Chapter Thirty-Three – Rose
ROSE
Bertha, I Choose You!
I sat cross-legged on my bedroom floor, stark naked, staring at myself in the mirror.
I could do this.
I could get dressed, go to the allotments, and be an adult today. Everyone needed me. We would need to arrange contractors and handymen to help us dismantle the sheds and greenhouses, plus find new homes for them all.
Even if they were given away, it was better than leaving them there to rot.
Or be smashed by building equipment. Whatever.
Even if it broke my heart every single day, I could do this. I had to do this. I’d had my night of wallowing in self-pity, feeling sorry for myself while crying in the bathtub of a nice hotel, and now I had to be the adult I was.
I couldn’t hide forever.
I also knew I’d have to see Oliver at some point. I sincerely hoped it wouldn’t be today because I was liable to hop a fence to escape him, but if he showed up, then he showed up.
As long as he didn’t expect me to be nice.
He was no longer ‘Oliver.’ And I would no longer allow him to call me ‘princess.’
It was Your Grace and Miss Matthews.
He’d made it so.
Anything personal between us had died the moment he’d signed his name on the dotted line, and this time, I meant it.
I would not fold. I would not give in. I would not let that man seduce his way into my knickers again.
My knickers were off-limits.
With that resolve in mind, I got up and got dressed. I threw on a t-shirt and pair of cycle shorts—I needed to be able to jump a fence without flashing everyone if necessary.
I, Rose Matthews, was prepared for anything today.
I sorted my hair, snapped a hairband on my wrist to shove it up later, and grabbed all my shit.
I can do this.
I can do this.
I repeated the words with every step, almost like a mantra. That was my motto today. I can do this . No matter what was going to be thrown my way, I could handle it. I could deal with it.
Broken heart be damned.
“Rose? That you, darlin’?”
I paused at the sound of my dad’s voice. “What are you doing home?”
“It’s nice to see you, too, daughter,” he replied, his green eyes twinkling. “Are you going to the allotments?”
I leant against the door frame and nodded. “Need to get everything sorted.”
“Want me to come with you? I can lend a hand if anything needs moving.”
That was true. The man was built like a brick shithouse.
Ten of them, actually.
Yet I hadn’t seen him work out in three years. The only hint of it was the occasional weight moving in the garage.
It was one of life’s mysteries.
“Nah, it’s fine. We just need to coordinate more than anything.”
“All right, love. Will that man show up today?”
I held my hand out and wobble it side to side.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come? I’ll beat him up for you.”
I smiled. That was my dad. Anyone who hurt me was in line for a beating. It didn’t matter who they were—brother, boyfriend, even the duke.
“Please,” I said dryly. “As if I can’t beat him up myself. If he pisses me off, I’ll give him a swift kick and punch to the nose, just like you taught me.”
He nodded. “Atta girl. Don’t forget, if anyone grabs you from behind—”
“Step on their foot and shove my elbow into their gut.”
“Then call Dad to finish the job and take the blame.” He winked at me, then paused. “You sure you’re all right, kiddo?”
“Yeah.” I smiled sadly. “You know me, Dad. There’s nothing I can’t get over.”
“Ain’t just about the allotments, though, is it? We ain’t idiots, Rose. We know you weren’t at Isa’s.”
“I was at Isa’s.”
“No, you weren’t. That girl couldn’t lie her way out of a wet paper bag if her life depended on it.”
Goddamn it, Isadora.
“It’s fine, Dad. Gotta kiss a few frogs, right?” I smiled again. “This frog was just a big, fat, slimy, smelly toad.”
“Say that to his face and I bet you’ll feel better.”
“Eh, I’ll probably say worse.” I shrugged a shoulder and pushed off the doorframe. “I have to get going.”
“All right. Don’t forget, if you need me, just call me.”
“I know.” I tucked my hair behind my ear. “See you later, Dad.”
“Later, darlin’.”
I left the house, only to run right into Jake coming home. He looked like utter shit, and I knew exactly what he’d been doing all night.
“Dad’s in the living room,” I said, reaching into Isa’s car and pulling out a packet of face wipes I’d bought during my disappearance last night.
He stilled, staring at my offering.
“You’ve got pizza sauce on your face. Do you want him to know you were so drunk last night that you fell asleep in a pizza box again?”
He took a few wipes out of the packet and scrubbed at his face. “Thanks for the warning. You look like shit, do you know that?”
“That’s hardly a compliment coming from Mr Hangover himself,” I said dryly. “But yes, I know that.”
He scrunched the wipes up in his hand. “Sorry, Rose.”
