Free Carnations in January by Clare Revell Page B

“Sure, I can do that.”
    Once they’d finished eating, he cleared the table and pulled across a huge sheet of paper. “Did you want an attic room?”
    “Won’t that change the front of the house?” she asked. “Thought it had to be the same?”
    “We can put skylights into the roof,” he said. “That will give you ample light without changing the look of the bungalow.”
    “OK.”
    Elliott drew a square on the paper and rapidly marked off the rooms. “The architect will do this properly with measurements and what have you. This is just a rough plan of what you want. So we’ll add on a conservatory and doors from the lounge into it.” He drew a rectangle and paused. “You know if we extended the kitchen slightly, like this,” he sketched another rectangle next to the conservatory, “we could put in a breakfast bar, along with all the fitted units including a built-in oven and dishwasher. What about the bathroom?”
    “What about it?”
    “Would you want a shower as well as a bath?”
    “If there’s room.”
    Elliot narrowed his eyes. “Sure there is. Tell you what, come and look at mine.”
    Grace tilted her head slightly. “Is this the builder’s version of come and look at my etchings?”
    Elliott snorted as he stood. “It could be.”
    Grace followed as he led her across the hall to the bathroom. “Wow.”
    “All it needs is a little imagination. And a lot of love.”
    “You’ve certainly given it that.”
    “Come see what we’ve done in the bedrooms.”
    Raising an eyebrow, she nonetheless followed him. Built-in wardrobes, drawers, and fitted cupboards going around and above the bed, quadrupled the amount of storage space. There was even a dressing table with drawers underneath. Amazement filled her. “This in incredible. It looks so much bigger than Aunt Til—mine.”
    “It isn’t though. I simply made the best use of the available space. Joel’s is the same, only he uses the dressing table as a desk. So I adapted it for laptop, monitor, and tower.” He pointed. “I can give you as many sockets as you need, along with radiators in place of the gas fires if you want. It’d make sense to upgrade to modern central heating while we’re at it.”
    “Yeah, that would be easier to manage. And safer.” Her enthusiasm grew as he showed her the kitchen in more detail.
    “Safer?” he scoffed. “Is this the same person who wants a real fire in the lounge?”
    She rubbed her temples. “Yeah, well, with a fire guard obviously. Do you really think you can do this?”
    He looked at her, concern filling his eyes. “Yeah. This time with a solid foundation. Are you all right?”
    She rubbed her temples. “I’m tired, I haven’t been sleeping very well.”
    “Seems to me you’re more than simply tired. “
    The headache which had been plaguing her since the weekend, was turning into a migraine, blurring what little vision she still had. The pharmacy hadn’t been able to fill her prescription. “Just a bit of a headache.” She sucked in a deep breath. “I should go. I need to work on the website before I turn in.”
    “OK. I’ll drop these in tomorrow for you to see, before I hand them to the architect.”
    “It’s fine. I trust you. Thank you for dinner.”
    ~*~
    Elliott arrived at the florist the following morning with coffee, to find Shana and Mandy standing outside. “Slacking off?” he teased.
    “I wish. It’s locked up. We can’t get in. Had to send customers away already,” Shana complained. “And it’s cold.”
    “Is Grace not there?”
    “She isn’t answering the door or her phone.”
    Elliott peered through the window. There was no sign of life. Concern gnawed at him and the hair prickled on the back of his neck. Grace had seemed a bit off just before she’d left last night. He glanced at Shana and held out the cup. “Hold this for me. I’m going to break in.”
    “What about the alarm?”
    He reached into his pocket and pulled out his penknife. “I know