list of contacts on her phone, trying to find a plumber, Rachel couldn’t help laughing at herself. When she’d decorated her home she’d spent weeks and weeks on preparation, only allowing herself to apply the final coat when the surfaces had been sanded back to silky perfection. Now she was blithely suggesting something that would probably mean painting over the cobwebs, let alone the dirt of ages.
Fortunately her weird euphoria over the size of the challenge didn’t instantly evaporate when she turned round and saw Raff and Bob coming through the door with a scaffold tower.
She went up to him with an I-need-a-favour smile. ‘Hi, Raff. I was just talking to Sarah in the kitchen – if you can call it that – and we decided we need one of those sprayers so we could just spray the entire hall white, really quickly.’
‘Good morning, Rachel. Very nice to see you too. Lovely day, isn’t it?’
‘Oh – hello – yes – lovely day,’ Rachel said impatiently. ‘So what do you think about the spray thing?’
‘Put on a mist coat, you mean?’
‘Oh,’ said Beth. ‘Like that programme when the man redesigns people’s houses for them? And makes everything white so they can get a sense of the space?’ Beth cleared her throat. ‘Sorry. I probably do watch too much television.’
‘Not from now on,’ said Rachel. ‘We have a hall to decorate.’
‘That’s not a bad idea, actually, the mist coat,’ said Raff.
Rachel had a flicker of satisfaction at praise from Raff. ‘So, can you get the equipment?’
He seemed to take this question as a challenge. ‘Yes. I’ve got a friend who’s got the kit. I suppose you want it now?’
‘If possible. Although I suppose later today would be OK.’
‘You’re very demanding. But I like that in a woman.’
Rachel scowled and made Raff laugh again. ‘OK, I’ll make some calls. Maybe you could have it tomorrow. Is that soon enough for you, Ms Impatient?’
‘Absolutely soon enough, Mr Fix-it!’
As they watched Raff stroll into the corner of the room to make his calls, Beth, who’d watched the conversation as if it were a tennis match, said, ‘But what shall we get on with until we can do that?’
‘Wash,’ said Rachel. ‘Get as much loose dirt off as we can. It’s filthy so it’ll be hard work. Did we all bring rubber gloves and things? I’ve got some spares if you want them.’ Rachel didn’t explain that she’d gone through a phase of buying rubber gloves along with her phase of buying bedlinen, and produced four pairs from the bag slung over her shoulder.
‘You have got a lot of gloves in there,’ said Raff, rejoining them at just the wrong time for Rachel.
She decided to go on the offensive. ‘Are you any good at plumbing? Or electrics? If so, Sarah needs you in the kitchen. That’s the cupboard down the end.’
Raff inclined his head in acknowledgement of this request and went off to find Sarah.
‘My God, Rach! Respect. You’ve got him well trained, haven’t you?’ said Lindy, who had quietly joined the group.
‘Thank you,’ said Rachel. ‘I just feel really determined to get this hall done. But I have realised that we’re going to have to do all this washing in cold water!’
There was some discussion as to whether the rafters needed washing when no one would really see them but Rachel was firm. ‘No, we must. We’re going to decorate properly at some time – it would be mad to paint over dirt.’
‘Well, who’s going to get up there and do it?’ objected Justin, who’d managed to donate an hour of his precious time to the project.
‘We have a scaffolding tower in case you hadn’t noticed,’ said Raff, who had done as much as he could for Sarah and rejoined the others.
‘Sorry, mate, I had noticed, but I don’t do heights.’
Several other people said they didn’t do heights either. Rachel suspected it was really that they didn’t do washing in cold water. ‘I’ll do it,’ she said. ‘I’m OK with
Fortunately her weird euphoria over the size of the challenge didn’t instantly evaporate when she turned round and saw Raff and Bob coming through the door with a scaffold tower.
She went up to him with an I-need-a-favour smile. ‘Hi, Raff. I was just talking to Sarah in the kitchen – if you can call it that – and we decided we need one of those sprayers so we could just spray the entire hall white, really quickly.’
‘Good morning, Rachel. Very nice to see you too. Lovely day, isn’t it?’
‘Oh – hello – yes – lovely day,’ Rachel said impatiently. ‘So what do you think about the spray thing?’
‘Put on a mist coat, you mean?’
‘Oh,’ said Beth. ‘Like that programme when the man redesigns people’s houses for them? And makes everything white so they can get a sense of the space?’ Beth cleared her throat. ‘Sorry. I probably do watch too much television.’
‘Not from now on,’ said Rachel. ‘We have a hall to decorate.’
‘That’s not a bad idea, actually, the mist coat,’ said Raff.
Rachel had a flicker of satisfaction at praise from Raff. ‘So, can you get the equipment?’
He seemed to take this question as a challenge. ‘Yes. I’ve got a friend who’s got the kit. I suppose you want it now?’
‘If possible. Although I suppose later today would be OK.’
‘You’re very demanding. But I like that in a woman.’
Rachel scowled and made Raff laugh again. ‘OK, I’ll make some calls. Maybe you could have it tomorrow. Is that soon enough for you, Ms Impatient?’
‘Absolutely soon enough, Mr Fix-it!’
As they watched Raff stroll into the corner of the room to make his calls, Beth, who’d watched the conversation as if it were a tennis match, said, ‘But what shall we get on with until we can do that?’
‘Wash,’ said Rachel. ‘Get as much loose dirt off as we can. It’s filthy so it’ll be hard work. Did we all bring rubber gloves and things? I’ve got some spares if you want them.’ Rachel didn’t explain that she’d gone through a phase of buying rubber gloves along with her phase of buying bedlinen, and produced four pairs from the bag slung over her shoulder.
‘You have got a lot of gloves in there,’ said Raff, rejoining them at just the wrong time for Rachel.
She decided to go on the offensive. ‘Are you any good at plumbing? Or electrics? If so, Sarah needs you in the kitchen. That’s the cupboard down the end.’
Raff inclined his head in acknowledgement of this request and went off to find Sarah.
‘My God, Rach! Respect. You’ve got him well trained, haven’t you?’ said Lindy, who had quietly joined the group.
‘Thank you,’ said Rachel. ‘I just feel really determined to get this hall done. But I have realised that we’re going to have to do all this washing in cold water!’
There was some discussion as to whether the rafters needed washing when no one would really see them but Rachel was firm. ‘No, we must. We’re going to decorate properly at some time – it would be mad to paint over dirt.’
‘Well, who’s going to get up there and do it?’ objected Justin, who’d managed to donate an hour of his precious time to the project.
‘We have a scaffolding tower in case you hadn’t noticed,’ said Raff, who had done as much as he could for Sarah and rejoined the others.
‘Sorry, mate, I had noticed, but I don’t do heights.’
Several other people said they didn’t do heights either. Rachel suspected it was really that they didn’t do washing in cold water. ‘I’ll do it,’ she said. ‘I’m OK with
Similar Books
