Second Chances at Hollyhock Farm (Hollyhock Farm #2)

Chapter 10

10

MELODY

Melody helped Lettie harvest plums and tomatoes to wash, weigh and pack up into brown paper bags for the honesty box. She loved that here in Jersey people could still leave produce on a stall by the side of the road and know that most of those taking bags would leave the correct money in the money tin. Several staff had come to help the previous day for deliveries to local restaurants and a few of the smaller parish stores. Her grandmother was sourcing yoga mats for the festival. She had offered to help with the harvesting but neither Melody nor Lettie had thought it a good idea, especially in the heat. And Melody suspected her grandmother had only offered her assistance because she had thought it was expected of her.

It had been another beautiful, cloudless day and Melody wondered if she should take a walk over the fields to see where she ended up. She liked the idea of going for a walk but wasn’t sure where. She was in the kitchen washing her hands, trying to think of places she had heard the Torels mentioning, when Zac came in humming to himself.

‘There you are,’ he said, smiling.

‘I’ve been helping Lettie around the farm.’ She wasn’t sure why she was stating the obvious because what else would she have been doing? ‘Have you had a good day?’

She listened as he told her about starting work clearing the store area at the back of one of the barns and how he thought both barns needed a thorough deep clean before the festival.

‘I agree,’ she said, thinking about rolling out the yoga mats they would be using on a floor that wasn’t spotless. ‘We should make fairly short work of it with several of us doing it though.’ She took the hand towel from the hook it was hanging from and dried her hands, unsure if she had missed something when he didn’t reply. ‘You weren’t thinking of starting the cleaning this evening, were you?’

He shook his head and seemed to relax slightly. ‘No. I was hoping you might accompany me for a walk instead.’

She hadn’t expected him to say that. ‘I’d love to go,’ she said, then a thought occurred to her.

‘Is something the matter?’

She didn’t feel comfortable admitting she had been about to ask him what Kathleen had meant when she had referred to his past the other day, deciding straight after she’d had the urge that she didn’t know him well enough to broach something obviously personal. Her next thought had been about how she was keeping her own past a secret from him, so really wasn’t in a position to ask anyway.

‘I was thinking of Gran,’ she fibbed, certain he would believe her. ‘Lettie and Brodie have gone out somewhere for the evening and I don’t like to leave her here alone.’ She wasn’t sure if her grandmother might in fact enjoy a bit of time by herself. ‘Although…’

‘Why don’t you go and ask her if she wants to join us? I’ll wait here for you to ask her, then we can head off.’

‘I won’t be long,’ she said, hurrying past him and running up the stairs to find her grandmother. She reached her bedroom door and knocked lightly, not wishing to wake her in case she was dozing.

‘Come in, Melody.’

Melody pushed the door open. ‘Er, how did you know it was me?’ she asked as she walked into the room to find Patsy reading.

Patsy raised an eyebrow at the question.

Her grandmother lowered her book to rest it on her chest. Melody noticed she had pulled across one of the curtains to block the sun from shining on her face but left the other drawn back. Both were swaying lightly in the wind.

‘Did you want me for something?’ Patsy asked.

Aware she had probably interrupted an interesting part in her grandmother’s book, Melody said, ‘Zac has invited us both out for a walk and I’ve come to check if you want to join us.’ She smiled. ‘You seem rather comfortable where you are, but the offer is there.’

Patsy gave her a knowing look.

‘What?’

‘I have a feeling three would be a crowd if I did join the pair of you.’

Surprised, Melody shook her head. ‘I’ve no idea what you mean.’

Patsy put her hand up to her chin and tapped the side of her jaw. ‘No?’ She laughed. ‘I’m only teasing. Although it is obvious that there’s chemistry between you two.’

Melody pointed to the novel with the brightly coloured cover in her grandmother’s hand. ‘I think you’ve been reading too many romances lately.’ She laughed. ‘Although I can’t say I blame you. We all need cheering up these days.’

‘I am enjoying this, very much. Anyway, it’s been a long day and I’m happy lying here relaxing. You go and enjoy yourself and I’ll see you later.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘I am. I’ve been looking forward to putting my feet up and reading more of this book all day. It’s the perfect way for me to stop thinking about the one I’m working on.’

Melody walked over and kissed her grandmother’s cheek. ‘Fine. I’ll come and check up on you when I get back.’

‘I’ll look forward to hearing how it went.’

Melody shook her head at her grandmother’s wry grin and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Not wishing to keep Zac waiting too long, she ran downstairs and when she couldn’t find him in the kitchen went outside and saw him leaning against Lindy’s car.

‘Was I very long?’

‘Not at all.’ He looked past her. ‘Patsy not coming then?’

