Page 14 of The Widow’s Irish Secret (Magnolia Manor #4)

Tricia stood in the living room of the cottage with Dominic while they went through a list of jobs. It was longer and more complicated than she had thought.

‘You need to dryline the whole place,’ he said. ‘And rewire, of course. Then I would suggest storage heaters here in the living room and the kitchen. They work on the night-time setting which is a lot cheaper.’

‘How does that work?’ Tricia asked.

‘The bricks inside heat up during the night when rates are cheaper and then they release the heat during the day. Very effective. They’ll keep the rooms warm during the day and evening.’

‘Sounds good,’ Tricia said.

‘You could put smaller heaters in the bedroom and bathroom. Do you want to heat the box room too?’

‘I suppose so,’ Tricia said after a moment’s reflection. ‘I can just turn it on whenever I’m in there.’

‘Okay.’ Dominic started to walk down the corridor. ‘Let’s take a look at the bathroom.’

‘It needs a complete update,’ Tricia said, walking behind him. ‘But maybe I can manage for now and do it later?’

Dominic opened the door to the bathroom and peeked inside. ‘Hmm. Well, if you don’t mind coping with the old plumbing and a cracked basin, I suppose you could do it later.’

‘The toilet flushes and the bath doesn’t leak,’ Tricia said. ‘There’s a hand shower and I can put a small plastic basin inside the wash hand basin.’

‘The linoleum on the floor here and in the kitchen are a bit worn but that is easy to replace,’ Dominic said. ‘You could just spruce it all up a bit, paint the walls, put in one of those bathroom wall heaters and redo the floor for now. Then replace everything when you want.’

‘Great,’ Tricia said. ‘There’s hot water from the immersion, so that’s all I need for now.’

‘Except a new immersion tank,’ Dominic said with an apologetic smile. ‘It doesn’t work at all and the insulation is torn. You need a new one with proper insulation.’

‘Okay.’ Tricia sighed and added it to the list. ‘What else?’

‘Well… The windows could be replaced. If you have double glazing the house will be much warmer.’

‘I’ll do that next year,’ Tricia muttered. ‘I know it should be done now, but I want to try to keep costs down. I’ll just get the broken panes replaced for now.’

‘Of course,’ Dominic agreed. He looked at the staircase leading up to the attic. ‘What’s up there?’

‘A room that will eventually be a bedroom,’ Tricia replied. ‘But I’ll leave that until later. There’s nothing up there except an old wardrobe that looks as if it was from the time the house was built.’

Dominic looked intrigued. ‘A wardrobe from 1869? That’s interesting. Anything in it?’

‘I haven’t looked but I don’t think so,’ Tricia said. ‘Who were the first people to live here?’

‘Mary and John O’Grady,’ Dominic said. ‘They were the couple who built this cottage.’

‘Really?’ Tricia asked. ‘How do you know?’

‘It’s in the records in the archives,’ Dominic replied. ‘And their initials are carved into the bricks above the fireplace. M, J, O’G, 1869.’

‘Wow,’ Tricia said. ‘That’s amazing. I’ll have to look at that. I thought I’d plaster over the bricks but now after what you told me, I won’t.’

‘You shouldn’t,’ Dominic agreed. ‘I think the bricks look nice on the chimney breast. I’d just put a shelf made of oak underneath and then have it as a feature.’

‘Great idea.’ Tricia consulted her list. ‘So, what do we have here? Rewiring, dry lining, heaters, a new immersion… Those are the most urgent things to do, would you say?’

Dominic nodded. ‘Yes. The rest can wait until next year, if you think you can cope with the outmoded bathroom and can do the painting yourself.’

‘I can, but even so all this will cost a fair amount of money,’ Tricia said with a sigh.

‘I’ll try to keep the costs down,’ Dominic promised.

‘You won’t need a project leader so the electrician and plumber are all that’s required.

In fact…’ He paused, looking thoughtful.

‘As a matter of fact, there’s this guy who’s a kind of Jack of all trades.

He can do everything, is very neat and tidy and doesn’t charge an arm and a leg.

Retired builder, actually. He could do everything for you.

Electricity, plumbing, the lot. Does it as a hobby these days.

Better than sitting in a chair reading books and annoying people, he says. ’

‘That sounds great,’ Tricia said, feeling suddenly more hopeful. ‘Maybe I can meet him here and have a chat? Just to go through everything without committing myself.’

Dominic nodded. ‘Yes. Great idea. I’ll get him to contact you. His name is Ted O’Reilly. He might be free to do what you need. If he is, that’ll free up a lot of time for me. I just need to come and inspect the work and tell Ted what to do. Then we can do the fun stuff together.’

‘Wonderful.’ Tricia smiled at her son-in-law. ‘That way I won’t take up too much of your time as you must be very busy.’

‘I am but I would put your cottage first, of course,’ Dominic said with a warm smile. ‘Lily would not be pleased if I didn’t give you high priority.’

‘I know. But if this Ted can do a lot of the work, then I’ll be out of your hair.’

‘Talk to him first and then we’ll decide.’ Just then, Dominic’s phone rang. He fished it out of the pocket of his jeans and looked at the screen. ‘A client. I have to take this and then I must go. I’ll get Ted to call you.’

‘Okay, thanks,’ Tricia said as he walked away, talking into his phone.

She looked at him through the window as he got into his car, knowing he had been such a good sport taking time to advise her.

She hoped this Ted O’Reilly Dominic had mentioned would turn out to be a good fit.

A retired builder who now was restoring houses as a hobby?

She couldn’t wait to meet him. She mentally crossed her fingers, hoping he would help her realise her dream.

Then she looked at the list and sighed, wondering if her dream might be too impossible to fulfil.

Could she make a profit from the cottage later on if she had to do so much expensive work?

Well, whatever happened, she’d camp here for the summer and then rethink her situation…

Ted O’Reilly called that evening and they scheduled a meeting at the cottage the next day. Tricia liked his jovial tone and warm voice and felt a surge of hope. ‘It’s quite a tall order,’ she said apologetically. ‘It might not be possible to do it at all.’

Ted laughed. ‘I sense a big challenge. That’s very interesting. I like impossible tasks. I’ll do my best to make it possible. See you tomorrow, Tricia.’

Tricia said goodbye, more cheerful after the brief conversation.

Ted had sounded both enthusiastic and eager to do the work.

She looked forward to meeting him tomorrow to hear his views on the work.

It would take her mind off her meeting with Cillian at the speed dating event, which had been bothering her ever since last Friday.

But she was meeting her new gang again soon and then there was a beach picnic with Lily, Rose and their children next Saturday.

Her life had not been this full of excitement for a very long time.

If only it wasn’t for that niggling worry about the legal issues she had left behind, Tricia would feel her life was complete.

But until that was resolved, she wouldn’t have any peace of mind.