Two
When I arrived home, I was in a foul mood, the most annoying boy on the planet being the catalyst behind that state of mind. Mason’s behaviour had dropped-kicked me into reality. It was official, I hated Mason McKenna, and what the hell was my body thinking, reacting to his sleazy, hide-it-in-a-joke comments? He must have been doing it on purpose to mess with me. I wasn’t totally clueless about my sexual allure, but what I knew about physical attraction could have been written on a postage stamp.
Sure, I’d had my fair share of interest from boys at school, and a handful from the village, but I had never been that interested. I was a Taylor-Joy. I was supposed to be choosy. And anyway, I had Alex now. Yes, so far, we had only kissed, but we were taking it slow, and there was nothing wrong with that!
Adding to my annoyance, Jenna was sitting at the kitchen table wearing that same haunted expression I was sick of seeing. She was dressed in her go-to pale blue summer dress, her face free of make-up, looking so much younger than her years. I didn’t know if I wanted to shake her or hug her.
“Where’s Chrissy, Jenna?” I questioned as I threw myself into the chair opposite.
She remained completely still, the self-help book she’d taken to reading closed on the table; her hands rested close by. At least she was out and about. She spent most of her time in her room these days, pining after Nixon.
The house was quiet, my father would be out preparing the crops for the harvest next month and my mother had gone to Norwich to visit my gran. It wasn’t long until they went on holiday and then we’d have the house to ourselves for five weeks.
The busiest time of the year for my parents was the end of September onwards when the harvest began and so they always went away before then.
My family owned Orchard View Farm, and it was one of the largest arable farms in Yorkshire. We were now the leading supplier of food products to two major supermarkets. I had always thought the name of the farm ironic, considering it was named after the orchard located on Mr and Mrs McKenna’s land and not our own. We had no apple trees, just acres of flat-as-fuck fields. You could see for miles .
The second largest farm in the area, was Lamb Hill which belonged to the McKenna family. They dealt in livestock and animal husbandry, so were not in direct competition with us, unlike some of the smaller farms close by.
Apart from the dispute over the ownership of the meadow and pool, the only other beef Dad had (no pun intended) was when they allowed their cattle to wander onto our land and eat our produce. This added another bugbear to the already raging war about the boundary.
The kitchen was usually the busiest room in our house and it was the main place we socialised. We were a tight-knit family and the kitchen was my favourite place. The fact that there was also a massive refrigerator full of food in there was also a lure. I was small and slim, but I could put away the grub as much as my brother Mattie could.
Today it was clean and tidy, which suggested Sally, the lady who did our cleaning had already been in.
Jenna didn’t answer my question. Had she even heard me?
Withdrawing my iPhone from the pocket of my cut-offs, I purposefully dropped it onto the table. This caught my sister’s attention and her pale blue eyes locked on mine like two pools of sadness.
I noticed she fingered her wedding rings and that sent another twinge of frustration through me, my spine was rigid as I glared at her.
“Jenna,” I prompted, to rouse her from those thoughts that were no doubt Nixon-shaped.
She blinked. She was so pale and drawn, a shadow of her former self but it didn’t diffuse her beauty. Even with her blonde hair pulled up in a knotty mess on top of her head, she was stunning. She had such good bone structure. I loved photography and she was the perfect specimen to capture.
As I said, Jenna was the favourite out of all the Taylor-Joy children. Mum and Dad doted on her, even now as an adult. She was a miracle baby after all.
In her early twenties, my mother developed a tumour in one of her ovaries and was told she would never be able to have children. After a couple of years of marriage, Mum had miraculously fallen pregnant and was faced with a difficult decision; having the pregnancy terminated or allowing it to continue. The doctor explained that due to the position of the tumour, the chances of the baby surviving were below twenty percent. One of the options was to terminate the pregnancy.
The way my parents told the story was torturous, I couldn’t even begin to imagine how difficult it would have been to make that type of decision. The doctors did say that if she carried on with it, complications could indeed threaten both mother and baby. But they’d gone for it anyway and Jenna’s birth had astoundingly dislodged the tumour. Tests were carried out and the tumour was benign which meant nothing would have spread to any other organs. I think Dad also saw Jenna as her mother’s saviour in some way. He helped my mother polish that pedestal my sister sat on from time to time.
