by Heidi Swain
‘Hey!’ I broke in, ‘now who’s being cheesy?’
‘That wasn’t cheese,’ he said, turning back to the courgette bed, ‘that was pure lust.’
Damn Ryan and his relationship veto. I wondered if it covered a shared steamy moment in the back of the bothy.
‘So, what are we going to do?’
I raised my eyebrows.
‘About what Ryan said,’ Jacob clarified. ‘Do you think we should cool it?’
‘Do you?’
‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘I guess. I don’t want to,’ he added forcefully, ‘believe me, cooling it is the last thing I want to do, but I don’t think we have any choice.’
‘You’re right,’ I reluctantly agreed. ‘We’ll just have to carry on as before and see what happens. If he keeps seeing us together he might decide that actually everything could be okay.’
‘Will be okay,’ Jacob insisted. ‘And in the meantime, we’ll have to make sure we aren’t alone, because I don’t know about you but I can’t vouch for my self-control.’
‘We’re alone now,’ I reminded him.
‘Exactly,’ he said, glancing about him and giving the hose one final blast, ‘and look how that just almost turned out.’
Chapter 25
With the following week turning out to be almost as busy as the one before, I had very little time to worry about finding myself alone with Jacob, or opportunity for that matter. Giving in to lustful temptation was the least of my concerns because we hardly saw each other. He was busy with his hectic end-of-term schedule and I was rushing about making the changes in Greengages happen as smoothly as possible and moaning about the heat.
We were all on extra watering duty in the garden, Ryan included now he had finished college for the year, and it was impossible to sleep properly at night. Everywhere had sold out of electric fans and self-contained air-con units and tempers were beginning to fray.
‘Haven’t you finished yet?’ groaned Harry as we were closing up, one day towards the end of the week. ‘It hasn’t been that busy. I can’t believe there’s all that much to tally up.’
‘There isn’t,’ I said, dumping the change back in the till and starting to count again, ‘but my brain is fried and I keep miscounting. I’m so bloody tired.’
‘Oh here,’ said Harry, waving me away. ‘Let me. You get home and have a nice cool shower.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘go on, it might perk you up a bit.’
I didn’t need telling twice. The shop was stuffy and dusty and I wanted some fresh air. Not that the air was particularly fresh at the moment. Stepping outside was like opening an oven door. There was nothing refreshing about being outside at all.
‘All right,’ I said, stepping aside. ‘Thanks, Harry.’
Unusually, I was in no rush to head home. Since the sun had started to beat down the place had become something of a teenage hangout. Ryan and Joe had been constantly hanging around and, at the beginning of the week, I had arrived home to find lads I didn’t recognise sprawled all over the garden. There was an aroma hanging around one of them that smelt a little too like weed for my liking.
‘I don’t mind you and Joe being here,’ I told Ryan out of earshot of the others, ‘but not this lot.’
I had expected him to have a bit of a moan, but he seemed relieved.
‘I didn’t even invite them,’ he confided. ‘Kyle just turned up and the others trailed in after him.’
‘What, Kyle as in the lad who was at the house in Wynmouth when I tried to ring you in May? That Kyle?’
‘Yeah.’ Ryan swallowed, looking nervously over his shoulder. ‘That’s him. Apparently, he’d spotted my photo in his dad’s paper after Colin’s party and then Mum told him about me staying with you. He just sort of tracked me down.’
As furious as I was that he had let the lads in, there was something disconcerting about Ryan’s behaviour and hushed tone that suggested his friendship with this Kyle wasn’t quite as I had imagined. When I had spoken to him on the phone I had shoved him in the ‘cheeky chappie’ category where most adolescent lads I’ve known end up, but now I wasn’t so sure that was the right place for him after all.
‘Well, get rid of them all,’ I told Ryan sharply. ‘Except Joe, of course. And make sure they know they can’t come back.’
The last thing I needed was to be worrying about what was happening back in the square when I was supposed to be working.
‘All right,’ he agreed, ‘I’ll tell them you want them out. Is it all right to say that you’re kicking them out, not me?’
