Someone Else's Conflict by Alison Layland Read Free Book Online Page A

mind. ‘You don’t have to.’
    â€˜I mean it.’
    â€˜The barn’s cleared now. That’s more my usual style.’
    Looking at him, she could believe it.
    â€˜We don’t know it’s safe, and there’s a great big hole in the roof,’ she said, ‘You’d get soaked.’
    â€˜There’s plenty of space away from the hole. I could even put the tent up in there. Whatever. You’re on your own here, aren’t you?’
    She shrugged; no point trying to deny the obvious.
    â€˜The barn’ll do me fine, really.’
    â€˜I can’t just chuck you out in the rain.’
    â€˜Well…’ He hesitated, but not for long. ‘If you insist.’
    As she showed him the spare room she realised clearing enough space would be harder than she’d thought; there was hardly room to fit his rucksack in. The bed frame and its mattress were leaned against the wall to make room for boxes of her stock.
    â€˜I’m intending to set up my workshop in the barn. This is my store till I do,’ she said, annoyed with herself for feeling the need to justify anything.
    â€˜You make pottery?’ He picked up a piece from a nearby box. One of her favourite wall plaques, a stylised landscape in blues, purples and greens.
    â€˜I do. Until I get the barn sorted I’m having to work somewhere else. It’s not ideal, but I need to get established – supply enough stuff to local shops in time for Christmas, then get going properly for next year’s tourist season. So it’s what I’ve got to do.’ She sighed. ‘It’ll all just take a bit longer now.’
    â€˜You haven’t been here long?’
    â€˜Several years. Just not on my own. My partner, Matt, and I split up early this summer.’
    â€˜Oh. Sorry.’
    â€˜Nothing for you to apologise about. We did up an old mill in Holdwick, ran a craft centre there. Since we split he’s been converting the top floor to a flat. I stayed here.’ She stared, unseeing, into the jumble of boxes in the spare room. ‘Well, in a manner of speaking. Actually, I went off to Ireland for a while. Stayed with a friend from college who’s living the good life in the wilds of Donegal. She runs a pottery, too, so it was a chance to get some experience working with someone else. It was great for a while. Exchanging ideas, all that. But I began to feel I was overstaying my welcome. She never said anything; I dare say she’d be mortified to hear me say it, but…it felt right to come back. You can’t run away for ever.’
    She looked up, caught him frowning.
    â€˜You know about running away, too, then?’ she ventured.
    â€˜Figuratively, you mean?’ She felt a sudden unease that the question had even occurred to him. ‘I believe it’s part of the human condition.’ He shrugged, laughed softly and ran an appreciative hand over the plaque before passing it to her carefully. ‘Now then, you’d better tell me where you want these boxes.’
    He’d got the two of them moving before she found her voice to press him further. By the time they’d finished, the small landing was crowded but there was a space in the bedroom big enough for one person to sleep in.
    â€˜We can bring cushions up from the chairs, later, and I’ll get you a spare duvet.’
    â€˜Thanks, but my sleeping bag’s all I need.’
    After sorting out candles and lamps before it got fully dark, she packed him off to the bathroom with some old clothes Matt had left behind. She insisted Jay gave her his things to wash, despite his protests that she shouldn’t feel obliged.
    She’d left his two sets of scruffy clothes to soak and was contemplating the contents of the fridge when she heard the low hum of an engine approaching. Out in the rain her neighbour, Richard Harrington, appraised the landslide and its effects and was most apologetic about being