Growing up with the knowledge that I sat in my older sibling’s shadow hadn’t been that hard a pill to swallow. I knew my parents loved me, but I was just left to get on with it. It had always been that way. I’d even part-raised Chrissy, whilst Mattie had been left to fend for himself. That’s why he was more streetwise than the rest of us and could handle himself. When I first heard Mattie was gay, I was shocked as he was like our father, a burly guy who didn’t take shit from anyone. He’d come to blows with the McKenna boys in the past. He was the eldest at twenty-six.
Sometimes I felt sorry for Jenna, as she lived her life as the centre of attention but had never been allowed much freedom. She was viewed as the angel baby sent from heaven and had always been overprotected. My parents mollycoddled her but she seemed happy enough to remain in that gilded cage they had figuratively trapped her in. The rest of us were OK. If we ever needed them, our parents were there, most of the time.
Jenna was everything I was not; sweet-tempered, usually a definite glass-half-full girl with a contagious laugh and a blinkered view of the world. At least, she was before the shit with Nixon went down. I impatiently waited for that day when Jenna would realise the man was her kryptonite.
Today she was as delicate as crystal.
“Seth McKenna texted me to say Nixon is coming home,” she whispered softly. Her voice was like a song .
What the actual fuck! I swear to God, how I didn’t throw myself from my seat and hunt him down there and then was a miracle. Now I’d have to add Seth to my shit list. Maybe by the end of the day, I’d have all the McKenna family on there. This news added another dampener to the shit show that was my morning.
“It doesn’t matter Jenna. It’s over. Remember all the horrible things he said before he left,” I stated in a matter-of-fact voice.
Jenna and Nixon had an on-and-off marriage. Now it was off. Nixon had gone back to Syria which had at least given them some time apart. A time for those wounds to heal. After that last fight, I did think Jenna had come to her senses, but apparently not.
She looked away briefly. Something she did when she couldn’t face the facts. My sister had spent the last few weeks running from them. Nixon McKenna was no good for her and she needed to come to terms with that. If I had to keep giving her a little nudge in that direction, I would.
My mind transferred back to what Mason had said about minding my own business. Surely my family was my business?
“Maybe things will be different when he comes back. Marriages take work, don’t they?” she said, pursing her soft, plump lips. I wanted to hug some sense into her. She and Nix had married much too quickly, hence the fallout.
Her comment proved that she did want to work it out with him. I knew this would happen, once she’d heard the news that he was coming home, that she’d weaken.
“We could live here instead? Without all the male hormones. He’s so different when he’s not around his father and brothers,” she suggested lightly. As if her heart would be any safer with the overbearing monster if they were on our territory.
“Dad wouldn’t allow it now. If he ever sets foot here again, he’ll be escorted off by Daniel, you know that.” Daniel was one of our farm hands who acted as security if the need arose. He used to be a bouncer in town and was built like a brick shit house. He’d have to be considering the size of Jenna’s husband. Nixon was an aggressive-looking, tattooed tank of a man and took shit from no one. I remembered seeing him that time in the fighting ring at their house. Untameable.
Jenna fiddled with her rings again. It made me want to lean over and rip them off her finger .
“Well, either way, we must talk. Maybe then I can get some closure,” Jenna said, her tone hollow.
“He still fucked off to Syria without you, what does that tell you? He obviously doesn’t care as much as you think.”
Jenna had never been invited to stay with Nixon at the base in Marham when he was working away either. He didn’t like the attention she received from his not-getting-any squaddie buddies.
She suddenly looked like she was in pain and I hated myself for being the one to cause it, but I had to be honest. Although I knew Nixon hadn’t had a choice. He’d been on long-term leave from the army when he and Jenna had got together and so everyone knew he’d have to return, eventually .
“He was going on tour Amy; they don’t take wives. It’s too dangerous.”
“If he really loved you, he should be by your side. He should have left the army,” I pointed out, knowing that my words were bullshit.
There was a beat of silence.
“Do you really want to go back to him when he took control of your life like that? Stopped you from doing the things you love? Seeing your family?”
Her brow threaded as her eyes probed mine.
I carried the hell on, “What about how he treated you when he first came back? Constantly blaming us for the fire and taking it out on you. He was cruel and punished you like the sick fucker he is.”
“He wasn’t that bad,” she whispered.
