Page 40 of Echoes on the Wind (Borrowed Time #2)

Six Months Later

I barely registered the jingle of the bell ringing out above the door and gave just a cursory glance to see who had entered, before returning my attention to the desk. I was busy writing out the specifics of a new contract, and Mair would have to wait.

Unconcerned by my lack of greeting, she breezed past me, heading straight to the back room, and began tinkering with cups to make herself tea.

“Do you want one?” she called out, but I stayed silent, focused on finishing the contracts.

With the final few strokes of the pen, my work was complete. I held the two sheets of paper up to the light that was pouring in through the large windows, casting my eyes between them. Identical.

“Done,” I called out, feeling rather smug with myself. I was getting faster every time. “They need to hurry up and invent the photocopier, though.”

“Oh, yes?” Mair said, setting a cup down for me on the edge of the desk. “And what’s one of them, then?”

She looked down at me, arms folded, looking like a schoolmistress in her long, black dress that buttoned right under her chin .

“It doesn’t matter,” I replied, waving it off. “Future stuff.”

She shook her head and moved to the window, pressing her face against the glass to watch the street. “What time are they coming in?”

I glanced at the carriage clock ticking away on the shelf behind me. “A few more minutes, yet,” I replied. Just as I turned back to face her, I caught sight of Gwyn rushing past the window.

“You’re cutting it fine,” I said as he pushed through the door, making the bell ring out again. “What did they say?”

“Not for them, I don’t think.”

He hooked his jacket over the coat stand near the door before rushing to his desk on the opposite side of the room to mine. He’d been out most of the morning showing a prospective client around an empty house on Prince Road and had only just made it back in time for our meeting. I couldn’t complain, though. The business had taken off in a way that neither of us had expected.

After only a few weeks of advertising and taking on any business that would come our way, our books had quickly become inundated with people looking to save money on auction fees and cut out the rigamarole of dealing with rentals.

“Is there any more tea?” he asked.

Mair rolled her eyes but returned to the back room to make another pot. As she left, he turned his gaze on me.

“Are you ready?”

“Definitely,” I replied, smiling excitedly. “Everything’s drawn up, and they just have to sign. ”

Our clients, Mr and Mrs Hughes, had built their wealth by investing in property when prices around the valley were still low. Now, with a significant portfolio and an even more substantial fortune, they’d decided to retire to Canada, leaving us in charge of it. This would be their final dealing before they left.

“This is them,” I said, spotting their carriage pull up outside.

The elderly couple, dressed far more lavishly than most on the street, stepped out onto the pavement, and I rose to my feet to greet them.

“Mr and Mrs Hughes, it’s lovely to see you again,” Gwyn said, walking over to my desk. He reached out to shake the husband's hand, and I was sure I could hear Mair sigh from the back room as he asked, “Can we get you some tea?”

“Thank you, but we haven’t got much time,” Mrs Hughes said as the couple took seats at the desk.

“Well, everything is drawn up,” I replied, sliding the two copies of the contract in front of them. “Check them over, and if you’re happy with everything, then all we’ll need is your signature at the bottom.”

Mrs Hughes leaned back in her chair as her husband scanned the documents. I cast a nervous glance at Gwyn, but he just smiled in return. We’d gone over the process so many times that he was no longer fazed by it, but it still gave me butterflies, especially today.

“Everything seems shipshape and Bristol fashion,” the gentleman said, and after a brief smile, he picked up the pen from the desk and signed both copies of the contract.

“That’s marvellous, Mr Hughes,” I said excitedly. “It’s been an absolute pleasure working with you. ”

He rose from his seat and shook both of our hands, then checked the gold watch that hung on a chain from his pocket. “We must be going,” he said. “We’ve a boat to catch. I trust you’ll deal with everything on this end?”

“Absolutely,” Gwyn said. “Thank you again.”

The couple turned for the door, but Mr Hughes stopped suddenly and turned back to us. “Almost forgot,” he said, fishing around in his jacket pocket. “I suppose you’ll be wanting these?” He held up a small keyring with two keys attached, smiling as he offered them to Gwyn.

