by Heidi Swain
‘Here, lad,’ shouted Evelyn from behind the bar as she tossed him a towel, ‘dry yourself off with this, we don’t want all the female customers overheating, do we?’
‘Thanks, Evelyn,’ he smiled sheepishly, rubbing his hair until it stuck up in all directions.
‘Jake,’ called Holly, waving her beautifully manicured hand, ‘over here!’
He walked towards us, self-consciously peeling his shirt away from his tantalisingly toned torso.
‘Here,’ said Holly as she patted the seat next to her, ‘come and dry off next to the fire.’
‘Budge up,’ he said, flicking me lightly with the towel, ‘I want to get warm.’
I couldn’t be sure whether he hadn’t heard Holly or whether he’d chosen to ignore her, but either way she looked rather glum and I began to wonder if she really was trying to win him back as Jessica had suggested to me on more than one occasion.
‘So,’ she said, pushing Jake’s pint across the table and recovering in less than a second, ‘what can I do for you two lovely folk?’
As the conversation continued I gave myself a little shake and again dismissed Jessica’s suspicions. Holly was paying me just as much attention as she was Jake, more in fact, judging by the eye contact and I really couldn’t imagine she’d be so brazen as to try to flirt with him in front of me. As far as this situation was concerned I needed to get some perspective. My mind flitted back to the dolly tubs again and the heartrending apology she had made to everyone in the pub before that.
‘We need to ask a favour,’ Jake explained. ‘Amber has come up with the most amazing plan but we need your help to get it off the ground.’
In an instant I zoned back in to what was being said. Strictly speaking we didn’t really need her help at all. If we wanted to we could just dump her stuff in the cottage garden and let her sort it out from there, but we weren’t the type of people who would do that, I reminded myself, hoping that Jake wasn’t going to reveal any more details about what I’d come up with for the place.
‘Do you remember,’ he continued after taking a long pull of his pint, ‘that when we chatted before you said you’d come and help clear the cottage?’
‘Yes,’ said Holly, ‘of course.’
I couldn’t be sure, because I didn’t know her well enough, but to me she looked a little crestfallen by the recollection.
‘Well,’ Jake carried on oblivious, ‘if you’re still up for it we want to get it done, don’t we, Amber?’
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘and the sooner the better if that’s OK with you?’
‘Absolutely,’ smiled Holly, the disappointment or whatever it was now banished, ‘just say the day and I’ll be there. To be honest I was hoping you were going to ask soon. I’m moving into a flat in town and I could do with some more stuff to make it look homely. I didn’t want to buy anything until I’d checked out what I still had in “the cottage that time forgot”.’
Jake didn’t say anything and I felt surprisingly awkward hearing her talk about her possessions still being at Skylark Farm, especially now the place was my turf.
‘So you’re definitely staying in Wynbridge then?’ I asked after taking a sip of wine. ‘I kind of got the impression that you didn’t like it much round here. I had you down as an urbanite.’
‘Well, you know what they say,’ shrugged Holly, ‘a change is as good as a rest and actually my change of heart is mostly down to you, Amber.’
‘It is?’
‘Yes,’ she laughed, ‘you coming here and loving it all has kind of made me see the place with fresh eyes.’
‘Oh great,’ I smiled, thinking it was anything but, ‘that’s brilliant. What are you planning to do for work?’
‘Well, Dad has his own estate agency and he’s been talking about setting up some sort of holiday let business to run alongside it. I’m hopefully going to be spearheading that eventually, when I’ve learnt the ropes a bit, that is.’
I could feel Jake all aquiver next to me.
‘Well, that’s wonderful, isn’t it, Amber?’
‘Yes,’ I said, raising my eyebrows so high they almost disappeared into my hairline and hoping he’d take the hint.
‘Excellent in fact,’ he ploughed on, ‘as Amber’s plan is to get Meadowview Cottage up and running as a holiday home. It could be your first month’s commission, Holly!’