“You? Apologising for something? Are you still drunk?”
“Nah. The allotments. I heard he signed the contract.”
I grimaced. “Yeah. Well, we all tried. It was inevitable.”
“You want me to beat him up for you?”
I laughed and pinched Jake’s nose. “What could you do to him, you scrawny little git? Besides, Dad already offered. You can drive the getaway car.”
He shoved my hand away from his face and rubbed his nose. “Ungrateful cow.”
“Daaaad!” I shouted, turning back towards the house.
“Your hair looks great today,” Jake said quickly, stepping back. “Really matches those bags under your eyes.”
“You little—”
“Jake, stop winding up your sister,” Dad said from the doorway. “Aren’t you two too old for this shit?”
We looked at each other and smiled. “Go shower,” I said to my little brother. “You smell like crap.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He turned towards the house and rubbed the back of his neck. “Don’t get arrested, you whacko.”
“No promises,” I sang, climbing into Isa’s car.
“Call me instead of your mother if you do!” Dad shouted.
I gave him a thumbs up before closing the door behind me and started the engine. I sent her a quick text asking when she’d return my beloved Ramona to me, tucked my phone into the centre console, and pulled out of the drive.
But not before hearing my dad give Jake an earful about the pizza sauce in his hair and his teenage drinking habits.
Oops.
I’d obviously missed that bit.
He’d survive. And, really, it was his own fault that his drunk habit was falling asleep on pizza.
I drove towards the allotments. My stomach twisted tighter and tighter the closer I got, and paranoia had me scanning every car I saw just in case one was Oliver’s. I made it there without seeing his Range Rover, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I pulled in next to Susan’s car.
I climbed out, locked it, and pocketed the keys, scuffing my feet as I made my way towards my plot. It seemed like a cruel joke, that the place I’d loved my entire life would no longer exist in the very near future.
I had so many memories here. I’d practically grown up on the very plot I now kept, thanks to my grandmother. My grandfather had been the chairman of the committee, and my love for the outdoors and gardening had grown as I had.
And the place that sparked that love was going to be torn down.
Decades of memories would be wiped away without a second thought.
Money really was the root of all evil.
I sighed as I reached my plot. Hades was chilling next door on Susan’s glass table, sunning himself without a care in the world. A lump formed in my throat as he rolled over, opening his amber eyes, and sent a little meow my way.
If I could, I’d take him home with me.
But I couldn’t.
Not because it was an issue—my parents wouldn’t care, even if Jake’s idiot cat would—but because Hades could never survive as an indoor cat. He was born in a barn, raised outside, and this was how he’d lived his entire four years of life.
It would be too cruel to force him inside.
Besides, the farm that had agreed to take him was a safe place. It was even further away from roads than the allotments was, and he would have acres upon acres of space for all his little hunts he loved.
The same went for the chickens, too. They would have a fully free-range life on the farm guarded by livestock dogs, and although I would miss seeing them every day, I would eventually get over it.
Our garden at home just wasn’t big enough to keep them all in.
If it was, I wouldn’t need the allotment.
It was the same for all the plot holders, or one of us would definitely be taking them home.
I shook my head, sending those thoughts elsewhere. The reality of the situation was truly dawning on me now that I was back here, but I couldn’t cry again.
I didn’t want to cry again. I’d exhausted all my tears last night. I’d end up in the hospital on a drip for dehydration if I lost any more fluids.
“Oh, Rose!” George said, shuffling out of his shed. “How are you feelin’?”
I gave him the best smile I could muster. “A bit tired, but I’m all right. What about you? How was your night with your new fiancée?”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
I tilted my head, thinking about it. “I’ve changed my mind. I’ll pass.”
He laughed and handed me a little packet. “Here. Found this in the shed. Give it to the cat, would ya?”
I took it from him and flipped it over. “George, this Lick-e-lix is two years out of date.”
“Is it? Crikey. What’s it been doing in the shed for two years, then?”
“Haven’t the foggiest,” I replied, putting it back in his hand. “I’ll leave that to you. God only knows what I’ll find in mine when I start clearing it out.”
“Probably some cornflakes from your ol’ grandpa.” He chuckled.
He wasn’t wrong.
It wasn’t as if I ever gutted the place, and my grandfather had been rather partial to cornflakes.
“Good morning, dear!” Susan practically bounced out of her shed. “Oh, Hades, you’re on my gloves again, you little tyke.”
“He’s a cat,” I replied. “If he fits, he sits. And if he doesn’t fits, he’s gonna try to sits anyway.”
She laughed brightly, scooting her gloves out from under him. “At least they’re nice and warm.”