‘This cottage that you’re hoping to buy has subsidence.’ The man stepped back and angled his head. ‘Didn’t you notice that the windows are crooked?’
Anna followed his gaze, squinting against the bright evening sunshine. ‘It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with it. Crooked windows add to the character, Mike. They’re what makes it quaint.’
‘They’re what makes it dangerous and a complete no-no for your mortgage company.’ The surveyor looked at her sympathetically. ‘I hope you’re better at diagnosing patients than you are buildings, Doc. If this was an animal and you were a vet, you’d be putting it down.’
Anna groaned and dropped two of her bags. ‘Mike, no! I don’t need this. Tell me you’re joking. You have to be joking. This is my new home.’
Her dream.
Her cottage by the beach.
‘Not joking.’ He shook his head solemnly, stepping back to look at the cottage with a gloomy expression on his face. ‘It’s a bad lot, Anna, love. Let it go.’
‘Let it go? No way.’ Anna stuck out her chin at an angle that made the surveyor sigh.
‘Determination and backbone isn’t going to fix this one, I’m afraid. The only way this is going to be yours is if you put up all the cash yourself.’
Anna almost growled with frustration. ‘You know I can’t do that.’
‘Or find a rich man.’
Anna kicked a stone at the mere thought. ‘I don’t attract rich men. Rich men want useless trophy wives who’ll agree with everything they say.’
Mike laughed. ‘Not much chance of that with you. In which case, I think you’re looking at another house, Anna.’
Anna shook her head in denial and disbelief. ‘But it’s all going through. I’ve chosen the curtains…’
Mike shrugged. ‘Hang them in your next house,’ he advised, ‘but you have to give this one a miss. It’s a bundle of trouble.’
Anna closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Did nothing in her life ever go right any more?
‘It isn’t exactly that simple, is it? I sold my flat two weeks ago, Mike, on the strength of moving into this place. I’ve been lodging with the McKennas while I’ve been waiting for the sale to go through.’
And much as she loved their place, it wasn’t the same as having somewhere of her own.
‘And they’re away for the summer so they’ll be glad to have you in their house for the duration.’
‘It was just temporary.’ She ran her fingers through her dark hair in a gesture of frustration. ‘Just a couple of weeks to tide me over.’
Anna looked at the little cottage that had been part of her dreams.
Subsidence.
For a moment she let the wild, romantic side of her that she rarely acknowledged enjoy a wonderful dream about somehow finding the money and moving in, despite the subsidence. Then the practical side took over. As it always did.
‘OK.’ Her voice was weary and resigned. ‘So I’ll tell the solicitors that it’s all off. And I’ll start house-hunting again. In the meantime, I’ll have to find a place to rent.’
Damn, damn and double damn. With David away and her workload already ridiculously heavy, she didn’t have time for house-hunting. And anyway, she didn’t want any old house. She wanted this one. She’d coveted it for years.
‘In the summer?’ Mike snapped his briefcase shut and gave her a rueful smile. ‘Forget it, love. No chance. Why not just stay on at the McKennas’?’
Because she wanted her own home.
And because Sam was there.
Anna bit her lip.
‘I’ll find a place to rent.’ She lifted her chin in a gesture of pure determination that had Mike sighing.