“Here.” McManus pulled out a chair at the table. “You sit. Tell me where everything is.”
Laurie glared at him, mentally revising his opinion of the other man’s likelihood to fuss.
“Please?” McManus said. “Sally will hit me with the coal shovel if she comes back and I’ve exhausted you. She does for me a couple of times a week and I always tidy up before she arrives.”
Laurie grinned, unwillingly. “Mr McManus…” he said.
“Phil,” the other man interrupted. “Please. Call me Phil.”
“Laurie, then,” Laurie said. They stared at one another for a moment. McManus…Phil…had something guarded and careful about his gaze, but probably no more than Laurie had about his own.
“Pleased to meet you, Laurie,” McManus said.
Laurie nodded at him, acquiescing. “The kettle’s probably full,” he said, sitting c
