by Sharon Booth
She was about to tell her it really didn't matter why Trixie was engaged to Troy, the point was she was engaged to him, and Honey really ought to have respected that, but her words were cut off by the screeching of tyres, and she found herself standing beside a magnificent Rolls Royce.
A gravelly voice yelled, 'Is that reporter still in there? Get in!'
'Oh, shit. That's all I need.'
'Who is it?' Eden said.
'Yes, he is, and I can get a taxi!' Honey pouted and turned her back on the car.
Eden watched, amazed, as Honey began to walk away, but the door opened, and a man yelled, 'I said, get in this bleeding car now!'
Honey actually stamped her foot.
Eden gaped at her. She looked like a toddler having a tantrum, and Eden made the mistake of laughing.
The man who'd climbed from the car turned to her. 'And who the bleeding hell are you?'
It took less than a second to realise she was being glared at by none other than the legendary Cain Carmichael, and Eden's face heated until it burned. Her dad would be so proud to learn his daughter was being sworn at by his hero. 'I'm Eden Robinson,' she said. 'Not that it's relevant.'
'Oh, really? I'll be the judge of that.'
'Leave her alone, Dad. She's just saved my bacon,' said Honey.
He looked at Eden with new respect. 'Really? Get in.'
'Pardon?'
'Look, what is it with you two? Get in the bleeding car before that sodding reporter comes out, because if I see him, I won't be able to keep me hands to meself, and we all know where that will lead.'
Honey gave a dramatic sigh and grabbed Eden's hand. 'Come on, get in.'
'What? No, I can't. I've got to —'
Honey shook her head and pushed her into the car. Eden hardly had time to gather her thoughts before Honey jumped in beside her, Cain got in the front seat, and they were driving away from the pub.
'How did you know about the reporter?' demanded Honey. She folded her arms, her expression sulky.
'Landlord of this gaff telephoned Snarler to tip me off.'
'At the house? How did he know our number? We're ex-directory.'
'Turns out he plays cards with Snarler, and he called his mobile and explained the situation. Good job. I told Snarler to call him back and tell him to make sure you got out of there safely, and I'd come and get you. Reckon he thinks I'll be going inside the pub to thank him. Fat chance. It looks a proper dive. What the hell were you thinking?'
'Troy said it would be private. No one ever goes in there.'
'No bleeding wonder! What a shithole.'
'Who's Snarler?' Eden said, though she didn't know why. It hardly mattered but it was all she could think of to say.
'Chauffeur,' said both Cain and Honey automatically.
'What the hell were you doing with that tosser, Troy Troughton?' demanded Cain. 'You can do better than that. Bet his balls haven't even dropped yet.'
'If Snarler is the chauffeur, why are you driving?' Eden asked.
'He's got a hangover,' they both answered.
'Of course Troy's balls have dropped. Believe me, he's all man,' snapped Honey.
What a fibber, Eden thought. That's not what she'd been saying ten minutes ago.
'Do you mind?' Cain said. 'You do realise he's practically a married man?'
'Oh, that wedding won't happen. Trixie's only after the publicity. She doesn't really care about him.'
'Trixie doesn't need the publicity. Verity are a great little band.'
'Oh, pur-lease.' Honey sneered. 'They sound like the Spice Girls on helium.'
'At least Trixie can sing, which is more than that daft twat can. Troy bloody Troughton. Sounds like he should be piloting a Thunderbird.'
'Oh, bugger off,' snapped Honey.
'Well, that's charming. What a delightful daughter you are.'
'Is there any chance I can get out of this car now?' Eden asked.
'And how the hell did that reporter know where to find you? That's what I'd like to know. Did you tip him off?'
'Why would I tip him off?' demanded Honey.
'I wouldn't put anything past you. You're becoming a proper pain, just like your bleeding mother. You want to be in the papers, and you don't care how you get there you stupid little tart.'
Fancy saying that to his own daughter! Eden tried to imagine her dad having this sort of conversation with her. The most they ever argued about was who'd finished off the Cheerios, and the worst name he'd ever called her was 'Bossyboots'. He'd be seeing Cain Carmichael in a new light when she relayed this conversation to him.
