Chapter 12 #2
Suddenly the bushes to the left of her rustled and her heart leapt into her mouth.
It wasn’t like she was facing the dangers of the jungle, but even the prospect of a fox or badger suddenly sticking its head out of the foliage was enough to freak her out.
Then there was the chance that it was a person, and that was much scarier.
People were far more dangerous than any animal she was likely to encounter, and right now she was completely vulnerable.
The thought was enough to make her mouth drop open and she was about to scream, but Merlin’s deep, reverberating bark stole the sound from her.
A blur of white fur shot out of the bushes, making Merlin spin around and go careering towards it.
Seconds later there was more barking, but it was the excited sort this time around and she realised it was Casper, Tristan’s Jack Russell terrier, who roamed around the farm like he owned the place.
Briony wasn’t sure whether to hope that Tristan was with him or not, because based on the way he’d reacted the last time they’d seen one another, he might well leave her to her fate in the middle of the path.
‘Casp!’ Tristan was calling out, but she still couldn’t see him, and it felt as though her heart was hammering hard enough to break a rib. She was still debating whether or not to call out, when she heard him gasp.
‘Jesus, Holly, what the hell are you doing down there?’
‘I caught my foot on a tree root and fell. I’ve done something to my left ankle.
’ She wasn’t sure whether to be pleased that he’d referred to her as Holly.
He’d seemed to like her when he thought that was her name.
In fact, he’d seemed to like her a lot. As soon as he’d discovered the truth things had changed, and maybe now wasn’t the time to remind him that she was Briony and that he had every reason to leave her where she’d fallen.
‘Can you stand up?’ His face, as he spoke, gave nothing away.
‘No, I’ve tried, but I can’t seem to bear my own weight, not even using a stick to support myself.’
‘Are there any obvious injuries? Bleeding or a visible bone?’ He looked at her and just the question made her feel as though all the blood had drained out of her face.
‘I don’t think so.’
‘Do you mind if I take a look?’ His voice was gentle and she nodded, not wanting to catch the expression on his face as he moved to crouch next to her.
She’d seen the way he’d looked at her the last time they’d met, and his undisguised disgust upon discovering her real identity had been hard to bear. She didn’t want to see it again.
‘Ooof.’ She gasped as he put his hand on her leg and only part of it was related to the pain. Very slowly he rolled her trouser leg up and gently touched the skin that had been revealed.
‘There’s no obvious injury. It could still be broken but I suspect it’s more likely to be muscular, although that can hurt every bit as much and you still need to get it checked out, because if you’ve done something like torn a ligament, you might need surgery.’
‘Are you a doctor?’ She hadn’t meant to sound sarcastic, but his words had taken her by surprise, and she hadn’t been able to keep the dubious tone out of her voice. Thankfully he just laughed.
‘No, but I was a paramedic for three years, when I wasn’t sure if farming was ever going to be a possibility. I’ve probably forgotten most of it, but I saw my fair share of this kind of injury.’
‘Oh.’ She hadn’t expected that, but somehow it made him all the more attractive. ‘I just want to get back to the van.’
‘I can help you, but you really do need to get yourself checked out.’
‘I’ll be fine and I can’t drive anyway. I’ve had a couple of drinks.’
‘I wasn’t suggesting you drive. I can drive you.’
‘Have you forgotten that I’m the worst person in the world?’
‘I never said that.’ Tristan shook his head. ‘Look, I’m sorry if I overreacted the other night. It was just a shock to discover who you really are and it’s going to take me a while to get used to calling you Briony instead of Holly.’
‘Don’t then.’ She didn’t want to be Briony in Tristan’s eyes, not if it meant he looked at her the same way Bex did. God only knows what he’d been told about her.
‘Let’s not worry about all of that for now. I just want to make sure you’re okay.’ His words gave her hope for a moment, until he added a qualifying statement. ‘I feel like I owe a duty of care to all the guests on the farm.’
Briony gulped back the emotion that had bubbled up in her throat.
