Chapter 15
As Nicola fell into step beside Charlie, they continued to make their way down the street, passing the quaint yellow Cotswold stone cottages on either side. She glanced across at him. That hug had felt good. Really good.
Shaking her head, she cleared her throat. It had just been a hug. Nothing more. Nothing less.
‘So, it was a bit of a surprise finding out you’d inherited your uncle’s farm then?’ she asked.
‘Now that’s an understatement.’ Charlie ran his palm across his face, as if thinking twice about what he was going to say. ‘I must admit, when I first came here, I’d planned to put it straight on the market. I hadn’t planned to stay for any length of time.’
‘You’re having second thoughts about selling?’ She looked sidelong at him. It wouldn’t be so bad if he hung around.
‘No, no. But when I saw the place and saw how run-down it had become, I knew I needed to bring it back to how it used to be. Something my uncle would be proud of again. So, I arranged a secondment from work, employed a couple of experienced farmhands and here we are. Another few weeks and it’ll be back to its glory days and I can sell it on knowing my uncle would be proud of it. ’
‘Oh.’ Nicola wrapped her arms around her middle.
Why did her stomach feel as though a heavy stone had appeared, sitting lurking at the bottom of it?
She’d never wanted to see Charlie Williams again the first time she’d set eyes on him, but, despite his flaws and the way he’d behaved, she was warming to him.
‘It’s important to me that it’s passed on to the next owners in good condition. That way, hopefully they won’t need to change much. They won’t come in and destroy all he’d worked for.’
‘I guess you’ve just got to hope a big developer doesn’t want to build a new housing estate on the land.’
Charlie winced. He took a deep breath in. ‘No, I’ll vet whoever puts an offer in. I’ll do my research.’
‘Uh-huh.’ She nodded. She couldn’t very well turn around and tell him that might not work, that those developers might not advertise themselves as such. She paused as they reached the junction out of the village and pointed towards The Twistle. ‘This is me.’
‘I’ll walk you to your door.’ He patted his stomach. ‘I could do with the exercise.’
She smiled, a strange warmth running across her skin. Being a farmer, even if just temporarily, must be one of the most active jobs there was about.
‘So, tell me about you. Have you always lived in Meadowfield?’ Cupping her elbow, Charlie gently guided her towards the other side of the road as a car turned into the village.
‘Most of my life, yes.’ Nicola nodded. ‘I went off to uni, studied in Birmingham, and despite being tempted by city living, once I’d finished, I moved back.’ She looked around her, taking in the quirky cottages, the trees lining the pavements and the surrounding countryside.
‘You weren’t that tempted then.’
‘At first I was, but the longer I stayed there, the more I wanted to return to Meadowfield. There’s just something about this place for me. And it was calling me home.’ She scrunched her nose up. ‘Now that sounds corny as anything, doesn’t it?’
‘No.’ He tilted his head one way and then the other before chuckling. ‘Maybe a little.’
‘It’s true though. I loved growing up here and because my mum ran the inn and we lived there too, I think of the whole community as a big extended family, I guess.’ She held her hand over her face. ‘That sounds even cornier.’
‘I didn’t realise you grew up at Pennycress Inn. That must be strange, working back there?’ Pausing, he reached over and gently prised her hand away. ‘And yes, what you said does sound corny, but it’s sweet too.’
‘It is strange in a way, but I couldn’t have asked for a better job, and working back in the inn I was raised in…
I love it.’ Sweet? He’d said sweet. She looked across at him, her hand still in his, and grinned.
If someone had told her a few days ago that she’d be having these mixed feelings about the guy who had shut her down after asking a favour for the village, she’d have never believed them.
‘Nic! There you are!’
She recognised that voice. Jumping back from Charlie, she turned and watched in stunned silence as Nathan stormed down the street towards them. What was he doing here? She hadn’t thought she’d hear from him again since the night she rang him asking what was happening with her car.
‘I’ve rung you, like, ten times already and you’ve just been ignoring me.’ Nathan’s tone was angry. As he got closer, Nicola could see spittle flying from his mouth as he ranted. ‘Do you make a habit of ignoring your phone now?’
‘Nathan, I?—’
‘And who’s this?’ Nathan stuck his arm out to indicate Charlie.
Looking between the two men, Nicola could see the muscle in Charlie’s jaw jump as he glared at Nathan. Turning back to her ex, she held up her hand, palm forward, and, trying hard to keep her voice calm to defuse the situation, she asked him, ‘What’s wrong? Why have you been calling me?’