'To be fair,' Eden said, 'I really don't think Honey knew the reporter was there. She only realised when I tipped her off.'
Cain glanced at her in the rear-view mirror. 'Who are you, anyway?'
'I told you. I'm Eden Robinson. I work at The Red Lion. At least, I did, but since I've just abandoned my post without warning, I've probably been sacked.'
'I'm sure your boss will understand,' said Cain.
'That's all you know,' Eden said. 'Understanding isn't the word I'd use to describe Gavin. And you've made it ten times worse by not going in the pub. After all he's done, you didn't even go to thank him. The fact that I'm in this car with you right now will be the final straw. I reckon I'm for the chop.'
'Bugger. I'm sorry.' At least he sounded genuine.
Eden shrugged. 'It doesn't matter. It was a crap job, anyway. Look, not that I don't appreciate the experience of riding in a proper Rolls Royce, but do you think you can drop me off now? My bag's back at The Red Lion, and I live three miles in the opposite direction from the pub, anyway. It's going to take me forever to get home at this rate.'
Cain watched her through narrowed eyes for a moment before speaking 'How old are you?'
'Twenty-three. Why?'
'Look, come back to our gaff for some supper. I want to talk to you.'
'Jesus, Dad, you can't shag her!' Honey looked as appalled as she sounded. 'She's practically staff.'
'Do you mind?' Eden gasped. 'You're one spoilt, rude little brat, aren't you?'
Honey looked stunned by that summing up of her character, though Eden found it hard to believe no one had told her before. Or maybe no one had, and that was the problem.
Cain laughed. 'That's told her. Look, love, I ain't after shagging you. You needn't worry on that score.'
'Oh.' Eden wondered whether to feel relieved or offended. He wasn't exactly known for being choosy, after all.
'I may have a job for you.'
'What sort of job?' Honey and Eden spoke in unison, then looked equally appalled by the fact.
'Looking after her,' he said, nodding at Honey's reflection.
'Looking after me? Are you insane? I'm nineteen years old and perfectly capable of looking after myself.'
'Oh, yeah, we can see that. Made a right balls-up of tonight, didn't you? Left to your own devices, you'll be in rehab before you're twenty-one. Nah, you need someone to watch you, and I haven't got the time.'
'What do you mean, watch her? You mean like babysitting?' Eden had visions of making Honey hot chocolate and toast, then tucking her up in bed, before plonking herself in front of the telly to watch a horror film and make illicit phone calls on the house phone, which was what her previous babysitting experience had consisted of. 'No thanks.'
'Honey's a young woman now. She needs to start making her way in the world, earn her own living. She's had it too easy, for too long. I'm setting her up in a little shop in the village, but she'll need help. You work behind the bar, so you obviously know how to handle a till. You can be trusted with cash.'
'Excuse me,' said Eden indignantly. 'I'm not just a barmaid, you know. I went to catering college for three years. I'm the chef.'
'Even better. You can cook us some decent grub now and then. Look, darls, you can deal with the public. More than that, you looked out for her tonight. I won't forget that. We owe you, and this job will be well paid.'
Eden
had been about to tell him thanks but no thanks, but the last part of his speech caught her attention. 'How well paid?'
'Whatever your previous salary was, I'll double it.'
'Hmm.'
'Plus, there'll be a room for you at our house. You can live in. No bills, no rent. All inclusive. What do you say?'
Honey had observed the conversation with a look of dumbstruck horror on her face, until she finally found her voice. 'She says no. Of course she bloody says no. And I say no. I don't need anyone to help me in the shop. I want to do things my way, and this sodding barmaid isn't going to tell me what to do, that's for sure.'
'Listen, kiddo, if you want this shop you'll do as you're told, or you can whistle for it. I wouldn't trust you with a toy post office, never mind a real business, especially after today's performance.'
'Oh, but you'd trust a random stranger?'
Cain shrugged. 'I'll need a criminal record check and a character reference,' he said to Eden's reflection. 'Would that be a problem?'
'No, but—'
Honey glared at Eden. 'You're not seriously considering this? I don't need you, so don't think you're worming your way in here. I do things my way.'
