The Unwanted Swap

“Doing what?”

She placed her wet lips right over my ear and breathed softly. “Smoking pot.” When I frowned, she asked, “Surprised?”

I shook my head. “Nothing surprises me any more.”

She pulled a blunt out of her bra. “Lincoln gave me this; do you want to share.”

When I didn’t respond immediately, she said, “Come on, babe, God, I haven’t done this since Uni. Come on. I know you used to partake when you were younger.”

I laughed before picking up my beer, “Come on then.”

We went around the back where they had been and she sparked up. By the time the joint was gone, we were both feeling no pain. She flung her arms around my neck. “Thanks for coming tonight, babe. It’s been awesome. Great party isn’t it?”

I actually wanted to say, “Can we leave?: but I swallowed it and nodded in agreement.

Back inside standing at the bar getting drinks, she asked, “Would you get upset if I had a dance with Tony.”

Not the words I was hoping to hear. “I would like a dance as well, you know.”

She nodded, “Then come on, slow coach.” She dragged me out into the crowd of happy-go-lucky dancers. They were all faster numbers and we bopped along like everybody else. Rose was in a great mood and we stayed out until the band stopped for a break.

Back at the bar, we were joined by Claire. “Well, I must say, it’s nice to see you two enjoying yourselves.”

Rose jumped into her arms and they shared a very juicy kiss. “Thank you for inviting us, Claire. Bloody hell, girl, this is the best party ever.”

We got our drinks and Claire and Rose chatted away. Tony wandered up and he was welcomed into their fold as Claire wrapped her arm around his waist.

They talked freely as he waved to the barman. I didn’t hear what he said, but after getting what he wanted he handed me a glass. “Edwin, old man, this is the best whisky in my collection.” As I held the glass he clinked his against mine and said, “Cheers.”

He wasn’t wrong, I’m not much of a whisky connoisseur, but damn it was nice. No sooner had we finished than he asked, “Would you like another?”

I sucked in a deep breath. “Yeah, I suppose so. I am already to drunk to drive. We will be needing a taxi.”

Claire interjected, “Don’t be a party pooper. We have spare rooms. You are welcome to stay.”

“Oh yes, please,” Rose added. “It would be so nice not to have to go home to a cold house.”

She glanced at me with big pleading eyes. “Please, babe, it would be nice not to have to worry about taxis.”

Tony clinked his glass against mine and took a long gulp of his. I threw mine back in one go.

Rose took my silence as acceptance. We were staying the night.

The band started back up and I grabbed Rose’s hand. “Come on then, let’s dance.” She gave me a big smile and we were about to head out when Claire grabbed my hand. “I would love a dance, as well.”

Rose dropped my hand. “You guys go, we can dance later, babe.”

Claire dragged me out by the hand and we started bouncing along to the music. It was mostly 60’s and 70’s stuff and pop. About three or four songs in the mood changed, the lights dimmed and suddenly we were standing listening to a slow song. Claire didn’t miss a beat, she slipped easily into my arms.

We glided around, easily swishing among the other dances. “Hmmm, you are a fabulous dancer, Eddie.”

Oh, now I was Eddie again. We continued to enjoy the swaying music. Her body pressed against me. This wasn’t one of their swingers parties so it was pretty innocuous, but the feel and smell of her in my arms did feel nice. I remembered all the nightly wanks I had thinking about her. That got my blood pumping and I started to get an erection. I couldn’t stop it.

She recognised it, and even although we were among her regular friends, she still managed to grind against me. Her moist breath wafting over my skin only exacerbated the situation. God damn she was sexy.

As we skipped around, she whispered through her moist breath. “Tell me about your new job.”

“Well, I am working for Mark Jacobson. He is a developer who is redeveloping the old woollen mill, building into low-cost housing.”

I felt her body stiffen. “Did you say Mark Jacobson?”

“Uh huh, that’s the one.”

Her body caressed mine through the silk of her dress. “That is a remarkable project. How do you get along with Mark?”

“He’s great, actually. He is incredibly passionate and I have to say working with him has rubbed off. Now I am right behind him. He is trying to make a difference.”

She leaned in and kissed my cheek. “I’m impressed. That project is important, and I agree. Mark is a dynamo.”

Shocked that she knew of him, I had to ask, “Do you know him?”

She replied, her voice a whisper, “I am one of his financial contributors. My charity foundation is the patron, actually.”

“I haven’t seen you down there.”

“No, I have been a bit lax. His is not the only project we fund.”

Her body melted against mine, and this time I held her tightly. “Now it is me who is impressed.”

She giggled softly, replying breathlessly, “Well, nice to know that I have got something right in your eyes.”

The music changed back to a more upbeat tempo. Claire pulled back. “Shall we take a breather?”

“Sounds good, I could use a drink.”

We walked back to the bar and were soon joined by Tony and Rose, who had also been dancing. Claire started in with a raft of questions about the project: how I thought it was going, the people, the impact.

Rose gave us a quizzical glance as Claire’s interrogation deepened. She was even more surprised when Claire said, “I will have to ensure I come down for a visit more often.”

She grabbed Tony’s hand, “Come along, husband, we need to mingle.”

Rose looked thrilled, “Wow, you two seem to be getting on much better.”

I shrugged. “Who knew?”

She dragged me with her as we did our bit to mingle. It irked me that she seemed drawn to the rich-listers. I would have been happy to just talk to Gordon. At least he was real, unlike the shallow pompous pricks she wanted me to meet.

I was happy when it was all over and Claire led us to our room. Holy crap, what a room. A hundred times better than any hotel we had ever used.

Rose, maybe because of the smoke, maybe the drinks and the occasion, was in a very sexy mood and we made love passionately.

The morning was not the same. It was awkward and uncomfortable. Claire was a fabulous hostess and Tony was trying to make conversation, but it was forced. It didn’t flow, there was no laughter. I accept that it was mostly my fault. I blamed Tony for the way my life was currently playing out. He was definitely to blame, for the distance between Rose and myself.

As we drove out the driveway, Rose looked confused when I turned right instead of left. “Where are we going?”

“Gordon told me last night that he had something he wanted to show me. He thought I would find it interesting.”

She sighed with a distracted yawn, and leaned back in her seat.

Gordon’s place wasn’t hard to find. It was barely six driveways up the road. Unlike Tony and Claire’s place, it was a farm, a working farm. Gordon was out in the yard and looked up with a smile as he recognised us.