‘Of course it is,’ I told him, ‘because I am.’
Not fancying the company of Ryan and Joe this evening, I headed to Colin’s instead. A Good Book was always a couple of degrees cooler than everywhere else for some reason and it would be a treat to peruse the cookbook section. I was feeling a bit frustrated that I hadn’t managed to spend much time in my kitchen working on potential recipes for the book, but given the thirty-plus temperatures we had been subjected to, not even I was up for standing and stirring, bottling and boiling in front of the stove.
‘Hey, Poppy! Wait up!’
I spun round to find Lou a few paces behind me.
‘I’ve been calling you all the way along the street,’ she panted as she reached me, ‘didn’t you hear?’
‘No,’ I said, ‘sorry. I was miles away.’
‘Not thinking about Jacob by any chance, were you?’ She winked. ‘Are you two going to get it on or what? We’re all waiting, you know.’
‘And what about you and Colin,’ I shot back. ‘How are things going with you two? I’m waiting to see if he’ll bin off Nurse Natalie for you, you know.’
I knew it was mean, even as the words were tripping off my tongue, but I hadn’t been able to bite them back once they’d started to flow. Not surprisingly, Lou looked more than a little hurt.
‘Oh God, ignore me, Lou,’ I said, ‘I’m sorry. This heat is really starting to get to me. I didn’t mean it.’
‘I suppose I deserved it really,’ she said, giving me a wobbly smile, ‘it’s none of my business, but the pair of you have seemed to be getting closer recently and, even though you didn’t get off to the best of starts, I can’t help thinking you’d be perfect together. If only you’d get your acts together and realise it.’
‘Oh Lou,’ I groaned, ‘we have realised it, but it’s not going to happen.’
‘What?’ she cawed. ‘Why ever not?’
I shook my head.
‘Come on,’ she said, linking arms and pulling me along, ‘let’s go to Colin’s. It’ll be cooler in there and you can tell me all about it.’
I didn’t particularly want to talk about it, but she was right, the shop would be cooler than the pavement, and maybe if she and Colin listened to the troubles Jacob and I were having then they might see how straightforward their own relationship could be.
*
‘So, let me see if I’ve got this straight,’ said Colin with a frown as he handed me an ice-packed glass of lemonade. ‘You and Jacob both really like each other, you’ve decided that you want to be more than friends, but because Ryan is afraid that if the relationship doesn’t work out he’ll lose Jacob, the pair of you aren’t going to get it together.’
‘Succinct as ever, Colin.’ I nodded, taking a chilled, refreshing sip. ‘You’ve summed it up beautifully.’
‘But what about when Ryan goes home?’ Lou asked. ‘Will it be all systems go then? I mean, Ryan wouldn’t even need to know, would he? Not to begin with anyway.’
‘To tell you the truth,’ I said, ‘I haven’t thought that far ahead.’
I didn’t much like the idea of sending Ryan back to Mum but there was a certain inevitability about it, even if none of us had mentioned it. It simply wasn’t feasible for him to stay with me for ever. Ryan really needed to get his brain in gear and think about what he wanted to do next with his life. He’d been looking at his options and told the
college he might not carry on with his A levels, but he hadn’t got round to deciding what he would do if he dropped them.
‘It’s some sacrifice you’re making, Pops,’ said Lou, her gaze resting on Colin’s back as he busied himself sorting through a pile of books.
‘Family first,’ he muttered.
‘I know family comes first, Colin,’ she carried on. ‘You’ve told us often enough, but it’s not always as simple as that, is it, Pops?’
‘No,’ I agreed, thinking of mine and Jacob’s first kiss and our subsequent more passionate embrace on the sofa, ‘it’s definitely not.’
‘Isn’t it?’ said Colin, looking up and pushing his glasses further back up his nose.
‘No,’ Lou said with a sigh, ‘it isn’t. When you find the one, the thought of having to give them up for any reason, family included, is heartbreaking, especially when it’s taken you so long to find them.’
Colin nodded and went back to his sorting.
This wasn’t working out how I had hoped it would at all. Perhaps I needed to make a more direct assault on the pair of them.
