Pepper River Boat Hut (Pepper Bay #15)

10

Olive

It was freezing on deck of the Isle of Wight ferry, but Olive wanted to watch the water for a while. It had been a long time since she was on a boat, and they were usually yachts, which was what she had expected to board at the port. It was bad enough the taxi from the hotel only took them to the train station, as she was hoping it would chauffeur them the whole journey. To see a small plane soaring overhead, heading to the island, really was the last straw.

Feeling miserable and still a little weak, she plodded back inside to where Zach sat, keeping warm.

‘Why couldn’t we fly?’ she asked, huddling her long black quilted coat around her as she plonked herself next to him.

Zach flicked through the newspaper on the table in front of him. ‘Costs more.’

‘Surely it can’t. A taxi and a flight has to be cheaper than a taxi, train, boat, and another taxi.’

‘Another taxi?’

Olive nodded. ‘When we get off this thing.’ She shook her head as she pointed at the floor. ‘Have you noticed how slow this is?’

‘It’s not a speedboat, and we won’t be getting a taxi when we get off. My car will be waiting.’

She widened her eyes in amazement at his statement. ‘You have a car?’

Zach slowly turned the page. ‘Uh-huh.’

‘Why wasn’t it in London, where we needed it to be?’

He glanced up. ‘I didn’t need a car in London. Too much hassle.’

Olive was dumbfounded. ‘You’d rather be on a train?’

Zach gave a small shrug. ‘Gets the job done.’

She wrinkled her nose as she waggled a hand over his newspaper. ‘I think you just like to make life harder for yourself.’

His eyes locked with hers for a moment before he went back to reading.

Olive quietly huffed. She was bored, irritable, and wished she was back in bed. ‘I’m hungry.’

‘Yes, I noticed your appetite was well and truly back when you ate all of your sandwich in the coffee shop, then ate half of mine.’

She frowned. ‘You said I could.’

‘I did.’

It was quite annoying that his tone was casual and his concentration on the paper.

‘It wasn’t exactly a proper lunch anyway.’ She tutted, examining her fingernails.

‘It was a sandwich.’

‘It was a coffee shop in a train station.’

Zach stopped reading for a moment, which gave her a small lift. ‘It doesn’t matter where you eat a sandwich. It’s still lunch.’

She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘What about if you ate one for your dinner?’

The corner of his mouth twitched. ‘Then you’re having lunch at dinner.’

Olive tried not to laugh. ‘That’s just silly.’

Zach smiled and went back to reading.

There wasn’t much to do but wait, so Olive took some time to scan her surroundings. She wrinkled her nose at a young couple opposite having a cuddle. The last thing she wanted to see was happy couples. That was Emilio and her once. She laughed on the inside at the thought of snuggling up to Emilio on a ferry, of all places.

He wouldn’t be seen dead on one of these .

She tried to imagine she was sitting on her father’s yacht, and that the people around her were the staff. At least there weren’t too many on board. She wouldn’t be on a vessel in January in England if she had a choice, so she started to wonder what their stories were.

‘I think that old man is going to the island to find his long-lost love,’ she said, nudging Zach’s arm.

Zach glanced in the direction she was looking.

‘Why else would he be on this thing in the middle of winter?’ she added.

‘Winter doesn’t stop people getting about.’

‘Does when it snows here.’ Olive let out a small gasp. ‘Ooh, do you think it’ll snow?’

‘Possible. It’s cold enough.’

Olive gestured at the loved-up couple. ‘What do you think their story is?’

‘I think they’re in love.’

She turned his way. ‘Have you ever been in love?’

‘I don’t have time for love.’

Olive laughed. ‘Oh, come on. At your age, there must have been someone.’

Zach turned his head. ‘No one serious. Next subject.’

She twisted her lips and went back to studying the passengers for a while, but curiosity got the better of her. ‘Did somebody break your heart?’ She saw him still for a second before turning the page.

‘Nope. I was too busy raising my little brother.’

Something told Olive he was only telling a half-truth. There was more to his story, but she couldn’t be bothered to probe again. She tapped the newspaper. ‘Don’t know why you read that trash. Most of it is a lie.’

‘I found it on the table. It’s something to do.’

Olive yawned. ‘I wish we were still in bed.’ She frowned and swallowed hard. ‘Not we . Me. My bed.’ She caught the side of his mouth curl. ‘You know what I mean,’ she mumbled, sinking further into her coat.

‘Why don’t you close your eyes for a while. You’re still healing. Rest will help.’

‘Are we really going to be on here long enough for me to sleep?’ She pointed at the window. ‘I saw the island. It’s right there. I could swim there faster.’

‘I wouldn’t recommend it while recovering from flu.’

‘You know, you can be quite funny when you’re not being serious.’

Zach leaned back as he gazed her way, and those piercing blue eyes of his beamed straight into hers. She wondered if he knew how mesmerising they were. ‘I’m not serious. I’m professional.’

Olive chuckled. ‘You’re not working in a hotel anymore.’ She raised her chin a touch. ‘What exactly are you doing?’

