Eleanor pressed her cheek against Daniel’s warm skin, enjoying the sensation of the steady beat of his heart and the slow rise and fall of his chest as they dozed in bed. It was a Sunday morning at the beginning of May and Eleanor was sure there were subtle changes in the sounds outside their window. As she closed her eyes to listen, the seagulls’ calls were as strident as ever but the blackbird’s song was definitely more joyful, as though it could sense the approach of summer.
Daniel was propped up against a pillow, a hand behind his head, staring silently at the ceiling. Neither of them had said anything yet that morning, so it was a surprise when Dan spoke as though continuing a conversation. “I’ve come to a decision: if I can’t persuade you to move, I guess we’ll have to think about reorganising this place.”
Eleanor sat up, suddenly wide awake, and turned to look at him. “Really?” she said, hardly believing what she’d heard. “Would you mind staying here?”
“I won’t lie, El – I hoped we would start afresh somewhere that was completely new for both of us, but as we can’t seem to agree on anywhere at the moment, I suppose we’ll have to find a way to make it work.”
She chewed her lip, guiltily. “I wish you loved the cottage as much as I do.”
“I’m very fond of it, El, you know I am. We’ve had some wonderful times here. But it is a squash for two grown-ups – three if you count Joe – with a lifetime’s worth of gear or what’s left after losing half of it in a divorce.” Dan shrugged. “But I love you and want you to be happy, and that’s what matters most. And maybe, in a few years’ time, you’ll feel differently and be ready to move.”
A smile lit up Eleanor’s face. “Thank you, darling,” she said, kissing her husband.
Daniel caught her hand in his, squeezing it for emphasis. “But, you will need to make a few changes – maybe swap rooms around and get rid of some books, clothes, furniture and other stuff to make space for the rest of my things.”
“Of course,” said Eleanor, nodding eagerly. “I’ll do whatever needs to be done to make the cottage work for all of us.” She beamed, taken by surprise by the sense of relief and happiness that washed over her. “I’m so happy at not having to move. I know you think I’m unduly fond of this place – and you’re probably right – and I can’t really explain why it means such a lot to me, but it does.”
“I know.” Daniel caught her in his arms and gently pulled her towards him. “Come here, woman, and show me how grateful you are!”
* * *
Eleanor didn’t bother to ask what had made Daniel change his mind; she was simply delighted it had happened. If she had asked, Daniel might have been a tiny bit embarrassed to tell her.
The previous evening he had been out for a meal with friends in the same business as him, a group jokingly calling itself the AA or “Architects Anonymous”. Eleanor had been to a couple of get-togethers at the beginning of her relationship with Daniel, but had soon come to the conclusion that she was happier at home with a fat paperback and a bar of chocolate. Dan’s friends were charming and welcoming, but Eleanor had found the conversations about planning regulations, tenure-blind housing and energy targets hard to follow.
The subject of Daniel’s living arrangements had come up the night before because his friends could see he was increasingly unhappy. Dan tended not to talk about personal things, but that evening he gave the group the low-down on the house-hunting trials and tribulations. “We’ve scoured the entire area and I’ve come to the conclusion that the perfect house doesn’t exist,” he said, gloomily. “We’ll be stuck in separate homes forever.”
His friend Michael tapped a fork against his glass and called everyone to attention. “Okay ladies and gents, our mission this evening is to solve the Pearce housing crisis.”
So Daniel described his sea-front house and Eleanor’s cottage while his friends made notes and scribbled drawings on napkins. Eventually, Michael’s colleague Angela sat back in her seat and smiled. “At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, couldn’t you simply rearrange the rooms at the bookshop cottage? It’s clearly in the ideal location and you could perhaps do something with the loft. I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t potential for another bedroom up there.”
“Of course!” said Daniel. The answer had been staring him in the face all the time. “Thank you,” he said, raising his glass to them. “You guys are the best.”
* * *
Having made up his mind that they would stay in the bookshop cottage, with typical efficiency Daniel set to work planning how to make the available space work for them. After breakfast, he went from room to room taking measurements, tapping on walls and jotting everything down in a notebook.
Downstairs was their kitchen, a pantry and the sitting room. Above was Eleanor’s bedroom, two smaller bedrooms and cupboard space. On the landing, Daniel stopped and looked up at the ceiling. “What’s in the attic, El?”
“Gosh, I really don’t know.”
“You’ve never been up there?”
She shook her head. “Not all the way inside. When I bought the house, the surveyor got out a stepladder for me and I popped my head through the gap and shone a torch around, but I didn’t actually climb into the loft and explore.”
“Right,” said Daniel, shoving the notepad in his back pocket. “Where can I find this stepladder?”
“Follow me.” Eleanor led the way back through the kitchen and into the garden. Along the side of the house was a small shed full of clutter.
When the stepladder was eventually disentangled from the hosepipe, garden tools and flowerpots, Dan frowned. “This is far too short. It’s no wonder you weren’t able to see anything. I’ll pop next door and see if Graham can sell me a decent set from the hardware shop.”
The shop was closed, but Anton was around and happy to help. Daniel gingerly carried the shiny new ladder back through Eleanor’s cottage and up the narrow staircase, sending wobbly piles of books skidding down behind him.
Eleanor stayed on the landing while Daniel climbed into the loft space and disappeared from view. She watched the beam from his torch flicker across the square of roof visible from where she stood craning her neck upwards. Above her head she could hear her husband’s tentative footsteps and some knocking sounds.
“What can you see? Is there anything interesting up there?”
“Lots!” Daniel’s face reappeared in the gap, his cheeks now streaked with dust. “It’s a big space and the floor has been boarded and the roof looks sound.”
“Good.” Eleanor nodded. “That’s what the surveyor said when I bought it.”