There were handshakes and kisses as we reacquainted.

“Righto Laddie, I don’t have a lot of time today. What I wanted to show you was a couple of properties.”

“Branching into real-estate are you?” I replied humorously.

He laughed as well, before responding. “No, these plots used to be part of the farm, but we decided to sell them off to generate some funds for modernisation. When you said you were in the market for a property, I thought you might be interested.”

“Wow, thanks, yes we are definitely interested, aren’t we, Hon?”

Rose gave me a very sour glare. “Um, maybe.” I could see from here deeply furrowed brow that she was pissed off.

Gordon walked us back down the road and showed us a couple of properties, each about four acres. The one that interested me most had a small cottage. It was derelict and in very poor condition.

“This one will be hardest to sell.” Gordon muttered. “The cottage is grade two listed.”

I loved it. I was immediately affected by it. I felt shivers run up and down my spine as we approached it. Strange as we neared my mind started building images, and I could see what it could be. It had a small creek running along the dirt driveway.

As I walked around the cottage, assessing it’s condition, Rose tugged on my arm. “Come on, Eddie, this is ridiculous. It’s a dump.”

As Gordon and I talked, Rose kept interrupting, pointing out every pitfall and problem. Gordon gave me a sad look. “Sorry to waste your time, Laddie. Thought it might interest you.”

Rose was already out the gate when I replied. “I am. Ignore negative Nelly. I might come back by myself. How much is it going for?”

He appeared to be appraising me. “Well, if it’s you. I think we could come to an arrangement. The market price is 75,000 Pounds.”

All the way home Rose lectured me about pipe dreams. “Hon, we can’t afford that. It would cost thousands, not to mention the time it would take.”

The fact I was interested and couldn’t stop talking about it made her grumpy.

The next week I was stunned when Claire turned up at work. Mark gave her a huge hug and kiss as he welcomed her into the office. When she walked over and said, “Hello, Eddie,” he looked surprised.

“You two know each other?”

“Oh yes, Eddie and I are old friends, aren’t we?”

I chuckled softly. “Yeah, old friends.”

Mark took her by the hand and led her out to show her around the project. As they were vanishing out the door, Claire turned and said. “Well, are you coming?”

Mark gave me an encouraging stare, so I followed behind. It was an interesting morning as Mark led her around. I was suitably impressed by her questions. They were all straight to the point and relevant.

I started to see a side of Claire that had been dormant, well, to me at least. She had a social conscience and was passionate about helping out.

I recalled her description of growing up poor. It obviously left a deep scar.

Later, I did some research about her charity work. She chaired and sponsored many charities. Her main focus was her own. That in itself was intriguing. It focused on helping poor and needy kids. There were virtually hundreds of photos of her at events she sponsored with young and not so young kids.

Over the next couple of weeks, she became a fairly regular visitor at the project site. Often, she accompanied by photographers and politicians as she tried to build the profile and generate interest.

My dreams of building our own house got a boost, as well. When I showed Mark some photos of the old cottage he was immediately taken with it and we sat together as he took my sketches and built on them.

As the day drew to a close and we were packing up, he picked up his keys. “Come on, lets go and have a look at that cottage.”

For the whole drive we talked about it; the difficulties getting building consent did mean it would be a hard sell. That challenge seemed to excite him more than ever.

At the cottage, he immediately dove inside, scraping away the overgrown vines and weeds to expose the foundations. It was apparent this had not been lived in for a long time. I did a reconnaissance of the water and sewerage systems, picked away at the stone work to check the soundness.

We were starting to form opinions on what would be needed when Gordon rocked up. He gave us the history of the building. This farm had been in his family for generations and this building was the original homestead.

That shocked me. “Then why the hell are you selling it? I would have thought you would want to keep it in the family.”

Rubbing his stubbly chin he said. “No, it’s time this was fixed up, I had hoped a family might buy it and it would get reborn. Give others the start it gave my family. Plus I’m bloody useless at this shit.”

It was informative getting some history. It also gave us a bit of insight into how to move forward. If I was excited before, now I was bursting at the seams with enthusiasm. Building on that was Mark, because he seemed equally as enthused.

I raised it again with Rose over dinner and she was totally against the very thought of it. “Eddie, I love the idea, the novelty of it, and I’m not questioning your ability. It’s just so far out of reach for us at the moment.”

As we ate she fired in, “I have been talking to Tony about our desire to buy a home. He has got several friends in the business and he reckons we would be better to buy something in a good neighbourhood that needs some renovating.”

Tony, there he was again meddling in my affairs. The fact that was what he proposed just made me want my dream more passionately. Rather than argue, I just dropped it. I could see it was not worth the effort.

Lately, she was so immersed in her trading portfolio that she had time for little else. Every night from the moment she got home till bedtime she was on the damn laptop. I mean, I admired her passion and drive, but I missed our time, the chats and conversations, the warm laughter as we watched some stupid crap on the TV.

My dream got a boost a few days later when Mark arrived at work with a full set of working drawings of what we had discussed for the cottage.

They were brilliant, and as we spread them out on the desk and he showed me through them, I was blown away by his vision.

“Mate, they’re fantastic.” As I glanced at him, I said sadly, “I can’t afford to pay for them, though.”

He laughed it off. “They are a gift. Honestly, I would love to see that cottage refurbished, plus we’re mates, aren’t we?”

I pulled him into a very unmanly hug and sighed. “Yes we are. We most definitely are, my friend.”

Armed with the drawings I went down to the bank to discuss options. Shown into a small office, I was greeted by the loans manager and we discussed the property and my aspirations. He brought up the property details and saw the grade two listing. I heard him suck in a deep breath when he saw it.

We talked at length about how to proceed. First would be getting approval from the local shire, and of course, from National Heritage.

As we discussed my financial position he brought up our account details. I saw him look up from behind his computer screen and give me a funny stare. “Um, how much do you have in your account, Edwin?”

“About 30,000 pounds, I think.”

He turned the screen so I could see. The balance showed as 1500 pounds. “What, that’s not right.”

He brought up the history and said that 32,000 Pounds had been transferred out two weeks ago.”

To say I was shocked was a real understatement. Rose, it had to be her and that bloody trading scheme.

She was already home when I burst in. As always she was on the damn computer. “What the hell have you done?” I screamed.

Startled she looked up. “Whatever do you mean?”

“I mean the money from our account. It’s gone.”

She sighed off-handedly. “Relax, sweetheart, I transferred it so I could increase my trading.”

