To Never Fall In Love

Chapter 13 ~ who are you? ~

After lunch Champ decided to take the afternoon off and Danny and Jonno' knew what needed to be done so he left them to it, he'd never run a particularly tight ship but it worked, they got the job done and his customers were happy and loyal.

He grabbed the tray of empty mugs and carried them back to the office with Lee following behind. 

"I'm taking off early Becks but call me if there's a problem" Champ said.

"k' boss, have fun" she said winking at Liam.

"when you've finished flirting with my boyfriend ..."

"alright, keep your hair on, sheesh" Beck's said rolling her eyes then smiling.

Champ washed the mugs leaving them all to drain before turning back to Becks, 

"ok, I'm outta here, see you in the morning"

"k' boss, it was nice to finally meet you Liam" Beck's said.

"same here Miss ?" Liam said.

"please, call me Becky or Beck's, it's such a refreshing change to have a gentleman around the place" she said.

"I reiterate, do you want that time off Beck's?" Champ said.

"ok, I get it, oh mighty boss who is perfect in all manner of th ..." Becks was saying as she pretended to bow.

"see you Beck's" Champ cut her off mid stream.

"yes boss"

Champ and Liam left the office and Champs was smiling and shaking his head at the same time.

"I thought I'd take you to my place to show you around there" Champ said and Liam nodded smiling.

Champ was in his car today so they climbed into that and drove back towards the village of Willow's Brook then once there they passed Kan and Kiri's property and drove up the road before Champ pulled up in front of a modest three up, two down house.

He kept the engine idling and pointed to the house,

"this is the house where I spent the better part of my childhood with Iris Slater before she passed away. She left it to me but it didn't feel right living in it without her so I lease it to a young family and they take care of it for me up to a point"

"do you miss her?"

"I do, she was a good, kind woman and very astute" Champ said smiling fondly"

Champ put his car in gear and drove a little further before pulling up again and pointing to the right at the front entrance of a pretty cottage bed & breakfast.

"this is Kan's mum and dad's place, he took you there yes?" Champ asked.

"yes, they are a lovely couple" Liam said.

"that they are, you'll be attending one of their famous barbecues this Saturday, they're a lot of fun" Champ said, his face lighting up with a bright smile.

Champ began driving once more to continue further up the road and leaving the village before heading up a country lane in the direction of what looked like a detached farm house.

He drew up in front of it and killed the engine,

"this is me, welcome to my humble abode" Champ said smiling at Liam.

"not so humble, it has a lot of character and looks old"

"yes, it was built in the mid to late eighteenth century, I bought it at auction and it's a full time job upkeeping it but it was a shame to see it go to ruin" Champ replied.