It was as if Cain hadn't heard her. He raised an eyebrow and surveyed Eden through the mirror. 'Well?'
Honey looked at her in fury. 'Tell him no!'
Eden leaned back in her seat and folded her arms. 'Triple the salary, and you've got a deal.'
Honey shrieked.
Cain grinned. 'Deal.'
And that was how Eden Robinson's life collided with that of Honey Carmichael.
Chapter Two
Three years later.
'Where the hell is she?' Cain's face purpled with rage, as he stormed towards the triple garage, waving his iPhone in the air. 'Little git isn't answering my calls. When I get me hands on her, she's dog food.'
'Charming as ever,' Eden muttered, climbing out of the car and preparing to face her furious employer.
In the driver's seat, Joshua tried valiantly to suppress a whimper.
'Stay there and keep quiet,' she instructed.
Cain stood in front of her, his bloodshot, watery blue eyes boring into hers. 'Well?'
'Well, what?'
'Don't give me that. Where's Honey? I suppose you know all about it. What's the stupid little git gone and done now? Don't even try to pretend you don't know what's going on. I don't pay you to — who the bleeding hell are you?' He looked at Joshua menacingly, and the poor man visibly shrivelled.
Eden couldn't blame him. Cain in a temper wasn't a pretty sight. Cain at any time wasn't a pretty sight, really. God knows how he managed to attract so many beautiful women. Okay, strike that. You only had to look at his fabulous house, collection of cars, and pretty impressive stack of platinum credit cards to realise he had plenty to draw women to him, even if he did look as handsome as … well, as a sixty-six-year-old man with bleached blond hair and a penchant for leather trousers.
'This is Joshua,' she informed him.
'And who the bleeding hell is Joshua? More to the point, what's he doing in the driving seat of Honey's car?'
'It's all right,' Eden said hastily. 'Honey asked Snarler to clean it, but he's got a hangover, so I said I'd do it for him. I was showing Joshua the interior. He loves cars, but I wouldn't let him drive it.'
'I should hope not. That's nearly thirty grand's worth of car, there, mate. Keep your greasy mitts off it. Who are you, anyway?'
'Joshua's my, er ...' Eden's voice trailed off. She'd been about to say boyfriend, but realised that wouldn't be strictly true, given that she'd just told him she was finishing with him. After a pathetic two weeks of dating, it had become strikingly obvious that the only thing about her that really excited Joshua was the fact that she worked for the Carmichaels and lived in their house. Without them in the equation, she doubted very much that she'd be able to raise a smile from him, never mind anything else. The last fortnight had been nothing but a crippling blow to her ego, and she'd had enough.
He hadn't taken it as well as she'd hoped. He'd assured her the Carmichaels didn't matter a jot to him, and that it was Eden he was interested in and not them. Eden might have believed him, if his eyes hadn't kept straying longingly to Cain's Rolls Royce, which was parked on the driveway in front of a bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet. The latter had been a present for Honey's twenty-first birthday last year from her mother, who'd been away skiing at the time and so was unable to actually visit her daughter to share in the celebrations. Joshua had obviously found the Beetle irresistible, too, as he couldn't seem to make up his mind which one to drool over the most.
When Eden had told him there was no going back, she'd been shocked when his eyes filled with tears. She hadn't known he cared, until he'd murmured forlornly, 'I never even got to meet Honey,' and she realised he didn't bloody care.
'For God's sake,' she'd snapped. 'Tell you what, why don't I let you sit in her car for five minutes as a consolation prize?'
God knows, she hadn't expected him to accept her sarcastic offer.
Cursing her own kindness, she'd unlocked Honey's car door and watched, as he climbed in.
'It's perfect,' he said, touching the steering wheel with reverence and gazing in awe at the dashboard. 'I can just imagine Honey sitting in here.'
As if he hadn't bruised her self-esteem enough, he'd nodded towards the Rolls Royce, just beyond the Beetle's windscreen. 'I don't suppose there's any chance we could sit in that, too?'
'Don't push it, Joshua,' she said. 'Anyway, there's no chance. Cain guards it with his life. Only he and Snarler are allowed to drive that, depending on who hasn't got the hangover. No one else touches it. You should be grateful you're in the Beetle.'
