Second Chances at Hollyhock Farm (Hollyhock Farm #2)

Chapter 36

36

ZAC

‘Isn’t it exciting news about Lettie and Brodie?’ Melody sighed.

‘I am delighted for my sister. And Brodie – he clearly loves her very much.’ Just as I love you, he thought, taking Melody’s hand and leading her to the table. He knew she had feelings for him and presumed they were fairly deep ones, but after all Melody had dealt with and was still going through, he couldn’t expect her to be as open to falling in love as he seemed to be.

‘I’ve got us a bottle of champagne?’ he said, holding it up. ‘I thought we could toast each other and talk about what happens next.’

Melody laughed with delight at his thoughtfulness. She didn’t say anything but waited for him to fill her glass, then went with him to sit on the sofa. Zac turned towards her, his left arm resting on the back of the sofa, and raised his glass.

‘To us, whatever that means.’

Melody grinned. ‘I like that.’ She raised hers to chink with his. ‘To us, whatever that means,’ she repeated, before taking a sip of the bubbly liquid. ‘We do have a lot to work out, don’t we?’

‘Unfortunately, it seems that way, but I’m sure we can sort something that suits us both.’ He saw her expression change and wasn’t sure what it meant, then it occurred to him that she had found out about him and Jazz. ‘You know, don’t you?’

‘If you mean about you, Jazz and her losing the baby, then yes.’

Zac tensed. Was their relationship about to come to an abrupt end just when he thought things were really starting to go somewhere? He studied her face and watched as she took another sip of her drink, deep in thought. ‘It wasn’t my finest hour.’ He cringed at his words. ‘That is…’

She reached out and rested her hand on his knee. ‘I’m not judging you, Zac. You couldn’t help what happened just like Jazz couldn’t. Horrible things happen sometimes and it’s up to each of us to find a way to deal with it,’ she said quietly. ‘I only meant that I understand you’ve also had difficult things to cope with relationship wise.’

Relieved to hear her comforting words, Zac relaxed back into the sofa. ‘It was a heartbreaking time, especially for poor Jazz. I still feel guilty for not being there for her.’ He thought about the last time he had seen his ex, pregnant again, newly married and looking the picture of happiness. ‘We knew each other vaguely from Jersey. We were the same age but at different schools and I sometimes saw her in town or down by the beach but was often too shy to speak to her. It was only when we met that first day at uni that things really clicked between us.’

‘I imagine you didn’t have to part ways during holidays then, if you’re both from here?’

It had worked out perfectly for most of the time, he realised. ‘No. We travelled back to the island together, even got jobs during the summer holidays in the same place if we could.’ He hoped Melody didn’t mind him being this open. He tried to study her expression more deeply. ‘I’d understand if you didn’t want to know all this.’

She seemed shocked by his question. ‘No, I do.’ She smiled. ‘I was wondering how long you were together?’

He thought about it. ‘About four and a half years.’

She didn’t say anything so he decided to share what had happened between them. He knew a lot about her troubles with Rhys and if he wanted a future with her then he needed to share parts of himself that he kept hidden. He told her about bumping into Jazz and her new husband. ‘It was last year,’ he explained. ‘She had moved over to Australia to be with him. They married and came here on honeymoon. I had always dreaded seeing the pair of them together and until then I had presumed I would feel upset seeing her with someone else, especially someone serious, but it was not like that at all. There was a sereneness about her I’d never seen before, a confidence. She was with her husband and Jazz was the one to wave me over to chat when we spotted each other on opposite sides of the road.’

‘That must have laid a lot of ghosts to rest for you?’ Melody said, resting her head on his shoulder.

‘It did. We chatted politely for a little while and I could tell she had moved on from what had happened. She even said that although our relationship had ended acrimoniously, she treasured the good times and hoped I was happy.’

‘And were you?’

He thought for a moment. ‘About her moving on and not holding any ill will against me, absolutely. With my work, yes. That’s always made me happy because I love what I do.’ He put his arm around her and snuggled closer to her, careful not to spill their drinks. ‘But other than that, I knew something was missing.’

‘Like what?’

She sounded as if she genuinely didn’t know. Zac’s heart filled with even more love for her. ‘Like this. You. You’re the first person my family have seen me with since that relationship ended. I hadn’t dared risk becoming involved with anyone else, not seriously.’

‘No?’

‘Not after not being able to get to Jazz when she was miscarrying and letting her down so badly.’

‘Zac, that’s so sad.’ She hesitated. ‘You do know that although it didn’t work out between you and Jazz that it can be different for us, don’t you?’

‘I suppose so.’

‘It’s true. At least you now know Jazz is fine after everything that happened between you.’

‘More than fine. She’s happier than she ever was with me.’

‘I’m glad you’re both OK.’

‘I am, too.’ He was silent for a few seconds but before she could speak, he continued, ‘Do you know that before meeting you, I don’t think I knew what it meant to properly fall in love with someone. I now know what I felt for Jazz was deep but it was a love between two inexperienced people. This feels…’ He laughed, feeling awkward. ‘It’ll sound odd.’

‘Go on.’

‘Well, it’s not the same thing at all. I feel like this is a grown-up love. An all-encompassing deep love, if you know what I mean.’ She stilled and he worried he might have said the wrong thing. Just because he was ready for a serious relationship, Melody might not be, especially with all she had to contend with. He hoped he hadn’t scared her off.

When she didn’t say anything after a couple of minutes, he thought he should try to explain further. ‘I’m sorry if that felt a bit too heavy.’

She moved slightly back from him and looked up into his eyes. ‘You have nothing to feel sorry for, Zac, and you haven’t said anything I don’t want to hear.’ She leant forward and kissed his cheek lightly. ‘I was trying to work out how we could make this work between us going forward, that’s all.’

‘I see.’ He tried to take in the implications of her words. ‘You mean you feel there is a future for us both then?’

She turned in her seat towards him. ‘I’m sure between the pair of us we’ll work something out.’ Her beautiful turquoise eyes seemed to stare deep into his soul. ‘Right now, though, Zac Torel, I think we should forget about talking and start showing each other exactly how we feel.’

Zac watched silently as she took his drink from his hand and placed it along with hers on the nearby coffee table. He was barely able to think. Then moving to face him, Melody placed her knees either side of his thighs on the sofa, took his face in her hands and kissed him.

Zac’s mind raced. Was she trying to tell him she loved him too? Could he possibly be that lucky? He wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her further onto his lap, feeling the heat of her body against his, and he kissed her right back.