Melody shook her head and walked over to join him. ‘She’s happily reading in her room. She said for us to enjoy ourselves.’

They got into the car and strapped themselves in. Zac looked up at the attic windows. ‘I’m glad Patsy’s happy here. That you both are,’ he said, turning on the ignition.

He turned left out of the farm driveway, and she was excited to be shown a different part of the island to what she had already seen. Zac had driven her past a couple of the beaches on their way from the harbour to the farm. He had pointed out the beautiful areas where the pale sand met the turquoise sea. When Melody had remarked on the glorious colour, Zac had been quick to let her know that it changed according to the weather and she looked forward to seeing the sea on different days.

Zac had given snippets about the area and their names, which Melody couldn’t remember, probably because they sounded as if they were in French.

She was happy she hadn’t allowed herself to think too deeply before agreeing to come to the island, even though her mother had recently given her one of her kindly lectures about taking time to consider her choices more carefully. This was a visit to a place a few hundred miles away though, Melody reminded herself, not embarking on a marriage that might only last a few years. She pushed away the memories of her disastrous, short-lived life with Rhys and vowed never to allow herself to be swept up by a man again and to follow her instincts instead.

A few minutes later they pulled into a parking area and got out of the car. As she walked gingerly down the long, cobbled slipway, she tried to be careful not to slip on the seaweed that had probably been washed up on the last high tide, but the sole of her trainer must have caught a piece and skidded out in front of her. It was only Zac’s quick reaction, grabbing her arm, that stopped her from falling.

‘That was a close one.’ She laughed, embarrassed.

‘Here, take my hand.’

He reached his hand out to her. She stared at it for a second, feeling awkward about taking it. Holding his hand felt so intimate for some reason.

Not wishing to seem silly or wanting to slip again, she did as he suggested. Focusing on keeping her footing, she tried to recall the last time she had held hands with any man apart from Rhys. She was relieved when they reached the sand, but felt the coolness on her skin when his hand let go of hers. They began walking and she listened as Zac told her about the tower that rose from the islet in the sea. He really was good-looking in a tousle-haired, outdoorsy kind of way.

It had only been a couple of months since that last disastrous encounter with Rhys and although Melody knew for certain that any love she’d had for him was gone, his controlling behaviour still made her anxious. As much as she told herself he had no idea where she was, she still struggled to remember that he wouldn’t be watching and seeing something suspicious in an innocent gesture.

Zac turned to her, and she realised with embarrassment that she hadn’t been following what he was telling her.

‘You all right?’

She saw the concern on his face and tried to come up with something plausible without admitting that she hadn’t been listening. ‘Yes, sorry. I was, um, breathing in the delicious sea air.’

He smiled, seeming happy with her reply. ‘It is special here, isn’t it? I can’t get enough of the beach. Whenever I’m away working, however exciting the job is, it only takes a few days before I long to get back to this place.’

He frowned and listened for something. He then turned to look at a rocky area where the receding tide lay in rock pools. ‘Over there.’ He pointed at some birds congregating noisily on the rocks.

‘What are they?’ she asked, studying them. They were quite a bit smaller than seagulls with black heads and bodies, and white chests with long, thin, orange beaks. Bobbing on the sea, they peep-peeped among themselves.

‘Oystercatchers. You get a lot of them down here. I’m sure they’re increasing by the year.’

She wondered if he was trying to change the subject and happily went along with him. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen birds like those before.’

A couple of seagulls flew near to them and the entire flock swooped up, then flew in a large circle before landing again and congregating further along the water.

‘It’s lovely here,’ she said almost to herself.

‘It is, isn’t it? I’m aware how lucky I am to have this place to return to whenever I want.’

‘Which is why you and Lettie have been so determined to try and keep Hollyhock Farm in your family, I imagine.’

‘Exactly. Of course we could rent flats in town, or maybe somewhere in the country parishes, but it wouldn’t be the same as living at the farm.’

‘I can understand why, although from what I’ve seen of the island there seems to still be a lot of character here. Has it changed much over the decades?’ It was one of the things she loved about growing up in Edinburgh, especially the older part of the city – that it had seen little change in the architecture for hundreds of years.

He sighed. ‘Well, it is changing. In fact, it’s changed a lot but when I was moaning about it to one of my friends from the UK they said that the island seems to be changing far slower than most of England, and for that I’m extremely grateful.’

‘That’s good to hear.’

‘How about you? Do I hear the hint of a Scottish accent?’

Melody laughed. ‘More than a hint, I imagine. I’m from Edinburgh. My family moved around a lot, but that’s where I call home.’

‘I’ve only been once,’ he said. ‘But it was years ago. I thought it a very atmospheric place. I loved it.’