“You were like a little toy to him. And when you first got together. You lost your identity. Everything was about Nixon and his interfering family. They didn’t welcome you into the fold, you had to adapt to fit in, and that’s not how it should be.”
“Well, I said I needed space and I’ve had it,” she whispered. She was so beautiful and special but so very soft. A softness that Nixon McKenna had latched on to, a biddable entity that would bend over backwards to please him, without question or complaint.
She shrugged her slight shoulders and a light appeared in her eyes. “He wants me back; I know he does. He’s tried my old phone. I didn’t have time to read the messages but I found it in Dad’s drawer. He must have got some signal at some point and tried to contact me.”
Our father took Jenna’s phone to stop Nixon from contacting her after the shit kicked off the night before his flight. He tried to message me, but I’d blocked his number. Luckily, he didn’t have our landline and any letters sent that were blatantly not from the UK were hidden. Yes, our family interfered but it was for the best. Jenna, of course, didn’t know that and never would if it was up to me.
“He’ll come to me; I know he will.”
“And you have to be strong enough to say no. I just can’t see you hurt again Jen,” I replied firmly.
I wasn’t stupid. Jenna was still besotted by Nixon and there wasn’t much we could do about it. My parents wouldn’t lock her in her room or anything. The only thing that we could do was try and keep them apart, but that was no easy feat when considering Nixon’s bullheadedness. The guy ripped down barriers; physically and figuratively.
Their marriage should never have happened, end of. Instead of closing the rift between our two families, their union had made it wider. Like a huge gaping hole, a wound that was still festering.
Seeing how Jenna was struggling with the conversation, I changed it to focus on our Chrissy and told Jen about the rumours. My sister felt the same way about Boyd McKenna as he had been nothing but rude to her when she’d been living with Nixon. Jenna had explained that the only McKenna to be nice to her was in fact, Mason. I’d almost swallowed my tongue at that news. Considering he and I had been at war for most of our lives.
We spent around an hour catching up and she started to relax and opened herself up. I saw signs of the old Jenna, the one before she’d had her heart stomped on. It was refreshing.
I was annoyed that Nix was coming back so soon, with a bit more time we may have been able to eradicate what Jenna felt for him. We’d done well so far in a drip method type of way. The no contact had helped too of course .
The truth of the matter was, when he got back, all the hard work we had put into helping Jenna get over him would be reset. Frustrating. Like that game of Monopoly when you advance to go, but get to collect fuck all.
*****
Later that evening, I sat on my bed and texted my boyfriend, Alex. We were going out to supper. He was taking me to a local pub which had recently been refurbished.
After showering, I padded over to my wardrobe, wondering what to wear. I’d leave my hair loose. It fell almost to my waist in soft chocolate brown waves and Alex liked to play with it.
Alex and I had met at work and had been seeing each other for almost two months. I worked at a local stable. It wasn’t a career by any measure but I’d finished my A-levels now and hadn’t a clue what I wanted to do next. I wasn’t sure I would go down the University route like most of my friends. Betty was the same as me. We just didn’t want to leave home, and I wouldn’t have had an offer from our local Uni in Norwich. My results were not high enough. I did fancy photography, but there were no courses near us and I’d have to go to London to pursue that. So, for now, I mucked out the stables. Alex exercised the horses and we’d just clicked.
I chose a pastel sage off-the-shoulder Bardot summer dress. It was fitted and short and displayed my legs which were lightly tanned. I wasn’t a sun worshipper, but I did like to catch a few rays when I had the chance, a cheeky top-up always improved my mood. After applying minimal makeup and fluffing my hair, I grabbed my purse and slotted my feet into toe-post sandals. I eyed my toes critically, the nail polish there had started to peel off, but I’d have to deal with that another time, I was already running late. A bad trait of mine.
As I left my bedroom and set off down the stairs, my parents, Chrissy, and my brother Mattie were in the kitchen making dinner. I had already told my mum that I was going out to supper. Jenna was nowhere to be seen, and would probably be moping in her bedroom reading that stupid bloody book .
Chrissy sat at the kitchen table with her arms folded, looking like a moody school kid. She was only sixteen after all and indulged herself with the occasional strop now and then. Mattie sat opposite her. I could only see the back of his head. He didn’t even turn to acknowledge my arrival, he just sat there texting on his phone, self-involved much? Mattie was still going through that process of ‘coming out’ and was finding it difficult, us living in the country where boys ate testosterone for breakfast.
