Lorcan shifted his weight and tilted his head down a little more, meeting my eyes. ‘I hate to pop any balloons, but, unlike Tom, I’ve no hidden agenda. The only reason I’m here is…’ his eyes scanned my face as he took a breath, his broad chest expanding and tightening against the pale blue shirt he wore, the collar open at the neck ‘… work.’ He turned away and I felt the breath I’d been holding escape. He was such an arse. I’d pop his bloody balloons if he wasn’t careful.

28

‘What possible work reason would you have in the village? It’s fine just as it is. We certainly don’t need people like you coming in and sticking new houses or blocks of flats on any tiny piece of ground you can get your mitts on!’

‘Woah!’ Lorcan held up the shovels he called hands. ‘Little protective of the village there, are we?’

‘Yes, I am. And I’m not ashamed of it. So if that’s your plan… oh, no, it’s the schoolhouse, isn’t it? They’ve been trying to flatten that and build on the land for years. Is that why you’re here?’

‘Yes.’

The schoolhouse was the most beautiful Victorian building at the other end of the village, backing out onto sweeping countryside. There was an orchard within its grounds too but that was now really just an overgrown thicket. I’d fallen in love with the place the day I’d taken my first walk around the village. Several people had tried to buy it over the years but it needed a lot of work. It hadn’t been touched since it was built so would literally need a new everything to make it a comfortable home. It was a big job and planning departments were more inclined to grant permission for multiple houses these days, especially with the income local government would then get from taxes and utilities, et cetera.

‘A group of us have been trying to get it granted listed status so it can’t be flattened but we didn’t have any luck. So I presume now we’re too late. Well, Betty might think you’re a nice man now but once she hears you’re tearing that down to build square boxes that won’t blend in with the village at all, she’ll soon be changing her mind.’

Lorcan smiled. ‘Betty thinks I’m a nice man?’

‘Yes. She’s only met you briefly. Easy mistake to make.’

‘Ouch. By the way, remind me at what point I said I’m tearing the schoolhouse down and replacing it with modern housing?’

‘I asked if you were here about the schoolhouse and the fact people want to flatten it. You said you were.’