“And when were you going to discuss that with me?”

“We talked about it. You said once I made twelve hundred pounds we could move forward. Babe, on that initial investment I made 2,000 pounds. I am really getting the hang of it, and with Tony’s help, I have an opportunity to make us some real money.”

“I never said you could take every penny we have.”

“Honey, relax, you’re stressing out over nothing. This is going to make us a lot of money.”

“Like hell it is, Rose. I told you to take out 3,000, not every bloody penny. I want that money back.”

She gave me a very cold stare. “We have talked about buying a house. This is the way to move it forward quickly. Hon, if this goes as well as my first went, we could have a hundred grand within six months.”

Livid, I snarled, “Or we could be bankrupt. No, Rose, I want that money returned now. Sell whatever you have to, but tomorrow I want that thirty thousand Pounds back in our account.”

She stood up and walked towards me. Our faces only inches apart. “Hon, you are overreacting as always. Just take a breath and think about it. With Tony’s guidance, I can really make this grow. We can have our home.”

“No, I’m not joking, Rose. We worked bloody hard for that money and I’m not prepared to throw it away on some ridiculous plan.”

Her hands grabbed mine and she squeezed lightly. “Honey, you have to trust me. I proved I can do this. Trust me, I am all over it. We can build some real wealth, not just the house, but put together a real nest-egg.”

I snatched my hands from hers. “No, I don’t care what that arsehole Tony says. This is a risk I am not prepared to take. I want that money returned immediately.”

She scowled. “It doesn’t work that way. If I short sell, I could take a real hit.”

“I don’t care. I want that money back in our bank. Jesus, do know how embarrassed I was today? I was at the bank and when I saw the balance I early fainted. Return the money.”

I stormed off to shower and change.

When I returned she was on the phone in tears. “I don’t know what to do.” I heard her say. “Yes, I suppose I could do that, yes, maybe that’s the plan.”

When she saw me she hung up. The glare she gave me was evil, cold and piercing. I went about cooking dinner because nothing had been prepared. We ate in a cold stagnant silence.

Afterwards I watched the news. As I watched, Rose said, “Hon, could I show you this? Let me explain it too you. Our money is safe.”

She moved over beside me and started to scroll through her purchases, share balances. Tony’s name must have popped up ten times as she explained. Maybe if she had left his name out I would have listened, and yes, maybe I would have seen the sense she made. That’s not the way my brain works. Every time I heard his name my blood pressure went up a notch and I stopped listening.

At the end of her spiel, she said, “Well, what do you think? Can I keep going?”

“No Rose, you can’t. That money is ours, we both earned it. I want it back.”

“You’re right, Eddie, it is ours. I earned it as well and I get a say in how we use it.”

“I want that money back, Rose. In our account tomorrow.”

She sighed defiantly. “No, that’s not how it works. I can get it back, but it will take a week at least.”

I nodded. “Okay, you get a week, but not a day longer.”

She snapped, springing out of the sofa screaming, “Fuck you, Eddie, you miserable shit. I am onto something here. You think just because I’m a woman I can’t do this. You have absolutely no faith in me whatsoever.”

“Rose, if you had talked to me about this we could have increased our investment a little at a time and then we could have gone hard. But you never even bothered to tell me, you never gave me a chance.”

“You prick, I wanted it to be a surprise. I was going to double our money, then show you. I wanted to prove I could do it. Christ, this was for both of us, not just me.”

“Yeah well all you had to do was talk to me, let me have an opinion. Everything I have worked for, every penny I have is sitting there waiting to be flushed down the toilet.”

She stormed off up the stairs screaming. “Fuck you.”

End of argument.

I slept on the sofa. Things were very tense for the remainder of the week. Friday night she walked in with a smug look on her face.

She handed me a check for 25,000 Pounds. “Here, this is your half of our investment. I am keeping the other half and I am going to keep investing.” I stood there staring at her. “What?” she snapped. “Half the money is mine, and I get a say in how we use it. You may not have any faith in me, but I increased our original balance by nearly 40% in just a little under a month.”

I pocketed the check and replied. “Thanks, I will put this in my account.”

She softened. “Don’t you get it, Eddie, 40% in a month. Give me a chance babe. We will be in our own home in no time, and mortgage free.”

“Go for it, but like I said at the start, only invest what you can afford to lose. I am keeping this for a rainy day.”

Throwing her hands in the air in defeat she snarled. “Oh, whatever; sometimes I really worry about you, Eddie.”

When I told Mark about my problem, he came up with a couple of options. He directed me to a mortgage broker who worked with struggling families. He could often work out deposit-free mortgages.

Over the next couple of weeks I spent all my spare time going between the mortgage broker and national Heritage, working out what I would need to do to get approval and building consent.

It was hard. At home, things were cold and not much fun. Rose was either asleep or on the computer. She took great glee in showing me how quickly her half of the money was growing. I had to take my hat off to her. She was good. If it wasn’t for her snarky smug attitude, I would probably have given her my half, as well.

The other thing that annoyed me was her relationship with Tony, it was now much deeper than before. She quite happily told me about their luncheon dates and mentoring sessions. It pissed me off.

Claire, as well, seemed to know a hell of a lot about what was going on in our relationship. Her visits to the project were far more frequent now, and we often found ourselves wandering around together. She didn’t lecture me. There was no scolding, but she did say I needed to let Rose grow. She was only just exposing the little corner of her potential.

I understood that, but I wasn’t sure that the new Rose was somebody I wanted to be around. She had lost her fun, her passion for life seemed to have evaporated. Now all she cared about was that damn computer and rubbing my nose in how much money she made.

Buying the property seemed to be getting too hard. I was about to shelve it when Gordon rang out of the blue one day. “How are you going, Laddie, are you still interested in the cottage?”

“I am still in love, yes. But sadly, mate, I think I will have to let it go.”

“What’s the problem, Laddie? Tell me the truth, is it just money?”

“Yeah, you hit the nail on the head.”

“What if I reduced the price a little?”

“I would still struggle, Gordon; sorry for wasting your time.”

“Don’t be silly, Laddie, I might have a solution. What say I leave 25% in the property. That will be a separate loan that you can pay me back. No need for the bank, or anybody else, to know about.”

“What? Jesus, Gordon, that would be incredible, but you don’t even know me.”

“I know you well enough, Laddie, and I want something good to happen to that cottage. My dad was born there, and we would like decent neighbours..”

