Second Chances at Hollyhock Farm (Hollyhock Farm #2)

Chapter 29

29

MELODY

Melody and Lettie were crossing the yard when she heard a car. Tensing, Melody stopped and waited with Lettie to see who was arriving that early.

‘Callum?’ she said, surprised to see him there and relaxing instantly at his smiling face as he stepped out of his car. He walked over to Melody, giving her a kiss on the cheek before doing the same to Lettie. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Hi, ladies. I’ve come to offer my services, like I said I would. I gather from Brodie, who I bumped into last night when he was on his way home from supper here, that Day One was successful.’ He gave an impressed nod. ‘Congratulations. I knew you’d make this work.’

Lettie laughed. ‘I’m glad you were confident in our efforts.’ She looked at Melody. ‘I’m not so sure we were.’

‘No, we weren’t. Maybe if we had been a little more confident,’ Melody said with a grin, ‘all of us would have been able to sleep better these past couple of weeks.’

‘I mentioned the festival again on my show yesterday,’ Callum said. ‘I also said I’d be available for selfies for those wanting to give a donation to the festival.’

Lettie laughed. ‘You didn’t!’

He pretended to be shocked. ‘What, you don’t think people will pay to have a selfie with me?’

Melody giggled. ‘Crikey, if I’d known I was having a drink with a celebrity that time, I would have taken a few selfies of us together to post on my social media accounts.’

He narrowed his eyes. ‘You lot are bad for my ego – do you know that?’

Zac came out of the barn. ‘I might have guessed you’re the reason these two are keeping me waiting,’ he teased.

‘Don’t blame me,’ Callum said, pointing at Lettie and Melody. ‘They’re the ones distracting me and keeping me from helping.’ He began walking to the barn. ‘Well, come on then, you lot, what are you waiting for? Point me in the right direction and let me know what you need me to do.’

Melody stood with Lettie, both watching the two friends disappear into the barn. Melody was relieved to see that her evening out with Callum and then her closeness with Zac hadn’t seemed to put a dampener on the men’s friendship. She had enough conflict in her life with Rhys and didn’t need to be involved in another drama, especially between two men that she liked.

‘Those two have always been great friends,’ Lettie said quietly. Melody wasn’t sure if she was making a point to her, or simply stating a fact, and chose to go with the latter.

She wondered if Zac had confided in Callum about Rhys, immediately deciding that she didn’t mind and trusted whatever Zac had decided to do, aware that he was acting in her best interests.

Lettie tilted her head to one side and then to the other and for the first time Melody noticed she was nervous. They needed to be busy, she decided.

‘Come along,’ Melody said. ‘Let’s get in there and slay today.’

Lettie linked arms with her. ‘Yes, let’s do that.’

Just like the previous day, crowds of people arrived at the farm. The queue to the café area in the small barn was continually out of the door and Melody wondered if she had made an error persuading Lettie to reduce the duration of the festival to only two days.

Zac walked up to her as she stood at the back of the barn watching people, trying to see if there was anything she might need to do.

He took her hand, his face serious. ‘Would you mind coming with me for a moment?’

Wondering what he might need to speak privately to her about, she agreed. ‘We’ll have to be quick,’ she said. ‘It’s so busy here that I’d hate to not be here if I’m needed for something.’

‘This will only take a minute.’

He opened the storeroom door and led her inside, closing the door quietly behind them before leaning against it.

Seeing the twinkle in Zac’s eye, Melody instinctively knew why he had taken her there. She didn’t say anything but waited for him to act.

Melody slipped her arms around his waist, holding him tightly against her, smiling to herself when his arms wrapped around her and held her close against him. She felt him kiss the top of her head and for a moment neither spoke as they stood there. She wondered what he was thinking then decided she didn’t care. All that mattered right now was that he was in this room with her.

She raised her head to kiss him, but his expression changed and he looked down at her neck. He let go of her and, lifting her chin gently, turned her head one way and then the other, checking her neck. ‘You’ve got bruises,’ he said, his eyes steely. ‘Does it hurt much?’

She shook her head, realising that the make-up she had used to try and cover up the purple patches Rhys’s fingertips had caused on her neck hadn’t been enough to hide them completely.

‘No. Not really.’ Not wanting him to focus on her injuries, she took hold of his hand. ‘I’m fine. I promise.’ Wanting to kiss him, she added, ‘We’d better go and help Lettie, so if you want to kiss me you’d better get on with it.’

‘You don’t need to tell me twice.’

He lowered his head and their lips met. Pushing aside all thoughts of Rhys, Melody held Zac tightly and lost herself in the sensation of being with him.

Melody was grateful to have been kept busy all day, running from helping one person to clearing up from a class and setting up for another. She was glad they had set up ice baths near the small barn with the noisy café area nearby. All the chatting and laughter from people sitting and eating was proving to be a great distraction for those brave enough to try the extreme cold, with lots of encouragement being called out to them. But it was something to note down should Lettie decide to continue with the wellness festival the following year.

