Chapter 22
The next afternoon, Rick knocked on the farmhouse door. Rose opened it, crossed her arms and leaned against the jamb without speaking.
Rick pinned what he hoped was a non-confrontational expression on his face. ‘Hi there. Is Beth in?’
‘You aren’t going to upset her again, are you? Because Grace’s in there, too, and she’s only little.’
An inky pool of sadness settled in Rick’s middle. ‘I promise I don’t make a habit of upsetting people. I just want to ask her something.’
‘Beth doesn’t usually lose her rag. Not like the other day. The thing is, a kid from the village died, a while back. It was a stupid accident at the skate park. And since then, Beth worries about us. When you set the cows off, she was afraid for Jack.’
‘I’d like to say I’m sorry.’
Rose gestured for him to enter. ‘Down the hall. She’s in the kitchen.’
Stepping inside, Rick’s nose twitched. ‘Something smells good.’
‘Cupcakes.’
The terrier at Rose’s ankle whined. Rick put out a hand to be sniffed. ‘Hello, boy.’
‘Paddy doesn’t like strangers.’
‘Sensible dog.’
‘This way. Watch the bucket.’
The air in the kitchen was thick with the sweetness of warm sugar. Trays of colourful cupcakes covered every available surface. At the table, wielding a piping bag, Beth stiffened the instant she spotted him. Knowing he was a source of tension for her really hurt.
‘I’m sorry I put Jack in danger,’ he blurted out. ‘I was weird about the hay, too. I was having a really bad day. Not that that’s an excuse, of course. Oh, and thank you for the cakes you left when I first arrived. That was very kind.’
The little girl at Beth’s side glanced from her mother to Rick and back again.
Rick kept rambling. ‘And whatever it was I did a couple of days ago, which made you yell at me out by the car, I’m sorry about that, too.’
Beth hid her face in her free hand. Her shoulders shook.
Oh heck. She’s crying again.
She dropped her hand, revealing eyes that danced with laughter. ‘Now I’m the one who’s sorry,’ she said. ‘That last one was all me. Bad timing on your part. Bad behaviour on mine.’
A wave of relief washed through him. ‘I’m Rick, by the way.’
‘Hi, Rick. I’m Beth and this is Grace.’
‘You have messy hair,’ said Grace.
Beth gasped. ‘Grace!’
‘But he has.’ The child dropped her voice to an earnest stage whisper. ‘He looks like the llampacas.’
Rick laughed. ‘I do, don’t I? My hair has never been this long before. But guess what? I’ve heard that people can start to look like their animals and I’ve only just found out the llampaccas are mine. Maybe that’s why my hair’s gone mad.’
Grace giggled. ‘You’re silly.’
‘I am, but it’s a scientific fact. Honest. Ask your mum.’
‘It’s true, Grace. You’ll have to be careful or you’ll end up looking like Paddy.’
Grace looked at Paddy and hooted with laughter.
‘Right.’ Rose picked up a large Tupperware tub and started stacking cupcakes into it. ‘Now that you two have made friends, is it safe to leave you to play nicely? I’ve got to deliver these cakes to The Coffee Pot. Can I take the car, Beth?’
‘Go ahead. Jack and Daisy’s bus gets in at three. Can you pick them up on your way back?’
‘Sure. And later, Ethan said he’d give me a lift in his van to check out that stuff on Freecycle, yeah? If it’s any good, we’ll grab it and shove it in one of the sheds.’
‘Good idea.’
Grace scrambled off her chair and bounced on her tiptoes in front of Rose. ‘Can I come?’
‘If Beth says it’s okay. But remember, we’re delivering the cakes, not eating them.’
Grace dashed out to fetch a pink coat. She returned stuffing her arms into the sleeves. ‘Can I, Mummy? Please?’
Beth helped her do the buttons up. ‘Pay attention to your sister.’
Rose thrust one of the boxes of cakes towards Rick. ‘Give us a hand out to the car, will you?’
‘Sure.’
Minutes later, Rick found himself standing on the drive with Beth as they watched the car trundle away down the track. He scuffed the toe of one shoe in the gravel. ‘Thank you for keeping an eye on the barn after Charlie died. And thank you for looking after the llamas and alpacas. I had no idea about them. If I’d known, I’d have… well, I’d have done something. But I didn’t, so I couldn’t. You know?’
Stop wittering .
‘Jack and Charlie had an arrangement.’
‘I’m sure it wasn’t all Jack. Do you mind if he keeps taking care of them? I’ll pay him, of course. I’m clueless and I’m hoping he’ll teach me. And you must let me pay you back for anything you’ve had to lay out for all that hay and stuff.’
The shadow of a frown flit across Beth’s face. ‘There’s no need, Rick. Ordering in bulk for all the animals meant I got a discount.’
