Page 55 of The Beekeeper's Cottage
‘And you’re pretty much done, I think, aren’t you? Zac very kindly came to help as well.’ She had to say something to alert Paul to his presence.
But even this didn’t help. ‘Zac did? Oh, for goodness’ sake, whatever for? Well I suppose that explains why I couldn’t find him earlier. Where’s he gone now?’
Zac stood up abruptly and grinned at Paul. ‘Right here actually.’ He handed Amos the wrench. ‘Just give the nuts one more turn for luck and we’re good to go, I think. Thanks so much, Amos.’ He looked down at his dirty hands. ‘I’d better go and get washed.’
Paul’s mouth was hanging open, and Grace could see his brain working frantically. He came swiftly around the side of the car, smiling broadly. ‘Yes, thank you, Amos. I’m really not sure what we would have done without you.’ He thrust his hand into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out the silver money clip he always kept there. He peeled off several twenty-pound notes in succession. ‘Thank you,’ he said again.
Amos stared at the money in his hand. ‘I was doing a favour, Mr Maynard,’ he said. ‘Thank you, but that’s really not necessary.’
‘Nonsense, come on.’
But Amos made no move to either reply or take Paul’s money, and the silence stretching out was embarrassing.
In the end it was Zac who spoke, patting Paul’s arm in a way which Grace knew he would take for condescension. Whether it was meant that way she wasn’t entirely sure.
‘You heard the man, Paul, put your money away and just buy him a pint sometime for God’s sake.’
He flashed them both a wide smile and led Paul back inside the house. ‘Right, so run through this morning’s schedule for me one more time,’ he said, as they moved away.
Amos bent to double-check the wheel nuts, turning away from Grace so she couldn’t see his face.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she said.
The seconds ticked by until eventually Amos raised his face to hers. ‘Your husband needs to learn that not everyone can be bought,’ he said, his face a mixture of sadness and anger.
And the unspoken words,including you, hung in the air between them.
19
The day ground by interminably slowly and Grace had wished for the evening to hurry up and arrive. Now that it had, however, she wished it had never arrived at all. After finishing up his checks on the car that morning, Amos had disappeared and she hadn’t seen him all day. He had seemed okay when he left but she couldn’t help feeling that something was very amiss and even, perhaps, that he was avoiding her. If she hadn’t had so much to do she probably would have invented some excuse to pop over to the farm and see him, but it was not to be, and now she was a bundle of nervous, anxious energy.
Dominic and Paul were both in buoyant moods. Despite the slight bumpy start to the morning caused by the flat tyre, the rest of their plans had gone like clockwork and it was obvious from the confident swagger of both men that they were more than happy with the day’s outcome. Grace didn’t ask, she didn’t particularly want to know; all that concerned her now was getting through the evening. And that was proving to be increasingly difficult.
The meal had gone well, and the atmosphere around the table was most convivial as the men relaxed after their food. But Paul was knocking back the wine at a pretty steady rate of knots and, although well able to handle his drink, was always more demonstrative when he’d had too much alcohol. He slid an arm around her shoulders, moving it inward so that his hand just caressed the back of her neck. It was a particularly intimate gesture and she could feel all her muscles tense in response. She eased herself away from the table on the pretence of fetching something from the kitchen. Strictly speaking it wasn’t an excuse, shehadbought some particularly fine truffles to have after dinner, but in truth she had only just taken away the cheese board and it was far too early to be bringing out more food. It was just that as time went by she was finding it increasingly difficult to stomach her husband’s attention.
Their relationship had been on rocky ground for several years now, but it had been easy enough to miss each other in this spacious house and for the most part they had managed to live largely separate lives. But what was becoming increasingly clear to Grace was that during this time she had never had the opportunity to contrast her husband’s behaviour with that of any other men. Now that she had, she was beginning to notice how loud he was, how gauche; showy and brash rather than displaying the quiet and cultured intelligence that the others did. Was this how they saw him too? And worst of all, she found herself contrasting his overbearing and possessive manner with that of Amos’s kind and generous humility. Or simply just comparing him to Amos…
She pretended to tidy the already spotless kitchen; the dishwasher had long since been loaded and the few remaining pots and pans, washed, dried and put away. On an impulse she decided to make up a pitcher of what Hannah called her ‘special water’. It was essentially just ice-cold water with fruit added to it, and a touch of lime or lemon juice, but was extremely refreshing and made a good non-alcoholic alternative. If nothing else, it might slow Paul down. His behaviour was beginning to feel far too similar to that of the last weekend they hosted.
Taking a lemon, some grapes and an apple from the fruit bowl on the table, she took a minute to cross to the open patio doors and breathe in the night air, relishing its verdant stillness.
‘Looking for your gardener, are you?’
Grace whirled around to see Paul leaning up against the kitchen doorjamb. He had a glass of red wine in his hand and was holding it by the rim, swinging it loosely from side to side. She knew exactly who he was talking about.
‘Taking the air actually,’ she replied. ‘Although if I was looking for my gardener, then I’m afraid I’d have to disappoint you. We don’t have a gardener and I very much doubt that one would be working at this time of night, given that it’s pitch black outside.’
‘Don’t try to be clever, Grace, it doesn’t suit you.’
‘I rather thought it was you who was trying to be clever.’
‘Oh, come on, you were practically falling over him this morning.’
Grace sighed. ‘Shall we just stop all this silliness?’ she said. ‘We both know you’re talking about Amos, so let’s just come out and say it, shall we? Just what exactly are you accusing me of here?’
‘I’m not accusing you of anything, Grace, just making an observation, that’s all. You said before that your friends helped you do up this place and it’s very obvious which particular friend that was. I’m surprised at you actually; I really didn’t think you had it in you. I mean, I’ve only been gone a matter of weeks and already someone else’s feet are under the table.’
Despite having promised herself she wouldn’t get riled, Grace could feel a flush of anger rising inside. She didn’t much care what Paul said about her, but she would not let him talk about Amos in that way. He had done nothing to deserve it and would be horrified if he knew that someone could even think those things about him.
