Chapter 21
Pulling on a sweatshirt and joggers over her scant PJs, Aria stepped out of the cabin to work on her garden.
Chill air had cooled the day down, but she was still flushed over Nic’s visit.
What on earth had happened? She’d essentially simulated a blow-job.
Oh my God. She was mortified. As the superficial man had discovered her secret and now had the power to rip her world apart, giving him agency over her in other ways was not a good idea.
She tugged up the remaining weeds on the planned vegetable patch, remembering how delighted her mum and dad were when they discovered fully formed new potatoes under the soil each year, as though they never imagined the situation could reoccur.
They’d eaten them as a whole meal with a little butter and salt, oohing and aahing over the taste.
‘There’s nothing in the world like freshly dug spuds,’ Eddie would say, chewing enthusiastically, while her mum said he should set an example and not speak with his mouth full. They’d bicker lovingly and then Mum would produce her famous apple crumble, confessing the secret lay in the cinnamon.
‘It’s like kissing a boy, Aria. Too little and the taste is forgettable, too much and you risk suffocation.
’ She longed to be home in the cottage she’d grown up in.
No entanglements with the vampire next door, either romantically or transactionally.
But then, no summer evenings at the lake.
No red kites, willow warblers or chiffchaffs keeping her company from above, to say nothing of the barn owl who often dropped by.
No earth like this at her fingertips and no fresh water on her lips.
At times, this place was heaven, and Nic could end it with the small piece of knowledge he’d just gleaned.
After half an hour of digging and worrying, she poked holes and slotted in seeds, then stood back to admire her work.
Over the years, her dad had turned their surroundings into a native hub for wildlife, planting up local species specifically to attract bees and butterflies, and she hoped to do the same.
He’d built hedgehog corridors and bird baths – everything to encourage nature to thrive.
Aria looked at the poppies coming through again while the bluebells held court further up the hill.
She was grateful for Eddie’s efforts and resolved to carry on, whether or not she was evicted.
Tiger fetched her his squeaky toy and barked excitedly when she threw it into the bushes to keep him away from the vegetable patch.
As the final tourist ferry chugged past, she looked up and waved, aware that no one could see her from here.
Picking up a packet of runner bean seeds, she ripped it open and glanced towards Nic’s garden.
Was that Sophie? What was she doing at Nic’s house?
Envy pricked her like a thorn. She didn’t like Nic ninety per cent of the time, but that last ten per cent?
It was intense. The moment they’d shared earlier had been more intimate than any interaction she’d had since Justin, and, although she’d love to brush it off, she’d felt a connection.
She’d seen it in his eyes too. She chuckled as she remembered her parents promising the healing powers of ‘fairy magic’ on a cut or a graze.
All she’d done was taken it a step further, but it was different.
She imagined probing more of Nic’s body, running her tongue along…
‘Hello, stranger. Stolen any more postcards lately?’
Aria almost jumped out of her skin before blushing the colour of a beetroot at where her thoughts had been going.
Sophie stepped onto the vegetable patch she’d just planted up.
‘Cabbage!’ Aria warned.
‘Aubergine!’ Sophie fired back. ‘Is this like vegetable rock, paper, scissors? In which case, I win, because aubeys are purple snipers.’
Aria waved her away. ‘You are stepping on my cabbages and caulis and carrots. I’ve just spent an hour planting them.’
‘Oh, sorry. But they’re not actual veg yet, are they?’ Sophie took a step back. ‘Do you live here?’
‘No! This is my holiday home. Well, not a home,’ Aria said, rushing to clarify things before the whole world cottoned on to the deception. ‘More of a fishing hut.’
‘And do you go fishing?’
‘No.’
‘You come here to avoid angling and…plant cabbages?
I don’t eat anything green. Or purple either, to be fair.
But I’m sorry I stood on them and hope they’re beautiful when they grow up.
I wish I had the time to have a hobby. I’ve been busy over there.
’ She pointed in the direction of Nic’s house.
‘He was taking a shower when I left. I reckon his biceps need their own YouTube channel. I’d even sit through the adverts. ’
Aria felt another stab of jealousy in her belly. ‘Capitalist pig,’ she reminded herself.
