8
Cody
There was no way Cody could work on the roof of the hut, not with his foot strapped into a medical walking boot. Stupid thing was getting on his nerves already. He would be seeing Kip in a few days at rehearsals, that’s if Willow didn’t bring the idiot over for tea and cookies beforehand.
Cody grimaced at his outstretched leg as he sat on tarpaulin, sanding the bottom of the back wall. He could hear Heath up the ladder, humming along to the radio turned down low, but the upbeat pop music failed to inspire him to do the same.
It turned out Heath was a major fan of manual tools, which wasn’t what Cody was expecting when they packed up some equipment from Heath’s workshop back on the farm.
‘Slow and steady is good for the mind,’ were Heath’s words of wisdom when Cody questioned the lack of electrical items handed his way.
Funnily enough, Heath wasn’t wrong. Cody was getting quite sedated in his sanding rhythm, and it helped not only pass the time, but also made him feel more of a connection with the work at hand. Plus, it helped wipe away his irritation.
Everything was irritating him lately, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. He was relatively fine at uni, and he thoroughly enjoyed travelling, but ever since he started living at Silver Wish Farm, something felt off.
He blamed Zack a little for nagging, then there was the state of the Boat Hut so close to him now. Everyone suddenly wanted him to do their accounts, and Willow had railroaded him into performing in the stupidest play ever. Having Hollywood wannabe Kip Kirkland throwing a bowling ball at him was, quite frankly, the last straw.
Bookkeeping was a doddle, just boring, but at least he was earning a few quid, but fixing up his grandfather’s hut was soothing and gave him plenty of time to work on his gaming ideas in his mind.
Once Heath went back to his own job, Cody planned to head to the treehouse to get some more sticky notes on the wall.
Surprisingly, Heath Silver wasn’t a bad singer, in the grand scheme of things, and Cody found himself humming along at one point. If only he’d brought his guitar with him, they could have had a singsong during their break.
‘You all right down there, son?’ called Heath.
‘All good,’ Cody replied loudly, as though trying to reach for the heavens.
Heath muttered something, but Cody couldn’t make out what. It couldn’t have been that important, otherwise he’d have repeated himself.
Cody continued to sand the lower boards of the hut, smiling to himself at his memories by the river. He was looking forward to Zach coming home. The old boat business would be welcomed, he was sure. He wondered if his brother would rent a room from Fran whilst their house was finished. Zach hadn’t mentioned where he would live.
Why can’t every day be as relaxing as this? I can see why Grandad loved working by the river. I wonder if Heath would notice if I took a catnap?
A cold hand made him jump out of his daydream.
Willow giggled. ‘Sorry.’ She straightened, waggling a wicker basket. ‘I brought lunch.’
‘Did I hear someone say lunch?’ said Heath, rounding the corner.
‘Gran made it. I think there’s even cake in there.’
‘Ooh, lovely.’
Cody rolled on his side, leaned on the wall, then bent to retrieve a crutch, all the while flicking Willow’s fussing hands away. ‘I can stand up by myself, thanks.’ He felt bad for snapping so apologised immediately.
Willow didn’t seem to care. She went about setting out lunch whilst her dad washed his hands using a bottle of water and a bar of white soap.
Cody hobbled over to the makeshift wash station to do the same, feeling Willow’s eyes following him.
Heath was tucking in to a large homecooked sausage roll by the time Cody joined the picnic blanket Willow had placed on the dry grass. She tried to coax him down, but he preferred to stand, thanking her for the cheese roll she handed up.
‘I’ll help with the cutting back after,’ Cody told her.
‘No need. All done. I’m working in the shop after lunch. I want to see if there are any areas needing more attention than the staff give.’
Heath nodded his approval. ‘Did the paving delivery come?’
‘No. They called. Their lorry broke down. It’ll arrive tomorrow.’
Cody ate quietly whilst listening to them talk shop for a bit. The only time Zach talked about his job was if something major went down at the hotel. Otherwise he kept whatever went on in the swanky place to himself, once stating the guests preferred privacy.
‘I can help you with your lines,’ said Heath, bringing Cody back into the conversation.
‘What? Oh, erm, I’m okay. There’s not much to learn, and most of my scenes are with Willow.’
Willow nodded. ‘Kip said, if we play our cards right, we could get an agent. Kip said I have good bone structure for lead roles.’ She turned her head left and right, grinning at her dad. ‘Kip said he could introduce me to people in the business. Can you imagine? I’ve never thought about being an actress, but Kip said…’
Her voice faded out along with Cody’s appetite.
Kip said. Kip said. Kip bloody said .
He ripped into his roll as though it had offended him, chewing rapidly so he could get back to the peace and quiet he had working on the hut, because five minutes ago he was settled, and Kip said wasn’t part of his life.
