Chapter 24
The bar was even more packed as I squeezed my way back through to the garden and I felt a definite buzz in the air, but whether that was in anticipation for the entertainment ahead or my own excitement, I couldn’t be sure.
‘And where have you been hiding?’ asked Simon, when I finally reached him and Matt. ‘Not off with that horse whisperer again, I hope.’
‘Oh dear,’ I said pointedly, having taken on board his disparaging tone, unfocused gaze and slightly lopsided stance. ‘Have you been here ever since you left the cottage, Simon?’
I was annoyed that he and Matt had obviously been gossiping about what had happened when we arrived and felt my recently inflated enthusiasm leaching away like the air out of a week-old balloon that has slipped unnoticed behind the sofa after a party.
‘Pretty much,’ he admitted, holding up an empty glass.
‘Um,’ I frowned, ‘I’m guessing you’ve been here just about long enough to tell everyone about Gwen’s caravans.’
He didn’t even have the grace to look guilty and I decided I’d better let it drop before I ended up getting really stuck into him. This was life in a small town, I reminded myself, and I’d just have to accept it.
‘So where were you?’ Simon asked again. ‘Not really off with that squaddie, surely?’
‘Squaddie?’ I frowned, feeling annoyed on Will’s behalf and shocked by Simon’s change in personality.
He was borderline aggressive and nothing at all like the amiable guy who had turned up to eradicate my decrepit electrics just a few hours ago.
‘I think you’ll find Will was a top-ranking highly decorated soldier actually,’ I retaliated.
He burst out laughing and even Matt, who had so far ignored Simon’s remarks, looked mildly amused.
‘Is that right?’ he frowned.
‘Oh never mind,’ I said, determined not to bite back again.
‘He’s actually not a highly decorated anything,’ Matt went on. ‘He left the army under one hell of a cloud and came to work here because his aunt took pity on him and gave him a job in the family firm. He hasn’t worked for anything he’s got, but his sort never do. He’s got it easy.’
I thought back to all the years of professional training Will must have undertaken and the beautiful barn and how hard he had worked to convert it, not to mention how many times late at night and early in the morning I had seen and heard him driving by to attend some emergency or other. It didn’t sound to me like Will had ‘got it easy’ at all.
‘You don’t want to believe everything you hear around here,’ said Simon, sounding surprisingly less bullish than his cousin.
‘Oh, I don’t,’ I said, ‘which is just as well for you two really.’
‘What do you mean?’ frowned Matt.
‘Well, according to some . . . ’ I didn’t identify Will’s suspicions of course, ‘you’re just out to make a few quid off me, Matt.’
Simon burst out laughing and I realised I didn’t want to be anywhere near either of them any more. I certainly wouldn’t be asking Simon to look at the Bailey now and I would find someone else to help out with setting up the electrics for the barns. I wasn’t even sure I’d be letting Matt do the work on the cottage.
‘Don’t worry about giving me a lift home,’ I announced, plonking my empty glass down on the table. ‘I’ll get a taxi.’
Determined not to rush back to the sanctuary of the cottage straight away, I ordered a small glass of wine, just to help stave off my annoyance, and rejoined Jemma, who was standing next to the piano with Lizzie. It turned out that Tom and Ben made up one half of the first band who had been drafted in to entertain the crowds.
After a couple of minutes chatting I felt a light tap on my shoulder and spun round thinking it was Matt coming to apologise.
‘Hey you, I didn’t know you were going to be here!’
It was Mags.
‘Mags!’ I gasped, relieved that I wasn’t the only Drove-dweller left amid the townies.
‘Do you want to come and sit with us?’ she asked, pointing to where Liam was sitting at a table near the door. ‘It’s a bit cooler over there.’
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘thanks. I’ll just tell Jemma.’
Sitting knee to knee, Mags and Liam still looked like the perfect couple to me, but I forbore to comment. If David and Angela had finally made their way to one another without any well-meaning, match-making interference (Jemma’s aside, of course), then perhaps this pair would some day manage to do the same.
‘Are you here on your own?’ asked Liam, looking round to see who I might have been with, if anyone.
‘I am now,’ I explained. ‘I came in to town with Matt, but we’ve had a bit of a disagreement.’
My annoyance might have been more directed at Simon and his silly attitude, but I wasn’t prepared to let Matt, and his harsh words about Will, off the hook completely.
‘Well, we’ll give you a lift home if you like,’ Liam offered.
I was grateful that neither he nor Mags expected to be filled in about what had been said. They really were the most straightforward non-interfering of friends.
‘I understand you and Will settled down for a spot of storm watching yesterday?’ grinned Mags with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
Perhaps not quite so straightforward and non-interfering after all.
‘How did you know about that?’
‘George,’ she and Liam said in perfect unison.
‘Of course,’ I nodded.