Sophie heard her and chuckled. ‘Smoking hot capitalist pig. Talking of that, I hear you are an estate agent now. Do you like it?’
‘It’s a job. Do you like working in a supermarket?’
‘God no.’
‘How come you ended up…’ Aria ground to a halt in case she sounded judgemental.
But Sophie wasn’t offended. ‘It’s a temporary job while I look after Grandad. Always wanted to work with sharks. But there aren’t too many round here.’
‘Apart from the property variety.’ Aria started to tidy her tools away. ‘You live with your grandad?’
‘Yup. Can’t afford a place of my own. Although hopefully that might change.
’ So, was Sophie having thoughts of moving in with Nic already?
Aria felt a wave of embarrassment push through her at the idea of clamping Nic’s thumb in her jaw like a Great White.
But Sophie was on a different track and asked Aria if she’d heard about the new property rule being brought in.
‘Apparently, my mother’s been shouting about it around town.
They’re going to give locals an advantage when it comes to buying houses – blocking offcomers from purchasing some classes of properties.
In my opinion, they should go further. The government should make everyone with a spare bedroom offer it to a young person for free.
Although I pity the poor person that would have to stay with my mum.
She absolutely terrorises the town council. ’
‘Is she still the deputy leader? You wouldn’t believe how much her name was thrown around our dinner table when my dad was alive.’
‘Oh, I would.’ Sophie nodded fervently. ‘She’s still second in command but wants to be top dog.’
‘It is right that local people get first dibs on local properties,’ Aria said, after a pause.
‘Hard agree. Offcomers should be last in line and only allowed to buy a house if no one else wants it.’
‘They should be made to stand in a line of their own!’
‘Or in a repurposed shark cage. Anyway, better go.’ Sophie gestured at the big house.
‘You’re going back to Nic’s?’
‘Unless you want another game of rock, paper, cabbage,’ Sophie guffawed.
***
When Sophie left, Aria kicked around a bit outside.
She was desperate for a swim, but all the research she’d done had put her off.
The lake did look enticing, though – maybe if she didn’t go under?
Nipping into the cabin, she stripped off her clothes, popped on her costume and added a lycra top to protect her skin from toxins.
She walked down the beach and waded in, her amygdala going into the usual flight-or-fight mode as the water encased her limbs.
But her conscious brain was on standby for flight, and she kept her head above the surface while she crawled a few hundred metres.
Then she flipped and floated on her back, enjoying the weak evening sun on her face and wishing she had someone to talk to.
Right now, her dad’s absence filled the land and sky.
As she swam closer to the shore, she watched Tiger catching an imaginary fish in the shallows, without venturing any further than his stubby legs could take him.
Water flew off his fur as he shook himself and padded back onto the beach.
He was her closest link to Dad now. She remained in the shallows for a while, then climbed out with numb toes, wincing on the stones until her feet entered her sliders.
As though he understood the problem, Tiger gave her foot a good licking and she laughed at his initiative.
Walking back onto the veranda, she instructed him to bring her the towel she’d left in the hut.
He was on it in a flick of his tail, dragging it off the sofa for her and bringing it out.
What a good team they were becoming, she decided, patting him on the back and praising him for his cleverness.
Her dad had got one thing right by pairing them up.
After a few teething problems, and some sleepless nights caused by his snuffling and snoring, the dog had been nothing but a joy, although their relationship hadn’t yet been tested by a search for a proper job, a flat and all the other things she needed to live a normal life in this upmarket town.
‘Maybe I’m just not normal,’ she muttered.
She was startled by at an apparition at the door – an unshaven ghoul with a bandaged thumb.
‘Talking to yourself is not very normal behaviour, I agree.’ Nic grinned.
‘You made me jump,’ she told him, putting her hand on her beating chest. ‘Will you please stop creeping around?’ But he wasn’t listening as he walked to her sofa and nodded at the bedding.
‘Getting comfy?’
‘Yes, well I…’ She abandoned the speech she’d prepared. She was clearly living here. Any idiot could see that. She froze, waiting for the inevitable.
‘I have a proposition,’ he said.
‘What kind of proposition?’ she asked sceptically. Not what she expected. And not welcome. He held all the cards while she possessed an empty hand. They stood, a few metres apart but a world away in experience, lifestyle and power.