Chapter Ten
Ernest
By Monday morning, Ernest was very determined about one point. He wasn’t using the damn phone to contact the Bucket List Buddies organization. Nope, he was going there in person.
He had spent the best part of Sunday working in the fields and fielding numerous calls.
The police wanted more clarification about damages, a journalist from a local paper wanted a statement, and even damn Pierre, who’d apparently been let out on bail and apparently decided his best form of defense was using every sleazy persuasive technique he could think of to get Ernest to drop the charges against him.
The general consensus, from the paper and Pierre at least, was why was he making such a fuss over a simple hot air balloon landing in his paddock?
As for the local paper, Ernest didn’t give a shit.
He didn’t need promotion for his flower business.
Most of his blooms were exported. That was why they were worth so much money.
So, he didn’t need to deal with a journalist dredging up a story that didn’t need publicity.
He gave a terse comment about how people should respect the law, no matter what they were doing.
Of course, that wasn’t enough for the ambitious journalist, who tried to claim the balloon landing was a bit of harmless fun.
Ernest reminded him that maybe the young man should do his research before he published any article and pointed out that Pierre—the criminal of the piece—was simply using the newspaper as a form of free publicity for his balloon business that would probably be closed down.
After having given enough hints for the journalist to realize that maybe the article wasn’t a good idea, Ernest shoved his phone back in his pocket and went on with the back-breaking work of planting seeds.
Rick’s company had been a lifesaver. The man said little.
He didn’t have to. But every now and again, he’d come up with some humorous tidbits, all designed to pull Ernest out of his perpetual funk and worry.
It was appreciated. Ernest knew he wasn’t fun to be around—all he could think about was Toby.
Was he all right? Had he healed okay? Where was he?
It was now Monday morning, and Ernest was up before the sun, showered, hair trimmed, dressed in respectable clothing. By the time he’d finished his breakfast, he was ready to head into town.
Unfortunately, it was only 7 o’clock. Bucket List Buddies, according to the website, didn’t open until nine.
Ernest resorted to pacing from the bedroom to the living room, around the kitchen, and back again.
He knew he was going to have to shift soon.
It wasn’t something he liked to do around his paddocks, particularly when he had seedlings in, but his elephant had needs he couldn’t ignore.
There was a diversion of sorts when the courier arrived just before eight with the ground cover sheets that Ernest didn’t think were coming for a couple of weeks.
That was a blessing. He and Rick got most of the paddocks covered in a fairly short time.
By the time Ernest went back into his house, it was 9:30.
He was sweaty, his good clothes were covered in dust, and goodness knows what was in the packaging of those cover sheets, but it stuck to his shirt like shit.
His plants were protected against heavy rain or frost, so there was that.
Another shower and change of clothes later, Ernest was finally ready to get his ass into town.
The drive wasn’t far. That was one of the good things about where they lived.
The roads were good, the town itself was well laid out, and Ernest didn’t have any issues finding the small, brightly painted office that proudly proclaimed it was the home of Bucket List Buddies.
Finding a parking spot was easy too—things are finally going my way, he thought as he got out and locked his car.
On the pavement, Ernest took a moment to center himself before he straightened his shoulders and let himself into the small office.
It was bright and colorful, with a couple of big chairs and a two-seater couch arranged around a desk.
The room was clearly designed to be a welcoming space.
A young man with a mop of hair that reminded Ernest of Toby looked up as he came in.
The nameplate with the one word, “Remy” let Ernest know he was in the right place.
“Hello. Remy?” Ernest thought it was a good idea to check. The desk might not belong to the man sitting there. “My name is Ernest. I’m the owner of the flower farm where the hot air balloon had a disastrous landing on Saturday morning.”
“Oh my goodness, yes. So nice to meet you.” Remy jumped up, pointing to a seat.
“Can I get you a coffee? I am so sorry about what happened. Is there anything the Bucket List Buddies organization can do to help recoup any of the losses to your farm? That was such a particularly devastating thing to happen, and I am gutted that I wasn’t actually there myself. ”
There was something about Remy’s attitude, something about his openness, his clear distress where he believed he was at fault for something Pierre had done—on purpose—that had Ernest sitting down and putting a stop to Remy’s recriminations immediately.
“I don’t need a coffee, thank you, but none of this was your fault,” Ernest stated firmly.
“This was all to do with a private issue between Pierre, the balloon pilot, and myself. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but we had a bit of a fling about this time last year.
It didn’t last. I can’t say anything to the man’s business practices, but on a personal level, the guy is a sleaze. ”
Remy rolled back in his chair, his giggling filling the air. “I know what you mean about Pierre. I looked for alternative companies, but there wasn’t anybody else local that offered hot air balloon trips. I was so excited to have the rides as an event, such a fun and unusual way for people to meet.
“There’s sort of like a forced proximity aspect to it all. People have to talk to strangers because of the way those baskets are designed. And I just thought there was something so incredibly romantic about seeing the world from the sky.”