'May I start it? Just to hear the engine?' Stunned by his cheek, Eden merely nodded, and he beamed in delight as he turned the key in the engine. 'Who's Snarler, anyway?'
Eden watched him run his hands over the upholstery of the Beetle with a great deal more interest than he'd ever paid when running his hands over her, and any guilt she'd felt for finishing with him melted away. 'Snarler used to be Cain's roadie, about a million years ago,' she said, 'They had a high old time together—literally. Now he works as their chauffeur. No way would he trust that Rolls to anyone but him.'
'Shame. Still, this car is pretty special, too. Purrs like a kitten.'
'Er, okay.' Eden rolled her eyes. Boys and their toys.
They'd only been in the car a couple of minutes when Cain had stormed out, full of fury. He didn't even seem to be listening to her, so Eden didn't have to find an explanation for who Joshua was, after all.
'When she gets back from wherever it is she is — and Gawd knows, I dread to think where that is — you tell her from me that I want to see her. A.S.A.P.! I'll be in my den. Get it?'
'Got it.'
'Good.'
He threw Joshua one last look of contempt, then strode back into the house, slamming the door behind him. Within seconds, the screaming vocals and grinding guitar music from one of his biggest hits was blasting through the open window and polluting the peaceful Cotswolds air. Not a good sign. Cain only played his own music when he was in a foul temper.
Joshua shivered, as Eden climbed back into the car beside him. 'Is he always like this?' he asked, his eyes wide and full of fear.
'Pretty much,' she said.
He sighed. 'It seems to be my day for shattered dreams.'
She was about to suggest that he head home, when there was a sudden screech of tyres and the slamming of a car door. Eden watched through the wing mirror, as Honey paid off a taxi driver, who obviously wasn't going to waive his fee no matter who her father was, then stamped to the front gates. She punched in the key code and marched into the drive as the gates swung open. She looked about as happy as her father.
'It's Honey!' Joshua moony-eyed the girl like he'd died and gone to heaven.
'I'd shut up and stay still, if I was you,' Eden said. 'With any luck s
he won't notice us. The mood she's in, you'll be mincemeat if she catches you in here.'
His fear made another appearance, and he jumped so hard he almost banged his head on the roof, when Honey suddenly bent down and banged furiously on the car window.
'Who the fuck are you, and what are you doing in my car?'
'Stay there and say nothing,' Eden told him, seeing that he looked as if he was about to have a panic attack. She climbed out of the passenger seat yet again and shut the door behind her, going around the car to stand beside Honey.
'Who is this moron?' Honey demanded.
'Joshua.'
'Joshua who? Oh, you mean the eunuch?'
'Shut up! I never called him that.'
'You said he wasn't interested in sex.'
'That doesn't make him a bloody eunuch. It makes him a gentleman.' Eden was growing more annoyed by the minute, not least by the fact that Honey's rudeness was forcing her into defending Joshua.
'Yeah, right. He looks like a eunuch.' She peered in at poor Joshua, who stared steadfastly ahead of him.
Even from outside the car, Eden could see the beads of sweat on his upper lip. She wondered why she'd thought he was so good looking when she first met him.
'Although, I suppose it could be that he just doesn't fancy you,' Honey continued. 'Who knows, with another woman he could be a demon lover.' She gave a sarcastic laugh, and Eden decided it was time to bring her down a peg, or two.
'Never mind all that. Your father's on the warpath. He wants to see you in his den — now.'
She sighed. 'Guessed as much, with him playing that God-awful racket at full blast. How the hell he sold any of that garbage, I'll never know.'
'He's been trying to ring you,' Eden said.
Honey grinned and waved her iPhone at her, just as Cain had done moments before. 'I know. I've been counting the missed calls. I was, er, busy.'
'Please don't tell me you were with Crispin.'
She shrugged. 'Okay, I won't. Best go and smooth the waters with dear papa, then.'
'Honey!' Eden grabbed her arm. 'This is serious. You told me you'd called it off with him. You said it was a brief fling and didn't mean anything. You promised.'