Tommy pushed and pulled, heaved and hauled until well past five o'clock. He surveyed the van one last time. Making sure all was secure and that there wasn't some possible way to squeeze his fathers card table in there. No, it was packed tight. He locked the van door and slid it shut. The house was now casting its shadow upon the van and a slight breeze was beginning to make a weak attempt at drying his shirt. He pulled the white cotton v-neck tee he was wearing off over his head and used it along with the breeze to help dry the sweat from his torso.

Barbara had spent the rest of the afternoon in the library nursing a ginger ale and reading up on the history of Cornwall. As often as she seemed to visit she didn't want to come off a complete moron about the place. The reading was a bit dry and she found herself nodding off a time or two. It was the shutting of the van door that broke her from her latest "reverie". She stood up and made her way to the window. Looking out she was just in time to see Tommy remove his shirt. It had been a few years since he'd paraded around in front of her half naked in the caravan, and she noticed that he had begun to sprout a couple of love handles. Nothing major, mind you. He was still in decent shape; just starting to look a little squidgy around the middle is all. He was seven years her senior so that put him about forty five now. It was to be expected, a man his age, keeping crap hours and living on pub food. She was surprised he still looked this good. Wait…what? What was she doing? Was she just "checking him out"? She turned away from the window.

But why not just check him out? Why parade around like that unless you wanted someone to look. She had to admit she'd given him a quick once over that time in the caravan and it had left her tingling. And now? She made her self look out again. Problem was, this time when she looked out, he was looking back. What came next was more than a tingle. It was a jolt! Christ! What the hell was that? She backed away from the window till the back of her knees bumped into the reading room settee and she sat down with a plop. What was happening to her? Nothing felt normal since she accepted his invite. Why was that? Her stomach growled at her in reply. That's it! She's just hungry, maybe even a little hypoglycemic. It's making her dizzy. It had been almost six hours since brunch. Yeah, that had to be it. Problem solved. She headed off to the kitchen, a woman on a mission. She had to find out what was planned for dinner?

Tommy saw Barbara move away from the library window. Good, he wouldn't have to go hunting for her. He had worked up an appetite and wanted to tell her that as soon as he was showered and changed they would be heading down to the local pub for dinner. He headed inside. Problem was, when he got to the library, she was gone. He trod back to the foyer where he knew the acoustics were better and yelled.

"Havers!"

Now in the kitchen Barbara heard her name being bellowed throughout the manor.

"Havers!" Came the first call. "Barbara!" Came the next. "Barbara!" Soon again.

Oh good lord! She hurried to the foyer to stop him from calling out again.

"I'm here, …in the kitchen."

"What are you doing there? I thought you were in the library?

She screwed up her face a bit. Was there some kind of arcane house rule about changing rooms that she didn't know about? So she responded bluntly. "I was. And now I'm in the kitchen."

He was taken aback by her reply. "Good. Ok. Well, then if you're hungry; give me a minute to shower and change and we'll head into town for dinner and a pint."

And what was she just thinking about pub food? Never mind. It was pointless to argue a one sided conversation. "Alright." She agreed. "I'll just be sitting here...," She pointed to and sidestepped her way to another uncomfortable looking straight backed chair pressed up against the foyers chair railing, and sat. "….waiting for you"

His brow furrowed. Something was wrong with this conversation. "Right. Good." And he wasn't helping. "I'm going… He pointed to the staircase. "…now." And he turned, and he went, before it got any worse.