“Yes, I think that would help,” Gwyn laughed as he clutched the keys in his palm. “Have a safe voyage.”

He held the door open for them, and once they were safely back in their carriage, he dangled the keys at me with a huge, excited grin on his face.

“We did it!” I yelled, at a pitch that took us both by surprise. “Our first home.”

Taking over the management of the Hughes’ property portfolio had been no small task, but in exchange for a slightly reduced rate on our services, which was still significantly less than what they’d been paying their solicitor to do the same job, they’d agreed to rent us their house on the hill for close to nothing.

“Is it all done?” Mair asked, popping her head through the door from the back room.

“It is,” I replied, excitedly waving the contract at her. “We’re officially your new landlords.”

“Then I suppose we should finally open this?” she said, sneaking the bottle of wine we’d been saving from behind her back as she came out to join us .

“I suppose we should,” Gwyn grinned, and with the pop of the cork, we celebrated our biggest investment yet.

My footsteps echoed around the empty house as I took another look around, still not quite believing that it was actually ours. It had all been decently decorated, but I already had plans for every room, and I couldn’t wait for us to get some furniture to fill it, even if most of it would be hand-me-downs for the time being.

Gwyn came up behind me, wrapped his hands around my waist, and rested his head on my shoulder. “Daydreaming again?”

I’d stopped to stare at the fireplace in the front room, wide and open with ornate tiles surrounding it, and was contemplating whether we could get a large mirror to hang over the top.

“I can’t help it,” I said, smiling as I wrapped my hands around his. “I’ve got such a good feeling about this. It feels like everything is finally going right for us.”

“Don’t say that,” he replied, leaning out to knock twice on the mantelpiece.

“What was that for?” I laughed as I turned in his embrace to face him.

“You know what your luck is like,” he said with a grin. “I’m not superstitious, but if you think things are going well, the house will probably fall down tomorrow.”

I feigned offence and laughed as I thumped him on the arm, and he leaned down and kissed me for the first time in our new home. “Come on. Everyone will be here in a minute.”

We had no chairs to sit on, or table to gather around, but we’d still invited everyone to come and look at our new home, and had emptied out the bakery on the high street to make sure that everyone was fed.

“Plates!” I said, pulling away from him as I considered the food. We’d laid everything out on the kitchen counter, but we couldn’t very well expect people to eat directly from the bags.

“I’ll ask Nellie to bring some around,” he replied, and he kissed me again before disappearing out into the hallway.

“Oh, hello,” I heard him say as he opened the front door. “He’s in the front room. I’ll be back in a minute.”

I walked to the doorway just as Lee was about to come through it, and excitedly reached out to hug him.

“Well?” I asked, unable to contain my smile. “What do you think?”

“It’s exactly the same as Nellie’s,” he said with a shrug, laughing at the unimpressed look I shot back at him.

“Don’t listen to him,” Tish said, rounding the corner into the room with a smile. She gave Lee a playful tap on his leg with her walking stick, then looked around enthusiastically. “It’s lovely, Tom.”

I stared around the empty room, feeling a pang of guilt that Tish had nowhere to sit. Since the accident at the mine, she’d had to walk with the aid of a stick. The first doctor on-site had wanted to amputate her foot, and had it not been for the intervention of Nellie, who helped to tend the wounded despite her own injury and loss, he would very likely have gotten his way. The awkward break had caused a slight limp, but her foot was saved, and Tish embraced her new circumstance with the same positive mindset that she did everything else, never letting it hinder her.

“They’re going to bring some chairs around from Nellie’s, so you won’t have to stand for too long,” I said, leaning in to give her a welcoming hug. “And then you can help me decide how to decorate in here.”

“Don’t you go tiring my wife out, Tom,” Lee said with a smile as he rubbed a hand across her stomach. “She needs all the energy she can get now.”

