Page 33 of Be More Capybara

‘All in?’

‘Might be a bit extra if you want us to take the rubbish away?’

‘I hadn’t planned to use it to build a garden feature, so yes please.’

Mike wrote something down on his iPad, and started taking photos of the court from various angles.

‘Is £50k your best price?’ Nigel asked.

‘I always give clients my best price.’

‘How much would it be to put an inflatable cover over it for the winter?’

‘Another £30k at least, but you haven’t got the space unless we chop down those trees. And we’d have to look at permission potentially.’ He nodded at the house. ‘Listed is it?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’d advise you to take up another sport in the winter.’

‘How about if we built the court in our barn instead?’

‘Depends how big your barn is.’

‘It’s pretty big. I’ll show you.’

They walked up the steps to the top garden, out of the back gate and up to the road.

‘That’s the barn,’ Nigel said.

‘Hmmm, can I see inside?’

Nigel got the keys out of his coat pocket, unlocked the padlock, and pulled open one of the doors. ‘We’d clean it out, obviously.’ He’d had a quick look in here yesterday evening, but it looked even messier with the bright morning sun streaming through the door.

Mike got out his laser measuring tool. There was more teeth-sucking.

‘The bad news is that it’s not big enough for a tennis court. The good news is you could have a padel court in here. Nice size for it, actually. And suits the older player.’

Nigel didn’t like the way he looked him up and down when he said that.

‘I’m still up to playing regular tennis, thanks.’

25

NIGEL

Nigel walked into the kitchen to get a cup of tea. It was 10 am and this was only cuppa number two. His caffeine consumption had gone down dramatically since he’d moved back to Dashford. Not having to keep alert during endless management meetings might have something to do with it. It still surprised him that he didn’t miss his old office life at all.

Lucy was sitting at the kitchen table with her head in her hands. Was she sobbing?

He coughed in case she didn’t realise he was there. She looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy. Definitely crying. Not what he expected for someone who always looked like she was completely in control. It must be serious.

‘What’s happened?’ he asked.

Lucy sniffed. ‘I can’t get hold of Mark.’

‘He’s gone to look at the treehouse venue in Somerset with Helen.’

She nodded. ‘But I want him to come home.’