Chapter 5 #2
She hugged herself. No one called her Chels, but him. It was another tie leading back to their past.
But damn it, he had a point. If he’d arrived before she’d discovered his letters, she might have been ruder than he deserved.
She rubbed her eyes.
“Are you going to sell?” Ethan asked.
“I don’t know. I only heard about the offer a couple of days ago.” It had always been so easy to confide in him. He listened in his quiet way and made her feel like the centre of his world.
But that was then. Who knew the man he’d become?
“I can’t bear the thought of the garden turning into units,” Ethan said.
“Me neither, but the garden’s ruined anyway.”
Ethan hummed. “I could chip away at it.” He shrugged. “I’ve got a month’s leave, and I was coming to help Aunt Maggie anyway.”
Such a nice gesture. But she couldn’t decide now. She was still struggling with his reappearance in her life. “Let me consider it. I want to hear what Darren has to say for himself.”
“Can I go with you?” Ethan asked. “I’d like to hear it myself.” His eyes flashed with anger and for the first time she saw the lethal military man he’d been hiding.
Definitely not the boy she used to know.
She pressed her lips together and nodded. Backup might be useful. “How about seven tomorrow morning?”
“All right. I’ll leave you be. I’ll be in the barn if you need me.”
He was gone before she said anything.
Did she want him camping in her barn? It was oddly comforting after the way Johann had reacted. She might not know the man Ethan had become, but he wouldn’t hurt her.
What she needed was to sleep on it. Give herself time to process everything.
Because out of everything; going through Aunt Maggie’s things, dealing with Johann, and the destruction of the garden, the one thing that shook her most was Ethan Ward walking back in her life.
Because the pull towards him was still so strong.
And her heart wouldn’t survive a second round of rejection from him.
***
Ethan stepped out of the barn and scanned the surroundings. The sun was still low in the sky giving everything a dawn glow, birds chirped and flew between bushes and the lights in the house were on.
Chelsea was up.
He kept his eyes forward, away from her bedroom window. If she was still as organised as she’d been as a teen, she’d be downstairs already, but he didn’t want to invade her privacy more than he already had.
His pulse increased as he approached the house.
It was ridiculous. He’d approached buildings containing armed hostiles with fewer nerves than he had today.
He’d barely slept, replaying his conversation with Chelsea in his head.
She’d been shocked, and perhaps a little angry until she’d realised no one had told him about Aunt Maggie.
Then her compassion had come through and she’d hugged him.
He’d never thought he would hold her in his arms again, and he’d savoured every single second.
She still smelled like cherry blossoms.
God, he’d missed her. He’d pushed thoughts of her far away, but he’d never been able to eradicate them.
They’d always popped back in times of great emotion; loneliness, fear, happiness.
When he’d been hit by the tsunami late last year and the wave had swallowed him, his one regret had been pushing her away.
Which was why he hadn’t given her the chance to ask him to leave last night.
She might not be as welcoming this morning, now she’d had time to process everything. She might order him off her land like she had the property developer.
As he came around the side of the house, she was sitting on the cane sofa on the front porch, waiting for him.
Today she wore navy blue slacks and a white shirt with three-quarter length sleeves.
Perhaps she wanted to look business-like for their meeting with Darren.
She cradled a mug in one hand, and there was a travel cup on the table beside her.
Chelsea had always been better at mornings than him. She gestured to the second mug. “I wasn’t sure whether you had coffee.”
He smiled, his heart expanding. She’d thought of him.
When they were younger, she’d always made him coffee.
He’d arrived at Lilydale at dawn to work in the garden before the day turned scorching.
Aunt Maggie and Chelsea would join him, and Chelsea always provided the coffee.
In those days it had been instant coffee because he’d been yet to discover the delights of proper fresh espresso coffee.
“Thank you.” He reached for the cup.
“It’s a flat white.”
“I didn’t realise Aunt Maggie got herself an espresso machine.”
Chelsea laughed. “She didn’t. I brought my travel kit. I could never convince her instant coffee tastes crap.”
Her laugh was a melody sweeping over him. It had been enough to cheer him, even on his darkest days. He sipped the fine liquid and closed his eyes. “I’m going to have to get one.”
She pushed off the sofa, leaving her mug on the table. “Shall we go?”
She didn’t wait for his answer and he followed her to the compact white hire car, carrying the travel cup. On the drive they passed his foster parents’ place. The lawn was yellow and far too long, and the garden beds were full of weeds.
He’d spent hours in the garden ensuring it was up to his foster-parents’ standards.
Chelsea glanced at him. “Did you stay in touch?”
He shook his head. “They couldn’t wait to be rid of me. I don’t know if they still live in town.”
“Did you keep in touch with Josh?”
