Chapter 9
‘Morning, Nic! How’s things?’ Jill pulled her gardening gloves from her hands as she walked into the kitchen, flinging tiny clumps of dirt onto the newly mopped tiles.
‘Hi, all good thanks.’ Nicola nodded towards the kettle as it reached boiling point, ignoring the urge to grab the mop once again. ‘Fancy a coffee?’
‘Yeah, why not? I’ve got a few minutes before I need to go and collect Kasey from nursery.’ Laying the gardening gloves on the table, Jill sat down. ‘Dare I ask if you had any luck with the new farmer at Little Mead?’
‘I’d wait until you’ve got a strong coffee inside you.’ Nicola poured the water into two mugs, watching the coffee granules disperse and dissolve.
‘Ah, that bad?’
‘Uh-huh. That bad.’ Topping up with a splash of milk in each mug, Nicola then carried them across to the table. Apart from a little pain in her leg still, she’d woken up feeling less battered and bruised than she’d expected after yesterday’s incident with her bike.
‘Thanks.’ Taking the mug, Jill downed at least half the liquid before placing it on the table. ‘Right, coffee devoured. Hit me with it?’
Slipping onto the bench opposite her, Nicola wrapped her hands around the hot ceramic. ‘He still says no. Charlie Williams is not entertaining the notion of helping us at all.’
‘Charlie?’ Jill nodded. ‘Did you show him the photos? Of his uncle? At the carnival.’
Remembering the slight flicker of emotion that passed across Charlie’s face when he looked at the photos, Nicola nodded. ‘I did.’
‘And still no joy?’ Jill took another sip of coffee. ‘I don’t understand. He’s new here, you would have thought he’d want to immerse himself into the community, become part of the place, just as his uncle had been.’
‘Nope.’ Nicola shook her head slowly. ‘He wants to sell. He doesn’t want anything to do with Meadowfield or the farm. He has no interest in it or us whatsoever.’
‘Seriously? But even if that’s the case, why wouldn’t he want to participate this once? In memory of his uncle?’
‘He wants to do a few things to the farm, I guess, so he can get top price for it, sell, pocket the money and leave.’ Nicola shifted in her seat.
A small part of her felt awful for speaking about Charlie like this.
After all, he had shown her more than a little compassion last night, but he wasn’t helping himself.
He’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in the carnival, despite her pleas for him to be involved for the sake of the community.
‘It’s just easy money for him, isn’t it?
He inherits the farm, sells it and goes back to his old life, wherever that might be. ’
‘Maybe, but…’ Jill sighed. ‘I don’t know. Farmer Williams was such a lovely, kind man. It’s difficult to think anyone who shares his genes can be that callous.’
Picking up her mug, Nicola took a sip before looking over the rim at her friend. ‘And he’s stolen my bike.’
‘What?’ Slamming her mug down on the table in surprise, Jill quickly mopped up a couple of droplets of coffee with the edge of her T-shirt.
‘I cycled to the farm last night, fell off on the way back home and he passed. He picked me up, drove me home, and he’s taken my bike.
’ She shrugged. She left out the part where he’d helped her to the sofa and cleaned her up – she wasn’t even sure if she was remembering things right now.
Those actions had seemed a far cry from the man she knew he was.
Maybe it had been a blip? A temporary possession.
Kindness flashing through the heart of an uncaring man, something like that.
‘Oh, wow!’ Leaning forward, Jill placed her hand on Nicola’s forearm before glancing over her shoulder as Laura entered the kitchen, a large pile of leaflets in her arms. ‘Hey, Laura. Have you heard this? Charlie, Farmer Williams’ nephew who has inherited his farm, stole Nic’s bike.’
‘He what?’ Slipping onto the bench, Laura opened her arms, leaflets cascading across the tabletop.
‘Well, he might have just forgotten it. I fell off on the way back from his farm and he put it in the back of his truck and took me home.’ Nicola picked up one of the leaflets from the heap in front of Laura. ‘Are these the ones you were talking about?’
‘Yes, the carousel stand for the hallway should be arriving tomorrow and then we can display leaflets of all the local attractions.’ Laura began sorting through the leaflets, stacking them into piles.
‘But tell me more. What happened? And where’s your car?
I didn’t even know you had a bike, and it was raining last night, wasn’t it? ’
Scrunching up her nose, Nicola began helping Laura, briefly glancing at the different leaflets before adding them to the piles. ‘Nathan. That’s what happened to my car. He stopped paying the finance even though we’d only arranged it through him as he owed me money.’
‘Oh, Nic. That’s awful. Have you tried speaking to him?’ Laura frowned.
‘It’s no use. Kerry says…’ Nicola rolled her eyes.
‘Ahh, the woman he ran off with?’
‘The very same.’ Nicola shook herself. She didn’t want to get into this. Not right now. Not at work. The less brain space she could give him – and Kerry – the better. ‘It’s fine. I’ve got my bike.’
‘Well, you haven’t. Not anymore.’ Jill spoke softly.
‘No, Farmer Grumpy ran off with it.’ Nicola burst out laughing.
The whole scenario was just so insane. What was Charlie Williams going to do with a twenty-year-old teenage girl’s bike, complete with bright pink handlebar tassels and Boyzone stickers?
She couldn’t exactly picture him cycling across his fields on it.
