Page 10 of Fireworks at Pennycress Inn
‘Oh, you two know each other?’ Beaming, Laura looked from Zac to Polly and back again.
‘We’re colleagues,’ Zac muttered as he glanced around the large room.
‘Fantastic. It’s always nice having someone you know in a new town or village, isn’t it?’ Laura continued, seemingly oblivious to the sudden chill in the air. ‘When I first moved to Meadowfield last year and discovered that Jackson was living next door, it meant a lot to have someone I knew living here, too.’
‘Oh, you only got together last year? I assumed you’d been together forever.’ Polly turned her attention to Laura. From the little she’d seen of Laura and Jackson, she’d never have guessed their relationship was so recent.
‘Ah, yes. He was – still is – my brother’s best friend, so I grew up with him.’ Laura laughed. ‘Oh, and when I say it was fantastic to have him here, that doesn’t mean initially. Jeez, initially I’d just wanted to have a new start, you know? But, still, things worked out for the best. I just had to let myself see it.’
Polly nodded. She was pleased things had worked out well for them. This situation with Zac though, she was damn sure nothing good would come of it.
Laura glanced behind her as the doorbell chimed again. ‘Sorry, I’ll just run and see who that is. Let you both catch up before I show you to your room, Zac.’
‘There’s no need…’ Zac’s voice trailed off as Laura disappeared. Sighing, he placed his briefcase on the floor by his feet and pulled out his mobile from his jacket pocket.
Shifting on her feet, Polly stole a glance in his direction. The one tuft of dark hair which always stubbornly refused to be tamed stuck up from the middle of his parting, hinting that he might just be human beneath the steely surface after all. She stifled a laugh, not that this situation – or any of what had happened today – was anything to be laughed at, but simply at the mere suggestion Zac could be human. Or have feelings. Any feelings which weren’t egocentric. Now, that was wrong. That little tuft of hair was giving the wrong vibes to anyone who happened upon him. She reminded herself that wasn’t true. Not until four months ago when he’d left the office human and walked back in the next day with the personality of a robot, preserved just for her.
She rolled her eyes. Well, didn’t she feel special.
Needing to do something, to stop staring at him, she picked up the picture frame again. He wasn’t happy. Whatever he was looking at on his mobile, whoever he was messaging, wasn’t pleasing him. Forcing herself to focus on the delicate willow branches in the picture, Polly sighed. That much was true, the thought about his personality changing overnight. With anyone else, he was still the charming, friendly Zac she’d been introduced to five years ago. To her, though, the mask had slipped, and he wasn’t making any effort whatsoever to replace it.
With the picture frame still in her hand, Polly turned to him. She needed to break this stifling silence before it choked her. And she had questions to ask. All day, she’d been trying to find the time. No, that wasn’t right. She’d been trying to find the words to ask what she wanted. Taking a deep breath, she blurted out her first question; the words tumbling from her mouth. ‘Why are you here?’
Slowly, he looked up from his mobile, his expression strongly hinting that he’d forgotten she was standing there, a mere few feet away from him. ‘I’m staying here.’
Feeling a curl coming loose and settling on her nose. Blowing it away, she shook her head. ‘No, why are you here, as in working at Meadowfield Nature Reserve?’
‘The same reason you are, I assume. To do my job.’
Biting down on her bottom lip, she refrained from telling him what an eejit she thought he was being. ‘Right. I just didn’t realise you were transferring. I didn’t think anyone else from HQ was.’
Zac shrugged slowly, his face briefly clouding before he set his expression back to neutral.
‘Why didn’t you say anything?’ she persisted.
‘I didn’t realise it was a secret.’
‘Right.’ Well, it had been. Or at least she’d not been told. Maybe this was just another tactic of his to make her feel awkward, showing up to her new job without giving her any prior warning.
‘I’m here to examine how the reserve works before I take the promotion.’ Zac looked back down at his phone.
‘The promotion?’ Polly stuttered. What was he saying? There was another promotion going at the reserve? Had Mr Bob planned this? He’d planned for both of them to come here and be promoted? ‘What to?’
Glancing back up at her, Zac met her eyes, irritation clear in his expression. ‘To project manager, of course.’
Project manager? What was he talking about? That was her promotion. She’d been promised it. ‘Wait, no…’
‘Sorry about that.’ Stepping back into the room, Laura placed a large brown box on the sofa closest to the door. ‘Are you ready, Zac?’
Slipping his mobile into his pocket, Zac smiled at Laura, his charm returning, before picking up his briefcase and following her.
With the sitting room now empty, Polly replaced the picture frame and sank onto the sofa. Zac thought he had been transferred here to be promoted to project manager. Nobody had told him it was her job? That it had been promised to her? Pinching the bridge of her nose, she looked down at the patterned rug covering the oak floorboards. She’d have to tell him. She’d have to let him know that the job had basically already been allocated. Well, that was going to be a fun conversation. And with them both staying here, too.
Just her luck.
8
‘I will. I’ll just tell him.’ Standing in front of the full-length mirror in her room, Polly smoothed the creases from the dark green sweatshirt Declan had given her to wear, the now familiar Meadowfield Nature Reserve logo emblazoned across the chest. She knew she should have ironed it last night when she’d realised just how creased it was after taking it out of its packaging. Instead, she’d decided on the method of hanging it up in the bathroom whilst she had a shower this morning, hoping the creases would fall out. So much for that little trick.
