Did I Mention I Won The Lottery? by Julie Butterfield Page B

one
wall were double glass doors that opened onto an adjoining garden
room with a wood burning stove and a collection of lovely deep
settees. Rebecca hugged herself, she could just imagine a day like
this, with a fire crackling, the smell of casserole in the air, a
bottle of wine in the fridge and her friends and family sitting
round the table.

    Rebecca looked
around the whole house before she spoke to Annie. She looked in
every bedroom and every cupboard. She checked every bathroom and
looked behind every door. She even looked round the garden and the
tennis court at the very bottom hidden behind the apple trees and
the garage which was big enough for 4 large cars. She looked in the
wood store and the greenhouse where the current gardener propagated
the plants. She looked inside the double range oven and opened the
double doors of the American fridge freezer. She flicked the switch
that dimmed the lights and she flicked the switch that drew the
curtains. She flicked the switch that turned on the surround sound
and the one that turned on the garden lights. She looked at the
state of the art alarm system and the array of switches that set
the individual temperature in each room. She looked at everything
that Annie showed her saying nothing more than the occasional
‘that’s nice’ and ‘oh yes I see’.
    Rebecca had
made up her mind seconds after stepping into the lovely hallway and
seeing the warm and welcoming house stretch out before her. But she
let Annie show her all these things partly because Annie was
enjoying it so much and partly because it gave Rebecca’s reeling
senses time to organise themselves. And when they had finally done
the whole tour and they were back in the hallway next to the lovely
staircase that curved upwards, Annie turned to her with a slight
edge of desperation to her voice and demanded, ‘So, do you like
it?’
    Rebecca looked
down the hall into the lovely bright kitchen and then turned to
smile at Annie.
    ‘Oh yes, I like
it. I’ll take it please.’
    Annie’s
eyebrows shot up to lose themselves in her hairline.
    ‘You’ll take
it,’ she repeated.
    ‘Yes, I’ll take
it,’ answered Rebecca, as casually as though she had just chosen a
new set of towels.
    ‘When can I
have it?’
    Rebecca
wondered if she should take Annie’s arm, she looked very pale.
    ‘Well, when did
you want to...’
    ‘Oh straight
away. No point hanging around once you’ve chosen is there? How soon
can these things be organised?’
    ‘Well, I think
a couple of weeks if everyone is...’
    ‘Oh and I’d
like the furniture as well.’
    ‘The
furniture?’
    Poor Annie
really did look as though she needed to sit down. Rebecca had
realised as she followed Annie on her tour, that this house was the
product of a great deal of time and effort. It was co-ordinated in
a way that only the truly gifted can make a house look and although
Rebecca was sure she could manage the same look given time, why
bother? She loved the look, pale cream settees included and she had
decided it would be far easier to just buy the whole thing as it
stood.
    ‘Right,’ said
Annie, ‘well of course I’ll have to ask them…’
    ‘Oh I’ll pay,’
said Rebecca ‘just tell them to let me know how much they want,’
and smiling at Annie she walked out into the garden where she was
sure the air had suddenly become a whole lot warmer.

    It was Friday
morning and as Rebecca opened her eyes she had trouble working out
what time it was. The thick damask curtains did an excellent job of
keeping out the light, weather and noise and it took Rebecca a few
seconds to focus on the clock on the side table. She had overslept.
It was 9.07. Another superb meal followed by another deep,
luxurious bath had sent her into a long sleep ably helped by fluffy
pillows and goose down and Rebecca had stayed in bed long past her
usual 7.30 wake up time.
    She sat up,
looking around the still dark room before slipping out of bed and
into her dressing gown. She