11
Zach
‘Christ, Florence!’ yelled Zach. ‘What the hell?’
Florence’s shaky finger pointed down at Olive. ‘How bloody dare you come here.’
Olive clasped her cheek as Zach helped her to stand. ‘I didn’t know you were here,’ she muttered.
Zach checked Olive’s face, seeing tears weighing heavily in her eyes. ‘You okay?’ he asked quietly.
‘What are you worried about her for?’ snapped Florence, who then flew at Olive once more.
Heath quickly grabbed her, holding her back in a bear hug. ‘No, Florence,’ he said firmly, practically lifting her as he turned her away.
Olive took a wobbly step backwards, and Zach positioned himself in front of her.
‘Look, I think you should go until Florence has calmed down,’ said Heath.
‘Calmed down! Calmed down!’ yelled Florence, her ash-blonde hair flapping around Heath’s face. ‘I’ll never be calm looking at her.’ One of her arms wriggled free, and she thrust it towards Olive. ‘My little sister is in prison because of her family.’
Oh crap!
Zach took a deep breath. ‘That’s not Olive’s fault. Surely you can’t blame her for what her dad did.’
‘Can and do,’ said Florence, kicking out in Olive’s direction.
Zach sure was glad Heath had a tight hold of her, because he was quite certain it wouldn’t end well for Olive if Florence had her way.
‘I’m sorry, Florence,’ said Olive, and Zach could tell by her tone she was genuine.
‘Don’t speak to me,’ shouted Florence. ‘Don’t even look at me, Liv. How could you do that to Tiggy? She was your friend.’
Olive peered around Zach. ‘I didn’t do anything. It was your step-father who tricked Tiggy, not me.’ She slapped her chest. ‘I could have been conned into signing documents too. I’m just lucky that didn’t happen to me, but I didn’t know it was happening to her. I would have warned her otherwise. But if it makes you feel any better, I handed over my money to the scam. I have nothing now. Nothing.’
‘Am I supposed to care about you?’ Florence stopped trying to fight Heath. ‘My sister is serving time for a crime she didn’t commit. I’ll never, ever, feel sorry for you.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ cried Olive, and Zach couldn’t take much more.
There was no way Olive would be able to stay at Silver Wish Stables B&B now. And it was unlikely Fran would put her up at the farm, what with it being so close.
‘We’ll leave,’ said Zach, turning towards Olive to make sure she was steady on her feet. He could see her shaking, and her face was deathly pale. There was no other option. He had to get her out of there.
‘I’m sorry, mate,’ said Heath. ‘You know we’d normally help, but you can see the problem here. Florence is like family to us. We can’t let Olive stay.’
‘Yeah, and if you think I’d let a Farringdon anywhere near my family again, you can think again. Get out, and good riddance,’ said Florence, sounding calm but firm.
Zach reached for Olive’s hand, making sure she walked out in front of him, as he feared Florence might launch herself forward once more. ‘It’s okay. We understand.’
The cold air hit them hard as they went to the car, quickly clambering inside to get the heating flowing through the vents.
Olive burst into tears as soon as he pulled away. ‘It wasn’t my fault,’ she mumbled over and over.
‘I know. It’s okay. It’ll be okay.’ He really had no idea what to say. He could see why Florence was so angry, but he could also see how unfair it was to lay the blame on Olive.
She pulled a tissue from her coat pocket and cleaned her nose. ‘I wasn’t a good friend to Tiggy. I didn’t do anything to help when she was arrested.’
‘Did you know your dad was involved in her situation?’
Olive sniffed. ‘I knew he was in business with her step-father, and their company was one of the first to be investigated, and Tiggy one of the first sent to prison. My father told me I wasn’t to have anything to do with her ever again. I listened to the rumours that didn’t include my family, and I left her behind. Just like everyone did to me.’
Zach had no idea what to do. It was a terrible story and one hell of a dilemma he now faced because of the mess. He didn’t feel he had much choice in the matter. The setup he’d arranged for Olive had turned into a no-go zone, and he felt a little guilty he’d brought her so close to an enemy.
Olive was still trying to compose herself, wiping away tears and taking shaky deep breaths.
‘You doing okay over there?’ he asked, taking a quick peek before concentrating back on the road.
‘My cheek really hurts.’
‘We need to get some ice on that.’ He stole one more look. Her cheekbone was swollen and bruised already. ‘I’m going to take you to mine, okay?’
‘Okay,’ she muttered.