As I entered the space, all eyes were on me. I wasn’t sure what I’d interrupted. Maybe my folks had heard the rumour about Chrissy with a McKenna boy? One could only hope. I hadn’t said anything, of course, I was many things, but a snitch wasn’t one of them.
“You look lovely Amy,” my mum complimented and I gave her a spin. Dad also smiled as he moved away from Chrissy to wash his hands in the sink. He looked like he’d been rolling in mud all day. I was surprised my mother had allowed him in the kitchen when Sally had recently cleaned it. Mum had proper OCD.
My brother just exhaled loudly, like he had something to say, but couldn’t string the words together. This caused my mother to shoot him a look which was difficult to read; a warning of sorts?
“Where is Alex taking you,” Chrissy questioned, overpronouncing my boyfriend’s name. She pulled her focus off Mattie, her eyes wandering over my dress.
The energy in the room was off. I couldn’t read exactly what it was but something wasn’t right. It felt like I’d interrupted a conversation about me or something. Had they heard about my visit to the McKenna’s place? Surely not, as my father wouldn’t have greeted me in such a friendly way. I’d be sitting in one of those kitchen chairs with a light shining in my eyes and thumb screws on by now.
I moved to the table and stood by Chrissy.
“The Windmill in Necton,” I replied breezily. She had a strange glare in her eye. It didn’t take long for her to reveal the reason for said glare.
“Isn’t that my dress?” she questioned with a tilt of her head. Chrissy was pretty in a cherubic way, but still possessed that puppy fat type of roundness. Let’s face it, there was no way she’d fit in the dress I was wearing. I wouldn’t tell her that though.
“No Chrissy, it’s mine. ”
Her eyes narrowed and then Dad turned back from the sink wearing an expression of concern.
I ran my eyes over all their faces, I had interrupted something but after my crappy morning, I so didn’t want to get involved in any more bullshit.
“Anyways, looks like you guys have something to discuss, so, I’ll leave you to it,” I said with a grin toward my sister. A hidden message purely for Chrissy which said, good luck with that biatch! I meant it with a pinch of salt of course, as I said, my family were close and I loved my little sister.
She rubbed her nose with her index finger, secretly flipping me off and my grin turned meaty.
“Have a good time,” my mum cooed and I turned and walked to the door before my brother’s voice stopped me.
“Tell Alex I’m still up for that game of Duos on Fortnite later, if he’s going online,” Mattie shot out, twisting in his chair. I spun to face him and smiled, nodding my head in agreement. Both Alex and Mattie were huge gamer geeks and regularly teamed up on their PS4s or Xboxes (Mattie had both). I liked that my brother and boyfriend got along. There were already too many dysfunctional relationships in the area without adding to them. Coming up against resistance all the time was draining.
Alex was sitting in his car on his phone, but he looked up when the crunch of my feet hit the gravel. He hurriedly slid his phone into his pocket which was a bit odd, like he didn’t want me to see it.
I shook off the thought. His expression beamed his appreciation and I climbed into his car, thoroughly looking forward to some good chat and a nice large steak.
*****
The Windmill had recently reopened after new ownership and so I was a little apprehensive but luckily, the food was delicious . Everything looked so clean and fresh and the décor was modern, considering it was a country pub. It felt a bit more like a restaurant than a bar .
It was quiet, with one other couple in there when we arrived and only two barmaids present. I preferred it quiet, as I didn’t do noise and had little to no patience with waiting.
I took another sip of wine, eyeing Alex over the rim. He looked handsome with his dark blonde hair and clear blue eyes. His build was tall and athletic, but he wasn’t overly muscly. I preferred his build to the beefcakes that were the McKenna brothers. Alex was understated and less in your face. A good guy. He possessed a great sense of fashion, which was unique in a country lad.
A disturbance suddenly kicked off at the bar and I leaned over to see what the issue was. I wasn’t a people watcher but I was nosy.
What I saw was like a fist in my stomach.
It obviously wasn’t my day. Had I pissed off the powers that be somehow?
By some cruel twist of fate, Mason McKenna and his annoying, fucking brothers had materialised by the bar, laughing, and joking with the barmaids.