I might have known word would find a way of getting round.
‘But don’t worry, you’ll have the minivan by the end of the week, Lottie,’ said Liam. ‘We can’t have you out riding that bike in all weathers. It isn’t safe.’
My stomach gave a lurch at the thought of driving again, but at least Will had offered to accompany me until I felt confident. Given the way my tummy rolled and my head thumped every time driving was mentioned, I couldn’t help thinking he might end up being my passenger for life.
‘To be fair, I wouldn’t normally have been out in the storm,’ I said, knowing what had happened was entirely my own fault and that now the electrics were up to date it certainly wouldn’t be happening again, no matter what mode of transport I had parked on the drive.
‘Well, that’s as maybe,’ said Mags, ‘but the sooner you’re properly and safely mobile, the better.’
The band struck up just as she finished talking and consequently all further discussion was thwarted. There really was no way for me to wriggle out of taking on her little van now and perhaps that was a good thing. Just like my decision to forge ahead with the glamping idea, I needed to make a commitment and stick to it.
The band’s repertoire was lively and varied and after a couple more ‘small’ glasses of wine I had pretty much forgotten I was in a bad mood with Matt. After all, it had really been Simon who started the silly conversation, not my builder.
‘I thought you’d gone home,’ said a voice behind me when I went back to the bar for another round.
‘Not yet,’ I said, looking around and finding Matt at my elbow. ‘Where’s your lovely cousin disappeared to?’
‘He’s gone outside for a smoke,’ he said. ‘I’m so sorry, Lottie. I should have warned you he can be a bit of an idiot when he’s had a drink.’
‘A bit,’ I tutted, with a small smile, ‘and what about you?’ I asked. ‘You didn’t exactly keep your thoughts to yourself, so what’s your excuse?’
Fortunately he took the question in the spirit it had been intended.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘Will just rubs me up the wrong way, but I shouldn’t have let my dislike of him spoil my evening with you. I guess I was just jealous that I didn’t have you all to myself.’
In my tipsy state that sounded fair enough. I had managed to talk to practically everyone other than Matt since crossing the threshold and that had kind of been my motive for accepting his offer of a night out. Perhaps he wasn’t the only one who should be apologising.
‘Anyway,’ he went on, ‘I can’t just leave you standing here while everyone talks about you behind your back.’
‘What?’ I frowned, looking surreptitiously around.
I hadn’t noticed anything beyond a few glances when I’d been with Jemma in the restaurant and thankfully there was no sign of the bully who had tackled me at the Cherry Tree.
‘I don’t think anyone is talking about me behind my back,’ I said, eyeing everyone in a slightly more suspicious light and wondering if I’d let my guard down too quickly.
‘That’s what makes it all the worse for me to hear,’ said Matt, rubbing my arm and making me feel paranoid in the process. ‘Come on, as it was me who asked you here, let me take you home, if that’s OK, of course?’
‘Well, all right,’ I relented, manoeuvring glasses and having another furtive look around. ‘Let me get these drinks sorted and I’ll tell Mags I’m going back with you. Could you just help me carry this tray to Jemma, please?’
‘What is it with you and her?’ he asked. ‘I didn’t realise you knew each other so well.’
On the way back to the cottage I tried not to think about what was being said in the pub and as a result, and with the help of the three glasses of red, I let my mouth run away with me and ended up telling Matt all about the work I was doing on the Bailey.
‘But I’d rather word didn’t spread too quickly,’ I said for the umpteenth time, ‘even though Jemma’s happy for folk to know about it now.’
Just an hour ago I’d been happy for folk to know about it too, but now I knew the gossiping still hadn’t died down I wasn’t so sure. Perhaps the leap from carrying out one simple conversion to setting up an entire glamping site would be too much for the narrow-minded critics moaning about me over their beers.
Matt didn’t say much, but I could tell he was taking it all in.
‘So the conversion job is just a sort of doing a favour for a friend situation, I take it?’
‘Sort of,’ I said, ‘but she’s going to pay me for the work I’ve done, obviously, and the van of course.’
‘So not really just doing a mate a favour, then?’
‘No,’ I said, wrinkling my nose. ‘When you put it like that, I guess not.’
‘You need to be careful who you talk to about this, Lottie, and what you say,’ he said seriously.
‘Why?’ I hiccupped. ‘What’s the problem?’
‘Well, you can’t run a business out of those barns, can you?’
‘Can’t I?’ I frowned, feeling panicked.
‘No,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘Of course not. Is that why you were asking Simon about having extra electricity installed?’
‘Why can’t I?’ I asked again. ‘Why can’t I run a business from the yard?’
‘Because of the agricultural restrictions and regulations, of course.’
‘The agricultural what?’
‘Restrictions,’ said Matt again. ‘You can’t just go around setting up whatever you want in those barns, you know, Lottie.’
