Page 101 of Escape to the Country

Chapter 34

Eleanor arrived at Willow Tree Hall the following day, armed with bottles and old pots and pans, ready to start moving her stuff in.

Almost immediately, she came across Tom in the entrance hall.

‘Do you need a hand carrying all that?’ he asked, picking up two boxes at once.

Eleanor tried and failed to stop herself glancing at his toned biceps as he picked up the heavy boxes with ease. When had he become all outdoorsy and muscly all of a sudden? The fresh air and carpentry was certainly helping him relax.

She followed him to the stable block and let him unlock the door, amazed by the difference she saw inside.

‘You painted it,’ she said, turning to him in surprise. ‘Thank you so much.’

He held his palms up. ‘Dylan told me to,’ he replied.

She couldn’t believe it. The room looked so much larger now that it was painted white. But it was nice to still see the pattern of the bricks underneath. He had placed two worktables in the room at a right angle and a stool had also appeared from somewhere.

‘Wow,’ she told him. ‘Dylan really worked you hard.’

‘He’s a slave driver,’ he told her, looking a little bit sheepish.

She decided to let him off the hook and began to look through her boxes whilst he put up a couple of shelves for her to use. Then the room was ready for her to unpack whilst Tom worked on the shutters outside.

‘We’ll have to ask the family what colour they think the shutters should be painted,’ said Tom.

‘Green would be nice,’ she told him.

‘I agree but we’d better get their opinion, just in case there’s some historical colour or something they’d prefer me to use.’

As they carried on, Eleanor found it was relaxing, working together. She was filling the shelves and tables with all her stuff. He was now working on the door to the next stable along. They felt like a team.

Looking along the bench, she realised she was going to need some kind of stove to warm the ingredients up and wondered if Arthur had an old one knocking about somewhere. Thankfully he came along later in the morning, so she had a chance to ask him.

‘I’m pretty certain we kept a few in the garage in case of power cuts,’ he told her. Nodding thoughtfully, he added, ‘I’ll have a look later for you.’

He went over to sit down on an old bench in the courtyard of the stables.

‘Wait!’ said Eleanor, rushing over. The bench looked extremely rickety.

Tom also hurtled over, but it was too late. Arthur had already sat down and was smiling up at them both.

‘Thank you both for your concern,’ he said. ‘The seat has no doubt weathered, but it’s still sturdy. Much like myself.’

Eleanor and Tom exchanged a soft laugh of relief.

‘Well, this is all looking quite splendid,’ said Arthur, nodding his approval.

‘What colour do you think the shutters should be painted?’ asked Tom. ‘They need something to keep them weatherproof.’

Arthur studied them for a moment before declaring, ‘I think some shade of green would be perfect, don’t you?’

Eleanor and Tom exchanged a smile as Arthur leant forward to give Dylan a stroke. Tom wandered away to carry on working whilst Eleanor chatted.

‘Isn’t it lovely to have a bit of sun,’ carried on Arthur, with a contented sigh. ‘I really do think sometimes we all need a little solar power to get our energy levels back up again.’

‘Absolutely,’ said Eleanor, rolling her shoulders. ‘I’ve spent more time outside since I came back to Cranley than I’ve ever done before.’

‘And are you reaping the benefits?’ asked Arthur.