This property was already the favourite of my mum’s. She’d been quizzing me about every place we saw, wanting to know where it was before any other details, and if it was close, all the better in her view.
We pulled up to the drive of the postage-stamp-sized house—a semi-detached, which couldn’t have been more than a two-up and two-down. The agent was at the front door, looking flustered and ready to call it a day. The scrap of grass at the front had a small path leading up to the front step.
“Hi, we’ll go right in. Cooler inside, right.” The agent opened up, and we followed as best we could. Maddison barely made it through the door—his shoulders were so wide. To the left was a small lounge-come-dining room, and to the right, little more than a galley kitchen.
Stairs opposite the front door twisted around to the upstairs where there were two bedrooms. Just. And a bathroom. I peered around all of the rooms and tried to imagine my own furniture and possessions in place, planning in my head. To my surprise, the images in my mind brought a smile to my face. The house was small; there was no getting around that fact, but it was quaint, in a way, and in much better condition than some of the others we’d visited. If we wanted to give this a go, this was the best we’d seen by far.
Having come from a modest home, I knew it wouldn’t be too hard to adjust to the limited space. But Maddison’s home was massive. He was going to have to have a serious clear out to squeeze all of his stuff into this space.
“Do you accept pets?” I called down from upstairs, looking out at the small back garden: a strip of grass, three fences and stepping-stones to a washing line. We might be able to fit a couple of friends round for a barbeque—if we took the washing line down.
Bob was usually a house cat—he hardly ventured out of my room and was more than content snuggling on a sunbathed cushion. He was coming with me, so if the agent said no, that would be our answer.
“Cats, yes, dogs, no.”
“That’s fine.”
“So, what do you think?” Maddison came out of the smaller of the two bedrooms.
“It’s small,” I stated, although, now we were here, it was the first place I’ve felt even mildly excited about, I didn’t want to lose out. This was the only house we’d seen that I could really see working out for us.
“I know. But, unless you can chip in more, this is our budget.”
“I’m a waitress picking up shifts between Uni. More would be pushing it. I don’t want to ask Mum for any handouts.”
“As soon as I’m earning more, we can find a bigger place. I promise, but we can make this work. At least for a year, then we can see where we are.” His brown eyes sparked with the excitement he was trying hard to contain. The genuineness reminded me of how much of a free spirit Mads could be, especially when we were growing up. He was trying not to make a big deal out of this decision, but it was a big deal—for both of us.
Watching him try to contain his excitement, with my own fizzing through my veins, I couldn’t keep the smile from my face any longer.
“Okay, then. Let’s do it.”
Maddison eyed me and tilted his head to the side. “Really? Don’t fool with me, Grace.”
“Really.” I grinned at him. “I don’t want to miss out on this.”
He stepped into me, and for a split second, I thought he was going to kiss me again. He didn’t, but he swept me from my feet and spun me on the spot. Any farther and we’d have crashed through one of the plaster walls.
My giggles of joy took me by surprise, but bathed me in a true sense of happiness, the first I’d felt in a while.
“We’ll take it. It’s ready now, right?” He called down, and I realised how rude we were being. I nodded towards the stairs, and we both headed down and assembled at the bottom of the steps.
“Sure. Just cover the deposit and the forms, and you can be in at the weekend,” the agent explained to Mads.
“Taken care of. We’re all set.”
“Okay, then.” She motioned towards the front door. Our cue to leave.
We waited on the doorstep, the reality of what we’d just agreed to, sinking in.
“Better get planning. We’re moving at the weekend, Grace.” The smile on his face was enough to melt me into a puddle in the middle of winter, let alone on one of the hottest days of the year.
“Can you cook? Please say your mum taught you how to recreate her lasagne?”
“I have a week. I’m sure I can learn.” His smile turned sexy and dangerous, and I moved my gaze before I was pulled in too deep.
I looked back at the house and knew that this was the right call. Second-guessing wasn’t getting me anywhere, and I was overdue some happiness.
Mum was a mix of giddy excitement and anxious stalker for the week of our move. She constantly asked what she could do to help, checking on everything I could possibly need and making me up little care-packages, and I hadn’t even moved out. She acted as if I would be hundreds of miles away, not a five-minute journey to the other side of the village.
Mads sorted all the heavy lifting, which I was thankful for. All I had to do was pack up my belongings and get Bob ready to move. It was going to be a squeeze to fit everything into the shoebox I was moving into, but the room was more than just the space. It was the first steps to my independence—finally doing something for me.
Of course, it had to be hotter than hell the day we had to move everything in. As much as I wanted to help, I was pretty rubbish at lifting the big-ticket items. Mads told me to wait until after lunchtime to come up to the house. He’d collected the furniture from my room the night before with a friend I’d never met before.
I loaded Mum’s car with the rest of my things, leaving Bob behind until we were all in. As I arrived, I spotted Mads sitting on the back of the moving van, his shirt off and his sweat-drenched skin glistening in the afternoon sun, and a bottle of beer in his hand as he leaned forward on his knees. It was one hell of a welcome. It suddenly hit me that we were potentially going to see each other in a lot more situations like this.
Messed up hair from the night before.
Just showered.
Topless.
I shook away the images dancing in my mind. I didn’t need anything to add to my rising temperature.
“Hey.” I went over to greet him and checked on what he wanted me to help with.
“Hey, yourself. We’re about done with the big stuff. I sent Leo home, so we should be able to finish up. Your room’s all ready for your things.”
“Great. I’ll go and start.” I gestured to my mum behind at the car, but he snagged my hands before I moved away.
“It’s going to be great. I promise.”
I looked up into his eyes and saw both determination and fear.
“I know. Don’t worry.” I squeezed his hand. “I wouldn’t have agreed if I wasn’t sure of this. Relax.”
It took Bob exactly two days to go back to normal after moving in. He hid in my room for a day. Then ventured out, worked out where his food and temporary litter tray was, before heading back to my bedroom and staying put.
I wished I could have said the same for me. While I loved that this was now our home, I didn’t feel as settled as Bob. Or Mads.