The rest of the drive was pretty quiet, as Olive had closed her eyes and settled a touch. Zach was glad of a bit of respite, as his head was in a whirl.
Why did I have to get involved in her life? What was I thinking? Now look. I’m taking her home .
He mentally shook his head as he pulled up outside his house. The rebuild was coming along nicely. The windows just needed to go in, and the roof on, the kitchen and bathroom fitted, the central heating installed, then he could move in. He had everything planned and was happy with his temporary accommodation, but that was before he had a guest.
Come on, Sullivan. You can’t stay in the car .
He looked to his left at the house, then to his right at the river and silently sighed. He had to just get on with it. Olive’s face needed seeing to, his stomach had started to rumble for dinner, and the sooner he got them both settled, the better.
Olive stirred as he switched the engine off. ‘Are we here already?’
‘Yeah. Come on, let’s get that ice.’
She got out and headed for the front door, leaning her face into her hand whilst groaning. He watched her come to a sudden halt as she noticed the tarpaulin covering the window holes. ‘Erm, Zach…’ She turned to the car.
‘It won’t be ready for another couple of weeks.’
Olive frowned. ‘Are we still staying here?’
Zach thumbed towards the river. ‘No. We’re staying there.’
She huddled her coat up to her neck as she simply stared wide-eyed at the red-and-aquamarine narrowboat called Sunset moored along the riverbank.
Yep!
Zach climbed on board at the bow and opened the door, then stepped back to let her enter first. She was silent as she perused the narrow saloon, galley, and amenities. He didn’t have anything to say about how close everything was either.
Olive slowly sat on the bench seat by the small table, placing her hands, still clutching a tissue, on her lap.
‘Ice,’ said Zach, waking up. He opened a box-sized freezer and pulled out the bag of peas sitting there. Quickly, he wrapped them in a blue tea towel and checked her face before lightly pressing the cold to her cheekbone. ‘Here, hold that while I bring in our bags.’
Olive winced, then closed her eyes.
Zach sprinted to the car, then dashed back to the boat, pushing the cases into a nook by the doorway. Unpacking could wait. Figuring out what to do could wait.
‘Is there any heating in here?’ asked Olive, opening her eyes to glance around.
‘Oh, yeah. There’s a wood burner.’ Zach made a start on lighting a fire. ‘We’ve got some electricity too. Currently running from the house.’ He could see she wasn’t interested so stopped talking.
Olive groaned as she removed the cold compress from her face. ‘How bad is it?’
He went over to take a closer look. ‘Not too bad. Will probably look worse tomorrow.’
‘Great.’
He sat opposite her. ‘I’ve not known Florence long, but she always seemed quite calm.’
‘She’s angry because of Tiggy, that’s all. She’s normally nice.’ Olive put the ice back to her face. ‘So many people are angry because of my father. Some lost everything, and I know of a young man who took his own life in prison. There was bankruptcy, divorce, loss of so much more than money. It wouldn’t surprise me if someone else punches me in the face one day.’
Zach shot forward. ‘Hey, no one is going to hit you again.’
She closed her eyes as she leaned back into the padded seating. ‘I never thought I’d get smacked by Florence Leyland, but here I am.’
A whoosh of guilt rushed through Zach. ‘I’m sorry I brought you here.’
‘Perhaps it wouldn’t matter where I went. My father’s business branched out in many directions.’
He looked over at the two gas rings that made the stove. ‘I’ll make us something to eat, then we can get an early night and sort everything out tomorrow when we’re less tired.’
Olive opened her eyes and sat up. ‘Why can’t we just live in the house?’
Zach started making beans on toast. Thinking something quick and filling would do the trick. ‘There are no windows or roof, but that should be sorted over the next couple of weeks, that’s why I thought I’d make use of this.’ He glanced her way. She still didn’t look interested in anything he had to say. ‘A man I know owns this. Used to get it moved over to the mainland, then spend months on the canals and rivers, but he’s about to sell. Word of mouth and all that, and he said I could use it for the couple of weeks I needed while he got himself a buyer. Free of charge, I might add.’
Olive wrinkled her nose. ‘You couldn’t just stay in a hotel?’
Zach grinned to himself. ‘Why pay out money when you don’t have to?’
‘Wouldn’t one of your friends let you stay with them?’
‘Sure, but I don’t like relying on others, especially if I can get on with things myself. And look. It’s right here where I can keep a close eye on my house and get these builders moving along.’
‘Well, I guess this is like a little home.’