The deal was done. There was a myriad of paperwork to go back and forth and it took two months of negotiations and council meetings before it was all approved. I now owned a derelict cottage.”

I kept that to myself. If Rose thought it was okay to have secrets, then this would be mine. I would surprise her.

The first bit was to move all the building materials I had rescued from the project out to the site. Mark came out with me one weekend and we cleared out one corner of the old cottage to use as an office. We made a big desk out of an old door and spread the plans out.

The next weekend I learned how to drive a mini excavator and cleared out the building itself. There was no roof, only some old trusses remained. Luckily, they were in pretty good nick and would be usable.

Rose seemed angry that I was away all weekend. I said I was working. Not sure she believed me, although every day I arrived home covered in mud and dirt. Our lives sort of stabilised. We managed to find the core of why we were together. I did love that woman, god I loved her, and I just knew that she loved me.

The anger dissipated, allowing some of the warmth and love to shine through. After a month I was at the point where I was proud of what I had achieved at the cottage. It was cleared out and the beauty of the building could now be seen. I wanted to show Rose. I was sure that once she saw it exposed she would fall in love just like me.”

There’s that damn roller-coaster song and our life seemed a bit like that. We seemed to go up and down. Mark, who fancied himself as a philosopher, said: That is the picture of true love. Coins have two sides, as does life. When the coin is flipped it spins and both sides are exposed to the world. You cannot have joy without sadness, you cannot have love without hate.

I saw what he was trying to say, but I still managed a laugh.

My world came to a stuttering end on the receipt of a phone call. “Hi, Rose, what’s up?”

I was just walking out of the office on my way home.

“Eddie, I have something to tell you and I know you are not going to like it, but here it is.”

I heard her suck in a big breath before she told me. “Babe, today I travelled with Tony to London, he had to address a group of investors and he…”

I cut her off, screaming. “What?”

“Eddie, please calm down; let me explain. He thought it would be a good experience for me to attend the meeting. So I came with him. Unfortunately, there are some problems and he has to carry on tomorrow.”

Boiling rage overwhelmed me. “You went to London with him without even mentioning it to me. Jesus, Rose, you can be a bitch sometimes. You know how I hate you spending time with that arsehole.”

“Eddie, stop it, you’re carrying on like a pork chop. I’m sorry, I know I should have told you, but it was a short notice thing. Anyway, it gets worse.”

“Oh yeah, and how is that?”

“We have to stay overnight. There was a problem when he changed the flight tickets. He cancelled mine as well. Now I can’t get a flight till tomorrow.”

I stumbled down the stairs from the office, my mind spinning wickedly out of control, fury tainting every word. “You’re telling me you are spending the night in London with that fucker? Is that what you’re telling me?”

“Yes, Eddie, that is it. Tony has already booked us rooms. We are staying at the Sheridan.”

“Like fuck you are. If you stay there with him our marriage is over. Do you hear me Rose… over.”

“Jesus, calm down, Eddie. We have separate rooms. We are not in the same room.”

“Get a fucking train, a bus. I don’t fucking care, but if you spend the night with him we are done.”

“Eddie, please, be sensible. It would take ages to sort out a train. Plus, I really learned a lot today and I would like to attend tomorrows meeting to see how it goes.”

I hung up, the anger made it impossible for me to formulate sentences or even words. I knew if I stayed on the line talking I was going to say things I shouldn’t.

When I pulled up at home I was shocked to see Claire’s Mercedes parked there. As I got out she also got out. “Hello Eddie, how are you?”

“What are you doing here Claire?”

“Rose just called and she said you didn’t take the news too well. I thought I should come and see that you are all right.”

“No, actually, I’m not all right. My slut of a wife is off on some dirty overnighter with your sleazy fucking husband.”

I glanced around to see if anybody had heard my angry retort. She scowled. “Can we go inside and talk before we cause a scene?”

I walked past her and opened the door. She followed me in.

“Eddie, this is just an innocent mistake. Tony didn’t know he was going to have to stay overnight. They have separate rooms. I can confirm that with the hotel if you want.”

“Jesus, Claire, I’m not an idiot. He could book thirty rooms but still only use one.”

“Eddie, please, darling, don’t over react. This is innocent. Tony suggested Rose accompany him as a learning exercise. They were supposed to be home by now, no harm done.”

“No harm done,” I snorted derisively. “Jesus, Claire, she lies to me. She goes off with that sleazy fucker, who she knows I hate. Fuck her, I am over this shit.”

Her face changed quickly. “Tony is my husband, Eddie, and I will not stand here and let you besmirch him like that. You might not like him, but he has done nothing but try to help you and Rose. At least she is grateful.”

“Oh, I’m sure she is, and I suppose she will show him how grateful over and over tonight.”

“Eddie,” she gasped. “Stop it. You are acting like a crazy man. I suggest we go out for dinner somewhere and try to have a calm sensible conversation. We are both going to be alone tonight.”

“Forget it, Claire. I don’t think you realise how angry I am. I am beyond livid. I think it would be best if you left.”

“Darling, that is not a good idea. I worry that you will do or say something you cannot take back. Rose is already upset with you for what happened earlier.”

“Unbelievable… she’s upset with me. For Pete’s sake, Claire. She is off on some sordid little trip. He has been trying to get her into bed since he met her. Guess he finally found her price. A cheap night in London.”

“Edwin, I am getting cross. Granted this was a bad idea. She should have been honest from the start, but I assure you, it is totally innocent and harmless. There is nothing going on.”

“How the hell do you know that, Claire?”

“Edwin, Tony and I have a totally open and honest relationship. He told me that Rose was going with him. He doesn’t have to lie to me. If he wanted to have sex with her, I would be fine with it. Whether you believe me or not is unimportant to me. I may be many things, but I am not a liar.”

Her words did little to quell the turbulent waters of my gut. It was knotted so tight I could feel it as I ran my hands over it.

“Claire, I don’t care what you say. I have my own opinion on what is going on. Jesus, even if they did nothing I would still be pissed off. She lied to me again. She left for work this morning with a kiss and a smile. All the time she knew what she was doing.”

“But, darling, there’s nothing in it.”

“Yes there is, Claire. She might not be having sex, but she is certainly having an affair. She goes of on her little lunch dates with him. She goes to his office after work for ‘Mentoring sessions,’ and now she is off on this trip, all the while knowing what my reaction was going to be.”

Claire bit her bottom lip as my words filtered through her mind.

