Chapter 27
27
‘I hear Finn’s sold a painting,’ Aiden said. ‘Clever bloke, isn’t he?’ He’d just arrived to take Fang out and caught Jade in reception.
‘News travels fast.’ She paused from the list she was making on her ‘Things to Do’ pad and glanced up at him. There were tight lines of stress around his eyes and his mouth was drawn into a thin line.
‘I went into Mike’s for a drink last night and he said you’d all been in together on Saturday.’
‘It was just me and Sarah, actually,’ she said, wondering why she felt the need to explain herself. ‘Mike asked us to call Finn because the woman who was buying his painting wanted to meet him.’
‘So what’s she like then, this woman?’ His voice was conversational, but there was a hint of something else in his eyes. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
‘In her fifties, fairly posh. Why do you ask?’
‘Mike said she was quite taken with “The Artist”. I thought she might want to whisk him off to do some special commissions for her. ’
‘I doubt it. She’s just an ordinary tourist, Aiden. She’s staying in the village in an Airbnb with her family. I think the painting only caught her eye because it reminded her of her granddaughter.’
Aiden came across to the desk, sat heavily in the swivel chair opposite her and twisted it from side to side so it squeaked. ‘Pity.’
‘He’s not a bad guy. I don’t know why you dislike him so much.’
‘I don’t dislike him, but I thought this was only going to be a temporary arrangement. I thought he was just working here while he looked for another job. One more suited to his many talents.’
There was that edge to his voice again. It was beginning to annoy her. ‘Maybe he just hasn’t found one yet. There’s not a lot going round here.’
‘There was the perfect job for him in the Farming Times . Maintenance Engineer at Jacob’s pig farm. That’s what he does, isn’t it – maintenance?’ Aiden produced a slip of paper from his pocket and pushed it across the desk towards her. ‘I cut it out for him. Just in case he’d missed it.’
‘That’s nice of you, Aiden,’ she said evenly, folding up the paper without looking at it. ‘I’ll make sure he gets it.’
His dark eyes flashed and he stood up. ‘It’s curry night at the Crown and Anchor on Friday. Do you fancy coming with me?’
‘I can’t, Aiden, no. Finn’s dad is coming on Friday. They’ve asked me to go to Mike’s with them in the evening for something to eat.’
He didn’t reply, just gave her a curt nod, and the momentary pang she felt at not inviting him along passed. Besides, she was sure he knew Finn’s dad was coming on Friday. Mike would no doubt have passed that on, too.
She watched him stalk out of reception, stiff-backed. Then the phone rang again and she found herself speaking to a nurse who’d seen Jade’s advert and was interested in re-homing the horse with behavioural issues, depending on what they were. In her excitement, Jade forgot all about Aiden.
‘Are you staying there all night?’ Finn came into reception just as dusk was beginning to creep across the yard. ‘Only I was just going to lock up.’
She yawned. ‘I’ve been immersed in paperwork. Time flies when you’re enjoying yourself, doesn’t it! Anyway, isn’t Aiden still here?’ She glanced out of the window and answered her own question. ‘That’s strange, he didn’t say goodbye.’
‘I don’t think he was in a very good mood,’ Finn said. Actually, that was the understatement of the year, but he didn’t intend to tell Jade about the little exchange they’d had earlier.
‘He brought this in for you.’ She handed him a slip of paper and he scanned it.
‘Pig farm assistant, eh?’
‘Is that what it says?’ She looked startled. ‘He told me it was a maintenance engineer job.’
‘His idea of a joke, I expect.’ Finn crunched the paper into a ball and tossed it into the wastepaper basket by the desk. ‘He doesn’t like me very much, does he?’
‘He can be a bit spiky at times. He’ll get over it.’
Finn doubted that. Aiden was besotted with Jade. It didn’t take a genius to work out that he thought Finn stood between him and the object of his affections. Some hope, he thought wryly, when she was still keeping her distance from him. It had to be because of Sarah. He was sure she had feelings for him and he could think of no other reason for her reticence. Perhaps she was waiting for him to bring up the subject, but it was a hard subject to raise. He could hardly just say, ‘Oh, about that one-night stand with your friend. It didn’t mean anything, we were both too drunk to know what we were doing.’ Well, he supposed he could, but it wouldn’t be very tactful. Jade and Sarah were close. He didn’t want to say anything that would put Sarah in a bad light. And the only other way to do it was to say he’d taken advantage of her – which would be worse. It was a catch-22 situation.
