Downsizing by W. Soliman Read Free Book Online

always.
    “ Hi, Noah,” she said. “What a nice
surprise. You look like you’ve won the lottery. Who’s the lucky
lady this time?”
    “ Nah, it’s nothing like that, Max.
It’s much better.”
    “ Since when did you put anything before sex?”
    He grinned. “Wattsie had a change of heart and
I, Miss Small, am now a property owner.”
    Her jaw dropped open. “Noah, no! Not the house
on Broad Street?”
    “ The very same.”
    She threw herself at him, arms twining round
his neck as her body crashed against his. “Noah, I’m so pleased for
you! I just know you’ll make the most of this
opportunity.”
    “ Hey, thanks.”
    He traced the line of her face with his thumb
and dropped a kiss on her lips. He’d intended it to be fleeting,
but somehow it didn’t end up that way. Her unmitigated delight at
his success, the feel of her solid body molded against his, aroused
him. He didn’t know what it was about Maxine that compelled him,
and he’d had to take a lot of stick from his mates because of his
friendship with her.
    He could relax completely when he was with
her, but it was more than that. Some ineffable something drew him
toward her, and even if he’d wanted to pull back he didn’t think
he’d last long without her. They’d bonded in a way that he no
longer tried to analyze.
    It simply was.
    Surprised to find that his tongue had worked
its way into her mouth, Noah didn’t attempt to rectify the matter.
Somehow, today the usual rules didn’t apply. He deepened the kiss,
enjoying her inexpert attempts to return it.
    “ Go on, put your glad rags on,” he
said, finally releasing her. “We’re gonna meet Joey and Rachel in
the pub to celebrate.”
    When they walked into The Three Feathers half
an hour later, Joey and Rachel were already there, matching grins
on their faces. Drinks in hand, the four found seats in the pub’s
garden where they could talk more privately.
    “ What are we gonna do about our
other work?” Joey asked, when their initial euphoria faded and
reality set in. “I mean, we can’t work for Wattsie, do up our
house, and do our independent work as well. There just ain’t
enough hours in the day.”
    “ Hmm, we’ll have to work for
Wattsie and do our house, those are given,” Noah said. “We’ll stop
taking building repairs and stuff, but I can’t see how we can stop
our gardening contracts until we find someone to take them over.
The summer’s coming on, and this is still a relatively small town.
We don’t wanna get a reputation for being unreliable.”
    “ We’ve only got about half-a-dozen
to do,” Joey said. “What with the light summer evenings, it
shouldn’t be a problem to fit them in.”
    “ We’ll advertise the gardening
business in the local rag as a going concern.”
    “ Good idea.”
    “ And I can help when I haven’t got
other work on,” Rachel said. “Not that I know a daisy from a
dandelion, mind.”
    “ Thanks, sweetheart.” Joey gave
her a smacking kiss. “But it’s more important that you concentrate
on getting that contract at the tennis club.”
    “ Oh, I am, I can assure you. I’ve
already tried to find out who I need to kill to eliminate the
competition.”
    They all laughed.
    “ I wish there was something I
could do,” Maxine said.
    “ There is.” Noah squeezed her
hand. “Get that bloody law degree and come back to supervise our
empire for us.”
    “ Be serious, Noah.”
    “ I am.” He grinned at her and
turned back to Joey, all business again. “It should work okay.
Obviously, there’s only so much we can do with the house before
Planning Permission is granted, and that’ll take at least a couple
of months to arrange.”

Chapter Five
    Noah scrutinized the lawn and nodded with
satisfaction. The swathes were in perfect alignment, something Mrs.
Turner insisted upon. He didn’t usually do her garden, but Joey had
cried off at the last minute because he had to drive Rachel to a
house where she was doing a buffet. Since