“Claire, don’t you see? She disrespects me every time she spends time with him. The fact she is prepared to lie to me to get what she wants is so damn disrespectful.”

“Edwin, darling, you read too much into things. You are over thinking this. Please, let me take you out to dinner.”

“No, you better leave, Claire, because I am about to ring Rose, and it is not going to be pleasant.”

“Don’t say anything in the heat of the moment. I beg you. Take the night to think about things. You know how tenuous things have been between you two recently.”

She came in for a hug and a kiss, before she left. “Please, Eddie, breathe, do not rush into it. Think clearly.”

I had almost convinced myself to leave it and try and sort it out tomorrow, but Rose took it out of my hands, she rang me. “Eddie, can we talk? Did Claire visit? Is she still there?”

“Yeah, she’s been and gone. Gave me the benefit of her wisdom.”

“Good, now… can we talk about this?”

“No we can’t. I just checked and guess what. There are flights back tonight. One leaves in an hour. Surprise, surprise, there are seats available.”

“Eddie I wanted to stay. I am learning so much. Honestly babe. If you would let me explain. This means a lot to me.”

“The only thing I can take away from this is how little you think of me. Since you met Tony he has usurped my position as your friend and confidante. We used to share and talk about everything. Now if you want to talk you go to him.”

“That’s not true, Hon.”

“Yes it is, Rose. You have lost all respect for me. You lie to me daily. You know bloody well what my reaction was going to be. When you left for work this morning, you kissed me and said. ‘I will see you tonight’.”

“That’s because we were supposed to be back today.”

“And if that had been the case, I would never have known. Somehow, you seem to believe that makes it all right. What I don’t know won’t hurt me.”

“Eddie, if you would just get over this stupid hatred of Tony then I wouldn’t have to lie to you. I could be honest.”

“Rose, it seems to me that at the moment, our marriage is over. I refuse to be a bit-part character. Tony wants the lead role, well he can have it. Have a nice night. I hope he is as good as you hoped.”

I hung up before she could answer. Funny, I had been fighting so hard to keep them apart. To keep her for myself. Now I had made the decision to get out with my life. I felt lighter. The anger evaporated. My mind had returned to it’s normal orbit and I got some traction. I couldn’t be bothered cooking so I headed down the pub for something to eat and a pint.

It was late when I got home. Lying in bed I started to think. Okay, I made the decision that our marriage was over. That was easy. How to achieve that was the hard part. Now I had a property, a mortgage. I couldn’t afford to live here by myself.

As it was, I had been leaving all the bills to Rose recently. She hadn’t complained, hadn’t even mentioned it. Moving out was the only answer. As I laid in bed, my phone rang. “Eddie, can we talk now?”

Checking my phone I saw the time was eleven. “Bloody hell, that must have been a quicky. Don’t tell me the slimy old prick is useless in the sack.”

“Eddie,” she snarled with an exasperated sigh. “I am in my own bed. There is nothing going on.”

“Rose, I don’t believe a single word you say at the moment. He could be lying beside you right now having a laugh at my expense.”

“Oh, for fucks sake, Eddie. You are being ridiculous. I made a mistake. I should have been honest.”

“Yes you should. The problem is, this is god knows how many times you have apologised for the same thing. Look, let’s not argue. I have made a decision. We need to separate. We can’t live like this. I can’t anyway. I am moving out. You can do what you like.”

“Eddie, that’s bloody stupid. We can get past this. I know you don’t mean that. You’re just trying to hurt me.”

“No, Rose, I’m serious. I can’t go on like this. I need to be with somebody who respects me. Somebody who takes me and my opinions seriously. I’m not getting that from you.”

“Eddie, please, don’t let your jealousy and insecurities ruin what we have.”

“We don’t have anything, that’s the problem. Since you met Tony, everything changed. He took over my role as the head of this family. You go to him when you want an opinion. Whatever he says usurps my opinion and then I get pushed to the background. Sorry, Rose. I think if you think about it in the cool light of day. It makes sense.”

“No it doesn’t. Eddie, I think you need counselling. You developed a dislike for Tony right from the outset. It was fired by an irrational jealousy. It is stopping you from thinking clearly. Now your thoughts are incongruous, outrageous. You need help.”

“So you don’t think you have done anything wrong?”

“I have made mistakes, I’m not hiding from that. But you have been so impossible to talk to. I have tried to reason with you. Shit, just think back to the trading. Do you know how much I have made? No you don’t, because I can’t talk to you about it.”

“Goodbye, Rose. Have a good night, I hope it’s worth it.”

The morning came quickly, a deep beer infused sleep left me feeling refreshed.”

I quickly gathered together everything I could. Clothes, computers, personal belongings, as much as I could squeeze into my car. God knows where I was going to go, but I wasn’t staying there to be treated like a fool.

At work, Mark picked up on my unhappy state. I sensed it myself. I was all over the place, unable to focus and I was short with everybody.

“Eddie, what’s going on my friend? Trouble at home?”

“Yeah, I have left her. I am sick of all the drama.”

He nodded. “So what are you going to do?”

I shrugged with a sigh. “I don’t know mate. I feel like I’m fucked.”

Like he always did he pulled me into a hug. Yeah, not very manly, but he made me feel good. Funny how just the simple act of acknowledging my problems eased my state of mind.

He made us both a cup of tea and we walked around site. As we passed one of the big storerooms, he brought us to a stop. He walked inside. “Okay Eddie, what do you reckon? We could easily convert this into a little room you could actually live in.”

Stunned at his generosity, I asked, “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. Better than sleeping in the car. I mean, if we did things right. You could actually be living out at your place in a couple of weeks.”

His clear thinking and logic made perfect sense. He committed a couple of guys to work with me and he even pitched in himself. By nightfall, we had a bedroom set up. I could use the other facilities for showering and cooking.

Rose called me as soon as she got home. She realised I had moved out. The call started badly, with her calling me stupid, I was overreacting, gutless, running away. I listened to her spew out vicious accusations one after the other.

In the end she was exhausted and crying. “Eddie, this won’t fix anything.”

“Funny, I feel better now than I have in months.”

“Where are you staying?”

“None of your business, actually.”

“Are you seeing somebody else? Is that what this is all about?”

“No, Rose, there’s nobody else, I’m just sick of fighting over every single thing. You must feel the same way. Tonight, sit down and think about it. All we do these days is fight.”

“Eddie, did you consider my suggestion about counselling?”

