LOVE IN BLOOM (Preview 3 Chapters)

Love in Bloom

Finally, I had the keys to my new home and couldn't be happier.

It had been a dream of mine for so long that I could barely remember a day where I hadn't wished for it to come true. The very first time my parents had driven past this cottage as a child I had fell in love with it. My eyes in awe of its beauty as my imagination ran wild picturing the idyllic life inside. A Disney Princess sharing the warmth of a fire with her animals best friends. She would bake cakes and make the garden beautiful as she waited for her prince to come sweep her off her feet. He would carry her back to his castle to be married the next day, and live happily ever after. I wanted to be that Princess, I wanted to be swept off my feet and I wanted the Fairytale... but my life took another path.

I had often seen it up for sale over the years, and watched in dismay as it became more and more dilapidated. Until the day I became brave enough to make my life, my own.

Even though I still lacked the confidence that everyone else seems to have in abundance, I was the one who secured the mortgage and dealt with the estate agent. I was the one who now had the keys to the cottage and owned my own little piece of heaven.

As a child I would wave at the cottage and imagine it waving back. I would whisper a promise to buy it one day and everyone started to refer to it as my cottage. Whenever we drove past my dad would slow the car to a crawl so I could get a good look and say 'There is your cottage Niamh,' and we would all wave.

The day I walked into the estate agents and found out there were three other offers on the table my heart sank. I pleaded with the bank manager to lend me the money to outbid them. I hadn't even been able to view it, as was so busy working overtime to secure the deposit money for the mortgage, but with one couple dropping out and another declined, I only had to outbid one. I screamed in excitement when the estate agent said my offer has been accepted. I cried for ten minutes straight when the sale was finally complete and the cottage was mine, all mine.

When I collected the keys I felt faint with excitement, hands shaking, as I handed over the bottle of wine to the agent as a thank you. My heart racing as I pulled into the drive for the first time, ready to clean it before moving. I was in for a shock. It was in a terrible state, and needed more repairs than I had realised. I was lucky my sister was with me and called some of her friends to come help. Not exactly the Disney Princess and animal scene I had imagined as a child but still it made me smile as I hummed whistle while you work and got stuck in with bleach, mops, paint, filler and the obligatory champagne to christen the place. It was amazing what a lick of paint could do.

"This is my room when I come to stay!" my sister Gabby yelled.

"Surely your sister should have the biggest room?" her friend Tricia replied.

"She wants the back room so she has a view of the garden," Gabby replied, knowing full well that I had plans for the garden. It was another dream... my garden! My oasis.

"That garden is a shit hole, who would want to look out on that?"

"She has greener fingers than the hulk and is in love with Alan Titchmarsh, I am sure she will make it perfect."

"What about that guy who asked you out the other week? His family owns a nursery. Maybe you could get her a discount if you go on a date," Tricia suggested.

"Hmm, maybe? He was cute, but a little too cocky for my liking," Gabby cleaned the bedroom window as she mulled it over. "We can go take a look in the week if you want, Niamh?"