She liked that he did, although she rarely came across anyone who didn’t. ‘I agree. It’s very special there.’

He turned to her. ‘So why leave and come here? Were you and Patsy hoping for a break from the place or just a summer trip away?’

‘A bit of both,’ she admitted.

‘But you like what you’ve seen of the island so far?’

She laughed. ‘How could I not? The weather is glorious and everywhere I’ve seen so far is beautiful. Hollyhock Farm is especially pretty. The farmhouse is gorgeous in that pink-tinged stone.’

‘It’s our local granite. Guernsey’s granite is blue. You’ll see many more homes and walls built with this stone as you visit more of the island.’

His phone buzzed. Taking it out of his pocket, Zac sighed as he read the text that had appeared. ‘Everything all right?’ she asked, concerned.

He pushed the phone back into his pocket and looked out at the rocky area again. ‘A message from Callum.’

Suspecting Callum was inviting Zac out for a drink somewhere, Melody decided to broach the subject. ‘I know you invited me out for a walk, but please don’t feel like you have to put your friend off for me. We can do this another time.’

He stilled briefly. ‘No, it’s fine,’ he said. ‘I can see Callum any time.’

She liked Zac but hadn’t picked up any vibes that he was attracted to her despite what her grandmother had said. Callum seemed nice enough but she wasn’t ready for anything romantic. ‘I don’t want to keep you from your plans though,’ she said, feeling guilty that he was putting himself out for her. ‘Maybe the three of us could go out for a drink at the village pub together sometime,’ she said eventually.

They continued walking and seeing a beautifully marked shell, Melody bent to pick it up. She brushed the sand off it and studied the browns and creams. She slipped it into her back pocket. Then, noticing a discarded crisp packet, picked it up to take to the bin when they left the beach.

Zac nodded. He took his phone back out of his pocket, typed in a reply to Callum and sent it.

‘There,’ he said. He bent to pick up a similar shell a few strides along the beach. ‘Here’s one. It’s a limpet shell.’

She took the pointed shell and decided it would look perfect on her windowsill. ‘Thank you, I like it.’

‘It’s not very beautiful, but it has a sort of rough and ready charm about it, I think.’

She didn’t like to say that he did too.

‘Did I say something?’ He smiled.

She realised she had shown her amusement on her face and immediately shook her head. ‘No, not at all.’ She thought quickly, not wanting to show him how attracted she was to him. ‘I was just wondering how many I’ll manage to collect in the brief time I’m on the island. Quite a few, I should imagine.’

He laughed. ‘I wouldn’t blame you. I’m always collecting them. Always have done. We used to find them in our back garden a lot of the time when I was a kid.’

Intrigued, she asked, ‘Did you live next to the beach then?’

‘I grew up living at Hollyhock Farm It might be up the hill from a beach and far enough for a decent walk to get there, but it’s also close enough to hear the sound of the waves when I’m lying in bed. The shells were brought to our garden at some point though because we kept chickens.’

She wasn’t sure how that made sense. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand why having chickens means you’d have seashells.’

He thought for a moment, then said, ‘It’s to do with the calcium in them. It helps them produce healthier shells on the eggs they lay.’

Melody had never heard such a thing.

Zac laughed. ‘I know, it sounds odd but I recall Mum telling me that having seashells for chickens to peck at helps them lay healthier eggs. It’s like them being given a supplement, I guess.’

‘I never knew that.’ She sighed and gazed out to sea. ‘I’ve only been here a short time and I’m already learning so many things.’

‘I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.’

‘I am.’

Zac looked at his watch. ‘We should probably turn back here,’ he said. ‘We should be thinking about supper and I don’t want to be a lousy host and not make sure Patsy has something to eat.’

‘I suppose so,’ she said, feeling guilty towards her grandmother that she would rather stay on the beach with Zac. ‘I was enjoying myself.’

‘So was I.’ He smiled at her. ‘Maybe next time we can plan our outing a bit better and give ourselves more time. Maybe stop off somewhere for a coffee or snack? What do you think?’

She loved the idea. ‘That sounds good to me.’

‘Great. Maybe once the festival is over, we can take off to one of the smaller islands for a day.’

‘Like Herm or Sark?’ she asked. Melody smiled at him. Why hadn’t she thought to come and visit this place and its friendly locals before now? She had been missing out on so much. If only she had thought to come here before meeting Rhys and having to face all the nastiness that her marriage with him had brought about.

She had relaxed so much already since her arrival on the island but knew she had a long way to go before feeling more like her old self again. She looked around at the wild landscape and listened to the birds and sea, and she knew she had made the right decision agreeing to join her grandmother and come here.