“No, because quite honestly I don’t believe I have behaved badly. I haven’t lied, tricked or manipulated you. I have told the truth and I think acted appropriately.”

There were some tears before she hung up in exasperation.

Over the next few days, Mark and I spent some time out at the cottage. Using Gordon’s excavator, we cut out the new foundations, built some shuttering and I ordered the concrete truck for Saturday.

Friday, Claire turned up to talk to Mark and visit the project. She acknowledged me, but there was no warmth and it was back to Edwin. Even Mark noticed. For the first time I felt his anger. “Eddie, do not let this get in the way of this project. I expect you to behave appropriately. Do not drag Claire into your domestic situation.”

Not knowing what to say I just sat staring at him. He walked over and rested his hand reassuringly on my shoulder. “Sorry to be so blunt, but I sense Claire is uncomfortable at the moment. I don’t need any drama. I am on your side, if you could just stay out of the way while she’s around, Okay?”

I nodded, “Yeah, all good. I didn’t mean to cause any issues.”

“I know that, but she has got the shit’s for you, so like I say, stay out of her way.”

“Yeah, no worries, boss.”

Gordon saved me in another area. I wanted to do the stone work repairs myself, but with no experience, I was stuck. Thankfully, Gordon knew a local retired stone mason, who did cash jobs, and his rates were good.

Over the weekend I became his apprentice. Slow, hard gruelling work. First we had to collect all the crumbled stones and reuse them. Sorting and placing them took what felt like forever.

Slowly over the weekend, the front wall grew stone by stone.

Jack, the wizened old mason, was a laugh to work with and we had a few chuckles as he showed me the art of laying stone, but mostly mixing lime mortar, a skill all on it’s own.

It took a month of working every evening and weekend before the front wall was completed and sound enough to take the support beams. The next was the rear extension which was to be constructed from the rescued bricks from the project. Again, Jack was the master and I his student.

It was hard work, but so rewarding. It took my mind off my personal life. I expected Rose to contact me, to beg and plead as she had before I walked out, but nope, not a word.

I guess I felt a little let down. Didn’t she care? I shouldn’t have been surprised. She had what she wanted, her freedom to do whatever she wanted.

I followed through with Mark’s request. Every time I saw Claire turn up, I disappeared out the back.

The project was going well. We were ahead of schedule and we had sold the first two units. The families moved in, and Claire arrived with a full team of camera men and journo’s who were running stories on the project.

I tried to stay out of the way, but it was Mark himself who dragged me in. As much as I tried to stay out of her way, Claire trapped me in a corner. “Hello, Edwin. Have you been avoiding me?”

“Yes, I have, trying to anyway.”

She scowled questioningly. “Why?”

“Because Mark asked me to. He was worried that I might do something, or say something that would upset you.”

“I’m sorry, I have been unfair. When are you going to talk to Rose. She is devastated.”

“Sorry, but I don’t think so. She got what she wanted. She’s now free to date whoever she wants.”

“Oh, for heavens sake. She isn’t dating anybody. She goes to work and sits at home by herself. She hasn’t spoken to Tony in two weeks.”

“Guess I should have walked out months ago. If I had known that’s all I had to do to break them up. Might have saved our marriage.”

“You are so insecure. For an intelligent man, Edwin, you are a damn fool.”

“Claire, you can’t expect me to put up with her behaviour. Surely you must see the constant lying was always going to end this way.”

“I agree the lying was wrong, and I did plead with her to be honest with you. I asked her to tell you she was going with Tony, but she refused. Pleaded with me not to say anything to you. I am sorry for my part in that.”

I nodded, accepting her apology. “Thank you for that. What else could I do?”

“You could talk to her. This doesn’t have to be the end. She made mistakes. You made mistakes.”

“Hang on a minute. What mistakes did I make?”

“You were too inflexible. By being so, you made her feel so scared about sharing she stopped talking to you. She wanted to. She was just too scared.”

“Why? I have never hurt her, or done anything.”

“No but the tension between you. By constantly cutting down her friendship with Tony she saw you as controlling and overbearing. You actually strengthened their bond by picking away at him. Your constant scathing remarks made her feel like you were trying to control her.”

“That’s bollocks. I didn’t like Tony from the outset. I saw through his deception. He wanted her and I knew he wouldn’t give in till he put her notch on his bed post.”

I could see her getting uncomfortable. “Eddie, you are a fool. Yes, Tony was attracted to her, but he did nothing but act in a gentlemanly way towards her. He never once overstepped the boundaries of friendship.”

“Sorry, I see it differently. Why in gods name would you invite somebody you work with to a swingers party if it wasn’t to shag her?”

“I never lied to you, Eddie. Tony was, and still is attracted to Rose, and yes he hoped for something to come of that invitation. I met Rose prior to the party and it was obvious she was interested. Let’s remember, we didn’t know you at the time.”

When I stood sulkily kicking invisible stones she continued. “Rose was confident you would be into the party. She told us you talked about that very thing at some point.”

“Oh god, that was when we were still dating. Yes I did say I would be up for that, but we weren’t married at the time. We weren’t even serious.”

“She made a mistake. She and I talked after the party and she felt sorry for messing us around. We talked about future activities. Her response was, it would depend entirely on you.”

“Then why didn’t she leave it alone? Why did she keep going on about it?”

“Because, Eddie, she wanted to try it out. She was attracted to Tony and that was mutual. Surely you have met women since you’ve been married who you were attracted to?”

“Yeah, I have, but I have never contemplated cheating.”

To late I saw her flinch. She was expecting me to say her. Bugger.

“Claire, that night when we were dancing. I can’t hide the fact I was attracted to you. You are a gorgeous sexy woman. No man could say no to you. But I am married.”

“I don’t want to argue the rights and wrongs of our lifestyle. That’s not why I’m here. I want to get you to call Rose. Try and sort out your differences. She loves you, Eddie, and I can see the same in you. Talk to her, that’s all I ask.”

Mark arrived with the film crew and they disappeared to finish the interview.

I toyed with ringing her. To be honest, I missed her. I know we all use the love word too easily these days, and it gets thrown around like a ball. It seems everybody uses it. The difference is Rose and I shared a real connection. We were friends before we were lovers, and that continued after our marriage. I wanted her to do well. I wanted her to be successful. It didn’t surprise me that she did well at the share trading thing. She studied business at Uni and only fell into the recruitment game because a friend she went to Uni with dragged her in and the money was good.

