Page 53 of The Beekeeper's Cottage
She frowned at him, annoyed by his tone. ‘Well, funnily enough I don’t happen to have a mechanic on standby who can just drop everything and come on over. Or were you suggesting thatIchange the tyre?’
He tutted. ‘No, of course not, but there must be someone. Paul rather thought someone from the farm might be able to help out.’
‘Oh, he did, did he? Those people who he doesn’t give a fig about from one day to the next… For goodness’ sake he never even bothered to find out how Fraser was doing after he had open heart surgery following a heart attack. Do you really think they’re going to drop everything to help him?’
Dominic didn’t really know them either, although he had met them once or twice over the years, but he could see that Grace was telling the truth. His gaze sunk to the floor and, seeing it, she relented.
‘But fortunately, they’remyfriends and they might do it for me,’ she said. ‘Give me a few minutes and I’ll see what I can do.’
She picked up her mobile and slipped through the patio doors, dialling Ned’s number. There was no reply and Flora’s phone went unanswered as well. She didn’t bother to leave a message but carried on down the garden, making for the field. If she was very lucky someone would still be working there and, if not, then the farmhouse was a short walk away. She had only gone halfway when she saw Amos coming towards her, swinging a basket.
‘Morning!’ He waved an arm in salute and hurried towards her, studying her face as he reached her. ‘Is everything all right?’
Grace nodded. ‘I’m fine, but Operation Impress the Americans has hit a snag. Flat tyre,’ she explained. ‘The end of the world, obviously, and neither Paul nor Dominic could possibly change it. I was just on my way down to the farm to see if Ned might have half an hour to spare.’
‘He might have,’ Amos replied. ‘But I can come quicker.’ He handed her the basket. ‘I was on my way up as it happens – Hannah thought you might be able to make use of those,’ he added. ‘And of course I volunteered to bring them over simply because that way I’d get all the salacious gossip from last night first-hand.’ He grinned at her.
Grace peered at the dozen or so eggs nestled inside, smiling at both the thoughtful gift and Amos’s comment.
‘I’m not sure gossip is quite the word,’ she said. ‘Although, actually, despite Paul being Paul, I enjoyed the meal. Everyone is impossibly young, of course, but for all that, educated and rather eloquent – not jumped-up, arrogant upstarts at all. It quite surprised me.’
‘I met one of them this morning by the field,’ replied Amos. ‘He seemed genuinely interested in the flowers that are growing.’
‘Oh, that was you. Zac did say he’d got talking to someone but I assumed it was Ned. You had an early start.’
Amos looked up at Grace through his lashes. ‘Can I confess to having been in the garden and legging it when I saw someone coming. I only just made it into the field and pretended to be pulling up weeds. Actually, I was pulling up weeds but that hadn’t been my intention.’
‘Were you sleeping there…? Only I thought I saw you in the garden late last night just before I went to sleep.’
‘Sorry, I was just… keeping an eye on things, I—’
‘No, it’s okay, Amos. I don’t mind, it was… well it made me feel… better,’ she finished lamely, not really sure how to explain how it had made her feel, or indeed if she should. ‘Knowing you were around, I mean.’
Amos gave her a look she really couldn’t fathom. ‘It made me feel better too,’ he said. ‘Knowing I was around… So, you’re okay then?’ His voice was serious as he laid a hand on her arm. ‘I couldn’t stop thinking about you last night… wondering how you were all getting on. Wondering if Paul was behaving himself.’
Grace sighed. ‘Well apart from chastising me for altering the sleeping arrangements without telling him, it’s been okay.’ She paused. ‘I’d just rather he didn’t feel the need to prove he’s my husband by kissing me every time we’re in the same room; it’s beginning to make my skin crawl. I don’t suppose anyone else is interested and besides…’ She trailed off, not wanting to spell out to Amos how she felt having Paul touch her. ‘Anyway, at least they’ll be out all day, so it’ll be fine, I’m sure.’
‘Provided there’s a car for them to go out in at all. I’ll go and see what I can do.’
‘Would you? Are you sure you don’t mind? It doesn’t really seem right to ask you, not when Dominic and Paul are both perfectly capable.’
‘Grace, it’s fine. If it makes life easier then I’m happy to help. The quicker it’s done, the quicker they can leave.’
There was certainly a lot of truth in this statement and Grace hurried back into the house, leaving Amos to go and investigate the problem. ‘I’ll bring you out a coffee,’ she said as she left him.
Dominic was still pacing the kitchen but looked up the second she walked back into the room. ‘Did you get something sorted?’ he urged. ‘We need to leave in half an hour at the latest.’
‘I would imagine you’ll be leaving when the tyre’s fixed,’ she replied. ‘But yes, a friend of mine has come to the rescue. You might want to go and give him a hand. At the very least say hello.’
A gale of laughter echoed from the other room. Paul’s laughter. She doubted very much that whatever had been said was that funny and she was beginning to find his ridiculously over-the-top behaviour trying. Admittedly, she didn’t know Zac or Riley at all well, but they had both struck her as pretty down-to-earth characters, not the stereotypical showbizzy types she had imagined they would be. And Zac was astute with it too; it made her wonder just how they really viewed her husband.
Reassured that conversation was still ongoing in the sitting room, she took a mug of coffee outside to see how Amos was getting on.
The boot on the car was raised and she could tell from its rocking movement that it was already being jacked up. She’d expected to see Dominic but was surprised to find Amos by himself. She walked around to the side of the vehicle, still holding his drink.
‘Is everything all right?’ she asked.
‘Should be,’ came the reply. ‘It’s straightforward enough. The tyre had picked up a gouge from somewhere, could have been a sharp stone, any number of things. It didn’t puncture it straight away, but I reckon the air has been seeping out all night. There’s a spare, fortunately, which looks okay. The chap who came out said it was a company car so it’s been well maintained by the look of things.’