‘So, Colin,’ I said a little louder, ‘are you all set for the weekend? What are your plans for Nurse Natalie?’
Lou looked at me and shook her head. The scowl etched on her face could have given Ryan’s from Sunday a run for its money.
‘I’m not sure yet,’ he said.
‘Not sure!’ I laughed. ‘I thought you’d have it all well planned out by now.’
Colin was methodical if nothing else.
‘A romantic candlelit dinner for two,’ I said dreamily, ‘followed by a stroll somewhere secluded—’
‘Maybe,’ he interrupted. ‘We’ll see.’
‘Do I detect a lack of enthusiasm all of a sudden?’ I pounced. I hoped so. It would make what I was going to do next so very much easier.
‘No,’ he said, his eyes flicking momentarily to our mutual friend, ‘maybe . . . perhaps.’
Lou sat quiet and still, staring down at her sandals. I was sure she was holding her breath.
‘She’s just not . . .’ he stammered. ‘Oh, I don’t know, she’s just not—’
‘Lou?’ I cut in.
‘What?’ she said, looking back up.
Colin was suddenly looking more like a startled fawn than the owner of a second-hand bookshop.
‘No,’ I laughed. ‘I was talking to Colin.’
‘What?’ the pair said together.
‘You said Natalie wasn’t, and then you stopped, so I said Lou. Natalie isn’t Lou.’
The pair looked at each other and then back to me.
‘All right,’ I said, standing up and pulling Lou to her feet. ‘Let me spell it out for you.’
I walked her over to Colin, grabbed his hand and placed it in Lou’s.
‘Lou,’ I began, ‘Colin has been in love with you since the very first moment he set eyes on you.’
Colin began to splutter but didn’t let go of her hand.
‘And Colin,’ I said, turning to look at his red face and bulging eyes, ‘Lou is in love with you too. She didn’t realise it until you went away and then you came back singing the praises of your father’s carer and she hasn’t felt able to tell you because she thought your affections lay elsewhere.’
Now it was Lou who started to choke.
‘There,’ I said, clapping my hands together and feeling pleased with my minute’s work. ‘Doesn’t that feel better?’
I walked back to the window, picking up my glass on the way. I needed a drink after that. I didn’t know about Lou and Colin’s hearts but mine was fair hammering away.
‘Perhaps,’ I said turning back to face them, ‘now you’ll—’ There was no need to finish the sentence because the pair were wrapped in each other’s arms, passionately kissing as if they had years’ worth of missing moments to make up for, which of course they did.
*
I couldn’t wait to fill Ryan in on how I had spilled the beans to Lou and Colin about how they were both crazy for each other but too dense to realise it, but when I got home, he wasn’t there. Then I remembered that he had said he was going to the youth centre and then popping to Prosperous Place to run through the security system with Luke ahead of looking after Violet and Dash at the weekend.
I took advantage of the fact that, for the first time in what felt like ages, I had the house to myself, and did absolutely nothing. Aside from taking a cool shower, ordering in a takeaway and flicking through the pages of my grandmother’s recipe book, that is. The key to keeping even slightly cool, I had worked out, was to move as little as possible. I wondered wryly if Lou and Colin were managing to adhere to that theory.
It had been a few hours since I left them, so I decided to send them a quick text to each to check all was okay. I wasn’t going to apologise for what I had done, though. If anything, I was certain they would be thanking me soon enough.
‘Hey, Ryan!’ I called out as the front door slammed and I heard the familiar tapping of Gus’s claws on the hall floor.
That little dog was going to be heartbroken when he had to go back to Colin. If it was down to me I would have proposed some kind of equal custody arrangement but I was sure my mother wouldn’t go for that, so I wouldn’t even be suggesting it.
‘How did you get on?’
‘All right,’ he said as he came into the room.
He didn’t sound very enthusiastic.
‘What’s up?’ I frowned.
‘What are you doing?’ He frowned back.
‘Looking for my phone,’ I said, rifling through the upturned contents of my bag, which were spread out across the sofa. ‘You haven’t seen it, have you?’