Twice in one day, like a bad smell that you couldn’t shake off.
Alex and I sat at a booth table at the back of the room and I manoeuvred the tall menus to shield us. Hopefully, the boys would stay and prop up the bar, and wouldn’t see we were there. Let’s face it, the barmaids were hot-totty and considered a free-for-all. There was gossip between my friendship groups that the McKenna boys had shared girls in the past. That was some sordid shit and I found the thought revolting.
“What’s up? Trouble brewing?” Alex said, lowering his head toward mine from across the table. His keen eyes glittered. He knew all about my war with the McKenna boys.
“You could say that. McKenna boys, on your six, but don’t look yet,” I whispered, shifting my empty plate, and taking a nervous sip of wine. An uncomfortable expression dashed fleetingly across his face before he masked it. Alex knew exactly how I felt about Mason. To be honest, the entire village were aware.
Alex’s cute boyish eyes crinkled. They were sun streaked as he worked outside all day.
“Shit,” he said on an exhale .
Mason, Seth, and Boyd stood in the pub as if they owned it. Boisterous, rampant males, obviously gagging for a cold pint after a hot day. The fact that they had come to this venue was a pain in my arse. What were the chances?
I nervously played with the edge of my sundress, it suddenly felt like it was cutting into my shoulders, but I was glad I looked nice. When I saw Alex, I went all out girlie as he only ever saw me in grubby jeans and wellies at work. You didn’t muck horses out in girly shit, it wasn’t practical and despite what Mason McKenna had said. I was extremely practical when choosing my apparel.
We continued to chat in stealth mode, the menus were like a shield, but my relief at being unseen was soon short-lived. Suddenly, the menus were pushed over and Boyd stood there with a huge smirk on his annoying face. He was slightly shorter than Mason and wasn’t naturally well-built, his muscles being sculptured by the gym rather than hard work. However, he was dressed in work-type clothes; jeans and a top covered in paint which was a surprise. Maybe he’d done something helpful with his day. He looked like a scruffy fucker. His face was unshaven and of course, it would be, no point straining yourself with a razor for that pathetic amount of bum fluff. Boyd had the McKenna eyes, brown ones that would occasionally look black: a colour to match their souls of course. His nose was slightly crooked, which was probably his only flaw. He was still a handsome man, unfortunately.
The thought of those lips anywhere near my sister made me jerk back in my seat and shoot him the dead eye.
“What were you two up to behind there? You know this is a public place, right?” Boyd began in a chirpy voice, pointing his bottle of bud at us to highlight his comment.
“Piss off Boyd,” I huffed, leaning back in my seat. Yes, he was good looking but he still gave me the ick.
“So cold Amy. Mason said you wanted to see me?” he questioned, his dark eyes flicking between Alex and I. Alex looked awkward and sat back in his seat, fiddling with his empty plate.
Before I could think of a snappy comeback, the devil’s own voice trickled into the mix, like fucking poison .
“Amy Taylor-Joy, you’re such a fucking stalker,” Mason’s annoying voice bled in, like a sliced artery.
I rolled my eyes. “I was here first, shit for brains,” I pointed out in a firm voice. Alex’s eyes widened and his neck turtled into his shoulders. He so wasn’t one for confrontation.
Turning my head, I watched helplessly as all three brothers joined us around our booth, the younger two tugged over bar stools, and Mason spun a chair around and straddled it backwards. His strong jean-clad thighs were close to my own. I tried to scoot further into the booth but my oversized bag was in the way. I toyed with the idea of pushing it onto the floor, under the table but then the McKenna’s would see my retreat. As I said, you didn’t show any weakness in front of McKenna men.
“I heard you two were going out?” Seth put in with a huge toothy grin. He was the youngest of the McKenna boys at just fifteen, but he still had a beer in his hand. By his appearance alone you wouldn’t place him that young, he was still as tall and as arresting as his brothers. He was, however, the most immature. A watered-down version of his siblings.
Alex suddenly looked like he was going to be sick.
“I must admit, I was surprised. Totally didn’t see that coming,” Seth added before his brother cut him off.
“So, spill it. What do you want to see me about?” Boyd interjected, shooting Seth a dark look. I was surprised Mason hadn’t given him the gist.
