Second Chances at Hollyhock Farm (Hollyhock Farm #2)

Chapter 25

25

ZAC

Zac helped Melody, Patsy and several of The Book Club Girls to fill three hundred tote bags with all the promotion merchandise they had been sent by the businesses taking part in the wellness festival, while Lettie worked on the farm. When all the bags had been packed, the ladies went back to the barns to put up posters and make final touches while he went to help his mother make some drinks in the kitchen.

‘Mum, stop worrying,’ he repeated for the third time, still shaken to discover that Melody was married. That changed everything despite what he had said to that revolting husband of hers.

Since his relationship with Jazz had ended and she had moved on so quickly after losing the baby, Zac had been anxious about taking a chance and becoming too involved with someone else. Surely if Melody was still married to Rhys, regardless of whether they were separated, then she wasn’t in a position to take things further with him, Zac thought miserably. Clearly there were too many obstacles between himself and Melody for them to move forward.

‘I’ll never forgive myself for letting that dear girl face that man without any forewarning,’ Lindy grumbled.

‘How were you and Lettie to know he was a nasty piece of work when you let him wait for Melody? He came across as perfectly charming when we arrived. If it hadn’t been for Melody’s reaction,’ he said, pained to recall her obvious fear of the man, ‘then I wouldn’t have picked up anything either. Anyway, we soon sent him packing and with all the people we hope will come to the festival I think there’ll be little chance of him causing any aggro.’

Lindy wiped the kitchen worktop despite having only done so a few minutes before. ‘That poor girl. I hate to think what she’s been through with that ex of hers. Such a shame.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘He’d better not come back here and give her a hard time when I’m around.’

Zac relaxed slightly, happier now his mother’s usual fighting spirit had returned. He hated to see her upset and believing she was the cause of something unsavoury. He knew that Rhys would get more than he bargained for if he did come across his mother again. It would serve him right too. The bully. He pictured Patsy’s expression and knew his mother wasn’t the only person Rhys needed to be on the lookout for. And he would also give him what for if he came across the narcissistic bully again. How dare he bully a woman, Zac thought angrily. No, Rhys really needed to stay well away.

He finished refilling the ice trays and placed them back into the freezer compartment at the top of his mother’s large fridge. ‘I’d better go and join the others. They’ll be wondering where I’ve got to and will probably assume I’m skiving.’

‘No, they won’t,’ she said, smiling and looking as if she assumed that’s exactly what they would do. ‘Do you need me to come and give you a hand with anything?’

He looked at the racks of cooling cupcakes and others holding biscuits and shook his head. ‘I think you’ve got more than enough to do decorating that lot for tomorrow. Anyway, we’ve only got the final bits to sort out now.’ He noticed the oven light on and then more mixture sitting in the mixing bowl waiting to be baked. ‘How many of these things are you planning on making?’

‘Enough,’ she said. ‘Don’t look at me like that. You’ll be the first one to scoff any leftovers.’

She was right – he would. He gave his mother a hug. ‘Promise me you’ll stop worrying. Melody seems much more like her old self again today. I’m hopeful she’s managed to put the whole incident behind her now.’ He didn’t really believe that to be the case at all but needed to say something to try and assuage his mother’s concerns.

‘Fine, if you’re sure.’

‘I am.’ He picked up the tray of drinks.

‘Zac,’ Lindy said, slipping her hands into oven gloves and standing next to the cooker. ‘You will make sure you keep an eye on that girl, won’t you? I don’t want anything happening to her, especially while she’s under our roof.’

He stared at her, a weary expression on his face as he wondered why he wasted time trying to pacify her. ‘Will do, Mum.’

He walked back to the barn and stopped. The six-foot posters they had ordered were standing just inside the door, one on each side displaying the logo, which he had to admit looked impressive.

‘What do you think of our first impression?’ Lettie asked, entering the room behind him. ‘They look amazing, don’t they?’

‘They do.’ He looked at the tray in his hands. He hadn’t realised Lettie had finished work yet but saw there were enough glasses for her to have a drink and save him having to go back to the kitchen. ‘You finished outside then?’

‘For now,’ she said. ‘I thought I’d come and help with sorting any last-minute bits.’

He sighed. ‘I was beginning to think we’d never manage to pull this together in time,’ he said, relieved that everything seemed to now be in place and looked even better than he had expected.

‘Well, don’t just stand there,’ Lettie grumbled. ‘What do you think?’

He beamed at the expectant faces next to his sister, waiting for his response. ‘For a first impression it’s an excellent one.’

‘Really?’ Melody asked, walking over to join them. He noticed her biting the skin on the side of her finger and knew it was because she was troubled about Rhys being on the island. He hated to see her anxious like this. ‘You honestly think so?’

‘I love the lighting and the bunting. It all looks incredible and well thought out. We’re a great team.’ He walked over to the first stall and went to place the tray onto it.

‘Not there,’ Lettie snapped.

‘Why not?’

‘You shouldn’t mess it up.’

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell his sister that they had all worked perfectly well together that morning without her fretting. He wasn’t sure if it was the stress of the past few weeks, or tiredness from running the farm and the run-up to the event, but he thought his sister might be spiralling. ‘Er, Letts, this is a stand. If it can’t take my tray of glasses of water then it’s not going to be much use to someone loading their products on top of it.’

Patsy, Melody, Kathleen, Phyllis, and Bethan looked at Lettie waiting for her to react.

He spotted Joe, a firefighter friend who Lettie had briefly dated before getting together with Brodie. He hadn’t realised he was there.

‘I haven’t seen you for a couple of months,’ Zac said, surprised to see him again. ‘Where have you been hiding?’ Zac asked, unsure why he was there. Zac spotted Lettie pull a face at him but couldn’t fathom what she was trying to tell him. Then it dawned on Zac that his sister had probably called on Joe to come to the farm to help out with the festival.

‘Lettie called me this morning saying she could do with another pair of hands helping to set this lot up,’ Joe explained. ‘I had a few days owing to me so took them off to come along.’ He looked pointedly at the tray of drinks in Zac’s hands. ‘Is one of those for me?’

Zac nodded. ‘You can have mine. I’ll fetch more from the house in a minute.’

So he had been right then. How clever of Lettie to call on a few friends to make up the numbers and keep everything in order. He wondered if his sister had called on Callum and asked him to pop round if he had any free time.

‘Have they been giving you all the heavy things to lift?’

Joe laughed. ‘No, but I think you had already done most of that.’

They each took a glass of water and when Zac offered his to Joe, he thanked him but refused.

Melody held out her glass to Joe. ‘It’s fine. Zac and I can share this one,’ she said, gazing up at him.

‘I think tomorrow and the next day are going to be good fun, don’t you?’ Lettie said.

‘I do,’ Melody agreed.

Zac knew they were all going to have to keep alert just in case Rhys decided to make good his promise and return. Fun was probably going to be the last thing Zac was bothered about.