Still, as much as I wanted to call, I was still angry. That love also generates lots of ill feeling when it fails. That’s where I was.

I threw myself back into the building.

One of the big features of the house was going to be this huge steel beam. Well, not huge in size just length. It was going to be manufactured. Read, built by me. The steel sections I had rescued from the project. They weren’t strong enough on their own, but welded together they would easily carry the load. Mark developed the drawings, using a truss formation of the two main spans connected together by triangulated steel frames at 35 degree angles. With the segmented triangles, it meant the steel could be smaller and not so intrusive. Lighter and easier to manhandle and with the load spread through the triangulated sections to the outer walls, it meant we could span the whole room. The truss section was going to remain exposed as a feature of the huge living area. I wanted a totally open-plan concept. Using these trusses meant no uptight supporting columns or posts.

My welding skills were going to be sorely tested. I learned to weld in my first year out of Uni while working on a job. At the time I was still a graduate, but my boss was so impressed with my welding he sent me to night school to learn. In truth, I learned more on the job, but the class did give me an accreditation.

“Mark, as well, was pretty impressed. Because it wasn’t only structural but an open feature, the welds had to look good.

When it came time to erect them, I went over to ask Gordon if we could use the forks on his tractor. He, being the friendly bloke he was, drove over to give us a hand. When he saw the beams constructed he nodded. “Who did your welding, Laddie?”

“Me, I learned ages ago.”

He got down from his tractor and gave them a closer inspection. “Cor blimey, these are pretty good for an engineer.”

I accepted his backhanded compliment.

Between the three of us we got the beams installed. Gordon stood beside us, admiring the look.

“Laddie, what would you say about building me some of them for my new barn?”

I nodded. “Yeah, no problem, but I’m pretty busy right now.”

“What if I agreed to pay you?”

I laughed loudly. It was generous of him, but he had already done so much for me.

“Listen, Laddie, I am happy to pay. Let me walk you over to me new barn and I’ll explain.

We wandered over and he showed us with some pride, his new barn. It swung off to the side of his drive and car parking area. The problem he had with the kit-set design was it relied on posts set three metres apart. It restricted its use.

Mark and I did some quick calcs and he soon had a sketch drawn up. Gordon brought out some of his home-brew and his wife followed with some sandwiches.

The home-brew was a potent mix of holy fuck, to a smooth easy to drink mix.

They went down easily as we talked about the construction. Our design would allow the whole 20-metres-wide barn roof to be supported only by the trusses. No posts.

Okay, how much?” Gordon asked.

“You buy all the materials and I’ll do it for nothing.”

“No, Laddie, that’s not the way it works. I admire your generosity, but I am happy to pay.”

Mark winked at me. “What say I get the steel and we make them up. It’ll cost you 10,000 Pounds.”

Gordon stuck out his hand and we shook.

It meant I was dragged away from my own house until I finished at Gordon’s, but it was going to give me some added cash to go towards the build.

Gordon was old school, his wife kept me well-fed and he, of course, was proud of his home-brew. We bonded even more as we worked together. When the job was finished, he was really proud of it. He was going to celebrate with an old-fashioned barn raising party.

In the week leading up to the party, Claire trapped me at the project. “Eddie, you may not remember a man named Gordon from our anniversary party. He is one of our neighbours.” When I shrugged non-committedly, she added. “Anyway, he is having a barn raising party on Sunday. We have been invited.”

I nodded. “Very nice. I hope you enjoy it.”

She flinched. “Rose has been moping around by herself and is really struggling. I am going to invite her, but she said she wasn’t going by herself. Would you please accompany her?”

I laughed snidely. “You want me to hold Rose’s hand at a party like some school ball?”

“Yes,” she snapped. “Eddie, darling, she needs to get out and about, and it would give both of you a chance to talk.”

“What, and ruin the party for everybody else.”

“No, I expect you to be on your best behaviour. If you don’t I shall report you to Mark.”

Just at that point, Mark walked in. “Did I hear my name being bandied about?” he said with a comical lilt.

Claire told him the story and he gave me a strange, WTF look. But he picked up on Claire’s desire and said. “I think you should do it. You could use a day off, and I agree with Claire. You do need to talk to Rose. Even if it’s just to give you both closure.”

When he said that, Claire gave him such an evil glare I thought he might actually die.

He was pretty adamant and I could see Claire wasn’t going to let it go. In the end I agreed.

“Jolly good,” she said happily. “We will bring Rose with us. I will forward you Gordon’s address.”

“Could Mark come, as well?” I asked.

She gave us both a quizzical look but said flippantly, “Very well, but no misbehaving.”

Mark and I had a giggle after she left. I thought it unusual that she didn’t know about what I had been up to in her back yard. Still, I did get the impression at her anniversary party that she and Gordon were acquaintances rather than friends. She probably didn’t associate with lowly farmers.

Having gotten to know Gordon, I realised what his party would be like. It would be in the new barn and gumboots would be required. I wondered whether Claire realised. She would probably turn up, as she did here for site visits, as if she was going to a gala.

I brought a spare pare of gumboots for Rose, just in case.

As Sunday neared, I wondered whether Rose would even turn up, I mean, she hadn’t bothered trying to contact me. As far as her sitting moping around the house didn’t ring true. That wasn’t the Rose I knew.

I stopped off at the cottage to do some work before heading to the party, which was due to kick off at eleven.

Mark turned up at the cottage and he gave me a hand for a while. We both watched a procession of cars heading up to Gordon’s and decided to wait and make a grand entrance.

Everybody was grouped in the barn. There was an enormous spit set up in the corner, and Gordon was guarding it manfully. There were lots of people, mostly farmers, which meant Claire, Tony, and to my surprise, Rose stood out like sore thumbs.

Claire and Rose were in heels. Jesus, they obviously didn’t get to many of their neighbours’ parties.

I grabbed the gumboots out of the boot. There was also a pair of her jeans which I had found in one of my bags. As we walked over to their little group, Rose looked nervous. Her body language gave her away. She had her hands clasped behind her back and she kicked at the ground, where her eyes were tightly focused.

As we approached, Claire greeted us with big hugs and kisses. Mark and Tony shook hands, although I decided to ignore his outstretched gesture. He held the stance until he realised I wasn’t going to accept, and slowly lowered his hand. Claire gave me a very angry scowl for my trouble.

Rose finally looked up and said. “Hello, Mark, Eddie.”

She and Mark hugged and I handed her the gumboots and jeans. “You might find these better suited.”