‘No,’ he snapped, ‘why the hell would I know where your phone is?’
‘Hey,’ I said, stopping to look at him, ‘there’s no need to bite my head off. I was only asking.’
‘Sorry,’ he mumbled, reaching for the takeaway menu. ‘Did you have a Chinese for dinner?’
‘Yes,’ I said, going back to my search, ‘I saved you some, it’s in the fridge.’
‘How did you order it?’
‘What?’
‘The takeaway, how did you order it?’
‘Oh,’ I said, realising that he was actually trying to help rather than wanting to fill his belly (an impossible task). ‘I used the landline.’
‘Maybe you left your phone at work then,’ he suggested.
‘Perhaps,’ I said, trying to think where I’d last seen it. ‘Given the way I’ve been feeling today, it wouldn’t surprise me, but I was sure it was in my bag.’
‘Well, perhaps I’ve pinched it then.’ He snapped again. ‘Is that what you’re getting at?’
‘Of course that’s not what I’m getting at!’ I gasped, shocked by the sudden change in him. ‘Why would you even suggest that? What on earth has got into you?’
He didn’t say anything, just shrugged, looking as sulky as hell. He was all sharp edges and tension.
‘You’re probably right,’ I said, taking a deep breath, ‘my phone is most likely, as you suggested, at work somewhere. No one is accusing you of anything. Why are you so tetchy?’
Having lived with him for a while now, I was pretty much used to his hormonally charged mood swings, but this was completely different. This was off the scale of anything I’d experienced before. He was aggressive, defensive and nothing like my lovely brother at all.
‘I dunno,’ he said gruffly, ‘I’m probably just tired. It’s so fucking hot. It’s really getting to me.’
It was getting to us all but there was definitely more to his temper than that. Heatwave or no heatwave, he had started the week full of excitement about how well his stint as hen-keeper had gone and he was desperate for the weekend, when he could prove his worth as keeper of keys for Prosperous Place. So, what had happened in the interim? This explosive outburst just didn’t add up.
‘I’m going up,’ he said, before I could quiz him further.
‘But
what about your dinner?’ I called after him.
‘I’ll have it tomorrow.’
In a foul mood and off his food. Something was definitely wrong.
Chapter 26
Not even the combination of hints from the local TV team that the weather would break over the weekend and Ryan’s imminent cat-care duties were capable of lifting his spirits or lightening his mood. He was just as grumpy on Friday morning when he lumped down the stairs for breakfast as he had been the night before.
‘You found it then,’ he said, slumping down on a chair in the kitchen and pointing at my phone, which was on the worktop.
‘Nope,’ I said, ‘the fairies did.’
‘What?’ He frowned, pouring himself a glass of orange juice.
‘Last night when I went to bed it wasn’t there and this morning it was.’
‘Weird.’
‘Very,’ I agreed.
I was certain my phone hadn’t been there when I had given up the hunt and gone to bed, so the fairy folk were the only feasible explanation for it turning up.
‘What are your plans for today then?’ I asked. ‘Do you fancy meeting up for lunch?’
‘Can’t,’ he said, peeling himself out of the chair again. ‘I’ve got extra stuff to do in the garden. Lisa’s convinced we’re going to be judged any day now and if the weather breaks with thunderstorms we’ll need to make sure we’ve got as much protected as possible.’
I’d been feeling so excited about the prospect of some cooling rain, I hadn’t thought about the potential damage it could cause. One big storm could wreck everything.
‘Dinner then?’
‘I’m at the youth club tonight.’ He yawned, traipsing out again and taking his glass with him.
‘Right,’ I said, ‘good. Well, maybe I’ll see you tomorrow then.’
He didn’t answer and my phone began to ping, distracting me from trying to get him to commit to spending some time with me over the weekend. I hoped it was just the weather that had put him in such a strange mood. Everything had been going so well and, what with sacrificing my potential relationship with Jacob to keep everything jogging smoothly along, I wanted it to stay that way. At least he was willing to help out more in the garden now the competition pressure was cranking up. Yes, I told myself, it was just the weather. And perhaps an influx of tempestuous teenage testosterone.