hard on this. I think it deserves a little bit of a ceremony, don’t you?’
The blindfold was nothing to do with Charlie. Alex just wanted to see the look on Marie’s face when she saw the paved courtyard.
‘Yes, okay, then. Hurry up!’
He tied the blindfold carefully over her eyes, trying not to breathe in the scent of her hair. Then, just for good measure, he turned her around a couple of times. Marie flung out her hand, her fingers brushing his chest, before they found a secure hold on the sleeve of his T-shirt. Alex shivered as tingles pulsed down his spine. They were almost in an embrace.
‘Enough, Alex! Take me there or else!’
‘Okay. Hold my arm.’
She clung on to him as he walked her slowly along the corridor. When the idea of blindfolding her had occurred to him this morning Alex hadn’t taken into consideration how good it would feel to have her walking so close, hanging on to him. He was glad he hadn’t foreseen it, because if he had he might have thought better of the idea. And it would have been a shame to miss this moment.
Charlie opened the door for them, standing back with a huge grin on his face.
‘The step’s right in front of you…’ Alex held her arm firmly so she couldn’t fall, and Marie extended her foot. ‘That’s it. A little further.’
When her foot hit the surface of the bricks she gave a shiver of anticipation, her fingers tightening around his arm. Alex’s knees almost gave way, and then suddenly his body was taut and strong again, ready to catch her if she fell.
Marie stepped out into the courtyard carefully, letting him lead her into its centre.
‘You can take the blindfold off now.’ He heard his voice catch on the lump in his throat and knew he dared not do it for her. If he touched her hair again he might forget himself.
Marie reached up, fumbling a little with the knot. She was silent for a moment, her hand to her mouth as she looked around.
‘Herringbone! I didn’t expect that!’
Alex and Charlie exchanged smug looks. The herringbone pattern meant that there had been extra work in cutting the bricks at the edges, but they’d both agreed it would be worth it. Now, it was definitely worth it.
‘This is beautiful. It’s perfect. Charlie, you must have worked so hard…’
It was just like Marie to praise the younger member of the team first. Charlie had worked hard, he’d made sure everything was exactly right, and he deserved it. Alex smiled as Charlie’s cheeks began to redden.
‘And you’ve set out all my planters as well. Thank you so much.’
Charlie nodded. ‘Would you like to see the drainage gulley?’
‘Yes, please.’
Alex watched as Charlie led her to one corner of the courtyard, showing her where excess rainfall would drain away from the surface and into a waste pipe.
‘You’ve made such a good job of it. When we put some flowers and seating out here it’s going to be a lovely place for people to sit.’
Charlie was grinning from ear to ear, and had obviously taken about as much praise as one young man could stand from a beautiful woman. He muttered something about having to report back to Jim, and made his escape. Then Marie turned her gaze onto Alex.
No words. Just a smile. But Alex felt just as pleased with her reaction as Charlie had obviously been.
‘You like it?’
‘You really need to ask, Alex? I love it.’
Alex nodded. This was everything he needed. It was well worth the hard manual labour, the aching muscles and the scraped fingers.
‘Our garden…’ Marie turned around as if she could see it right now. Flowers and seating—everything as it would be when it was finished.
‘Yes. I like the sound of that.’
‘Me too. I could really, really hug you. If you weren’t so dirty.’
He could really, really hug her too, and love every second of it. It was just as well that he was covered in grime, with streaks of adhesive all over his jeans.
‘I think I’ll go and give the showers in the gym changing rooms a trial run. Then I’ll go to my office.’
‘This has been keeping you from your other work…’ Marie shot him a guilty look.
‘There’s nothing so urgent that it won’t wait until tomorrow. I just really need to sit down.’
‘Then come out here. I’ll fetch you a chair and a cold drink, and you can sit and watch me work.’
The idea was much more enchanting than it should be. He could survey his handiwork with a sense of pride at something started and finished amongst a list of tasks that never seemed to end. Better still, he could watch Marie. Her dress brought a splash of colour to the monotonous pale walls of the clinic, and the way she moved injected life and fluidity. He loved the way the light glinted in her hair and—
Enough. He should confine himself to appreciating the colours of the brick. He might even allow himself a moment of self-congratulation that all that tapping with a mallet had borne fruit and they were perfectly level.
‘I’ll be back in ten minutes.’
He grinned at her, leaving her standing in the middle of the courtyard, still looking around, while he headed for the shower.
Marie couldn’t wait to get started. By the time Alex had returned she’d brought the rest of the pots and seed trays through from the other courtyard and was shifting the planters around into different configurations.
‘Stop!’ Alex was leaning back in his seat, drinking lemonade. ‘That’s the one I like.’
Marie stood back. ‘Yes, me too. Then there’s space for some seating.’
Alex nodded. ‘Where are you thinking of getting that from?’
Now or never… The idea had occurred to her yesterday, and since then Marie hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. ‘I had my eye on some old garden benches I saw in a junk shop. They’d scrub up nicely. But…’
Suddenly she felt as if it was too much to ask. As if this little garden with its recycled pots and bedding plants grown from seed wasn’t really good enough.
‘But what?’
Marie must have shown her embarrassment, because Alex was suddenly still, looking at her thoughtfully. There was no way out now…
‘I thought… Did your mother like flowers?’
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. The question had come