“Did he or she survey the shop as well?”
“No,” she said, slowly. “I seem to remember someone else checking out the shop.”
Daniel had switched off his torch and was climbing down the stepladder backwards. “I think we need to check out the attic next door.”
Fortunately, the loft space at the shop was more easily accessed because Mr Williams had had proper drop-down ladders fitted some time in the past. Climbing inside, they switched on the light and Eleanor went ahead, followed by Daniel who again jotted down measurements on his pad. “Very good, yes.” He muttered. “Just as I thought.”
“What is it, Dan? You look pleased with yourself.”
“I am pleased – very pleased!” He walked across to one end of the room. “This,” he said, patting the rough stone, “is the end wall. Good and solid.” He walked over to the other side. “And this is the division between the shop and the cottage. Knock here – can you hear it?”
Eleanor knocked and listened. “What am I supposed to be listening to?”
“The sound of nothing or, to be more precise, the sound of a wooden screen between this space and the next.”
“Oh, very Star Trek. But what does it mean?”
Daniel came across and hugged her. “It means, my darling, that this must have been one building at some time in the past and no one bothered to divide up the loft spaces properly when the bookshop was created. There’s no load-bearing wall to worry about, so we can take down the partition and open up the whole area.” He put the pencil behind his ear and threw his arms wide. “This space goes right across the length of the shop and the cottage: it’s huge.” His enthusiasm had returned and he could see the design potential in the space. “We could put a window in that end and more windows along the back of the building overlooking the sea. It’s going to be impressive. What do you think?”
Eleanor grinned, delighted to see her husband so excited about the project. “It sounds wonderful. But won’t we need planning permission to do something like that?”
“Probably and it could take months to come through, but it’ll be worth it in the end because you won’t need to leave your beloved cottage.”
“Months? How many months?”
“Well, it’s almost May now so, if we get permission this summer, we’ll be able to start work in the autumn and have it done by the end of the year.”
“But that’s not for ages!”
Daniel shrugged. “It’s the way it works, I’m afraid. And until then, we’ll keep doing what we’re doing.”
Eleanor’s heart sank. The solution was perfect and she could see the new room in her mind’s eye, so she was disappointed they might not be allowed to begin work for such a long time.
Seeing his wife’s gloomy expression, Daniel smiled. “I could be wrong and it may come through much faster, but it’s best to be cautious in my experience. Anyway, can you dig out the floor plans and the original surveys so I can double-check I’ve got this right?”
“Sure – once I’ve remembered where they are.”
After lunch, Eleanor dug out the paperwork for the shop and the cottage and plonked four box files on the kitchen table. “Red’s the shop and blue’s the house. Enjoy!”
“Thanks,” said Daniel. “I’ll have fun checking them out tomorrow.”
The next day, while Eleanor was busy in the shop, Daniel examined the floor plans for both properties: as he’d guessed, the attic space ran across the length of the building and there was no solid division between the two parts. Then he turned to the paperwork. “Well, what do you know!” Packing the papers into a folder, he jogged downstairs and went into the bookshop next door.
“Can you take a break, El? I’ve got something to show you.”
Eleanor looked at Erika who nodded. “Go ahead.”
Once they were sitting in the office, Daniel took out the papers and spread them over the desk in front of Eleanor. “This is perfect,” he said, grinning. “Your Mr Williams already had permission in principal to adapt the loft space over the house.”
“Did he? Gosh, I must have forgotten that.”
“Well, I don’t suppose it mattered when you originally bought the property and sorting out the shop was your main priority.”
Eleanor picked up the official letter and studied it. “This is eight years old – will the permission still be valid?”
Daniel checked the date and shook his head. “I’m afraid not, but it does mean the penpushers are unlikely to object this time around. I expect there will be a bit of a delay, but I don’t see why we can’t get going soon.”
“Perfect!” Eleanor clapped her hands together gleefully then frowned as the small matter of money came into her head. “Hang on, though – how will we pay for the work? I have zero capital.”
Daniel shrugged. “I’ll have to sell my place or maybe we could let it out. There’s always a queue of people wanting to rent sea-front houses for the summer season.”
“That’s a much better idea – then if you grow tired of me and the cottage, you can move back to your place.”
“As if I could ever grow tired of you, my darling,” he said, gathering her in his arms with a kiss. “You’d have to be boring and ordinary, and I can’t see that ever happening.”
“In other words, I’m bonkers?”
Daniel pulled a face, thinking for a moment. “Not bonkers exactly, but I’m never entirely sure what’s going on in your head.”
“That’s the way it should be,” said Eleanor, laughing. “I’d much rather be a woman of mystery than someone totally predictable.”
“You keep me on my toes, that’s for sure.” Daniel smiled. “Anyway, while we’re waiting to sort out my house and double-check the permission, there’s nothing to prevent us emptying the loft space. Then, once we’ve had the thumbs up from the council, we’ll need to find someone reliable to help out with the building work. I’ll do as much as I can myself to keep the costs down, but it’ll be good to have somebody else around to lend a hand.”
“You’re an architect, you must know loads of people.”
“I do, but quite a lot of them are busy at the moment.” He happened to know that the best builders were currently working for Freya at Bill Widget’s new property on the Top, but he thought it diplomatic not to mention the fact. “Anyway, all we need is some basic labouring at the moment, nothing specialist.”
Eleanor thought for a moment. “I know who might be able to help.”
“Who?”
“Anton. Graham’s shop is pretty quiet at the moment and Maureen finds it hard to keep Anton occupied every day. And he’d probably enjoy a change from serving toasted sandwiches to hungry day-trippers.”
“Just because he’s from eastern Europe doesn’t mean he’s a builder.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” said Eleanor, reaching for the phone. “I’ll give Maureen a call and see if she can ask him.”