Zach turned to nod. ‘A lot of people live on narrowboats.’
‘I can’t think why they’d want to. It’s… small.’
‘Ah, it’s got all you need, sort of. This one is old and in need of modernising. No doubt the next owner will get it sorted.’
‘Wait a minute. Get what sorted? What hasn’t it got right now?’
He bit his lip to stop his laugh as he turned back to the toaster, knowing she wasn’t about to like the answer. ‘A shower. Toilet.’
Olive gasped. ‘Are you serious?’
He pointed out the small rectangular window in front of him. ‘We can use the portable loo the builders use, and as for washing…’ he gestured to a door further along the galley, ‘just take a bowl of water in there.’
‘A bowl of water?’
Zach shrugged, lighting a gas ring. ‘At least we have gas canisters, so we can heat some water on here in a pan or use the camping kettle. It’ll be okay. Like I said, it’ll only be for a week. Two tops.’
‘You expect me to live like this?’
‘Nope,’ he replied flatly. ‘This was arranged by me for me and only me. You weren’t part of the deal.’
‘But I’m here now.’ She huffed and folded her arms as he quirked an eyebrow her way.
‘So it’s best we just get on with things.’ He tried not to snap. It was his own fault for bringing her along, plus she was tired and in pain. It wasn’t the time for anything other than food and sleep.
The old wood burner had kicked in already, warming the area so much so, Olive removed her coat and asked for some water.
Zach pointed at the small fridge. ‘In there if you want it cold.’
‘Cold is fine. You can serve me here.’
Zach widened his eyes as he stopped stirring the beans. ‘I’m not your butler, Olive.’ He added emphasis to her name.
‘I know you’re not a butler, but—’
‘No buts. If you’re going to stay here with me for a while, you need to pull your weight. I’ve got a house to sort, a business to set up, and deliveries coming all week. I’ve enough on my plate to deal with.’ He went back to making their dinner, feeling annoyed on every level.
It took a moment, but Olive finally moved to get some water.
Zach reached up to a rack and pulled down a coffee mug, passing it to her without looking for her reaction to not having a glass.
She didn’t say anything as her fingers brushed his to remove the mug.
Zach tried to think about something else whilst he plated their food.
Thank you Fran for stocking up for me. I’m going to have to speak to the Silvers about Florence. Let’s just eat .
He silently sighed before placing the food on the light-wood table, then reached for some cutlery.
‘Is this all we have?’ she asked, sounding a touch subdued.
‘It’ll do for tonight.’
She glanced over her shoulder. ‘Is there a bed down there?’
‘Yep.’
Oh no, there’s only one bed .
He went to speak but she beat him to it.
‘How many bedrooms?’
Zach swallowed a mouthful of food. ‘It’s just a small double up there.’
She looked confused. ‘But where will you sleep?’
In the bed was the plan .
He stared at her for a moment, a little lost for words.
Olive patted the padded seating. ‘This might be okay.’
It was quite obvious she meant for him not her. He knew the table lowered and the padding slipped down to make a bed, but he had no extra bedding, and the dilemma was giving him a headache.
Olive flapped a hand in front of her face. ‘It really is quite warm in here.’
Zach lifted the blind and opened the window to their side, letting in the icy air.
‘Ooh, I don’t feel we can win with the cold and heat.’
‘It’s a small area. It’ll be toasty with the wood burner on.’ He waited for a complaint to come his way, but she started eating, so it seemed as if the conversation was over.
‘I’ll probably be more comfortable up the other end.’ She paused, fork aloft. ‘Unless, you want to find me a room in a hotel.’
‘Do you have money for a room?’ He knew she didn’t but felt she needed the reminder.
‘You did offer to help,’ she mumbled, continuing to eat.
‘Help you get back on your feet, not use my money.’
She dropped her hands to the table. ‘I can pay you back when I find work.’
‘My money is tied up here.’
Olive’s shoulders drooped. ‘I was supposed to be taking things easy. Clear my mind, you said. Work with horses for a while.’ She stared out at the river. ‘I don’t know what to do now.’
Once more, Zach felt a tad guilty. ‘Look, let’s not think about anything tonight. Eat, sleep, regroup in the morning.’
‘I am tired.’
‘Yes, well, you’re still getting over flu, and it’s been a hell of a day.’
Olive touched her bruised cheekbone, and Zach couldn’t decide if he’d made her life better or worse. All he knew for sure was that he was about to spend the night right where he sat, rather than in the bed.