Chapter 24 #2
I laughed at that. ‘I don’t think Carter offers any such thing.’
‘Oh?’ Zack frowned.
‘I think it’s more a case of him offering you his spare room above the pub because he didn’t want to upset Constance when she rang and asked if he could put you up.
I know she would have offered you a bed in Fernside if it wasn’t for the current turmoil, but as things stand, I do think this is a better option. ’
‘I get that, but I feel bad now,’ Zack tutted. ‘I hope Carter doesn’t really mind. What if we don’t get on?’
‘You get on with everyone,’ I reminded him. ‘And Carter’s an easy-going guy.’
‘Someone else you’ve got your eye on?’ Zack nudged.
‘Don’t you start,’ I retorted. ‘Just because we have a few things in common someone else has already hinted at matchmaking, but he’s not my type.’
‘He’s not like James then?’
‘A bit,’ I said wistfully. ‘Did I tell you James shares our passion for fresh air and green things growing?’
‘No, you didn’t, but you’ve clearly got things in common with him then.’
‘He’s a veritable tree-hugging type.’
‘It must have been a long chat the pair of you had,’ Zack laughed. ‘You certainly seem to have got to know him rather well on the back of one conversation.’
‘We’ve talked more than that.’ I blushed. ‘Don’t forget I was looking after Constance following her fall and James checked in a lot to make sure she was okay.’
‘Of course he did,’ Zack grinned.
‘Anyway,’ I said. ‘How are your bar skills? I hope you’ve pulled a pint since your uni days, because the arrangement is that you’re going to earn your board by helping Carter out in the pub.’
‘Luckily enough, I helped a mate in his bar in Bali just a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t quite a quaint country hostelry, but the experience got me back in the zone.’ I rolled my eyes at that. ‘What?’
‘It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, you always land on your feet, don’t you?’
‘Do I?’ he laughed.
‘You know you do.’
‘I think you make your own luck in this world,’ he shrugged. ‘Is that the store your friend Melody runs?’ he asked, as we drove by. ‘That wasn’t there when we used to visit, was it? It looks really nice.’
‘It’s more than nice,’ I told him. ‘Utterly idyllic and Melody’s a real community champion. She supports local growers, makers and producers. You’ll most likely meet her in the pub at some point. And she has a sister, Kaya.’
I already knew that Kaya and Zack would get along because they both loved to travel. I gave the pair of them less than five minutes before they were comparing favourite global locations.
‘I take it the pub is a bit out of the way,’ Zack said as I turned the car off the main lane and we started to bump along the smaller and considerably more pot-holed one.
‘Just a bit,’ I smiled, wondering how long my suspension would be able to handle it. ‘I didn’t believe it could be down here the first time I visited. But don’t worry, you won’t be stuck here. I’ll come and pick you up, so we can spend lots of time together.’
‘Maybe you could stick me on your insurance?’ he suggested. ‘That way, we could share your car.’
I wasn’t sure that idea was a good one.
‘Exactly how long is it since you’ve been behind the wheel?’
‘Er,’ he said, sounding affronted. ‘About a week. I do drive when I’m out of the country, you know!’
‘Um,’ I said. ‘Well, I’ll think about it. Here we are.’
It was no time at all before Zack and Carter were chatting as if they’d known one another for ever.
As soon as we arrived, we’d made a point of finding out if he was genuinely happy with the arrangement that Constance had facilitated and then Zack quickly got to grips with the set-up behind the bar.
While he was making his way along the pumps, I checked my phone again. I hadn’t had a reply from James yet, but that was probably because he was talking to the celebrity who’d got themselves in trouble.
‘Hello you!’ said Melody, who bounded unexpectedly up as I put my phone away again. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘What are you doing here more like?’ I asked. ‘Shouldn’t you be at the store?’
‘I don’t open on a Sunday, remember?’
‘Of course you don’t.’ Given that there were no buckets of flowers on the pavement and the door was closed when I drove by, I should have remembered that. ‘I’ve had no idea what day of the week it is since I moved to Willowell,’ I told her.
The words caught in my throat, because I knew that feeling wasn’t now destined to last. What I had been hoping would be a long-term, potentially for ever move had, despite what Constance and Zack still insisted, a fast-approaching expiration date.
Even though I entirely understood James’s desire to convince his aunt to keep the woods in the Clarke family, it was still a huge blow to lose them and equally as vexing was the realisation that I had no idea where I would be heading when the day to leave dawned.
With Zack behind the bar in The Greenman, I knew it wasn’t going to be Bali.
‘Are you okay?’ Melody frowned.
‘Yes,’ I nodded and swallowed my upset away. ‘I’m okay. Just feeling it a bit because I didn’t get much sleep. My brother here kept me up all night chatting.’
‘Your brother?’
She knew all about Zack of course, because we’d compared notes on travelling relatives when I’d first arrived in Willowell and stayed in Rose Cottage. What a long time ago that felt like now, though really it had only been a few weeks.
‘Yep.’ I smiled. ‘Melody say hello to Zack. Zack, this is Melody, owner of the Willowell Store you were admiring on our drive through the village, and a fabulous friend.’
‘So, this is your brother?’ Melody repeated as Zack shook her hand over the bar. ‘The brother who travels the world and is currently holed up somewhere in Bali.’
‘The very one,’ Zack laughed. ‘Only now I’m holed up in Suffolk with no plans to go anywhere.’
I fell to thinking again that neither of us were likely to stay for long, but Rick walked in with Kaya hot on his heels, and the low moment passed.
‘Hey,’ Rick said to me, once introductions had been made, and while Carter was pouring everyone drinks and Kaya and Zack were staring at each other with identical lovestruck expressions written all over their faces. ‘How’s things?’
We moved to the back of the pub so we could talk without being overheard.
‘Still messy.’ I sighed heavily.
‘Tell me.’
‘Constance still wants to sell and James doesn’t want her to,’ I shrugged. ‘Same problem, different day.’
‘Not really a problem for you though, is it?’ Rick pointed out.
‘It is now I know more about why James doesn’t want Constance to sell.’
‘Ah.’
‘Obviously, I don’t want to lose the woods and the opportunity they’re offering,’ I told him, ‘but I don’t want to see James lose something he feels is so precious, either.’
‘So, my guess about the connection with his mum, was…’
‘Spot on,’ I told him. ‘Annoyingly.’
‘And he’s not willing to compromise? It’s not as if he’d never be able to visit the woods if you and Constance went ahead, is it? What a shit.’
‘He’s not a shit.’ I biffed him. ‘And we haven’t discussed what I had in mind. He did ask, but I didn’t think there would be any point in explaining.’
‘Um,’ Rick said dreamily. ‘So, he’s gorgeous and a man who is willing to listen, even though you didn’t feel like sharing when he asked. What a combination. No wonder you want to keep on his right side…’
‘You’re so shallow,’ I tutted.
‘Like you haven’t noticed,’ he shot back.
‘The thing that I’ve noticed,’ I told him as I looked over to the bar, ‘is that he’s Constance’s last living relative.
Just like Zack is mine, and I would do anything to stop them falling out even more, because when it comes down to just you and one other family member left in the whole of the world, you keep that person close. ’
‘I suppose, when you put it like that…’ Rick said.
‘There’s no other way to put it,’ I said and clapped a hand to his chest. ‘Now, come on, let’s have a drink before the others drain the bar dry, and remember, Melody, Kaya and Carter have no idea about any of this and until it’s all properly resolved, I want to keep it that way.’
‘You don’t want your other friends to know?’ Rick frowned.
‘I don’t want them to worry,’ I amended. ‘James, Constance and I can sort this out between us.’
At least, I hoped we could.