‘And what about the field?’ I squeaked, my former excitement suddenly receiving a hefty nudge as a big dollop of fear descended to take its place.
‘The field will be even more strictly regulated.’ He frowned. ‘Surely David explained all that to you when you took the place on.’
I shook my head, but didn’t say anything. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth I’d throw up.
‘Are you all right?’
I nodded and stared out of the window.
‘You hadn’t been making plans, had you?’ Matt asked. ‘Plans that didn’t revolve around farming?’
‘No,’ I managed to blurt out. ‘I’ve just been mulling over a few things, that’s all. I haven’t had anything specific in mind.’
If I couldn’t use the barns or the field for my business, then what was I going to do with them, and more importantly, how was I going to earn a living from Cuckoo Cottage? If Matt was right, this would mean I was going to have to kiss goodbye to the glamping, grow potatoes or something and rent different premises to carry out conversions, and I already knew my purse strings wouldn’t run to that.
‘Like I told you before,’ he continued sympathetically, ‘owning an older property isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be, especially in the countryside.’
‘I had no idea,’ I muttered.
‘Well, check things out by all means,’ he sighed, ‘but I think you’ll find I’m right.’
How typical was this? Just when I’d settled upon something I could really get excited about, it was being snatched out from under me. Surely Gwen must have known about these restriction thingies, but then she’d never been much of a one for playing by the rules. Perhaps she thought I would just be able to get away with ignoring them.
‘Don’t look so fed up,’ said Matt, leaning across and grasping my hand. ‘If I were you I’d get on with doing the work for Jemma, just don’t tell anyone that she’s paying you for it.’
‘So what am I working for?’ I grumbled. ‘Magic beans?’
‘Quiche and cake,’ he suggested. ‘If anyone asks, she’s paying you in quiche and cake!’
He sounded almost amused by his quick wit and obviously had no idea just how truly devastated I was by what he had just told me.
Back at the cottage everything was in total darkness. It had been light when Matt picked me up and I hadn’t thought to leave a light burning to guide me to the door. He parked in the yard and came round to help me out.
‘Wow,’ I whispered, looking up at the night sky and for the first time noticing just how different the stars looked without the added glow of orange street pollution.
‘Quite something, isn’t it?’ said Matt, also looking up.
‘I’ve never seen so many stars,’ I gasped, feeling dizzy by the sheer number, coupled with the sudden rush of fresh air. ‘One day,’ I sighed, trying to blank out how utterly miserable I suddenly was, ‘I’m going to learn all the constellations.’
Matt took my hand and led me further towards the field.
‘I know a couple,’ he said. ‘That there,’ he pointed, tracing a wobbly course with his finger, ‘is the plough.’
‘Uh-huh,’ I said, following the line and craning my neck as far as I could.
‘And that’s Orion’s belt,’ he squinted. ‘I think. It’s a long time since I looked.’
‘We should take a blanket into the field and lay down,’ I said, rubbing a sore spot on the back of my neck.
Matt stepped behind me and began to work on the pain with the tips of his fingers, using just the right amount of pressure to elicit a low moan that I was mortified to make.
‘That feels better,’ I said, taking a step away, ‘thanks.’
Before I had time to say another word he pulled me close and kissed me. The firm caress of his lips seemed to go on forever and I don’t know why I let it. Whether it was my alcohol-induced impaired judgement, the romance of the stars, or whether I was still feeling guilty for abandoning him in the pub, I couldn’t be sure, but it was a tender kiss, sweet and comforting, but in no way passionate or feverish. When we finally broke apart there was a sudden screeching and scrabbling sound close by and I leapt back into his arms.
‘Sorry,’ I whispered. ‘It made me jump.’
‘We’ve probably disturbed the wildlife on its nightly prowl,’ he said, wrapping his arms around me again. ‘Do you get scared living out here on your own?’
‘No,’ I said, turning my face away a little. ‘Of course not, why would I?’
‘I just wondered if you felt vulnerable out here all on your own when things go bump in the night.’
‘I can’t say I’ve ever heard anything go bump in the night,’ I said, my isolation and potential vulnerability only just becoming apparent. ‘Besides,’ I said, brushing off the fledgling feeling of unease, ‘I have Minnie.’
‘Of course,’ said Matt, tucking my hair behind my ear, ‘and like I said, it was probably just a mouse of something.’
‘More likely to be the barn owl, making a noise like that,’ I said.
‘There aren’t any barn owls round here,’ said Matt, brushing my cheek lightly with his lips. ‘There haven’t been for years.’
‘That’s not what Will said,’ I blundered on, completely forgetting that it was supposed to be a secret, and a secret that he had trusted me to keep.
‘Is that so?’ frowned Matt. ‘Well I never.’