He sounded so pleased with himself, and Holly, her eyes darting between the two of us, looked equally ecstatic. Neither of them noticed the thunderous look which crossed my face.
‘That’s a fantastic idea,’ said Holly, clapping her hands together. ‘Let me grab my diary and we’ll set a date to clear the cottage right now!’
I bit my lip and kept my mouth shut. I had no intention of earning any commission for her, or anyone else for that matter. Jake didn’t know it but I’d already made tentative plans to set up a website and Twitter account and was arranging to do all the sales, marketing, promotion and bookings myself. This was one ship I was more than happy to sail alone!
Chapter 35
With the following Monday pencilled in as ‘clear out cottage day’ and our glasses drained I was kind of hoping that Holly would take the hint and leave us to it. I really wanted a few minutes before the rest of the gang arrived in which to bend Jake’s ear about ‘operation blabbermouth’ in private. Unfortunately, however, she looked installed for the duration and I had to resort to dragging him to the quietest end of the bar on the pretence of ordering another round.
‘What a bit of luck!’ he beamed, his chest puffed out and his eyes shining.
Clearly he was delighted with the unexpected course the plan had lurched off on. I waited, drumming my fingers on the bar, while he ordered drinks for everyone.
‘What if they don’t all turn up?’ I hissed, pointing at Evelyn’s busy back as she bustled about filling glasses.
‘What?’
‘You’re going to be lumbered with all these drinks if they don’t show. What a ridiculous waste of money!’ I pouted.
‘What’s with the face?’ Jake frowned, finally realising something was amiss with my usually sunny outlook. ‘Look,’ he said, pointing to the door, ‘everyone’s here now. Stop worrying.’
I spun round to see Harriet and the pretty girl I remembered from the May Fair as Rachel exchanging hugs with Holly, while Jessica dumped herself down on the opposite sofa and Henry loitered between them all clearly not knowing what to do.
‘Oh great,’ I said, throwing up my hands in resignation, ‘that’s all we need, pistols at dawn between Holly and Jess. This wasn’t quite what I had in mind when I suggested we spent the evening with friends.’
Jake paid for the loaded tray of drinks and gingerly picked it up.
‘I thought this was what you wanted,’ he said as he began to weave his wobbly way back to the sofas. ‘As I recall, Amber, this was all your idea in the first place.’
‘Yes, well,’ I hissed behind him, ‘even the simplest ideas have a way of getting out of hand, don’t they?’
‘What?’
‘Nothing.’
Jake slowly turned to look at me, the glasses slipping a little on the tray as he did so.
‘Have I done something wrong?’ he frowned. ‘I thought you’d be over the moon about Holly sorting out the bookings for the cottage.’
‘I was going to sort out the bookings,’ I snapped, unable to keep it to myself a second longer. ‘I’m already making plans to set up a website and everything. I’ve no intention of paying someone else to do a job I’m more than qualified for. This project is supposed to be about increasing revenue from the farm and clearing the overdraft, remember?’
‘But surely it’ll be better to pay a professional and get the job done well,’ said Jake in a low voice, ‘someone who knows a bit about the business.’
‘Knows a bit about the business?’ I seethed. ‘Tell me you aren’t serious. I don’t believe Holly’s ever done a day’s work in her life let alone specialised in a
nything!’
Other than making trouble, I thought, but I kept that particularly mean-spirited observation to myself.
‘And anyway,’ I added, in defiance of Jake’s crackpot idea, ‘Annie put me in charge of Meadowview Cottage, so I’ll be the one doing the hiring and firing and I’m more than capable of doing a professional job myself, thank you very much.’
‘But I’ve already said she can do it now,’ he said. ‘She’ll be upset.’
‘And that’s my problem why exactly?’
Perhaps it was my problem if my boyfriend was so worried about upsetting his ex-girlfriend.
‘Because I want us all to get along,’ he said, looking even more confused than before.
He didn’t really look as if he knew what had hit him and I walked straight over to the table before he could put both feet even further in his mouth. Unfortunately the atmosphere around the fire felt more highly charged than that between me and Jake.
