The Wednesday Morning Wild Swim by Jules Wake

Author:Jules Wake [Wake, Jules]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008408992
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

‘What is that?’ asked Dominic as Ettie gave a triumphant shout an hour later.

‘It’s a firepit!’ she said, backing out of the shed, pulling the big circular piece of metal and wiping her rust-stained hands down her denim shorts. It was another beautiful sunny day and she’d dragged him out to the storage shed to do a long-overdue inventory of its contents. ‘And there’s another one in there. They’ll be perfect. There’s so much useful stuff in here, I can’t believe it.’

‘There’s also an awful lot of junk,’ he replied, touching a wheel-less wheelbarrow with one foot.

‘You could plant flowers in that and put it somewhere in the garden. If it was filled with spring bulbs it would look fabulous.’

Dominic gave the broken wheelbarrow a dubious look.

‘No, seriously.’ She put her hands on her hips. ‘It’s perfect, and it’s given me another idea. We could upcycle lots of things as part of the theme of the hotel. Not throwing things away but repurposing them. It’s good for the environment.’

‘Preserving a broken, rusty old wheelbarrow is not good for the environment.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘It’s better than throwing it into landfill.’

‘If you say so,’ he said with a long-suffering sigh.

‘I say so,’ she replied, cocking her head to one side.

‘I thought you might.’

She grinned at him.

‘In that case, I suggest that we empty the stable and sort it into two piles. Stuff we can use—’

‘Stuff we can upcycle.’

‘Stuff we can upcycle,’ he acknowledged dryly, ‘and stuff we can throw away.’ As she went to open her mouth to protest, he added, ‘Ettie, we have to throw some things away. Seriously.’ He picked up a rotting hessian sack.

With a purse of her mouth, she nodded, accepting that he might be right.

A sweaty couple of hours later, Ettie was crowing with delight at the haul they’d found, including several wicker hanging chairs, an outdoor table set, a couple of parasols, a drinks trolley and a megaphone.

‘That can go in the skip pile,’ said Dominic, grasping the tarnished handle of the drinks trolley.

‘No!’ wailed Ettie, tugging it from him, squeezing her body between him and the trolley. ‘This will clean up beautifully.’

‘Are you sure?’ he asked, doubt wrinkling his nose.

‘Positive. Look, you just need to polish up the brass.’ She pointed to the intricate filigreed metal around the edge of the glass top.

‘I’m not sure it’s worth the effort.’

‘Of course it is. It just needs some tender loving care.’

‘Does it now?’ Dominic’s voice dropped and his hands went to her waist, his fingers caressing the bare skin between her T-shirt and shorts. ‘I know something else that needs some tender loving care.’

‘You do?’ She glanced up at him, her eyes full of mischief.

‘Mmm,’ he said, drawing her closer and nuzzling her neck with soft kisses.

She squirmed and giggled as his touch set her nerve endings tingling. She slid her hands down his chest, across the flat of his stomach, and paused, her fingers stroking the soft hair just above the waistband of his jeans.

His hands caressed her hip bone before cupping her bottom and pulling her against him.

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