Willow seemed to hang around a lot longer than he’d bargained for, but at least her subject had changed. She put on a dust mask and made a start on the window frame, stating she had some time before she headed back.
She wouldn’t give up her life here, would she? Nah. She loves Pepper Bay. But what if…
Cody stopped sanding, realising he was being a tad brutal with the wooden block in his hand. The sandpaper had slipped off, and he was just sliding wood back and forth. He really needed to clear his head. It was all so light and breezy before lunch, once he found his groove, but Willow’s excitement for the bright lights of the big city was irritating the hell out of him.
He glanced up. ‘You wouldn’t really give up the farm for acting, would you?’
Willow remained staring at the framework. ‘Probably not, but Kip said—’
‘Argh!’ Cody shut his eyes tightly as he sat up.
Bloody hell, I said that out loud .
‘Are you okay?’ asked Willow, dropping to her knees at his side, one hand stretching towards his forehead.
‘Yeah, just got a twinge of pain in my toe,’ he lied, not knowing what else to say.
Heath called from the roof. ‘We all good down there?’
‘Sully’s foot hurts,’ replied Willow, making him cringe inside.
‘I’m okay,’ Cody called, then tugged Willow closer. ‘Seriously, it’s nothing. Doctor warned me it might play up a bit.’ Telling fibs was one thing, but when he saw water fill her eyes, he felt even worse. ‘Hey, Wills, I’m okay. It’s over. Done. I’m good. See.’ He wiggled his walking boot as best he could.
Willow checked her phone. ‘I have to get back to work,’ she said meekly, and his heart shattered as his conscience whacked him in the ribs.
‘I’ll see you later,’ he managed as she went off to say goodbye to her dad.
What the hell, Sully!
Cody continued to chastise himself all the way through his task, and more so on his way to the treehouse when he had finished.
Tossing his crutches to one side, he sat on a low rung of the wooden ladder and whipped off the hospital boot. There was no way he would be able to climb up with that thing attached to his foot.
His phone buzzed with a message from Humphrey asking for a progress report on the board game.
Cody made his way into the treehouse, flicking away some fallen bunting and one of the fake apples hanging in the tree, then slumped to the floor, feeling as though all he did lately was slump. He fired up his laptop he’d left there and pulled up some design ideas to send to his friend.
For the first time since lunch, he felt relaxed. It was strange how the treehouse had that effect on him. Ever since he was a kid, he’d sit up there with Willow and the world no longer existed. When he had to move to London, the treehouse was one of the biggest things he missed. He was determined to make full use of it whilst he lived on the farm.
Cody got comfy, created a workspace around him, and got busy working on his dreams. If there was one place he could concentrate, it was Willow’s treehouse.
‘Sully,’ her voice rang out.
He leaned over to peer outside the door. ‘What?’
‘How are you even up there?’
He glanced at the ladder. ‘Der!’
Willow’s shoulders drooped. ‘You could have knocked your toe.’
‘I didn’t. What do you want anyway? I’m working.’
Willow huffed. ‘You know it’s my treehouse, right?’
‘And you know I get all my best ideas up here. Get to your point.’
‘I don’t have one. I was just heading over to the stables when I saw your crutches and boot down here.’
Cody gave the items the death glare. ‘Best place for them.’
‘Can I come up?’
‘As you just pointed out, it’s your treehouse.’
Willow started the climb. ‘Ooh, you’re so snappy lately. I’m going to blame it on the pain.’
‘Blame what you want,’ Cody mumbled, telling himself to shut up.
‘I won’t disturb you. I just wanted to watch you in action for a while.’ She made herself comfortable on the blanket.
Cody grinned. ‘You’ll be bored.’
Willow nudged his arm with her own. ‘I’m never bored with you.’
‘Fine. You can stay.’
‘Thanks.’
‘But don’t touch anything.’
Willow placed the sticky notes down as they shared a warm smile. ‘I love you, Sully,’ she whispered, giving him a look that told him she was feeling bad about his foot again.
‘Willow Silver, I swear to God, if you follow that up with one more apology, I’m going to strap you to the roof and let the seagulls peck at you.’ He pulled her under his arm and kissed the top of her head. ‘Take notes for me.’
She gave him a gentle squeeze around the waist, then grabbed a pen. ‘Ready when you are, boss.’
‘You can call me that more often.’
Willow laughed. ‘In your dreams. Hey, speaking of dreams, I know you see games in your future, but what about marriage and kids and the white picket fence?’
‘What are you on about now?’
‘I was thinking, perhaps you could get a psychic drawing done too.’
‘Oh, no thanks.’
‘I want to know what the future Mrs Sullivan looks like.’
Cody found himself staring into her big chestnut eyes. He dropped his gaze to the few freckles covering her nose, then went back to designing his game, because the feeling he just had that woke a tiny butterfly in his stomach wasn’t weird at all.