“No.” Josh had been his only friend, but Ethan had wanted to leave Honeybrook behind him. “What about you and Lauren?”
“Not really. I read her posts on social media sometimes, and I saw her at the funeral.”
The two girls had been good friends, and he’d been jealous of the time they spent together because it meant he had less time with Chelsea.
Selfish.
She pulled into the driveway of a brand-new modern brick and tile house. The garden had a freshly planted look, which came with many display homes. Darren might not have been working at Lilydale, but he was putting Sabine’s money to good use.
They got out of the car and Ethan pounded on the door, letting out some of his anger.
Chelsea raised her eyebrows. “That was a bit excessive, wasn’t it?”
“Just wanted to make sure I’d wake him.”
After waiting a couple of minutes, he pounded again. “I suspect he’s avoiding us.” The front door had a security camera, the type where you could access the feed from your phone. Ethan glared at it. “Darren, if you aren’t at the door in thirty seconds, we’ll contact the police.”
Immediately there were sounds from inside. He grinned.
The door opened and a twenty-something man stood there. They’d obviously woken him because his hair was dishevelled, his T-shirt was on inside-out and his eyes were bleary. “What do you want?”
Really? This was how he was going to play it?
“You’re Darren Whaley?” Chelsea asked.
He nodded, scratching his crotch.
“I’m Chelsea. I left you a couple of messages yesterday. My mother is Sabine Longmeyer.”
She waited for a response, but all Darren did was nod.
“Sabine has been paying you for the past year to take care of the gardens at Lilydale Cottage.”
“That’s right.”
Ethan clenched his hands at Darren’s nonchalance.
“Then why haven’t you been doing it?” Chelsea asked, keeping her tone pleasant.
“It’s a big garden. It’s hard to keep on top of it.”
“That’s no excuse to do no work,” Chelsea replied, her voice sharpening.
“Well now, there didn’t seem to be any point when it was going to be demolished for the retirement village.” Darren’s gaze darted away and then back to Chelsea.
Ethan’s muscles tightened. “Who told you that?”
Darren shuffled back, and his flash of fear was intensely satisfying.
“The developer.”
“When did you meet him?” Chelsea asked.
“He came to Lilydale the first week I started.”
Chelsea frowned. “Mum only got the proposal a week ago.”
Ethan smelled a rat. “What exactly did Johann ask you to do?”
Darren’s brief widening of his eyes told Ethan he was on the right track. “Nothing.”
That rang true. Ethan thought about it. “Johann asked you to stop work on the garden?”
The man paled, and he glanced at Chelsea and back at Ethan. “Ah, well…”
“How much did he pay you?” Chelsea’s whole body tensed.
Darren backed further away, reaching for the door. Ethan slapped his hand against it to stop Darren from closing it. “I suggest you answer Chelsea’s question.”
“I’ll call the police if you hurt me,” Darren said.
“Please do,” Ethan replied. “While they’re here they can arrest you for theft and destruction of property.”
“How much did he pay you?” Chelsea repeated, the warmth gone from her tone.
Darren closed his eyes. “Fifty thousand. He said no one would want to buy it with the garden destroyed and he’d get a bargain.”
The bastard.
Chelsea exhaled noisily, a sound that told Ethan she was on the verge of tears.
“What are you going to do?” Darren asked, glancing between them.
“I don’t know.” She stalked back to the car, her eyes already glistening.
Ethan turned back to Darren. This arsehole had made Chelsea cry. He curled his hands into fists but kept his anger at bay.
Darren shifted back another step. “She won’t have me arrested, will she? I did nothing wrong.”
Anger grew inside him. “How much was Sabine paying you?”
The man swallowed. “Four thousand a month.”
“So you’ve stolen forty-eight thousand dollars from her?”
He nodded.
“Then I suggest your first step is paying it back.” Let him hurt for a change. Ethan wasn’t sure what else they could do to make Darren pay for his greed.
“I don’t have forty-eight grand.”
“Get a mortgage on your lovely new home. You have a week.” Though it would be immensely satisfying to punch Darren in the face, it wasn’t worth the potential arrest and disciplinary action he’d get if he did.
Ethan spun on his heel and joined Chelsea at the car. He had no problems making threats. If Sabine received the money back, she could hire people to do the job Darren was supposed to have done.
Chelsea sat there, staring at nothing, taking long, slow breaths.
“We’ll fix this.” He didn’t know how, but he would.
There was no way he would let Aunt Maggie’s passion be destroyed or let Chelsea down a second time.
Chelsea nodded and drove home.
Her silence was deafening and Ethan knew she was barely holding herself together, so he didn’t speak.
Instead he began to plan.
For the first time since being caught in the tsunami, Ethan was glad he had another month’s leave.
He was going to need it.