‘Reopening my family’s business. It’s boating on Pepper River.’

‘Boating?’ What kind?’

‘Rowboats, mostly, but there will be pedalos and maybe some small motorboats. Anything that moves slowly.’

Olive smiled into her coat. ‘I like pedalos.’

Zach went to say something, but the ferry had arrived at the island. ‘We’re here.’

‘Finally.’ She huffed, coughing as she stood.

‘You okay?’

‘Yes. Just a bit of ferry dust.’ She pressed around her throat.

Zach laughed. ‘Come on, let’s go get the car keys from Queenie?’

Olive followed him. ‘Who’s Queenie?’

‘Lady who runs a nearby B&B. I’ve recently bought a car from her nephew, so I arranged to pick it up here.’

Olive struggled with her luggage along the way until Zach took over, moving around cases as though he were a luggage porter. She could just see him getting the biggest tips for being helpful. She realised she hadn’t tipped anyone back at the hotel. Perhaps Emilio had covered that area too.

Once on land, Zach told her to wait by a maroon hatchback, then dashed inside a large coastal house called The Crown B&B.

I hope it’s not this car. Who on earth would buy such a horrid little thing?

A bitter wind whipped her hair into her watery eyes, and she hoped he wouldn’t be long, as her feet were starting to go numb. She hardly ever spent winter in England, and now she remembered why.

Zach came back, waggling keys, with a silly smile on his flushed face, and his presence warmed her a touch. He pressed the button on the key and unlocked the maroon car. ‘Jump in. I’ll get the heating on.’ He turned on the engine and switched the heating to high.

Sniffing the interior as she entered, she decided it wasn’t too bad. At least she would be warm soon.

Zach loaded the luggage into the back, then climbed into the driver’s seat. He rubbed his hands together as he shivered. ‘Ready?’

‘As I’ll ever be.’

There was a slight jolt, then the car started to purr along the road.

‘Tell me about the people at the stables.’ She saw him grin.

‘I did on the train, but you fell asleep.’

She placed a hand over her chest. ‘I’m still healing.’

‘Hmm. Well, Rhett and Heath Silver own the B&B and stables, and Heath is also a carpenter. His mum, Fran, owns Silver Wish Farm. It’s a garden centre and Christmas tree farm. She has three adult sons. Heath, who I just mentioned, Finn, who is about to marry Rhett’s sister, Vivien, at the end of the month, and Tyler, who I do believe is about to jet off to Australia for the month with his girlfriend.’

‘Ooh, lucky them.’

‘You been?’

‘Only a couple of times. Sidney and Perth. You?’

Zach shook his head. ‘No.’

‘So, is that everyone at the farm?’ Olive couldn’t remember half the names or who was who, but she thought it best to bring the conversation away from places she could no longer travel to.

‘My brother lives there with his wife, Willow. They left for their honeymoon this morning, so you won’t meet them till they get back. They got married in November, but work was full-on at the farm, so they only went away for a couple of days back then. They are calling this their official honeymoon.’

Olive didn’t want to ask where they were going in case it was somewhere tropical. All day she’d been stuck on public transport, feeling cold, and unable to leave the country. The last thing she wanted to talk about was other people’s happy and, no doubt, warm adventures.

Country lanes brought them to their destination, and the first thing that caught Olive’s eye as they entered Silver Wish Farm were the rows of Christmas trees in a field.

‘Will I be expected to do any gardening?’ she asked, needing the confirmation.

‘No. I spoke with Rhett this morning, and it’s just the horses where you’ll help. And just look at it as temp work until you find your feet.’

‘But I won’t get paid?’

Zach pulled up outside Silver Wish Stables B&B, leaving the engine running to keep them warm. ‘You’ll get a room and breakfast here, then Fran sent me a message while I was waiting for you to come out of the hotel, saying she’d feed you till you got some money in your pocket.’ He smiled her way. ‘She’s good like that.’

Olive noticed a large muscular man come out of the house, waving their way.

‘That’s Heath. Come on. Let’s get you sorted.’

With reluctance, Olive got out the car and followed Zach up the steps of the porch.

‘Hello. Welcome,’ said Heath, smiling widely. He moved out the way for them to enter the hallway first. ‘I’m Heath. You must be Olive.’

She smiled politely as he shook hands with Zach.

Heath gestured to the small reception desk by the stairs. ‘Rhett’s in the stables, but she should be back soon, and we have a guest who lives here at the moment. She should be back from work soon. She’s a reporter for the local paper, and she’s been so busy, I haven’t had a chance to tell her about you yet.’ He raised a hand, waving to someone behind them who had just entered. ‘Ah, here she is now. Florence, this is Olive. She’s going to be staying for a while.’

Olive turned to smile at her new housemate, of sorts.

Florence’s warm smile dropped, and the twinkle in her cornflower-blue eyes vanished in a second. ‘You!’ she spat.

Oh no!

Before Olive could say anything, Florence’s fist came smashing into her left cheekbone, knocking her straight off her feet.