‘So are you looking for another job, then?’ She was watching him, her dark eyes serious.
‘Why? Had enough of me?’
‘No, of course not.’ She smiled and his stomach twisted. Why was it so difficult to just walk across the room and tell her he really cared about her? He’d never been so hesitant with a woman before. But then he’d never cared so much before about the possibility of being rejected.
‘I keep an eye on the papers, but there isn’t a lot around. You’ll say, though, won’t you, if it gets tricky to pay me?’
‘I think I can afford you for another couple of months,’ she said lightly.
They went into the cottage and Finn found himself checking over his shoulder, just in case Aiden had decided to make a re-appearance. Crazy, he knew, but then there’d been craziness in the guy’s eyes earlier when he’d cornered him up at the kennels.
‘Think you’ve got your feet right under the table now, don’t you, mate?’ had been his opening sentence.
‘I’m not with you,’ Finn said, playing for time.
‘Jade’s not interested in you, you know. So don’t start getting any ideas.’
Finn had met Aiden’s furious eyes with a calmness he didn’t feel. ‘Look, whatever problem you’ve got, it’s in your own head. I work for her. That’s it. Not that it’s got anything to do with you. ’
‘You think you’ve got a right cushy number, don’t you?’ Aiden had been almost dancing around in his anger. ‘You might share the same house, but you’ll never get any further than that with her. Not while I’m around. Got it?’
If it had come to a fight, Finn had no doubt he could handle Aiden, but he knew that flattening him in the middle of the yard, however tempting, wasn’t the answer. Jade was not going to be impressed if she had to scrape her vet off the concrete, and he didn’t fancy getting sacked over Aiden. With a huge effort of will, he’d turned away from the almost palpable anger in the other man’s face.
‘I’m not interested. So just leave it, will you.’ Eventually his words had registered and Aiden had stalked away towards the kennels. It could have been nasty, though, he thought now. And he couldn’t see the situation improving. Not while Aiden was still pursuing Jade.
‘You look miles away.’ Jade’s voice interrupted his thoughts. ‘Did you have anything to eat earlier, or would you like some tea? I’ve got some quiche if you fancy it.’
‘No, I’m all right, thanks. I grabbed a sandwich earlier. Think I might just finish that painting I started.’
‘The one of the magpies?’
‘Yeah. All right if I shower first?’
‘Feel free.’ She was frowning now. ‘Did Aiden say anything to you earlier?’
‘Not much. See you in the morning.’
Jade spent the days prior to Ray’s visit cleaning the cottage from top to bottom, helped by an interested Mickey, who followed her around because she quite often discovered forgotten dog toys down the sides of cupboards or interesting out-of-date food.
‘There’s really no need,’ Finn told her when he caught her on her knees, scrubbing out the kitchen cupboards at 11.30p.m. one night. ‘He’ll take us as he finds us.’
‘I don’t want him to think you’re living with a complete slob,’ she said, smiling at him. ‘Anyway, you’re just as bad as me. I’ve hardly seen you this week, there can’t be anything else that needs doing outside.’
‘I’ve been painting. The light’s perfect in the evenings at the moment and Mike wants me to fill the space on his wall.’
‘What about all those little signs you’ve been putting up everywhere? I notice you’ve renamed the quarantine block New Arrivals.’
‘It’s so Dad can find his way around. He hasn’t got a very good sense of direction.’
Jade looked puzzled, but Finn didn’t tell her the real reason he’d been carving and painting the wooden signs was because it kept him outside for longer hours. If he were out of Jade’s way, he wouldn’t be tempted to proposition her. As soon as Ray’s visit was over, he decided he would sit her down and talk to her about Sarah. Then he would tell her how he felt about her and if she threw it back in his face, well, he’d have to deal with it. It had to be better than carrying on like this. Being so close to her and yet so far away – it was agonising.