Page 33 of Fireworks at Pennycress Inn
‘Right off you both go, then. Have fun.’ Taking the door handle, Nicola waited for them to go through before waving at them. ‘Bye.’
‘Bye.’ Holding her hand up in a wave, Polly reluctantly followed Zac around the back of the house to the inn’s small car park. As they rounded the corner of the inn, Polly glanced behind her, half expecting Nicola to be tailing them to make sure she got in the car. After seeing the coast was clear, she stopped. ‘Zac, thanks for the offer, but I’ll call a taxi.’
‘I can take you.’ Setting his suitcase by his feet, he pulled a single car key from his pocket.
‘No, it’s fine.’ Polly shook her head quickly and turned away, ready to sneak past the front door and down the garden path.
‘Honestly, Polly. Nicola is right. We’re both heading to the same place. It makes sense I give you a lift.’ He glanced at the Tupperware container in her hand. ‘Although, I’d appreciate you not eating that in the car.’
Blinking, Polly frowned. That’s what he was worried about? A few loose cake crumbs being dropped into the footwell of his car? Surely the fact he’d just agreed to spend the next two hours alone with her trumped the small inconvenience of a cake crumb or two?
Clicking his car key, Zac stood patiently as Polly dithered on the spot. What was she supposed to do? She could hardly decline his invitation of a lift now, could she? After all, Nicola was inside, and he wasn’t being forced into anything right now. She’d fully expected him to agree to her getting a taxi. She wasn’t prepared for this. She wiped a loose strand of hair from her nose, the unrelenting rain streaming down the inside of her coat sleeve as she did so.
‘I’d rather get out of the rain sooner than later.’ Zac pierced her thoughts.
‘Right, of course.’ She closed her eyes momentarily. She supposed the prospect of either making small talk or sitting in awkward silence for the next couple of hours was a small trade-off for getting in the warm and dry. And sitting in relative comfort rather than swapping trains in the dark. ‘Okay. A lift would be great. Thank you.’
Holding his arm out, he indicated his car, a sleek dark blue Audi. Older than she remembered.
‘Thanks.’ Walking past him towards the car, she mumbled quietly as he slipped in front of her and lifted the lid to the boot. Placing her tote bag carefully in the corner of his empty boot, she realised the fabric was decidedly wet and that any clothes she’d brought with her would need drying out as soon as she got back to the flat.
As Zac lifted his small suitcase next to her bag with ease, Polly began making her way around to the passenger side, surprised that Zac managed to reach the door first and hold it open for her. ‘Umm, thanks.’
Without uttering a word, he waited for her to bundle herself in before closing the door softly and hurrying round to the driver’s side.
Polly balanced the Tupperware box on her knees as she clipped her seatbelt in. She should have put it in the boot with her bag. He’d no doubt be super paranoid about her opening it and daring to eat the cake in his spotless car now.
‘Here, I’ll pop that on the back seat. Save you holding on to it for the entire journey.’ Holding his hand out for the box, Zac then leaned behind them and placed it neatly on the back seat.
Refraining from rolling her eyes, she reminded herself, however much he’d been coerced into this by Nicola, he was indeed doing her a favour, and this was his car, he had every right to have a no eating rule in place if he so wanted to.
Turning the ignition, Zac kept his eyes fixed on the rear-view mirror as he reversed out of the parking space. ‘My mum has allergies. I try my best to avoid cross-contamination in here in case she needs a lift someplace.’
‘Oh right.’ Polly looked towards him as they pulled out onto the street. She hadn’t been expecting an explanation, she’d just assumed he was being overly precious about his car. Was he showing her a glimpse of the Zac she used to know?
As they made their way through the small village of Meadowfield, Polly looked out of the window, the street lamps illuminating the chocolate-box thatched cottages before they gave way to fields; the white light from the car headlights now the only light source. Still, she continued to look out of the side window, in the hope that Zac would be too busy driving to question why she’d rather stare into the darkness than engage in conversation.
After a few minutes of silence, he reached out and turned the radio on, the quiet tones of Classic FM filling the air. Grateful for the distraction, Polly glanced across at him. He looked tired. Dark circles clung beneath his eyes. Not super obvious, probably not obvious to anyone but her, but she could see them. Maybe it was the dim light in the car. Yes, it could be. He had never been one to look dishevelled.
Apart from that time six months ago, when they’d both joined in a mud race to raise money for the trust. She smiled. He’d looked particularly cute then, what with his hair sticking up in all directions and dirt smeared across his face.
Glancing across at her, Zac met her gaze before frowning. ‘Would you rather I turn it to a different station?’
‘What?’ Shaking her head, Polly fixed her eyes on the road ahead and leaned her elbow on the ledge of the door. He’d caught her staring. ‘No, this is fine. It’s your car.’
‘Okay. Happy to change it if you want.’
‘Thanks,’ she mumbled. This was probably the most he’d said to her since they’d both started at Meadowfield Reserve and as they basically shared a desk, that was saying something. She tried to push Nicola’s and Stacey’s advice on speaking to him about the kiss out of her mind. Should she really speak to him? And if she did, would it actually clear the air or make each other’s presence even less bearable?
Looking at him again, she drew her thumb to her mouth and began nibbling the cuticle. She did want the atmosphere between them to be less strained. And if it was, then these three months would be more enjoyable, but?—
‘Have you got something on your mind?’ Zac turned the volume of the radio down slightly.
‘I was just…’ No, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t bring it up. The kiss had ruined their friendship. Talking about it might just push him over the edge to ignoring her altogether. ‘Nothing.’
Taking his eyes off the road for a second, he looked at her. ‘There clearly is.’
Clasping her hands in her lap, she sighed. Now she didn’t have a choice. If she didn’t say anything now, he’d probably think she was staring at him because she was thinking about the kiss, not because she was thinking about talking about the kiss. She took a deep breath. ‘I just think we should talk about what happened that night.’