“You’re not…?” I said, and my mouth fell open as they both nodded and grinned with excitement. “Congratulations.”

“You can tell Gwyn, obviously, but keep it between us for now,” Lee said. “We’ll tell everyone else in a few weeks.

“Oh, thank god,” I joked, letting out an exaggerated breath. “I don’t want you upstaging my big day.”

The door clicked open again, and I moved to the hallway as Nellie entered carrying two wooden chairs from her kitchen table.

“Quick, get one of these,” she said, struggling with them, and I took one straight through to the living room for Tish.

Nellie followed me in, followed by Betty carrying Alfred, and Joseph with Cecelia. Behind them trailed Gwyn, who had another two chairs in his hands.

“Did you get plates?” I asked, and he put the chairs down with a sigh, turned around, and headed straight back out. As he did, he sidestepped Will, who tipped his hat as he stepped inside .

“I hope you don’t mind an extra mouth to feed,” he said.

“Of course not,” I replied, flashing a grin at Nellie, who began to blush. “The more the merrier.”

As Will healed and Nellie grieved, they’d begun to lean on each other more, until he began to feel like any other part of our group. When questioned, they both insisted that they were nothing more than friends. The spark between them was evident, even if they denied it, but we kept any teasing to a minimum. Nellie had spent such a long time in the pits of depression after Gethin’s death that we were all just happy to see her more like her old self again. If the support they found in each other as they navigated their changed lives helped, then it could only be a good thing for both of them.

“Here you go,” I said, setting a chair down behind Betty.

She smiled, passing the baby to me as she made herself comfortable. “He’s being grizzly today,” she said, letting out a long huff. “He’s got a tooth coming through.”

“Had us up all night,” Joseph added. “But this one,” he said, turning Cecelia towards me. “She could sleep for Wales.”

“Have you been keeping your parents awake, Alfie?” I asked, cooing at him. He popped his bottom lip out and started screaming, and Betty laughed as I handed him back. “I think I’ll go sort the food out instead.”

“I’ll come help,” Tish said, following me out .

“Got the plates,” Gwyn said as we crossed in the hallway. “I saw Mair’s lot coming up the street, too, so they won’t be long.”

“That’s everyone, then,” I said. “Do you think we have enough food?”

“There’s more than enough,” Tish replied, looking at everything we’d spread out on the counter. “People might want glasses, though, unless you’re expecting them to swig that wine from the bottle.”

I looked at Gwyn in a panic, and he smiled as he pointed at a box on the floor. “I already thought of that.”

“He’s a goodun,” Tish said with a knowing smile, and I nodded in acknowledgement. I told myself the same thing every day.

“Hello,” Mair called out as she entered the house, and a chorus of people in the sitting room called back to greet her. She walked down to us looking red-faced, with Zack close behind her holding Iris, who was carrying a doll almost the same size as her.

“God, I hate that hill,” she said, huffing as she reached for a sandwich on the counter.

I leaned in, kissing her on the cheek, then reached out to shake Zack’s hand. “Is that what took you so long?”

“Not really,” she replied, shrugging with a mouthful of food. “I just thought that if we came late, you wouldn’t ask me to help with anything.”

“No such luck,” I said, grabbing the sandwich from her and replacing it with the box of glasses from the floor. “Take these in. Toast first, and then you can eat. ”

I ushered everyone out of the kitchen, then grabbed two bottles of wine from the counter and followed behind them.

When everyone’s glasses were filled, Gwyn stepped close beside me, tucking his hand around my waist. The buzz of chatter fell quiet, and we raised a glass to the friends we’d lost, the ones we’d made, and the future we’d all see in together.

I looked around at my friends, my family , and for the first time in as long as I could remember, I was truly excited about what lay ahead. Having a place of our own, and not just sitting around other people’s tables and sleeping in other people’s beds, was setting us up for the future in a way I’d never even imagined was possible.

As everyone raised a glass in cheer, I looked to Gwyn with a contented smile, proud of how far we’d come. The future was still ahead, but this was us now.

And we were home.