Page 36 of Doc Defence

“I know, and that’s why I didn’t tell you. You’re too generous, and you know I couldn’t have accepted.”

Hel had guessed Clara would want to help after her own struggle with the mountain of debt her shit-head ex-boyfriend left her with. But Hel was too proud and didn’t want to take advantage of her friend.

“I always thought you liked the company. That’s what you always said,” Sadie’s tone was accusing.

Hel pulled out of the hug. “Sorry, I didn’t want you guys to feel sorry for me and offer me handouts.”

“Taylor would—“ Clara began to speak, and Hel cut her off.

“Please don’t suggest asking him for money, that’s not something I would ever do or could ever accept.” Hel knew he could afford it, but that wasn’t the point. She would never ask.

“Okay,” Clara said slowly. Her gaze caught Gloria’s, and she raised her eyebrows. The older woman nodded.

“What did you pay to rent your current place?” Clara asked.

“Two hundred and fifty a week.” Hel couldn’t quite work out where this was going.

“Done. Once all the renovations are finished, which won’t unfortunately be until close to our wedding, you can move into one of the cottages.”

“I can’t—“ Hel tried to refuse.

“Nope, you can. Gloria would rather stay up in the main house when she’s here. You can have her cottage.” Clara gestured at her future mother-in-law, who grinned.

“It’s closer to the wine cellar, and Taylor keeps the best food in his house, so you’ll save me having to look for excuses to raid his stuff. Anyway, the guestroom is at the opposite end of the house to the master bedroom, so I don’t mind moving in with them.” Gloria waggled her eyebrows.

Clara groaned loudly. “No, Gloria. Just no.”

Hel and Sadie glanced at each other and began to giggle, amused by Gloria embarrassing their friend.

“So what do you say, Hel?” Clara had clearly decided to ignore her future mother-in-law, who was laughing gleefully.

Hel hesitated for a moment. Should she refuse? Was it too much to ask of her friends? Staring at Clara, she saw the hopeful expression on the other woman’s face, she really did want to help.

“Yes, please. I would love to move in. Thank you.”

“Yeah!” Clara cheered and grabbed her friend into another hug.

Hel hugged her back and felt some of the weight lift off her shoulders, it would be a little while before she could move in, but when she did, she would have somewhere she could call home for the first time in a long time.

Hel went through the bag of clothes Sadie brought her to see what fit, then raided Clara’s wardrobe so she had some outfits for the next few days.

The incident with Frost kept bubbling to the surface of her mind as they sorted clothes and chatted until she eventually blurted, “I’m a terrible person.”

The eyes of the other three women swung to her.

“Okay. Why is that?” Sadie asked in bewilderment.

“I kissed Frost last night.” Hel flushed, so ashamed of herself. He had a girlfriend, and she had kissed him. Well, it was barely a kiss, but it was still wrong.

“Ohhhh. Tell me all about it!” Gloria exclaimed, her voice full of glee.

“Gloria, it’s not good. He’s got a girlfriend,” Clara muttered.

“Oh. That’s not ideal. Do you like him? Can we get rid of this girlfriend?” Gloria’s tone was very serious, and Hel could imagine Taylor’s mum coming up with a ridiculous scheme to do just that.

“Gloria!” Clara admonished.

But Gloria shrugged unapologetically. “I was only asking.”

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