After glaring back at Charlie, Nathan turned his attention to Nicola again. ‘You’d know why if you’d answered your phone.’
Charlie stepped forward, so he was standing between Nicola and Nathan. ‘I think?—’
‘It’s okay, Charlie. You get off, I’ll be okay.’ Reaching out, she rubbed his arm and nodded.
‘Are you sure?’ Charlie searched her face, concern etched across his forehead.
‘Yes, honestly. It’ll be okay.’ Pasting a smile to her face, she willed him to leave. Nathan was riled up, and she didn’t fancy being referee to a boxing match even if she was pretty sure Charlie could hold his own.
‘Okay, any problems, just shout.’ Looking between Nicola and Nathan again, Charlie finally relented, nodded and began walking away, throwing a look over his shoulder as he did so.
‘Thank you,’ Nicola called after him before turning back to Nathan. ‘What’s happened?’
‘I’m moving back home.’ His voice was deadpan, his expression serious.
‘You what?’ Feeling a flash of frustration towards Nathan that he’d potentially interrupted something, she flared her nostrils.
‘Just that. I’m moving back home. I’ve got my things in my car and I’m moving back in.’ He began strolling towards the cottage.
Squeezing her hand around her front door keys in her pocket, Nicola was grateful she’d made the decision to change the locks when she’d thrown him out. ‘You’re not doing that.’
‘Yes, I am.’ He glanced behind him, ushering her forward.
Standing her ground, she repeated herself, her voice firm. ‘You’re not coming back to my home. You’re not moving back in.’
‘I have every right…’
‘What happened to Kerry? Trouble in paradise?’ Pursing her lips, Nicola tried her best not to smirk.
She was past wishing ill on him, but five months ago he had broken her heart and there was still a tiny part of her that did hope he would receive a little karma.
Not that she’d ever admit that to him. Or anyone else, for that matter.
‘She dumped me,’ he mumbled as he strode forward.
‘Pardon?’ She raised her eyebrows. So, after all the heartbreak both he and Kerry had put her through, their sordid relationship had lasted a grand total of five months.
Well, five months of him being in a relationship of two, not three, that was.
She was tempted to ask him if it was worth it – the pain he’d inflicted on her, the upheaval, the loss of his best marketing team member – but she refrained.
‘You heard. We’re over, okay?’
‘Okay.’ Still, she stayed rooted to the spot.
‘Are you coming, or shall I let myself in?’ He held his arms open as if shocked she wasn’t following him.
He’d already tried letting himself in, she knew that.
He wouldn’t have been ringing her or running around the village looking for her if he hadn’t.
He’d have been thrilled at the idea of settling back in and waiting for her to come home before she knew anything about it.
Taking a deep breath, Nicola turned and began walking away. She didn’t need her nap. She’d head back to work.
‘I think you’re forgetting one thing, Nic.’
Slowly, she turned. The smugness was apparent in his voice and she refrained to give him the satisfaction of correcting him and telling him, once again, that he’d lost the right to call her by her nickname. ‘What am I forgetting?’
‘That I’m still on the tenancy agreement and there’s nothing you can do. In fact, you changing the locks will probably be against the terms.’
Biting down on her bottom lip, she looked at him.
He was lying. The telltale way his right eye twitched as he spoke, the sheen of sweat on his forehead.
She’d only worked it out, that they were signs of his lying, when she’d caught him and Kerry having that candlelit dinner in the cottage.
In their cottage. He’d denied the fact he’d been cheating, and she’d noticed the sweat and the eye twitch as Kerry had contradicted him, admitted how long the affair had been going on.
And now he was lying to her. Again.
Without wasting another word on him, Nicola turned again and headed back to the centre of the village.
She was pretty sure her landlady wouldn’t care that she’d changed the locks and, as for Nathan moving back in, well, he’d already screwed with his credit score by defaulting on the payments on her car.
‘Nic. Nic!’
It took all her self-control to ignore him, to ignore the fact he kept calling her Nic, to ignore his self-entitlement. How dare he think he could just waltz back into her life, into her cottage, her sanctuary and, what? Expect life to resume where he’d left off?
Keep walking. Just keep walking . And that’s what she did. By the time Pennycress Inn was in sight, Nathan had given up and slinked back to his car.