Apparently unaware of the combustible tension, however, Jake handed round the drinks and Harriet was just about to introduce me properly to Rachel when Jessica piped up.
‘I understand congratulations are in order,’ she said, raising her glass as her eyes flashed around the group.
Henry, brave man, put a steadying hand on her thigh, but she quickly brushed him aside.
‘As I understand it,’ she continued, addressing me, ‘you and Holly are going into the holiday home business, Amber.’
I looked between her and Holly who shrugged her shoulders and mouthed ‘sorry’, her expression a picture of innocence, but really it wasn’t her fault, was it? It was Jake who had let the cat out of the bag. Oh how I would have liked to give him a flogging, and not in the kinky way I’d been imagining earlier when he walked in looking all Mr Darcy in his wet shirt.
‘I take it,’ Jess went on excruciatingly, ‘that this is the big idea, the grand plan that you were promising to share the details of?’
I was devastated that she sounded so upset. When I’d promised her that she’d be the first to know I’d really meant it.
‘Yes,’ I nodded, my voice barely more than a strangled croak.
‘Sorry?’
‘Yes,’ I said again, a little louder this time.
‘Well, I wish you the very best of luck,’ she smiled, raising her glass to her lips and downing the entire contents in one, ‘you’re certainly going to need it!’
No, this was definitely not how I imagined the evening would turn out. I perched myself uncomfortably on a stool dragged over from the bar and we all sat in silence alternately fiddling with our glasses and staring between the carpet and the fire. Eventually, when I couldn’t bear it any longer, I struck up a conversation with Harriet and Rachel who, despite the chilly atmosphere, seemed to have plenty of heat between them.
Risking a quick glance at Jessica, now wedged between Jake and Henry, I could see she still had a face that could curdle milk and Holly, dainty and demure next to Rachel, seemed to be taking forever to finish her glass of sparkling water.
‘Well,’ she said after a while, ‘as much as I’d love to stay and chat I’ve got a date, and besides,’ she smiled, looking round our dejected little gathering and adding, I hoped, to try to ease the tension rather than to get a rise, ‘I don’t think I can keep pace with you lot.’
She stood up and I quickly followed her to the door, keen to make sure she was really leaving.
‘So, we’ll see you next week then,’ I said. ‘Monday we decided, didn’t we?’
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘around ten. Oh, and Jessica!’ she called over her shoulder.
‘What?’ came the gruff response from the sofa.
‘It wasn’t Amber who told me about the plans for the cottage, it was Jake. If you want to be cross with anyone it should be him really. Sorry, Jake,’ she added, ‘but you did rather put your foot in it, didn’t you?’
I could have kissed her for saying that. Just when I was beginning to suspect that she was playing devil’s advocate she went and totally redeemed herself. She’d got me off the hook with Jessica and put Jake in his place in one well aimed sentence. However, when I re-joined the group, sitting in the space Holly had just left (the irony of which was not lost on me), the look on Jessica’s face told me that Holly might as well have not bothered to explain anything at all.
‘I suppose you think she’s even more bloody perfect now,’ she scowled at me, ‘trying to make us all friends again before she drifted off on her Miss Dior scented cloud.’
‘Miss Dior?’ chirped up Henry twisting round to look at his betrothed. ‘That was Chanel Number Five, surely?’
We all stared at him open mouthed but it was Rachel who got the giggles first.
‘What?’ said Henry, turning bright red. ‘Well, it was, wasn’t it?’
Rachel’s laughter was infectious and within seconds we were all laughing along with her, even Jessica.
‘Darling, I wish you wouldn’t come out with things like that,’ she said, leaning across and kissing his cheek. ‘I don’t want people thinking I’m marrying the only gay in the village.’
‘Oh bugger off,’ said Henry, standing up and tossing his hair in the most camp way he could manage. ‘Who wants another drink?’
‘I do,’ said Harriet as she jumped up to accompany him to the bar, ‘and I’ll have you know,’ she winked at Jessica, ‘as far as I’m aware, Rachel and I are the only gays in the village.’