Seth still wore a massive grin as he looked between us and Mason just sat there in brooding silence, his eyes on my face. I’d only cast him a glance, I refused to look directly at him, he didn’t deserve my attention and why the hell had they sat with us? To bug us of course, a McKenna speciality.
Mason knew I was ignoring him on purpose and obviously couldn’t help himself. He had to have my attention, McKenna men did not like being blanked.
“Aren’t you going to have your little chat with Boyd, Amy? You were panting for it this morning,” Mason suddenly cut in before taking a swig of beer. One muscled arm was resting on the back of his chair. He looked fit as fuck. He was still a wanker though .
“What I have to say needs to be said in private really,” I excused. There was no way I was discussing the unfortunate possibility of Boyd and my sister when he had backup. Taking on more than one McKenna at a time was suicide, everyone knew that.
“You want to get me on my own. Why Amy, I didn’t think you saw me like that,” Boyd smirked, shooting a wary eye toward Mason. A look I found interesting. Was he checking he had his brother’s approval or was he scared he was stepping out of line?
“I don’t. I’m not into STDs,” I batted back with a fake smile.
“Ouch,” Boyd said, recoiling in his seat with a pretend offended look plastered across his face. He looked like his brother Nixon, but less weathered.
Seth omitted one of his infamous pig snorts. McKenna scum.
Arching an eyebrow, I scanned the three of them with my best-unimpressed expression and motioned toward their positions with the flat of my hand.
“I don’t know why you think you’re all welcome at our table?” I inwardly cringed, my words sounded almost biblical. But at least my voice had just the right amount of ice in it.
“What,” Seth stated with a dumb look on his face, “We couldn’t find anywhere else to sit,” he said in a dopey voice, shooting me a cheeky wink. We all knew what he said was a load of shit as the place was now empty. The older couple from earlier had left whilst we’d been eating our meals.
Boyd sniffed, drawing back my attention.
“Mase says it’s about your sister, but you don’t have to worry. There’s absolutely no fucking truth to that pile of bollocks. Never touched her.”
His words annoyed the heck out of me. He delivered them with distaste, as if there was something wrong with Chrissy, a thought that was laughable . This guy was totally punching above his weight with her. Yes, he was good looking, but he didn’t have enough brain cells to interest Chrissy. Chrissy was a first-class student. I was surprised Boyd could spell his own name.
I still didn’t believe him, but I needed to shut it down.
“I heard about there being a kiss, but it was nothing to do with me, or your sister from what I heard,” Boyd rattled .
His comment forced Mason to roll his shoulders, which caught my attention. What was I missing?
“Boyd,” Mason said with a cautionary tone.
His words had the intended effect and his brother backed down. From what was anyone’s guess? At the end of the day, they were the McKenna boys, you’d have to be severely stupid to speak and understand their brand of vocabulary.
“Anyway, it wasn’t me,” Boyd huffed.
Alex lifted his wine and took a huge sip. I totally understood why he was uncomfortable. He was so different to these types of boys; he was civilised and a gentleman. He even opened doors for me.
“Well, that’s the right answer. And you’ll leave her alone from now on.”
He flinched as if I’d hit him. “Will I?” Boyd’s voice dipped. Like his brothers, he had an issue with authority and didn’t like being told what to do. I decided I needed to do some damage control. I didn’t want to push him to do the opposite.
“Yes, please Boyd. She’s only sixteen and she needs to focus on school,” I added, forcing myself to sound less bossy. It was tough to pull off, I had to drop my hands into my lap and nip myself. The pain took my mind off the fact that I was pretty much begging a McKenna, again!
Boyd shot another glance at Mason who remained silent, his gaze pinned on me. I was surprised I didn’t see strings coming from Boyd’s body and the older McKenna manipulating his movements like the fucking puppeteer he was.
“You see, you can ask nicely when you want something,” Boyd said with a sneer before necking his drink. Seth leaned back and placed his hands behind his head, looking down his nose.
“You’re quiet,” he suddenly said, addressing Alex who shifted uncomfortably in his seat. My boyfriend opened his mouth to reply, but I cut him off, saving him.
“Anyway, about Chrissy, thank you, Boyd, I appreciate it.”
All three McKenna brothers and Alex were surprised.
Thank you was not a word I used with these boys. I shuffled back into my seat, the night suddenly felt like it was getting so much longer, and not in a good way.