With all that she had to do, the one constant thought on her mind was Rhys and whether he would appear from around a corner, from a car, or follow someone inside and get past her friends and colleagues looking out for him. Zac barely left her line of vision – whenever she looked over to find him he was either nearby or glancing at her to keep an eye on her.

She thought about what Gareth and Lindy had said and was relieved to know she was welcome to stay at the farm for as long as she wanted. She realised she had become very fond of the whole family and, she thought, their friends too. The whole community seemed to take people under their wing, and she wasn’t sure if it was an island thing, or because those around the Torel family liked and respected them so much that they also wanted to take care of their friends. She was glad to be considered one of them now and was in no rush to leave.

It dawned on her that she would not be ready to leave even if she didn’t have this issue with Rhys and the need to broach the difficult subject of her situation with her mother. She was glad she had decided to wait for the time being before phoning. Perhaps it would be better speaking to her about this face to face anyway, Melody thought. At least then she would have the time to go over what she told her mother as many times as her mother needed to hear it.

‘You’re looking thoughtful,’ Zac said quietly.

Melody jumped. ‘Oh, I didn’t see you there.’

He frowned. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to give you a fright.’

She rested a hand on his arm. ‘It’s fine – you didn’t. I was miles away,’ she said, not wanting to admit she had been thinking about the call to her mother and what she would say.

He stepped back to let a group of people pass by on their way to the sound bath class that was about to begin in the meadow by the stream.

She realised she hadn’t told him about staying on the farm. The teacher welcomed the class and, not wishing to interrupt everyone, Melody motioned for Zac to follow her outside. ‘We’d better talk somewhere where we won’t be bothering anyone.’

They walked outside and sat on the low wall to one side of the yard.

‘Is everything all right?’ he asked, looking concerned.

She explained about the offer for her to stay as long as she wanted at the farm. ‘It’s so kind of them. I never imagined they would do something like that. I mean, they’ve only known me a few weeks.’

Zac smiled. ‘Maybe so, but they know you well enough to be comfortable offering you a room here at the farm. I know without doubt that you’ve made a very good impression on my parents.’ He nudged her with his shoulder. ‘And they’re not the only ones.’

She went to say something but noticed his expression change slightly. ‘What is it?’

He stared at her for a few seconds, then shrugged. ‘I can’t help wondering how long it’s going to take for you to be divorced.’

She hadn’t expected him to say that. ‘I’ve no idea,’ she said. ‘But I intend getting straight on to it as soon as I’m back in Edinburgh.’ She thought how she would feel if she had discovered the same thing about Zac and sighed. ‘I understand how much of a shock this must have been for you and I wouldn’t be happy to discover you had a wife, if things were the other way round.’

‘It is what it is, though,’ he said, his voice filled with resignation. ‘Now I’m mostly concerned Rhys doesn’t come across you while you’re by yourself again.’ He frowned. ‘Your time here is coming to an end though, and I’m dreading you leaving.’ The sadness in his voice reaffirmed his feelings for her.

‘I’m not ready to leave this beautiful place either.’ She rested her hand on his. ‘Or ready to leave you.’

He kissed her. ‘That makes me happy.’

She noticed Lettie rush out of the larger barn and look around for someone. Presuming she might be wondering where Melody was, she jumped off the wall to her feet.

‘I’d better go. We’re so busy today and I really shouldn’t be sitting around chatting with you.’

He stood. ‘You were due a break. You’re right though – we should be getting back.’

‘There you are,’ Lettie said, hurrying over to them, her attention going to Zac. ‘I need you in the smaller barn, now,’ she added when he didn’t move.

‘What for?’ His eyebrows lowered. ‘Is something the matter?’

Melody tensed, hoping it wasn’t anything to do with Rhys. She was still mortified by what he had done the previous day and couldn’t bear to think he might have somehow found a way to sabotage the event. She would never forgive herself if he had caused trouble.

‘The volunteers for the ice bath can’t do it,’ Lettie said frantically. ‘Joe had agreed to be one of those demonstrating but he’s been called in to work, so can’t do it, and the demonstration is in two minutes. I need you to get undressed and get in the barn ready to help out.’

Zac cringed. ‘If the volunteers have changed their minds then I can understand why, but I don’t see why I have to be the one to take their place. Who the hell voluntarily sits in ice?’

Melody watched as a steely glint appeared in Lettie’s eyes. ‘Zachary, I don’t care whether you want to do this or not. I can’t let the owner down.’

He winced. ‘Please don’t call me that. Anyway, why can’t she do it herself?’ he asked, and Melody had to wonder the same thing. ‘She must think they’re a good idea.’

