Page 4 of A Forever Home at Honey Bee Croft

‘I’mdeadlyserious! She’s staying tomorrow night so I want her bedding clean, dry and changed before then.’

‘Jeez,’ he muttered.

‘And get your crap shifted out the hall too. I nearly broke my neck tripping over it.’

Without another word, Chez left and I swore under my breath.Could have handled that a lot better.But I’d been so mad at him for demonstrating such a lack of respect, especially when the bed in his room was made up. It was as though they’d been unable to contain themselves and had tumbled into the first bedroom they’d reached. Or they’d done it deliberately, thinking it would be a thrill. I hated that I’d yelled as there were better ways of expressing displeasure and that was the road I usually walked. If I hadn’t had such a lousy day, I’d have been fuming and I’d have left Chez in no doubt as to how unimpressed I was, but I’d have delivered that message in a calm and considered way.

Chez reappeared with a bundle of bedding and shoved it in the washing machine. I could feel his anger radiating towards me which was rich after what he’d done.

‘Why are you here anyway?’ I asked. ‘I assumed you’d split up with Lorna but…’ There was no need to finish that sentence.

He set the machine away and straightened up, glaring at me. ‘Oh! So you’re interested now?’

‘Cut the sarcasm, Chez.’

He sighed. ‘I’ve fallen out with Harry.’

I hadn’t been expecting that. ‘Why?’

‘Because of Deana, the bi?—’

‘Chez!’ I cried. ‘Stop calling her that.’

‘Well, she is.’

Shortly after Mum and Dad emigrated, Chez had decided he didn’t want to live with me and moved in with his best mate. Harry’s parents had bought the flat when he was young and rented it out, always intending for their son to move into it when he was ready to leave home. Chez paid him a nominal rent and they shared the bills. A year on, Lorna and Harry’s girlfriend, Fern, had both moved in with the lads. I’d expected there to be tension but it worked surprisingly well, even when Chez and Lorna had one of their break-ups. Harry and Fern didn’t take sides, and Chez and Lorna took it in turns to move out so it was all reasonably amicable. But then Harry and Fern split up last year and, over the summer, Harry’s new girlfriend, Deana, who was four years older than the others, moved in. According to Chez, Deana was petty, unreasonable and completely took over, but Harry idolised her and went along with whatever she wanted. If that was true, I wasn’t surprised it had caused tension between the lads, but I’d never thought it would lead to them actually falling out.

‘I’m really sorry about you and Harry,’ I said, my voice gentle, ‘but that doesn’t excuse what you did just now. You and Lorna were bang out of order.’

He at least had the decency to look shamefaced about it. ‘Sorry. It won’t happen again.’

‘Damn right it won’t.’

‘So, erm… am I okay to stay here for a bit until Lorna and me find a place of our own?’

‘You’re looking for somewhere together?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Just the two of you?’

‘Yeah.’

‘And how will you afford the rent next time you split up?’

Chez glared at me, his jaw tight. ‘Who says we’re gonna split up?’

‘You always do.’

‘Thanks for the vote of confidence,’ he muttered, shoving past me and storming upstairs.

I sank back against the worktop with a sigh. That hadn’t gone well either, even if I’d only spoken the truth.

My eyes rested on the pile of post I’d dumped earlier and I flicked through it – pizza menu, credit card circular and… I ripped open the white linen envelope, removed the card and my heart sank as I scanned down the contents.

Save the Date

Nathan ‘Snowy’ Oakes & Zara Timmins

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