‘All the animals? How many do you have?’
‘I’ve never counted, let me see: Pablo and Paddy, then there’s Percival the rooster and the hens, Priscilla, Penelope and Patricia… What?’
Rick raised an inquiring eyebrow.
Beth laughed. ‘I know. It’s a lot of Ps. But Paddy and Pablo were here before I arrived. Their names are nothing to do with me.’
‘And the others?’
‘They were Grace’s idea. We adopted four bald, skinny chicks when a local battery farm was shut down by the RSPCA last year. She thought giving them names beginning with P would help them feel like they belonged.’
‘Interesting strategy. Did it work?’
‘You’d have to ask them. Percy was originally Persephone, but we had to change it to Percival when his feathers grew back and we realised he was a boy.’
‘Any animal names not beginning with a P?’
‘Only Genghis. He’s a stray cat that adopted us last winter. He lives outdoors in one of the sheds and generally keeps himself to himself. Oh, and our latest arrival is Lady Muck, a wild mallard with a bad leg. Jack found her under the hedge a couple of weeks ago. She likes our pond.’
Rick felt drawn to this woman more than ever, with her crazy patchwork family pieced together from leftover fragments. ‘Well, let me know if you need any help with anything.’
‘Thank you, but we’re fine.’
She’s so defensive.
‘Of course you are. So, can Jack help me out?’ All of a sudden, she wouldn’t meet his eyes. ‘What is it, Beth?’
‘Can I ask…?’
‘Go on.’
‘Here’s the thing. Rose showed me this video of you and… um.’ She bit her lip, her cheeks flushed.
‘I know the one you mean. It’s not what it seems. It has been edited. That’s not what really happened. Honestly.’
‘What did happen?’
‘It’s complicated.’
‘If you’re not prepared to try and explain—’
‘No. It’s just, I can’t. Some of it is confidential.’
‘It’s simple enough. Did you run that lady over or not?’
‘Not.’
‘I want to believe you, Rick. I really do, but it’s hard.’
‘It’s like this. Let’s say I had a famous… uh… client, whose privacy I am bound to protect.’ He waited for her to nod. ‘There were these people after me, chasing a story about that client.’ As he spoke, Rick could feel himself start to shake as the memories crowded in. His leg started to throb, as if he’d just landed in that flower bed all over again. ‘I was so desperate to get away from them that I jumped out of a window.’
‘You’re kidding.’ Beth’s mouth dropped open.
‘Unfortunately, there were more of these people waiting outside and they saw me. I got to my car but they were all running towards me. I don’t know how many, but it felt like hundreds and hundreds of them.’
‘What did you do?’
‘I couldn’t think, I just started the engine.’ He dashed a hand over his eyes, trying to wipe the visual echo of those minutes away. ‘I steered for the exit to the car park just as the woman in the video ran at the car. I braked. She had plenty of time to stop, too, but she didn’t. She threw herself on the bonnet. I swear she wasn’t hurt. She looked at me through the windscreen. She even winked. Then, she screamed, went all floppy and slid to the ground.’
‘You’re saying she was acting?’
‘I am. And I reckon my dashcam footage would prove it, too. I can show it to you, if you like.’
Beth shook her head. ‘I believe you.’
‘Anyway, I checked she was clear of the wheels. She was conscious, too. Then I drove away. I should have stopped, I know. I panicked.’
Beth put a gentle hand on his arm. ‘I’m sorry. Thank you for telling me. I only asked because I need to know Jack will be safe if he is working for you.’
A warm tingly heat radiated up Rick’s arm from her hand. ‘I promise. I won’t ever put you or your family in danger.’
‘Fine. If Jack wants to help you, he can.’
The smile she gave him triggered a warm fluttering in the centre of his chest. It was so long since he had felt anything like it that it took him a moment to recognise it as genuine happiness. ‘Earlier, Rose said we’d made friends. Have we? I mean, your counsellor told you that you needed friends and I could certainly do with one.’ His lips twisted in a self-deprecating grimace.
‘I’d like that. Mind you, I’m not very good at the whole friend thing. I’m trying. Only, I have trust issues.’
Her eyes were full of worry. Rick fought the urge to sweep her into his arms and hold her close. He wanted to soothe those worries away. He wanted so much more than friendship. But he came with a truckload of crap. Friends was the best he could or should hope for – for her sake. Even as his body swayed towards her, his feet backed away.
She let go of his arm. ‘I’d better get on. I have to do something about the roof before the weather turns.’
‘Let me know if you need anything.’ Leaving the words hanging in the air, Rick headed back to the barn, determined to do something practical to help.
I’ll have a rummage through the sheds and see if I can find something to fix that polytunnel.