Page 72 of Hearts Colliding
“As long as it’s not you he’d be givingthat extra somethingto.”
Alex’s mouth dropped open. He snapped it shut. It dropped again. And then he began to laugh.
“You can’t be serious. You’re not — are you? Oh my god. Ryan, come on! Are you jealous? Of Luca? You seriously think me and him…?” Alex’s whole body shook with laughter, the more he tried to tamp it down the worse it got. “Honestly. Do I get jealous over you and Joss? The first boy you kissed, and kept on kissing, or so you once told me?”
“No, but we were just kids. You and Luca were—”
“Over years ago. Life’s moved on for both of us. Anyway, you like him, you said so yourself.”
Ryan huffed. “Okay, okay, I know. I’m being stupid, I’m being a prat. Of course I know it was years ago, and he’s now just a friend. And yes, I do like him. But I like him more when he’s not here much. He’s very good looking,” he added with a grumble.
Alex fought to keep his face straight. “He’s more than good looking. He’s gorgeous. He’s sex on legs. How will I be able to restrain myself? Think of all those midnight frolics we could have in the steam room. And as for the use of essential oils, well—”
“All right, smart arse, you’ve made your point.”
“Have I? Then stop being that stupid prat. You’ve got nothing and nobody to be jealous of, Ry. Ever. I made my choice — we made our choice, you and I — and nothing on earth will ever get in our way. Luca’s a good man, and a lovely one too, but he’s notmyman. Get it?”
Ryan nodded as a smile lifted his lips. Alex’s heart gave a little flip.
“I get it. And I’m sorry. If you want him as your general manager, go for it. Come on.” Ryan joined his hand with Alex’s. “We need to get to the pub. Pie night starts in an hour.”
* * *
Ryan turned the key in the lock, and threw the bolts home. The pub had been packed to the rafters, every pie in the place sold, and the till hadn’t stopped ringing. It was just as well the two casuals they took on for pie night had been more than pleased when he’d offered them permanent shifts.
The Fisherman’s Arms was getting busier by the day, so maybe it was time to seriously think about building the extension he, his mum, and his nan talked of from time to time. But that was a conversation for another day. For now, he leaned back against the door and looked out over the pub.
All the members of the now defunct war council were gathered at the bar. Joss had Henry on his lap, and was making a big fuss of the little dog, giving him lots of kisses and tummy rubs, as Tina and Joss’ own dog, Bingo, curled up at his feet. Oliver, Charles, and Declan were huddled together, laughing at something on Declan’s phone. His mum leaned over the bar, chatting to Doreen, as his nan and Alex collected up the remaining glasses and wiped down tables.
Ryan caught Alex’s eye, and raised his brows in question. Alex smiled, and he made his way to the bar. Ryan joined him.
“You ready to go first?” Ryan murmured.
“I think so.”
Ryan hammered on the bar. Laughter and chatter stopped as all eyes turned his way.
“Thanks for agreeing to stay after hours.”
“Free drink, so what’s not to stay for?” Declan lifted his glass in salute. “So, you going to tell us what’s going on?”
Ryan exchanged a glance with Alex, who answered with a tiny nod as he stepped forward.
“As you all know, the conversion of the New House into a hotel is almost complete. And you can’t begin to know how pleased I am — it’ll be good for the village in a way my, erm, original plan never was.”
Alex paused, and Ryan rested his palm between his shoulder blades. They’d agreed this part was for Alex to explain. For now, Ryan would keep quiet, but only for now.
“My original plan to convert the house into apartments made good business sense, but business had nothing to do with why I submitted the application. I couldn’t make my home there, but in the end and for reasons I’m not sure I fully understand or ever will, I couldn’t bring myself to let it go, either.
“Converting it to a hotel, it’ll bring it to life. It’s a beautiful building, an architectural gem, and it deserves to be beautiful again. And of course, there are the jobs it’ll create. As far as possible, I want local people, those who have a stake in the village and the surrounding area, to make up the backbone of the staff. But the conversion’s just the first stage, and I want to talk about what comes next.”
Ryan glanced at the gathering, at his family and friends. Everybody was still, nobody spoke, even the dogs had stopped their snuffling. Alex looked up at him, a rare flicker of nerves shining in his eyes. Ryan smiled encouragement.You can do this, babe.
“The Jenkins farm. I know people are wondering about what my plans are for it.”
“There have been one or two rumours flying around that it might be built on, being brownfield,” Doreen said.
“I know, I’ve heard them too. And it’s my fault, for leaving it to sit idle. But that’s about to change. In a couple of weeks’ time, all the existing buildings on the site will be dismantled, if nothing else because they’re in a bad state of repair. After the land’s been cleared, all the necessary work will begin to convert the site to a couple of small holdings, with the rest turned into allotments. This is what the village wanted and was working towards until I turned up and rocked the boat.”