The tune of the doorbell filtered in through from the hallway and Laura stood up. ‘Ooh, I wonder if our leaflet stand has come already? It’s a bit early for this evening’s guests to be arriving.’
After watching Laura disappear into the hallway, Nicola picked up her mug and downed her now-lukewarm coffee before standing up. ‘Right, I’d better get on and actually get some work done.’
‘Me too.’ Pushing the bench back, Jill carried her mug to the sink. ‘After all the rain last night, it’s the perfect time to get some weeding done.’
Nicola looked across at the door as Laura peered round it. ‘Everything okay?’
‘It’s the farmer from Little Mead.’ Keeping her voice low, Laura hissed at her. ‘And he’s asking for you.’
‘Ooh, do you think he’s changed his mind about the carnival?’ Jill tapped Nicola on the arm, a grin playing at her lips. ‘Or else he’s returning your bike. Maybe he’s tried it out, and it’s not his style?’
‘Maybe.’ Nicola shook her head. She wasn’t sure she was ready to face Charlie Williams again so soon. ‘Why don’t you go and ask him?’
‘Nope. He’s asking for you.’ Gripping Nicola by the shoulders, Jill spun her around so she was facing the door. ‘Go on. Go and find out.’
Rolling her eyes, Nicola reluctantly began heading towards the kitchen door. He could keep the bike if it meant she didn’t have to have anything more to do with him and his awful attitude.
Stepping aside to let her pass, Laura smiled sympathetically at her.
And there he was, leaning against the reception desk, complete with muddy boots and checked shirt. As soon as he saw her, he straightened his back, running his fingers through his hair.
‘Hi. How can I help you?’ Keeping her voice calm, she forced a smile. Please don’t mention yesterday. If he did, she was sure she’d self-combust from the embarrassment.
‘Hey, I, err…’ He pointed towards the door. ‘I have your bike.’
‘Right. Thanks.’ She nodded as she watched him dither on the spot, unsure whether to go outside or wait until she’d said something else. ‘Can you just leave it outside, please?’
He nodded slowly. ‘Of course.’
Keeping her smile fixed, she busied herself behind the desk, picking up a pen and jotting down some ineligible note in the notebook, waiting for him to leave.
But he didn’t. He was still there. Sighing, Nicola looked up at him.
He obviously wanted her to grovel, to thank him yet again for being human and helping her.
Well, if that’s what he wanted… ‘Look, thank you again for taking me home yesterday and for…’ She indicated her leg. ‘Everything.’
‘No problem.’ Turning, he began walking towards the door before retreating back towards the desk. Tapping his fingers on the wood, he briefly met her eyes. ‘Look, I’ll lend you my tractors and trailers. But I won’t be able to spare them for preparations for more than a few days beforehand.’
‘You will?’ With her voice raised, she grinned. He was actually going to help! Yes, he looked as though he was being forced into it, much the same as Trixie looked when she’d had to give her a shower in the sink after she’d rolled in something indescribably foul, but he was doing it.
‘I will.’ He nodded again. ‘But, like I said, I won’t be able to spare them for long, so any preparations, decorating or whatever assembling a carnival float entails will have to be done close to the day and not take long.’
‘Right, yes. That will be fine. Thank you!’ She’d take anything and she was sure Jill would be able to work around his stipulations.
Pausing for a moment, he then turned back to the front door and left.
As soon as the door closed, Laura sidled up to the reception desk, leaning her elbows on the wood and staring at Nicola. ‘So? What happened?’
‘Yes, tell us. Did he have an excuse as to why he drove off with your bike in the back of his truck?’ Jill joined them, walking towards the front door and watching as his truck drove past the end of the garden before walking back to the reception desk.
‘He’s brought my bike back, but better than that, he’s agreed we can borrow his two tractors and trailers for the carnival.’ Nicola grinned as she watched relief flood across Jill’s face.
‘That’s amazing!’ Clapping her hands together, Jill pulled her mobile from her pocket. ‘I’ll have to let Miss Cooke and Rachel know. They’ll be thrilled.’
Holding her hand up, palm forward, Nicola waited until she had Jill’s attention again. ‘Although he was very clear, he can only spare them for a couple of days.’
‘Oh, that’s fine.’ Jill waved her hand dismissively. ‘We can work around that. All the decorations can be made in the village hall or somewhere and then fixed to the trailers in the day or two beforehand.’
‘Okay.’ Nodding, Nicola smiled. The carnival was going to go ahead, all clubs and groups included, as well as honouring Farmer Williams’ memory.
‘I’ll go and ring them now.’ Holding her mobile to her ear, Jill disappeared outside.
‘I think she’s pleased.’ Laura laughed. ‘Well done, Nic. Oh, by the way, are you free to come to the pub for lunch tomorrow? My treat, as a staff meeting sort of thing.’
‘Yes sure. Sounds good.’ Nicola nodded. A staff meeting at the pub? They normally just caught up through a quick chat in the kitchen over a coffee. ‘Is the meeting about anything in particular?’
Laura shifted on her feet as she shook her head. ‘No, not really. You’ll come, won’t you?’
‘Yes, of course.’ Nicola frowned slightly. Why hadn’t Laura answered her properly?
‘Great. Thanks. I’ll ask Jill once she’s finished on the phone.’ Laura pointed towards the kitchen. ‘I left the leaflets on the table, didn’t I?’
‘Yes.’ Nicola watched as Laura disappeared into the kitchen. There was definitely something going on.