Roxie looked up at the branches—the thing that gave the house its beauty, its point of uniqueness, was the thing that would ultimately cause its destruction.
The engineer apologized as he explained—especially when she asked how much repairs could cost. He promised to send another engineer for a second opinion, but for now he was classing it as unsafe—uninhabitable—until the remedial work was done. Roxie’s blood froze as she processed the info. Uninhabitable meant she’d lose Gabe as her tenant. Which meant she’d lose her income. The engineer left a brief report for her then and there. Black inked words leapt off the blinding white page—extensive, damage, cost...
Anger surged. She’d fought so long and still been defeated—in everything. She turned to the garden she’d tended for so long in the hope it could help her grandfather. But it had ultimately failed her too. The tall, fruitful plants mocked her, growing so strong when there was nothing left in her life. Furious, she lashed out with her bare hands. She tore the nearest tomato plant, swearing when the leaves ripped through her palms. She clawed until the whole thing was out, leaving a square of bare brown earth. She stopped, breathlessly stared at the small empty space that had been exposed.
Yeah, that was better.
Gabe frowned as the taxi drove alongside the park; there was something different about Roxie’s place. When the car pulled over he saw the problem clearly. The hedge had been cut so there was a widepaththrough. He sprinted along it.
‘Roxie? What’s going on?’ He stopped, shocked, as he got to the garden.
‘You’re here sooner than I expected.’ She clattered down the stairs from her studio in crazily high heels and met him with a smile, her hair flicking round her face. Only her eyes weren’t sparkling to match.
‘What the hell’s happened?’ Gabe all but gasped. She carefully brushed her hair back behind her ears. He saw a long thin, scratch on the back of her hand. ‘The vegetable garden was too big. No potential buyer would want it like that.’
Gabe still couldn’t breathe. ‘Potential buyer?’
She nodded blithely and stepped closer in her pretty dress. ‘I’m selling.’
‘What?’Hisheart stopped altogether.
‘It’s the right thing to do.’ She smiled. ‘I should have worked that out sooner.’
He stared back at the neatly turned over, empty soil— every abundant bed now completely cleared. She’d ripped out that entire magnificent garden. It was all gone. ‘Oh, Roxie, what have you done?’
‘Tidied up.’ She laughed as if his reaction was over the top. ‘It’ll be bought by a developer anyway and the place will be skittled.’
‘What?’ Now his heart raced, thudding so hard in his ears he couldn’t be sure what he was hearing—or what he was seeing.
‘It’s okay,’ she reassured, sounding all confident. ‘Take a look at the house.’
He stared at her instead. Because it wasn’t okay. She could smile as much as she liked but she was never going to get him to believe this was okay.
She didn’t fill the silence he left for her. Instead she waited and finally he turned and saw an official notice taped on the door. He’d seen a ton of them in the months post-earthquake. ‘Why have they stickered it?’
‘The foundations have gone,’ she said matter-of-factly. ‘It’s sunk already. It could fall down any time.’
He could see the worst spot now, right by the tree. ‘Foundations can be fixed.’
‘Not this time.’
He couldn’t believe this was happening. He couldn’t believe she was acting so calm when he knew, he just knew she was being eaten up inside. He whirled to face her, to look into that too perfectlymade-upface. ‘You don’t have to sell it.’ She really didn’t.
‘I can’t afford to fix it.’
He coughed away the tight feeling in his throat. ‘What about insurance?’
She smiled again, that awful smile that was nothing but a meaningless twist to her mouth. ‘There is no insurance, Gabe. We couldn’t afford it. I was only working sporadically because?—’
She broke off, but Gabe knew why already. Because her grandfather had been sick and she’d been needed at home with him here.
‘There’s no insurance for the car, the house or the contents and I don’t have any savings.’ She still wore that synthetic smile. ‘We were lucky in the earthquake that there wasn’t much damage. I’ve spent the last year fixing the superficial stuff. I tried to get insurance after, but the companies weren’t exactly running to cover any houses then and honestly I still couldn’t afford it. I can’t afford the repairs.’
‘Roxie—’
‘I’m sorry about your tenancy,’ she interrupted him. ‘Not much of a welcome after your trip away. You can’t stay in there tonight.’
‘If I can’t stay there, you’re not staying either,’ he said. He’d take her somewhere with him and work on her until she broke down and let out the agony he was sure was hidden behind her dull eyes.
