please.’
He put his shoulder to the door, and there was a cracking sound as it opened. Marie picked up a plastic bag, which had been sitting on one of the windowsills, and stepped out into the courtyard.
‘Right. We need to check the height of the pavers…’ She produced a brick from the bag, wedging it under the bottom of the doorframe. ‘That looks okay to me. And Jim says there’s drainage, so we’ll be fine there…’
She pulled a folded A2 sheet from the bag, spreading it out on the stained concrete. Marie was nothing if not prepared, and Alex was getting the feeling that he’d been set up. But Marie did it so delightfully.
‘I reckon seats there…and planters in groups here and here… Perhaps a small water feature in the centre? What do you think?’
‘I think that’s great. Do we have the budget for it?’
‘Yes, if we don’t go overboard with things and we use the resources that we already have. Jim says that one of his guys will take me to the garden centre to get what we need.’
‘Fine.’ But something told Alex that his agreement to the plan wasn’t enough. Marie wanted more.
She turned to him, her eyes dancing with violet shards in the sunlight. ‘What do you say, Alex? Do you want to make a garden with me?’
Suddenly the one thing that Alex wanted was to make a garden, but there were more pressing things on his agenda.
‘Do you think that’s the best use of our time? We’re opening in six days.’
‘And the clinic’s ready. You’re not, though. You’ve been stuck in your office, working seven days a week, for months. You need a break before we open, and since I doubt you’ll go home and take one this is a good second-best.’
This. This was why he’d wanted Marie to be his co-director. For moments like now, when she glared at him and told him exactly what he was doing wrong. He’d hoped she might come up with a plan, and that it might not just be for the clinic but for him as well.
‘Well?’ She put her hands on her hips.
She was unstoppable, and Alex did need a break. Something to refill the well that felt in imminent danger of running dry.
‘Okay. I’m in your hands. What do you want me to do?’
‘I’ll go and get what we need for this courtyard, and we can store it all in the other one and start planting everything up. I’ll ask Jim exactly when he can lay the paving; he said he’d probably be able to fit it in this week.’
‘Maybe I can help with that. I could do with the exercise.’ The waistband of his trousers was slightly tighter than usual, and Alex reckoned that he really needed to get to the gym.
‘I wasn’t going to mention that.’
Her gaze fell to his stomach, and Alex instinctively sucked in a breath. He hadn’t thought he was that out of shape.
‘It’s nothing a little sunshine and activity won’t fix.’
‘What? You’re my personal trainer now?’
‘Someone has to do it, Alex. What are friends for?
This was exactly what friends were for. Crashing into your day like a shaft of light, slicing through the cobwebs. Doing something unexpected that turned an average working week into an adventure.
Alex dismissed the thought that it was also what lovers were for. He’d never had a lover who meant as much to him as his friend Marie. He doubted he ever would. He’d seen the way his father had reduced his mother to a sad, silent ghost. Alex had decided a long time ago that he would concentrate on making the best of every other aspect of his life and pass on marriage and a family.
He caught her just as she was leaving the clinic with Eammon, one of Jim Armitage’s builders. ‘Don’t worry about the budget on this. Get whatever you want. I’ll cover it.’
Marie shook her head. ‘We have the money to buy a few planters and grow things. It’s better that way.’
He’d said the wrong thing again. It would mean nothing to him to buy up a whole garden centre. It occurred to Alex that he was becoming used to throwing money at any problem that presented itself, because that meant much less to him than his time. He hadn’t realised he’d lost so much of himself.
‘Okay, well…’ He’d play it her way. ‘Let me know when you get back and I’ll help unload the van.’
‘Great. Thanks.’ She gifted him with an irrepressible smile and turned, hurrying across to the front gates, her red dress swirling around her legs.
As she climbed up into the front seat of the builder’s van that was parked outside the gates, Alex couldn’t help smiling. Marie always looked gorgeous, but somehow she seemed even more so now, rushing towards a future that held only excitement for her and looking oddly pristine in the dusty, battered vehicle.
She’d be a couple of hours at least. Alex turned back to his office, feeling suddenly that those two hours were going to drag a little, with only a desk full of paperwork to amuse him.
When Marie returned, Alex had already found the key to the other courtyard and opened it up, then changed into the jeans and work boots that he kept in the office for inspecting the works in progress with Jim.
The van pulled into the car park, and Marie climbed down from the front seat, cheeks flushed with excitement.
‘You got everything?’
‘Yes, we’ve got some small shrubs and loads of seeds, along with planters and growing compost. I came in two pounds under budget.’
‘And you didn’t buy yourself an ice cream?’ Alex walked to the back of the van, waiting for Eammon to open the doors.
‘I bought her an ice cream.’
Eammon grinned, and Alex wished suddenly that he’d volunteered to drive. He’d missed his chance to play the gentleman.
He started to haul one of the heavy bags of compost out of the back of the van, finding that it was more effort than he’d expected to throw it over his shoulder. He and Eammon stacked the bags in the courtyard while Marie unloaded the planters from the van.
‘What do you think? I was hoping that less might be more.’
She’d arranged some of the planters in a group and was surveying them thoughtfully. There was a mix of colours and styles. Some large clay pots, a few blue-glazed ones, which were obviously the most expensive, and some recycled plant tubs, which were mostly grey but contained random swirls of colour. Each brought out the best in the others.
‘They’re going to look great.’
Alex picked up two of the heavier clay pots and Eammon took the pot that Marie had picked up, telling her to bring the lighter plastic tubs through.
Another