Lettie took one step closer to him. ‘Because, Zac,’ she said through gritted teeth, her voice low, ‘she has a cast on her foot. Now, will you do this to help raise money for our roof, or not?’

She had never seen the siblings at odds like this before and Melody wanted to quash their quarrel before it escalated. She hadn’t ever tried out this particular therapy, but aware that there was little time to persuade anyone else and wanting to pay back all the support the Torel family had given to her, she took a deep breath.

‘You’ll need two people to do it,’ Melody said, recalling there were two ice baths set up near the front of the barn. ‘Zac can do it with me.’

She saw Zac’s look of shock, although it only lasted an instant before he gathered himself. He groaned. ‘Fine, I’ll do it.’

‘Great. Follow me.’ Lettie led the way.

‘I only have shorts on though,’ he said half to himself.

‘Just get in with those then,’ Lettie said over her shoulder. ‘Melody, you’d probably be best going to quickly change into a swimming costume though. I’ll help with the introductions and delay everything for a minute or so.’

Melody hadn’t thought about the mismatched underwear she was wearing. ‘Good idea.’ She ran into the house and up the stairs to her bedroom, quickly locating her cerise costume. She hurriedly stripped off her clothes, pulled on her costume, then pulled her shorts and T-shirt back over it. Grabbing two towels from the airing cupboard on the next floor just in case Lettie hadn’t thought to supply any, she slipped her feet into her trainers and ran to the smaller barn.

She caught Zac’s eye as he stood behind one of the barrels that looked as if they were made from PVC or nylon, both filled three-quarters of the way to the top with almost freezing water. Ice cubes floated in the water and she hoped she wouldn’t have to sit in it for any longer than was necessary.

She stood next to Zac and both listened as the woman spoke about the benefits of this therapy. ‘As well as helping reduce inflammation and stress, other benefits include helping with relaxation. It therefore has benefits for improving sleep. It also helps with mindfulness. Now, I’ll go through some breathing techniques and then our two volunteers, Melody and Zac, will demonstrate for us.’

Having listened to instructions from the woman, Melody took a calming breath and stepped into the freezing water. What the hell? Her heart raced and her breathing sped up.

‘Get control of your breathing, lovey,’ a woman in the audience suggested. ‘It works.’

Melody gave her a disbelieving look, wondering how much time the clever clogs in the audience had spent time in one of these things.

The woman laughed. ‘It’s true,’ she insisted, somehow sensing what Melody had been thinking. ‘I had to do it when I was in labour with my three. Whenever I had my breathing under control the labour pains weren’t nearly so bad.’

Melody forced a smile in her direction, wishing the woman would be quiet and let her focus on trying to take her mind off the shock to her entire body.

She listened as the woman who ran the business moved to stand closer to her and Zac. ‘She is right, you know. If you can calm your breathing and do the exercises I told you about, this will be a far more pleasant experience.’

Closing her eyes to help her focus, Melody listened as the woman repeated the instructions. She lowered herself and although every part of her screamed to get out, she knew Lettie needed as many businesses as possible to succeed at the festival and was relying on her right now. She slowly began to get control of her breathing and although she doubted she would ever want to try something like this again, had to admit to herself that the sense of achievement it was giving her helped her to get a sense of why people might want to practise something like this.

Hearing movement next to her, she opened her eyes to see Zac wincing and stepping out of the tub. ‘I’m afraid that’s enough for me for today,’ he said apologetically. The woman handed him a thick bathrobe Melody hadn’t noticed earlier.

She was about to get out too when someone laughed. ‘Haven’t I always said, Ginny, it’s the women who have the strength to deal with discomfort far more than these blokes.’ Melody realised it was the same woman who had told her about being in labour.

Unable to help smiling, Melody decided she had also had enough, and rose to her feet, grateful when Zac reached out his hand for her to take as she stepped out. Within seconds she had wrapped herself in a thick towelling robe and was drying her feet.

‘He might have got out before me,’ she said to the woman. ‘But only just.’

‘Thank you, Zac and Melody,’ the business owner said. ‘You’re both free to go if you want to dress now.’

They left the barn without speaking.

‘Thank heavens that’s over,’ Zac said. ‘I can’t see how doing that could calm anyone.’

Melody took his hand in hers and gave it a soothing pat. ‘I actually didn’t mind it all that much.’ He gave her a look of astonishment, making her laugh. ‘It’s true.’

‘Well done, you two,’ Lettie said, running to catch up with them. ‘You did well.’

‘Yes,’ Zac said. ‘But don’t expect me to do that again next year if you do decide to repeat this festival. Once is enough for me.’

Lettie seemed baffled. ‘You surf, Zac. Our sea isn’t exactly warm most of the year round.’

‘No,’ he said. ‘But it doesn’t have ice floating around in it either. And I wear a wet suit most of the time.’