‘That’s taking it too far.’ There was an almighty thump from the direction of the dust and Rose groaned, waiting for Andy’s voice to summon her up, probably to confront yet another unexpected problem. Like a routine trip to the dentist, which turned out to reveal a nightmare of hidden problems, her house was beginning to revel in showing its age. A little crack there, a small spot of damp here and suddenly it was as if it had given up the fight and was now determined to fall down around her ears. And as she mounted the stairs she could already see from the grim look on Andy’s face that more bad news was on the way.
‘Sorry, Rose.’
Behind her she was aware that Nick had followed in her hurried wake and she could sense his attention moving up a gear.
‘We’ve discovered something a little unfortunate…’
Rose was too afraid to ask, so she stared at him in mute silence while he shook his head and gave her a look of such profound sympathy that she feared the worst.
‘Asbestos.’
Rose saw the very last of her savings flutter through the window and she balled her hand into a fist and clenched it under her chin. ‘How can that be?’
‘Lodged under the floorboards,’ Andy said kindly. ‘Nothing to look at, but I can spot it a mile away. It’s not everywhere but for the moment we’re going to have to put everything back in place until it’s sorted. We’re not trained to remove it.’
‘I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me that you’re joking.’
‘Wish I could, love.’
‘And I guess you don’t know how much it’ll cost to have it removed?’
He shrugged while behind him his guys were efficiently putting the floorboards back down. ‘Best not lose sleep over that one, considering you’ve got no option…’
Rose saw them out and was too despondent to care whether Nick was hovering in the background with his uninvited sympathy. She didn’t even care that he had been dispatched to check on her as if she were incapable of looking after herself without Lily around.
‘So—’ she turned to face him, slamming the front door shut on her plumbing messengers of bad tidings ‘—there you go. House collapsing. Money disappearing. Stress levels high. In other words lots to report back to Lily, although I’m hoping you’ll dredge up sufficient compassion to know that I would rather she enjoyed all the opportunities opening up for her in America without having to worry about what’s happening to me back here.’
‘How long has this place been falling down?’
Rose shrugged. ‘Weeks. It’s been saving itself for Lily’s departure.’ She sighed, too tired and depressed to argue at his presence in the house, allowing him to witness her plight. She found that he was leading the way to the kitchen, manoeuvring around the cupboards until there was a mug of sweet tea in front of her, and she gratefully swallowed a mouthful.
‘And you never breathed a word to her because you didn’t want her to worry.’
‘There was no point. She would have rushed back over here and that would have been the end of her career, everything she has worked so hard for.’
‘So you decided to shoulder the stress on your own.’ He had shoved back his stool so that he could stretch out his long legs and was looking at her thoughtfully. ‘Except now you’re left facing bills you can’t afford.’
‘I’ll just have to put in a bit more overtime,’ Rose snapped, railing against any suggestion of pity.
‘Quite a bit more,’ Nick commented drily, raising his eyes to the ceiling and the source of her misfortune. Frankly he had zero firsthand experience of a woman who had to work literally to keep the roof over her head.
‘Yes, well, it’s not impossible.’ She stared at him sourly and with inspired accuracy continued, in a tight voice, ‘I guess this is a completely different world to the one you’re used to, where problems get fixed with the snap of your fingers. I don’t suppose you know too many women who face a struggle to pay unexpected bills and can’t afford the little luxuries you would take for granted.’
‘Attacking me isn’t going to solve your financial crisis.’
Rose didn’t care for the word crisis. It was a little too evocative for comfort. ‘You have to go. I need to phone my bank manager.’
‘On a Saturday?’
‘I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before. Of course, I can call my bank manager and take out a loan.’
‘Which will have to be repaid.’
‘But at least I’ll be able to afford the repair work,’ Rose pointed out wearily. ‘And if you’re going to sit there and state the obvious then you can finish that cup of tea and go.’