“There probably is.” Ernest had no desire to ever try it, but he could see why Remy thought it was a good idea.
“The issue was, we had marked out paddocks clearly indicating that Pierre could not land on my farm, and of course, he did. That’s a police matter now and not important to you.
Pierre was issued a trespass notice before the event, and he knew he had no right to be on my property.
We also checked that he didn’t need to make an emergency landing.
“Look, as I say, as far as I’m concerned, Bucket List Buddies is completely blameless. You were their client. The responsibility for this is on the balloon company. I had to come and speak to you personally. It’s about the young man who was hurt.”
“Oh, poor Toby, yes.” Remy looked so sad, and Ernest could sense that his concern was genuine.
“Again, I feel responsible for that, too. Toby took my place in the basket that morning. To be honest, between you and me, I had already done three rides, and I found Pierre’s attentions to be a little… they made me uncomfortable.
“Toby didn’t have a very good time on the flight he did on Friday night, and I really wanted to give him another chance to find someone special. He is such a sweet guy, and two of his friends have already found mates through the Bucket List Buddies events. I felt sure it would happen to Toby, too.
“Instead, he got hurt. I’ve sent flowers. I don’t really know what else I can do, but I felt awful because that should have been me in that basket.”
“I’m glad it wasn’t you,” Ernest said truthfully. “I’m the one who took Toby to the hospital. And… during that journey, while Toby was still unconscious…” Ernest’s face got hot, and he felt so uncomfortable, but he pushed the words out. “I realized Toby is my mate.”
“Yes. Yes. Oh, my goodness. Yes. Toby has met his mate through a Bucket List Buddies event after all.” Remy did a little happy dance in his chair.
“I knew it. I just had this feeling, you know, then I was worried I was putting too much into it, but oh… I’m sorry.
That’s insensitive of me because Toby’s not with you, is he? ”
Remy leaned over the arm of his chair, first one side and then the other, as if trying to look around Ernest’s shoulders. “I know you’re a big person, but I’m sure Toby would have popped his head out by now if he were behind you.” He flashed a bright smile.
Appreciating that Remy was trying to make light of his difficult situation, Ernest let out a long sigh.
“I had to leave him at the hospital. He hadn’t regained consciousness, and that was a real concern.
Once they put him in a room, absolutely nobody would let me in to see him.
You’re bound to hear about it, but I basically got dragged kicking and cursing out of the hospital. ”
Remy quickly slapped his hand over his mouth, and Ernest looked down at his hands, cheeks heating. “I went back later, so none of the staff would recognize me—you know, with the shift change and everything—but by then Toby and his friends apparently had already snuck out the back way.
“I’m telling you this because I am really hoping you can give me some way of finding out where Toby is. You don’t have to give me his address, but his last name, maybe a contact phone number, anything at all?”
Remy’s face fell. “I really would love to. I honestly would. I work here because I truly want to see mates end up together, but the company policies are strict about keeping the confidentiality of the people who come through here. I’m sure you can understand that.”
His heart sinking, Ernest nodded. No matter how desperately he wanted to find Toby, he didn’t want Remy getting into trouble with his bosses over his problem. “I haven’t got a clue how to find him. I haven’t even been able to talk to him. I don’t know anything about him at all—”
“But I do.” Remy interrupted with a bright smile. “Look, I might not be able to give you Toby’s details, but you’re not on my list as a Bucket List Buddy client, are you? I’m sure I would’ve remembered seeing you at a previous event.”
Ernest shook his head. “Once the weather starts to warm up, that’s when I have to plant the flowers—it’s time-consuming.”
“I love the idea of a flower farm.” Remy clasped his hands over his chest. “I bet they look beautiful when they start to bloom. And that darn Pierre landed in your paddocks? Gods, he really is a thoughtless git. We definitely won’t be having anything to do with him again.
“That’s not important now, but what I can do for you is, if you’re happy to leave your name, number, and your address with me, I can see to it that the information gets to Toby. I was going to call him today anyway, just to make sure he was feeling better, so I can give him those details then.”
“That would work.” It had to. Ernest started patting his pockets for a piece of paper and a pen, but Remy was organized, handing a clipboard and a pen to him.
“I know I should have left my details with Toby at the time, but I mean, what was I meant to do? Stuff a sticky note in his pocket while he was unconscious?”
“Yeah, that might have come across as a bit creepy.” Remy giggled.
“But you leave your details with me, and I promise I won’t rest today until I know Toby has them.
I’m sure he must be feeling a bit off kilter himself, and I doubt that is all because of the head injury he suffered.
His animal side will have clocked your presence, even if Toby was unconscious at the time. ”
Ernest was going to have to take that bit of optimism with a grain of salt.
He trusted Remy would pass on his details, but whether Toby got in touch with him or not was up to the Fates.
He wasn’t keen on leaving his mating in the hands of third parties, but he had more hope than he did at the hospital on Saturday, so that had to count for something. What else could he do?