Kate talking about the scary non-existence of Christmas lights on the shop shelves, Jake had no choice but to stand at the bar waiting for his coffee.
‘You might want to remove some layers,’ he said, disliking that he’d noticed that the dusky pink wrap gave her skin a warm glow. ‘We have this thing called central heating now.’
‘How modern,’ she threw over her shoulder, before casually unwinding the pashmina to reveal a soft grey v-neck jumper.
She tossed the pashmina at him and he caught it automatically, his hands clenching around the soft wool. He could still feel her body heat. Any moment now he’d sniff it like a horny teenager.
Thank God she was behind the bar so that the glimpse of long legs, despite her height, encased in skinny jeans that had probably once been black but were now so faded and silvery-soft, was mostly barred from his view.
‘Oh, guys,’ Emma said, looking over at Kate and Daniel. ‘Did you get the footstall ordered?’
‘Yep,’ Kate said. ‘It’s out the back in the kitchen.’
‘Great.’ She popped back in front of him to pass him the coffee she’d made for him. ‘It’s such a chore being short,’ she confided.
Jake refused to allow his eyes to wander any lower than hers and took a careful sip from the glass of coffee she’d given him. ‘You’ve done this before,’
