A Roll in the Hay, стр. 37
“Enough of that,” Susannah warned, giving Tess a mock telling-off by waving the riding crop in her direction. “It’s Susannah to you. Maybe one day you’ll work your way up to Suze, but we’ll see.”
“Well, it’s important for me to have goals.” Tess’s smile was progressing to downright cheeky. “Must be getting back to work. Don’t want to lose wages in case I can’t pay rent. My landlady’s a real dragon, you see…”
“Oh, the worst. Breathing fire is the least of your worries.”
Tess walked off, laughing, Waffles bounding in large circles around her.
Susannah was more surprised that she was laughing too. When was the last time she felt this light? She started off on the ride home. Maybe she really was ready to get back out there.
Chapter 13
“No, no, no… Would you like me to try it in other languages? Non. Nein. No. Oh, well that was a Spanish no. You get the point though, yeah?” Tess turned slightly, wary of her position at the top of the ladder, to give Babs the stink-eye.
It wasn’t the sturdiest of ladders she had ever worked with, but borrowers couldn’t be choosers. Running the pub clearly didn’t make for much of a DIY enthusiast. Tess found herself itching for the imminent delivery of all her things, from furniture to fill the empty rooms right down to the toolboxes and personal knick-knacks that would make her new house a home.
“Doc, you should at least consider it,” Babs said from where she was sitting on an upturned crate in Tess’s new bedroom, reading The Daily Mirror and sipping from a huge mug of tea. Considering they’d only hung out twice before, Babs was certainly making herself at home. “That isn’t straight, by the way,” she added about the curtain rail, looking up for just a moment.
“Yes, it is,” Tess replied, but a quick balance of the spirit level confirmed Babs’s uncanny eye for these things. “Okay, now it is. Thanks for the curtains. I’ll give them back when I work out what I’m doing with this room. But this stops me flashing the neighbours for now.”
“Well, that would be quicker than going to some lesbian dating night,” Babs said. “But since you’re going with curtains and modesty, I’m dragging you out to at least meet people.”
Tess came back down the ladder, a little overheated even in her white tank top and cargo shorts. It was warm work, setting up a house. “You know, when I mentioned in the pub the other night that I wanted to meet more people, I meant as friends.”
“Right, uh-huh. Can’t tell you how many friends I’ve gone looking for at a dating night. Often find myself frustrated for the lack of a good friendly chat.”
As Tess rolled her eyes and excused herself for the bathroom, her phone rang in the bedroom. “Get that for me, will you? I don’t want to change my energy supplier and I haven’t been in any accidents.”
It only took a couple of minutes to freshen up, but Babs was still chatting away as Tess returned to tackle the next task.
“Yes, of course. Well, it’s not really my place to say,” Babs was saying. “But we’re all very happy to see Tess so happy. Actually, Caroline, it looks like she’s just headed out to the car. I’ll get her to call you back instead.”
“Caroline?” Tess felt her stomach sink towards her knees as Babs ended the call. “You could have just gotten rid of her.”
“Oh no, glad I picked up,” Babs replied, getting up off the crate. Her brassy hair was pulled up into a formidable top-knot, and she was dressed in comfortable dungarees with a pink T-shirt underneath. “You told me so much about her last time you propped up my bar, and Caroline had a lot to tell me, too. Engaged, is she?”
“Yeah, I was meant to—”
“Not that you’ll be bothered about that. What with your new girlfriend and all. Anything you want to tell me?”
“Did you…?”
“I covered for you, don’t worry. Although you’ll never believe what she thinks your girlfriend’s name is.”
Tess fumbled for a less embarrassing explanation, but nothing came to mind quickly enough. Did this really have to happen with one of Susannah’s great loyalists in the village?
“I mean, I assume from talking to her that Caroline isn’t big on things like bothering to get a name right. Asked if you were bringing Susan to her wedding. And I couldn’t help thinking that Susan sounds an awful lot like Susannah. Funny that.”
Tess took a seat on a crate, squeezing her knees for something to do with her hands.
“Don’t you think if I was getting it on with your boss that you’d know about it? Or Margo might have noticed, since I’m still sleeping in her spare room?”
Babs patted Tess on the shoulder, her floral perfume a little overwhelming. “You don’t have to make things up. Nice-looking girl like you won’t take long to find someone. Susannah could do with the same, but she’ll know herself when she’s ready.”
“I wasn’t… Babs, it is really super important that you know this isn’t some wishful thinking on my part. The name just came out because I’d been reading about her, and Caroline was talking about me like I’d been permanently taken off the market. It really was just a freak coincidence, so you won’t mention it to Susannah, will you?”
“Oh, I’ll try my best not to let anything slip. But you’re still on the market?” Babs sipped her tea, a twinkle firmly in her eyes.
“I’m still on the market if you promise you won’t say anything to your boss about me?”
“Fine, I promise. But you are coming to the big night out at the Kilted Coo, and you’re going to get to know some fun new people. All work and no play makes Tess—”
“Tired and gay?” she answered, knowing already it wouldn’t be anything like enough to deter Babs.
“You’ll have fun. Trust me. And besides, I’m not taking no