She grinned and said a soft. “Thank you. I shall go and change.”

Claire glowered. “Where’s mine?”

Gordon saw us and came waddling over. “About bleedin time. What kept you lot?”

“Sorry, Gordy.” I muttered. “We were busy.”

“Busy my arse, bloody lolly gagging about as bloody usual, I imagine.”

Claire stood open mouthed watching the interaction. Gordon saw her look and said. “Come on, Laddie, I’ve got a job for you.” He handed me a large spatula and said, “You look after the bloody sausages, and don’t let them burn.”

I became second chef. Beth, Gordon’s wife, appeared with arms full of his home-brew, and we were on our way.

As I was turning sausages, Rose ad Claire appeared by my side. Claire opened with. “You and Gordon seem to get on very well. Where do you know him from?”

I shrugged. “I met him at your anniversary party. We have met a few times since. He is a very nice bloke. Very friendly and generous.”

Rose intervened. “He showed us one of the blocks he subdivided. Eddie was pretty keen, weren’t you?”

“Yes, I was. Unfortunately, you didn’t see the possibilities, did you dear?”

She flinched at my put-down. “It was the wrong time; we couldn’t have afforded it. Even I could see that.”

Claire felt the air getting cool and jumped in. “It’s a bit late for crying over spilt milk. They have all been sold, as I understand it.”

“Yes, you’re probably right, it would have been a stretch. But a man’s allowed to dream.”

“So how have you been?” Rose asked.

“Busy, the project has really taken off now.”

“Yes, Claire told me. You have done very well.”

“What about you?” I asked, hoping to keep the mood upbeat.

“The same, busy. The firm has been flat out, and I have made some real progress with my trading. You know if that property was for sale now, we could probably do it.”

“Bit late now it’s sold, plus, it wouldn’t be much fun on your own, would it.”

She grimaced, Claire interjected. “These sausages look very tasty, when will they be ready?”

“Not long now.”

Beth rolled up and passed me another home-brew. “Come on, Eddie, you don’t want to get on Gordy’s bad side. You’ll end up sleeping in the kid’s room again.”

She slipped off to deliver more drinks. Claire gave me a very confused glare before saying to Rose. “Come on, darling, let’s go and find a wine, shall we?”

They walked off arm in arm. Gordy turned up. “How’s the grub going, young un?”

“Nearly done. Listen, Gordy, could I ask a favour?”

“Go on then, Laddie. What do you want this time?”

“Could you not tell Claire, Tony or Rose about me buying the cottage.”

Being a bit drunk, he laughed. “Oh, I weren’t going to tell em. Tony has been on me case since he got here. I’ll keep your secret, but mind my words, young un. Claire is no fool. If she thinks she knows something, she will be digging deep to find out.”

“Thanks, mate.”

The food was served and a local minister gave the barn its drunken blessing.

There was lots of laughter and bloody Gordy kept the home-brew coming. I was never going to be able to drive home.

Throughout the day, Rose and I found time to talk. We both apologised for making mistakes. Even though I still didn’t feel like I had.

Late in the day as I was helping with the clean up. She cornered me. “Eddie, could we try again. I miss you and I can see how I mucked up. I never meant to put you down, or disrespect you. I just got carried away by my own importance.”

“Rose, I would love to say yes, but I’m not sure. I have found out some things about myself and I need to see those through. I think some time apart might be good for us.”

“Are you seeing somebody else? Is that it?”

“No, Rose, I meant it’s an internal voyage of discovery that I’m on. What about you?”

“No of course not, I have been waiting to talk to you.”

We stood in an uncomfortable silence, until Rose said wistfully, “Is there no chance for us then?”

“That’s not what I said. I just think we both need to sort out if that’s what we want. You going off with Tony really hurt. Spending the night with another man is not the way to show me that you love me.”

“Eddie, I promise nothing happened. We had our own rooms and there was nothing in it.”

“I know what you said, Rose. Unfortunately, you lying about being there in the first place doesn’t fill me with confidence that you’re telling the truth.”

“Babe, how can I win your trust back? Tell me and I’ll do it.”

“I don’t know, Rose. If it was that simple I would have already done it. Believe it or not, I do still love you. I just need to find a way to believe you feel the same way.”

“I do, Love, I honestly miss you like crazy.”

We were just finishing when Claire wandered over and asked Rose if she was ready to go. As they were talking, she glanced at me. “How are you getting home?”

I chuckled. “Don’t know, bloody Mark has gone, I was hoping to get a ride with him.”

“You can get a ride with us if you want?”

Rose nodded. “You can’t drive.”

I agreed reluctantly. “Yeah, okay. I don’t fancy another night on Gordy’s sofa.”

Claire screwed up her face in a questioning look. We piled into Tony’s Jag. As we pulled out into the lane, I just settled in when he turned into my new cottage driveway. “What are you doing?” I asked.

Claire gave me a conspiratorial wink. “We just want to have a look at what our new neighbours are doing.”

Rose piped up with, “It’s pretty run down. It looked like a wreck when we looked at it.”

Tony pulled the car up beside the cottage and there was a collective sigh. Claire, I think, spoke for all of them. “Good grief. It looks amazing.”

“Oh my god,” Rose added. “It looks stunning. Look at the stone work, it looks brand new.”

Tony nodded. “Last time I saw it, there wasn’t a single wall standing.”

They all got out of the car and walked over to look it over. Rose stood beside the car. “Aren’t you coming to see.”

I shrugged and climbed out with them. They walked around the back, and Rose was blown away by the size of the new addition. The nosy bastards walked in through the opening at the back on the south side that was eventually going to be huge French doors that opened onto a deck.

We all walked around and Rose did a flowing spin, her head trying to take it all in, and blurted out. “It’s bloody amazing. Eddie, is this what you saw?”

I nodded. “Yeah, something like this.” I noticed Tony staring at my steel beam. “This is exactly the same as the one at Gordon’s place isn’t it?”

I nodded. “Similar, a few differences.”

As Rose strolled around she said to nobody in particular. “I wonder where the kitchen will be? Do you think there will be an island?”

Claire walked over beside her as they stared into the space where the kitchen would eventually go. “Yes, it would have to. Gosh, a big pantry on that far wall. It would be incredible.”

“Whoever is doing this has opened up a beautiful space. I can see it now: a big fireplace over there roaring, yes it is going to be nice,” Rose said.

“Oh, more than nice,” Claire retorted. “More like spectacular.”