Second Chances at Hollyhock Farm (Hollyhock Farm #2)

Chapter 19

19

ZAC

She had said he could kiss her. Scared she would change her mind, Zac leant over her, letting his mouth find hers. His lips touched Melody’s and she immediately responded, slipping her arms around his back, pulling him down to her and kissing him back.

She groaned quietly as they kissed and Zac didn’t think he had ever felt so strongly for someone simply from a first kiss. He felt her hands travel under his T-shirt, sliding up the warm skin on his back and taking it as encouragement he kissed her more urgently, his hand moving down to her waist.

He felt Melody still and before he could wonder why, heard Spud barking.

‘What is it?’ she whispered as Zac sat back.

‘Someone is coming. Spud never comes this way unless he’s with someone.’

‘Melody?’

Hearing Lettie’s voice, both of them sat up and began straightening their clothes. He saw Melody run her fingers through her hair and take a calming breath.

Sitting next to her, Zac returned her gaze. ‘That was…?’ He couldn’t find the right word to describe how much his senses were racing.

‘Unexpected?’ she offered, one eyebrow raised.

Zac smiled, happy that the intensity of a few moments before had been calmed. ‘Yes, you could say that.’

He didn’t hear Lettie’s footsteps until she had almost reached them and Spud was pushing his wet nose into Zac’s right ear.

‘Eugh, get off, Spud.’ Zac laughed, catching Melody’s eye and seeing the amusement there.

‘This is where you’ve both been hiding.’ Zac saw his sister look from him to Melody and back again. ‘Um, I hope I haven’t come at an awkward time.’

‘Not at all,’ Melody said quickly, leaning to pick up her sketch pad and pencil.

‘Why would you ask that?’ Zac said, hoping to distract his sister.

Lettie wasn’t that easily distracted though and pressed her lips together thoughtfully as if she was trying to stop herself from saying anything else.

He picked up his trainers and got to his feet. Then as soon as Spud moved away from him he reached out to take Melody’s hand to help her up once she had put her trainers back on.

‘I presume the food must be ready with all this urgency,’ he said, starting to feel irritated that his moment with Melody had been interrupted.

‘You know what Mum’s like about mealtimes. She’s probably been looking forward to this barbecue for days, so we can’t disappoint her.’

He and Melody exchanged glances, but it wasn’t obvious to him how she was feeling. Was she as frustrated as him that their kisses had been interrupted? His sister was talking about the steaks their father had been sent out to buy but all Zac could think of was that they could have eaten at any time if their parents had still been away. He pushed his annoyance away. He was being selfish. His mother was happy to be home again and her way of showing her love was to feed people. He should be grateful for that.

As they entered the yard, he spotted Callum’s car parked to one side. ‘Callum’s here?’ he asked, guilt flooding through him when he thought about what he and Melody had been doing minutes earlier. He looked at her just as she looked from Callum’s car to stare into his eyes, immediately looking downcast.

Zac felt Melody’s hand brush his wrist. He took her hand in his and was about to give her a reassuring smile when Callum and Brodie strode out of the front door.

‘There you are,’ Brodie said. ‘We thought you two might have got lost somewhere.’

He was joking and Zac knew what he was saying was spoken in all innocence, but he spotted Callum’s cheerful expression vanish and his eyes look down at Zac’s hand holding Melody’s. They immediately let go of each other, but he didn’t miss the look of hurt on Callum’s face.

It seemed as if nobody spoke for ages, but Zac supposed it was only a few seconds. Brodie had slipped his arm around Lettie’s shoulders and was walking with her into the house. Callum was standing with one hand on Spud’s head but clearly didn’t know what to say and Zac knew he needed to take charge somehow.

‘Shall we go in then? We don’t want Mum panicking about food being spoiled. You know what she can be like, Callum.’

‘What? Oh, yeah.’ Callum didn’t move but said, ‘It’s good to see you again, Melody.’ His face softened. ‘I see you’ve got your sketch pad. Been drawing plants, or this reprobate?’

‘I was intending to draw some plants I’d seen earlier in the meadow, but was interrupted by this one,’ she said, giving a gentle laugh. ‘Shall we go and join the others.’

Zac led the way to the farmhouse, down the hallway and out the back door to the terrace where the smell of cooked food wafted towards them as they stepped outside.

‘Smells delicious,’ he said.

Brodie and Lettie were serving themselves and Lindy waved for Callum and Melody to do the same.

‘When you’re all sitting down, Gareth and I can tell you all about our trip.’

Zac didn’t dare look at his sister, certain she would rather give their parents an update about the festival preparations and all they had managed to achieve since they had gone on their trip.

