Twenty-three Apple – Temptation
Twenty-three
Apple – Temptation
Ash and I close up Trecarlan again and walk back through the grounds with Basil, Ash returning his spade to a shed full of gardening equipment.
‘So, how come you still do the gardening here?’ I ask him after I’ve explained how I got into the house and why.
‘I promised my granddad I would,’ Ash says, closing the shed door and locking it. ‘When Stan left Trecarlan, my grandparents did too. Bertie said just ’cos Stan had left didn’t mean to say the place had to go to rack and ruin, and he was going to continue looking after the gardens.’
‘Aw, that’s sweet of him.’
‘I know,’ Ash says. He gestures towards the path. ‘Walking back into town?’
I nod and we set off down the hill together.
‘Shortly after Granddad got ill he asked me if I’d look after the place for him until he got better. But he never did.’
‘Again, I’m sorry,’ I say, meaning it. ‘Your granddad was a lovely man, I remember him well.’
‘As was your grandma,’ Ash says, and then he smiles. ‘So I look after Trecarlan whenever I get the time in between my other gardening jobs, because there’s no one else to.’
‘Stan never sold up then?’ I ask, trying to piece all this together.
‘Nope. He still owns the house, as far as I’m aware. He leaves it to the Parish Council to look after the place. And they don’t do very much. They don’t really have the funds to run a country house.’ He thinks for a moment. ‘That Caroline can be a bit of a terror though. She went nuts when she found out I was gardening here. Tried to tell me what to do and everything, but I soon put a stop to that.’
‘How?’
‘I told her if the Parish Council wanted to start paying me to work here then she could tell me what to do. Until then, the gardens were my business.’
‘Brilliant!’
‘Funnily enough, I never heard another peep out of her. They seem quite happy with me popping in and doing the gardening for nothing.’
‘I bet they are.’ I think for a moment. ‘So what happened to Stan in the end? I’ve asked around but everyone seems a bit vague about what happened.’
‘I don’t think anyone knows the details. I reckon he had money troubles – like I said, it takes some wonga to run a place like Trecarlan, and I don’t think Stan was all that loaded. Although someone must be paying for his home.’
‘His home? Where does he live now then?’
‘I’m not sure exactly, but I heard he went to live in an old folks’ home somewhere. My granny always says ‘Up North’ if she ever talks about him – which isn’t too often. I think she blames Stan for my granddad’s demise.’
‘Oh no, that’s awful.’
Ash shrugs. ‘She’s elderly. Bit stuck in her ways. It’s easier for her to blame someone else than face up to the fact Granddad smoked twenty a day, and spent five nights a week in the Merry Mermaid!’
We’ve arrived back in town, and as we stop outside Daisy Chain, I let Basil off his lead so he can go on into the shop to get water. When I stand up again, Ash is looking at me.
‘So,’ he says, as we linger outside the open door. ‘Do you need to go back in and fiddle with your buds right now?’ His eyes, set against his tanned skin and scruffy blond hair bleached by the sun, sparkle like naughty sapphires. ‘Or can I take you for an early lunch at the Mermaid?’
I feel myself flush, but I manage to reply with a fairly straight face, ‘I don’t actually fiddle with my buds, I prefer someone else to do that for me.’
Ash grins.
‘However,’ I continue, ‘it’s Amber’s lunch break very soon, and I have to cover the shop. So I’m afraid it’s a no.’
Ash pulls a sad face. ‘Ah, I see. Never mind…’ Then I see the glint in his eyes. ‘In that case, might you be free for a drink tonight instead?’
‘Oh…’
‘We can have a reminisce about Stan, and me in my nappies…’
An image of Jake in the cottage yesterday flashes across my mind. So I quickly shake it away.
‘Sure, why not?’ I agree, without stopping to think about it.
‘Great,’ Ash says, grinning. ‘I’ll see you in the Mermaid about… eight?’
‘Eight’s fine.’
Ash gives me a cheery wave as he carries on up the cobbled street, just as Amber appears at the door with an intrigued look on her face.
‘Who was that?’ she coos, bending to look around me so she can watch Ash walk away.
‘Ash – he’s a gardener up at Trecarlan Castle.’
‘Sexy gardener!’ She lets out a low whistle.
‘His grandfather used to work at the castle when I played there as a child. I knew Ash when he was little.’
‘Bet there’s nothing little about him now.’ Amber nudges me.
‘ Amber …’ I give her a warning look.
‘What? You wanna let your hair down, Poppy, have some fun. I thought you were gonna have fun with Jake when I first arrived here, but that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, so why not this Ash?’
She casually turns and walks back into the shop.
‘Jake and I are just friends,’ I protest, hurrying after her, wondering if we’re even that after yesterday.
Amber rearranges some sunflowers in one of the metal buckets. ‘Yeah, honey, I know that now, but when I first came here and saw the way you looked at him, I did wonder if there might be something more.’
I can only stare at Amber – she’s right, of course, but I’m not about to admit that to her.
‘ Poppy , come on – Jake’s fit, not as fit as Lady Chatterley’s lover out there, mind, but he’s still hot for an older guy.’
‘Jake isn’t that old,’ I reply, trying to sound like I don’t care either way.
‘He’s older than Ash.’
‘What’s that to do with anything? Jake is thirty-nine; like I said, not old. In fact, I think his birthday is coming up very soon. Bronte mentioned something about a party the last time I saw her.’
Jake’s birthday – great. That would be fun now. Oh, why did I have to kiss him and ruin everything?
‘How old is Mr Hot?’ Amber continues, unusually for her she’s not sensing my unease.
‘Twenty-two, but I don’t see —’
‘Ooh, she swings from older man to toy-boy, what a gal!’
‘Amber, stop this. Ash has asked me out for a drink tonight, that’s all.’
Amber’s eyes light up.
‘And before you say anything, we’re only going to reminisce about old times at Trecarlan.’
Amber raises one eyebrow. ‘Is that right?’
‘Yes,’ I say, heading around the back of the desk, ‘it is. Now go and get some lunch – and if you’re heading anywhere near the Blue Canary, pick me up a tuna sandwich while you’re there, will you?’ I wink at her, hoping this will do the trick and she’ll move on.
Amber sighs. ‘Change the subject all you like, but my sixth sense is tingling about this, missy, and I can’t remember the last time that was wrong.’