Second Chances at Hollyhock Farm (Hollyhock Farm #2)

Chapter 16

16

MELODY

Melody woke after a restless night’s sleep. She wasn’t sure why she felt troubled by having a drink with Callum the previous evening, although maybe it was because she liked him. She liked Zac too, rather more than she wanted to admit. She thought of the strange feeling she had experienced as she and Zac arrived at the pub and shivered. She could have sworn someone was watching her. The only person who would spy on her would be Rhys, and she was sure he had no idea where she was.

She couldn’t shift her feeling of guilt despite knowing she was being silly. The only reason she and Zac had been going to meet Callum was to ask him to help with the promotion of the festival, she reasoned. At least that was a reason for Zac coming with her. That and him dropping her off for her drink with his friend. Surely not even Rhys could find fault with that. She closed her eyes. Of course he could. Rhys could find something to be jealous about when she spent time with her parents without him, so why wouldn’t he be apoplectic about her having a drink with two men he didn’t know?

Not that she knew Callum well, or Zac really, for that matter. At least Callum had agreed for her and Zac to go on his radio show together. Lettie would be pleased, and she was relieved to be helping get the word out to the locals about the event. Callum had been more fun than she had expected, entertaining her with anecdotes about modelling shoots and how much he preferred being a radio host and not being in front of the camera. She had been sorry when Zac had left early. Melody recalled how Callum had walked her back to the farm and gone to kiss her, having wished her goodnight. Why had she stepped back as if he was about to do something wrong? She pulled the covers over her head and groaned, mortified to think that she would have to face him soon. What must he think of her?

Hearing Zac’s voice outside calling for Spud to follow him, Melody threw back the covers and got out of bed. She pushed her window open wider. It was another hot, sunny day and she breathed in the sweet air and stretched her arms above her head.

‘Hey, sleepyhead.’

She tensed, hoping he wasn’t talking to her. She pushed her hands quickly through her messy bed hair, relieved she had thought to sleep in a T-shirt for once rather than going to bed naked. Why hadn’t it occurred to her that he would notice her?

‘Yes,’ Zac said, amusement in his voice. ‘I’m talking to you in the attic.’

‘I presume you don’t mean me,’ Melody heard her grandmother say, laughing at her own joke.

‘Morning, Patsy.’ Zac pointed to Melody’s window. ‘I saw Melody was awake and was going to ask her to join me and Spud for a walk down at the beach. I thought we could talk through our ideas for what we want to include in our interview with Callum on the radio tomorrow. You’re welcome to join us.’ He put his hand up to his eyes to shield them from the sun that Melody realised was reflected off her window. ‘Will you be coming?’

Melody rested her elbows on the windowsill, wishing he hadn’t reminded her about seeing Callum again so soon. She hoped there wouldn’t be an awkward atmosphere between them when she saw him the following afternoon.

‘Give me a couple of minutes to take a quick shower, then I’ll be down.’

‘Patsy, how about you?’ he asked.

‘No, thanks, Zac,’ Melody heard her grandmother reply. ‘I need a coffee before venturing out anywhere in the morning. Maybe another time.’

As Melody showered, she thought of Zac and how much she liked the friendly farmer’s son. He always seemed cheerful, and she wondered if he actually was, or if it was a front he put on to hide past hurts. She wondered if she was letting her imagination get ahead of her or if she simply recognised a hidden sadness in him because that’s the way she faced the world too. Whatever his story was, she appreciated the way he seemed to make everything exciting and fun, at least for her. And he was dedicated to his family. In fact, the Torel family as a whole seemed dedicated to caring for each other. It was what families were all about or should be.

Her thoughts turned to her father, who made a point of not getting involved with anything outside his work, and her mother who, as much as she knew loved her, never seemed able to see Rhys as anything other than a gentleman. Her mother had known Rhys since Melody and he were in school together and was best friends with his mother, who thought him the perfect son. Then again, Melody thought as she stepped out of the shower, she had kept most of her issues with Rhys to herself. She wondered why she had always felt like she was to blame for the way he treated her and supposed it was because he had coerced her into believing she was at fault. She now knew better thanks to her grandmother’s patience and many hours of sitting and listening to her.

Not wishing to keep Zac waiting, she quickly towel-dried her hair, then her body and pulled on a pair of shorts and a clean T-shirt. After running a brush through her hair, she grabbed her trainers and a pair of socks, and headed downstairs.

She took a moment to see where he was and spotted him to the right of her with Spud, staring at the flowers.

‘Sorry you had to wait,’ she said, her stomach doing a flip when he smiled that bright, blue-eyed smile of his. As usual his chestnut hair was messy and it was all she could do to stop gazing at him. Remembering she still had bare feet, Melody leant against the front-door frame and pulled on her socks before pushing her feet into her trainers.

‘Take your time,’ he said calmly. ‘There’s no rush. Spud and I have been having fun watching the bumblebees humming around the hollyhocks.’

She sensed he liked her and wouldn’t mind there being something between them romantically, or was that just wishful thinking on her part? Anyway, she reasoned as she pushed her foot into her second trainer, she had too much baggage to allow herself to give in to any feelings she might have for Zac. He was far too nice to deserve becoming involved in hers and Rhys’s battles.

Plus, she thought, stepping into the garden to join him and Spud, Zac had mentioned being offered a job touring soon, so it wasn’t as if either of them would be near the other one to have any kind of romance.

‘You look lovely,’ he said, almost to himself. ‘Um, that is…’ He patted Spud’s head, clearly deciding not to finish that thought. ‘Shall we get going then? The tide is on the way in and if we still want to have any sand to walk on we’d better not leave it too long to get down to St Ouen.’

She wasn’t sure whether to thank him for his comment, or why he had said it as it had clearly made him uncomfortable.

Maybe he had said what he did because he liked her and now felt awkward. She cringed inwardly, dismissing that thought, and got into the passenger’s seat of his mother’s old Golf and closed her eyes briefly. She wasn’t sure what could have happened to her to make her fall for him so quickly. Especially as she had decided not to open her heart to any man since her previous relationship had ended so horribly. She pushed away the thought of Rhys and his increasingly violent behaviour that led to her leaving him. That was part of her problem with Zac now though and why they couldn’t have any future as far as she was concerned. She had walked away from Rhys. If he had been the one to end their relationship, the one in control, then maybe she would be free to move on from him with Zac. But he hadn’t done, and she knew he wouldn’t let go of her easily. She felt sick at the thought of what he might be capable of and hated to think of Zac becoming involved in her dramas in any way.

She was an emotional mess and was beginning to suspect Zac might have noticed. She hoped not. She would hate it if he was only being kind to her because he felt sorry for her.