Zac sat next to Brodie and his mother motioned for Melody to take the seat next to him, putting Callum on the other side of the table. He could feel the heat from her skin her knee was so close to his.

‘Sorry it’s a bit of a squash,’ Gareth said. ‘I went to bring out the other table and chairs but couldn’t find them.’

‘Sorry, Dad,’ Lettie said. ‘We’ve been sorting out the storeroom at the back of the smaller barn where you kept the extra table.’

‘I saw it was very neat in there,’ he said after finishing a mouthful. ‘Which is good, I’m not complaining. However, maybe next time you decide to rearrange my things, let me know where I can find them.’

Zac knew his dad wasn’t too bothered but liked to remind them all that this was still his farm even if he wasn’t actually running it full-time any more.

‘Yes, Dad.’ Lettie walked over to him and kissed his cheek.

Lindy extolled the virtues of cruising around from place to place on the ship. ‘It’s incredible. If you’ve never tried it you really should,’ Zac heard her say. He had heard this before several times, when they had been deciding where to visit, when his mother was packing and other times when he probably had just not been paying attention. ‘You unpack your case only once and wake up in a new, beautiful location most days. There are sea days, of course, when there’s more distance between two places, but I love those.’

‘She spends her days lying on a sun lounger reading,’ Gareth said, rolling his eyes. ‘Don’t you, love.’

Lindy sniffed. ‘Yes, well, I’d much rather do that than sit in one of the pubs waffling to another holidaymaker for hours.’ She addressed the rest of them. ‘I want to go away to relax, not spend my time talking to people I don’t know.’

Gareth took a drink from his glass of wine. ‘You would know them if you bothered to talk to them though, wouldn’t you?’

Zac looked at his sister who rolled her eyes. They were used to their parents squabbling, but it was never anything serious and there was always a form of teasing and amusement in their bickering.

‘I thought they said they enjoyed their trip,’ Melody whispered, leaning her head closer to him.

Zac saw the concern in her face. ‘They did. This is them sharing that with us.’

Callum laughed. ‘You’ll get used to them.’

Zac had forgotten his friend was sitting next to them for a moment. He agreed with him and searched Callum’s face for any disappointment. There didn’t seem to be any, but he knew Callum was used to hiding his emotions. If Callum had any reservations about Zac and Melody becoming closer, Zac knew he would confront him about it at some point. He also knew his friend probably wouldn’t let on how he felt until he was ready to say something. The anticipation was worse than being confronted, of which Callum would be well aware.

Melody went to reach for the pepper just as Zac reached for the salt. The skin on the back of her hand grazed his and she jerked it back.

Anxious that Callum would pick up on her reaction, Zac picked up the pepper and placed it in front of her. ‘Sorry. There you go.’

‘Thank you.’ Her voice was tight and Zac wished the pair of them could relax. Clearly Melody was feeling at odds about what had happened between them, too. Deciding to direct the conversation to something neutral, he asked her about her sketches.

‘You mentioned that you sketch plants for Patsy’s books. That must be interesting.’

‘Yes,’ Callum added. ‘You were going to show me some of your work, if you remember.’

‘I was.’ She took a sip of her wine and set her glass back down on the table. Zac wasn’t sure if she was feeling calmer but hoped she was.

‘Yes, I’ll show you some of them after we’ve eaten, if you like?’

Callum had only just taken a mouthful of food from his fork and gave her a thumbs up as he chewed. He swallowed. ‘I’d like that.’

Melody looked at Zac and again he felt his stomach tumble under her gaze. ‘It is interesting. It’s also fun, except when Gran decides to add a couple of paintings to the book and only gives me a short time to get them right. We do work well together most of the time though, and I love what I do.’

‘Do you have much work to prepare while you’re here?’ Lettie asked from the next table.

Zac realised that everyone’s attention had moved to Melody.

‘You draw?’ Lindy asked. ‘I’ve always thought myself a little artistic, but nothing on a professional level.’

‘She’s very talented,’ Patsy said, giving Melody a proud look.

‘Thanks, Gran. Yes,’ she said, continuing. ‘I do need to refine some sketches and add more to what I’ve already done while we’re here. That’s part of why Gran suggested we come here, for the different fauna and flora found here on the island.’

‘And why you were in the meadow, I imagine?’ Callum said without a hint of sarcasm, Zac noticed.

‘That’s right,’ she said. ‘I wanted to study some of the flowers I’d spotted there a couple of days ago, so that I could paint them later.’ She looked around and pointed towards the wooded area to her right. ‘I want to spend time in that area after I’ve finished in the meadow. I’m sure I’ll find all sorts of things.’

