Someone Who Isn't Me, Danuta Kot [good books to read for adults TXT] 📗

already taken the house for a short let. It’s almost five. I don’t want to keep you. All I need is the keys and a quick run through of where everything is, and to make sure it’s all working.’

‘I can assure you everything’s functioning properly. I’ll just show you round the basics. It’s a beautiful house, though,’ he added wistfully.

Kay had to agree. Under what looked like years of neglect, there was a house worth retrieving. It would have been a perfect project for her and Matt in the days when they enjoyed renovating old property. The grief stirred, and she made herself concentrate on what Oliver was saying as she took stock of her new accommodation.

The kitchen was at the back of house and surprised her as Oliver threw open the door. The window was west-facing and the sky was glorious with the colours of the setting sun. Kay squinted round. It looked old fashioned but serviceable – a pot sink, Formica worktops that were stained but intact. A small fridge. Wall and floor cupboards that seemed sturdy enough. It also looked as though it had been used, and recently. There was a big pan on the hob, a couple of stained mugs in the sink, mud and bits of packaging on the floor, as though something had been opened here. Oliver flushed. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘The cleaners should have done a better… I’ll get them to come back and sort this out.’

‘No need,’ Kay said. She didn’t want the hassle of cleaners coming in to put away a couple of bits and pieces and clear up some mess. ‘Don’t worry about it.’

Upstairs, there were three bedrooms, but one was little more than a box room and was bare. The beds in the other two rooms looked adequate. She’d make the bed up in the east-facing room and get the early morning sun.

‘And here,’ Oliver said as they came downstairs again, ‘is your fuel storage.’ He sounded as though he was showing her the jewel in the crown. He threw open a door that led into the space under the stairs. Kay, looking over his shoulder, saw a dark, dusty cubbyhole with some hooks on the wall. She sniffed. Here, there was the faint smell of incontinence she’d been braced for as they went through the house. Oliver saw her expression and his face went a bit pink. ‘I think they kept the previous owner’s, erm, care equipment in here.’

Milo pushed past him, sniffing the new space eagerly, tracking a smell that had caught his attention to a small door in the back of the cubbyhole. He scratched at it and whined.

Oliver unlocked the door and pushed it open. Milo surged past. ‘Milo!’ Kay said sharply.

‘It’s all right,’ Oliver said, giving Milo a nervous pat. ‘I like dogs.’

Now the door was open, she felt the chill of the outside. ‘The main access to the fuel store is from the garden,’ Oliver explained. ‘It’s a storage area in the side of the house. But you can get into it from indoors, from here.’

She was looking into a brick-built space where logs were neatly stacked against one wall and a row of yellow bags – presumably solid fuel – were lined up against the other. There was a door in the opposite wall that must open into the garden. A sheet of hardboard covered the floor and the whole area was swept clean. It was a relief to see fuel available, and a relief to know she wouldn’t have to scramble around in the wet and the cold tonight collecting it from an outside store.

She looked into Oliver’s face, still bright with the desire to be helpful. ‘Thank you so much for coming to meet me. I think I’ve got it all sorted now. I’m sure I can call you if I need anything.’ She’d shepherded him as far as the door before he showed signs of rebellion.

‘I still have to… I need you to sign for…’

‘Yes, I know. Help me get my stuff out of the car, yes, that’s very kind of you.’

He carried her two big cases and a bag of supplies into the hallway. ‘Is there anything you’d like me to take upstairs for you?’ He was looking dubiously at the insecure bannister.

‘They’re fine just there,’ she said. ‘I need to sort it all out. Thank you,’ she added. He really was a nice young man, and she was being a vinegar-faced old cow.

She glanced out of the door at the cloud banks forming above them. ‘It looks like it’s going to start raining seriously. You should be on your way before it gets too bad.’

She signed the papers to confirm she’d received the keys, that the house was in good order and she intended keeping it so. The challenge of somewhere new was starting to engage her. She wanted to get the place in shape, turn it into her home, even if it was only for a short time.

Chapter 11

As she watched the estate agent’s car drive away and closed the gate behind it, Kay luxuriated in the feeling of being in full possession. She’d always enjoyed moving; the adventure of a new house, and a new place to live, new people, new things to do. Not that Sunk Island seemed to offer a lot in the way of neighbours. There was a cottage up by the crossroads, and that was it.

A quick check had shown the garden was secure, so she let Milo off his lead for a run. She was heading back towards the house to start on her unpacking when he gave a sudden bark.

‘Excuse me.’ The voice seemed to come from out of nowhere.

Kay whipped round. She’d thought she was completely alone, but there was a woman standing in the road outside the gate. As soon as Kay saw her, the woman pushed the gate open proprietorially and came through, her expression hostile. She had one of those