She could so easily have burst into tears, because she suddenly felt incredibly sorry for herself.
She was in a lot of pain, she’d had too much to drink, and Tristan was only being so lovely because she was staying on his farm.
It wasn’t because he liked her – and she wanted him to like her more than she was willing to admit, even to herself.
She swallowed again a couple more times, until she was sure she had control of her emotions, and then she looked up at him.
‘Okay. I can try leaning on you, but like I said, as soon as I put weight on my leg, it was agony.’
‘I think it might be easier if I just carry you.’ Tristan looked more than capable of carrying her.
He was at least six feet two and built like someone who made their living working on the land.
Briony on the other hand had always been careful to add the half, to her five feet one and a half inches of height.
She joked that her small stature made van living ideal, but the idea of being carried by Tristan was disconcerting.
It was so intimate, like a groom might do with his bride, not someone who had looked at her with the kind of disdain he had the last time they’d seen one another.
But when she glanced up at him again, he was still watching her. ‘Would you be okay with that?’
‘If it gets me out of here.’
‘Right, let’s go then.’ Within seconds he’d hoisted her into his arms as if she weighed nothing at all, the two dogs following them as he headed back down the path.
They were so close together she couldn’t avoid breathing in the woody scent of his aftershave.
Part of her wished he’d smelt of stale sweat, or wet wool, something off-putting instead of an aroma that just added to the attraction.
It was what made her start talking when it would probably have been safer to stay silent.
‘I’m such an idiot. What kind of person agrees to donate their liver to save their mother and then goes straight out and gets drunk? What if this means I can’t do it?’
‘The liver is excellent at repairing itself and a one-off like this won’t have done any lasting damage, you just need to be careful from here on out, so it’s as healthy as it can be for you and for her.
’ Tristan had an uncanny knack of making Briony feel as though he really cared about her, but it probably came from his years as a paramedic.
His patients would have needed to feel he was invested in their wellbeing, in order to be able to trust him.
Although she didn’t doubt for a moment that he cared about Donna.
‘I don’t usually drink much at all, but after seeing Bex… I guess I just wanted to numb myself against everything.’
‘I’m sure it’s been a really emotional time, and worrying so much about your mum will have made that even worse, for both of you.’
‘I’m not all bad you know, whatever Bex might have said.
’ She couldn’t stop her voice from cracking, and she rubbed furiously at her eyes, desperate to stop the tears from falling.
If Briony gave into them, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to stop.
She’d messed everything up so badly, in a way that couldn’t be undone.
She knew that now. It was all so awful and no matter how far she travelled and how many new places she saw, it turned out she couldn’t outrun her feelings.
She missed being part of a family, and she missed Bex, but this was her life now and there was nothing she could do to change it.
The kindness in Tristan’s tone when he answered almost made it worse.
‘I never thought that you were.’
‘Really? Because believe me, if I heard that someone’s sister had broken up their relationship, three weeks before they got married, by getting involved with their fiancé, I know what I’d think.
But I didn’t do it because I had feelings for Liam, I did it because our dad messed us both up so badly.
I could see what a terrible mistake she was making and—’
‘Briony, don’t.’ It was the first time he’d used her real name so forcefully and it had the desired effect and stopped her in her tracks. ‘I don’t want you to tell me anything.’
‘Please, I want to explain that it isn’t how it seems and—’
‘Not now.’ He cut her off for the second time.
‘You said yourself you’ve been drinking and it’s obvious you’re in pain.
I don’t want you to say anything in the heat of the moment that you might regret later.
So, if you still want to tell me, you can do it after the doctors have seen you and the drink is out of your system.
But for what it’s worth, I already know you aren’t “all bad” as you put it. ’
‘How can you possibly know that after such a short time?’
‘Because I’ve watched every online video you’ve ever made and you’ve shared more of who you are on there, and been more open than some friends I’ve known for years.’
‘People can present any image they want to online.’ Briony had no idea why she was trying to prove him wrong, when he was saying nice things about her, but she didn’t want this to just be lip service. She needed him to believe it.