‘It’s a shame you weren’t here a bit earlier in the year,’ Lindy said. ‘We have rare orchids in a couple of wet meadows that you can arrange to see.’

Patsy nodded. ‘I had read about them. Maybe we can arrange to come over next year and see them?’

‘You’ll both always be welcome to stay here at the farm,’ Lettie said.

‘Thank you,’ Melody said.

Zac was enjoying the conversation and getting to know more about Melody and her interests. ‘Is it only rare plants that interest you?’

‘Not at all,’ she said, standing and walking over to the side of the lawn where she picked a buttercup before returning to her seat. ‘Most people would look at this little flower and do one of two things.’

Zac studied the shiny yellow petals.

‘I suppose the first one would be to think how pretty buttercups are,’ Lettie suggested.

‘And the second?’

Recalling when he was a child and Lettie had held a buttercup under his chin, Zac said, ‘I suppose they would hold it under someone’s chin and say something like, let’s see if you like butter.’

Melody smiled. ‘Exactly. I’ve done that myself in the past. Now though, I would take out my magnifying glass that I always carry.’ She pulled a small magnifying glass out of her shorts pocket to prove the point. ‘And study every angle of it before taking it to my room and painting it, spending time getting the exact shade of each part of the flower and stem correct.’ She held the delicate flower in front of him and handed him the magnifying glass.

Zac studied it for a few seconds, surprised how different a change in perspective could make something seem. ‘I’ve never looked at a flower in that much detail before,’ he said.

‘Neither had I until Gran asked me to start sketching for her books. Now I’ve fallen in love with doing it.’

‘You’ve always drawn though?’ Brodie asked.

‘I have. I don’t think of anything else when I’m focused on a drawing.’

Zac noticed a haunted look in her aquamarine eyes.

She closed her eyes as if she sensed him peering into their depths, then looked at Patsy. Zac saw Melody’s grandmother give her a subtle nod and wondered why Melody seemed to be waiting for her agreement.

He waited silently with the rest of them while Melody took a few seconds to think. ‘I had a bitter break-up at the beginning of the year,’ she said simply. Zac waited for her to continue but it seemed that was all Melody wanted to tell them.

He saw a flash of pain cross her face and sensed the break-up entailed far more than she was willing to divulge.

‘I sense there’s more,’ Lindy said, leaning back in her chair, her arms folded across her chest as if she was waiting to hear a detailed account.

‘Mum, maybe Melody doesn’t want to share more right now.’ Lettie looked around at the rest of them.

Melody sighed heavily. ‘Unfortunately, my mother is very fond of Rhys. We’d known each other most of our lives, dated when we were both seventeen and then met up again two years ago. She was over the moon that we were together and I’m not sure if she’s partly to blame for him still believing I might forgive him for what happened between us.’

‘And you won’t,’ Callum said gently.

It was a statement rather than a question, Zac noticed.

He saw Melody nod. ‘No. I know everyone has their own views on situations like these and that each relationship break-up is different and, to be honest, I haven’t confided in my mother about all the details, so she doesn’t have the whole picture.’

Zac wondered how bad the relationship had become to make her leave him, but it wasn’t his business to ask. He hoped his mother would keep quiet and resist asking more too.

He saw his mother watch Melody thoughtfully before opening her mouth to speak but before she could, Lettie got to her feet. ‘That was delicious, Dad, Mum. Thank you.’ Zac joined the others, adding his thanks. ‘I spotted some tasty puddings in the fridge earlier.’

‘Puddings?’ Brodie asked and Zac suspected he was trying to keep Lindy’s conversation from returning to questioning Melody.

‘Yes, there’s an apple pie.’

Zac felt Melody’s little finger touch his. Before she could move it away from him, he wrapped his little finger around hers gently but didn’t look in her direction. Her finger tightened around his.

Zac felt his heart race to know she felt comfortable with him and picked up his bottle of lager to take a drink. As he looked up he saw Callum watching Melody, then look at him. He tried to read his friend’s expression but couldn’t tell what he might be thinking. Feeling Melody’s finger moving from his, Zac assumed she had seen the exchange and was feeling as uncomfortable about Callum as him.

‘Can I take your plate?’ Brodie asked, interrupting their silence.

Zac looked up at his sister’s boyfriend, aware that it should be him helping and not Brodie. He stood, happy to do something to take his mind off things. ‘You’re a guest,’ Zac said. ‘You should be relaxing not helping. Let me get these.’

‘It’s fine,’ Brodie said. ‘I don’t mind.’

‘Then I’ll help you,’ Zac said, taking Melody’s plate and placing it on top of his.