Jessica’s face was an absolute picture. She looked totally mortified.
‘I’m joking,’ said Harriet, ‘Jess, I’m only messing.’
‘Oh God,’ said Jessica, ‘me and my big mouth. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.’
‘That’s all right,’ said Harriet, ‘we’ll forgive you, won’t we, Rachel?’
‘I suppose so,’ Rachel muttered, ‘you have to expect a small town attitude in a place like this.’
Jessica looked as if she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her and then Rachel started laughing again.
‘Oh you sods!’ breathed Jessica. ‘I thought I’d really offended you.’
‘Take a lot more than that,’ laughed Harriet, linking arms with Henry. ‘Come on, you promised us drinks.’
The atmosphere lightened considerably after that and we spent a happy evening together talking about the wedding and my supposedly secret ideas for Meadowview Cottage. Jake didn’t mention the Piggy Plan and neither did I. It was a bit late in the day for him to remember that all the changes we were making were supposed to be a secret, but there was no point dwelling on what was done.
‘So, will that be OK?’ said Jessica as Jim rang the bell for last orders. ‘I know you’ve got Miss “Holier than Thou” visiting, but it would be great if I could just grab you for five minutes on Monday, Amber.’
‘Of course,’ I nodded enthusiastically, ‘absolutely.’
I was so thrilled to be back in her good books that I would have agreed to anything she suggested and to be honest it was quite nice that she and the others knew about the cottage. At least I could share my progress with them, and any potential failures of course, although I was hopeful there wouldn’t be nearly as many of those.
‘And you won’t mention the cottage idea to anyone, will you, guys?’ Jake reminded them as we headed for the door. ‘Annie doesn’t want anyone knowing about what’s happening at the farm just yet.’
‘Do I take it from that that there are more changes afoot?’ asked Henry astutely as he waggled his eyebrows.
Jake blushed crimson and I rolled my eyes. It was a miracle he hadn’t told me about the abandoned cottage as soon as I told him I was moving to the farm because he was proving himself to be an absolutely rubbish secret keeper.
‘We won’t say a word,’ said Harriet, tapping the side of her nose, ‘but I can’t vouch for Holly, of course.’
‘Oh well,’ I said, not wanting to dive back into that particular can of worms just yet, ‘we’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed
that she knows the meaning of discretion, won’t we?’
Jessica threw me a withering glance and Henry shoved her out into the night before she could say another word. We all said a hasty goodbye as the rain continued to lash down and Jake and I set off back to the farm and the exciting prospect of our new ventures.
Chapter 36
All that weekend Annie nagged at Jake to go down to the cottage and break in so he and I could make a start on clearing the place, but he wouldn’t.
‘I don’t see why you need her there to get going,’ said Annie scathingly. ‘If it was up to me I’d just hire a skip, dump her stuff in it and tell her to pay the bill.’
I was delighted Annie was back to her old self, even if she wasn’t quite as steady on her feet as before, but I could have lived without her constant reminders that Jake wouldn’t tackle the cottage without Holly by his side. It was going to be tough enough seeing the evidence of the life they lived there without thinking about why Jake wouldn’t just get on with it as Annie kept suggesting.
By Sunday afternoon the situation had reached boiling point and Annie, her expression militant, was all prepared to set off with a hammer and knock the door down. I took yet another deep breath and tried to immerse myself in the cross-stitch sampler she had set me up with in an attempt to pass on her sewing legacy.
Unfortunately I was pretty rubbish at it. Baking seemed to be more my forte, but I didn’t want to let her down so I toiled away while the rain lashed down and the distant sound of thunder sent Bella and Lily scurrying back under the table. I held the fabric at arm’s length and squinted in the half light. Annie had always made it look so easy as she sat in her chair with her needle rhythmically flashing in and out, but mine just looked a mess. I was supposed to be practising the alphabet but it looked more like alphabet spaghetti than regimented lettering.