“Why trucks? Can’t we just build a bonfire?”
“Sure. If you want to burn down Kendric House. We’re going to have mountains of the stuff.”
Every now and then, he says something that sounds oddly American, like his use of the wordyeah, andsure. Little reminders of his American wife.
Speaking of which, where is she?
“Evie? Come back from wherever your mind’s gone to.”
Embarrassed, my face heats. But the look in his eyes is kind and slightly amused, as if he finds me interesting, not foolish.
“I was saying, we can go halves on the hire cost.”
“That’s very generous of you. But it’s not fair to you. My land is five times bigger than yours.”
“Not generous at all. You might have more land, but it’s only bushes and grass to clear. A tractor can plough through it like a warm spoon through ice cream. My plot has deeply rooted dead trees that will have to be uprooted one at a time. It’ll take ages. Then there’s all that topiary to clear.”
“All of it?”
“Of course. To give me empty land for my cabbages and carrots with their mental health issues.” He says this so deadpan, I might have thought him serious.
Then I see the half-teasing expression and have to laugh. He himself doesn’t even smile, yet he’s made me laugh twice in the space of half an hour. He’s actually a much better partner than any of my past colleagues. Not only funny and easy going, but also kind and supportive. And he has good ideas. In the same way that I pour the tea while he cuts and butters the bread. I might have the creative ideas – me and my blue wall, spotting his geometric design – but he has the practical ones. Ploughs, trucks, splitting costs.
Later my common sense is going to come back and tell me what a bad idea it is to go into a partnership with Osian James, even on a limited land-clearing job. But for now, I’m so happy with his solution that I could hug him.
“And I must thank you.”
“For…?” I would cock an eyebrow because that’s such a cool move, but I’ve never been able to move only one. So I raise both.
“You may not have noticed but when you were talking earlier, you said, ‘orchard of wellbeing,’ which gave me an idea. A name for my project. What do you think of this?” He holds his hands up to shape a square, like a shop sign. The Orchard Centre for Wellbeing. Or perhaps give it the Welsh for Orchard. ThePerllanCentre for Wellbeing.”
He looks at me for my opinion.
“It’s good. But wouldn’t The Osian James Orchard, or The Osian James Centre work better? I mean, take advantage of your reputation?”
He looks uncertain. “My rep—?” Then his face stills. There’s the smallest flicker in his eyes, no more. Yet, everything changes. The warm expression, the humour and lively interest are replaced by a wary, guarded expression.
Deliberately, he returns his teacup to the table and gets up. “Not many people recognise me. But I suppose working in television, you would.”
The words are friendly, but his voice has cooled. His entire body temperature has dropped several degrees. He walks back to the terrace doors.
What the hell happened here?
I can’t even ask him. He’s already through the doors and into the house. The last time I saw someone extract himself so fast was sixteen years ago at school, when Osian used to escape fans by hurrying into the school library.
Chapter Nine
There’s something you learn if, like me, you’ve grown up with rejection – coming second, being ignored.
Do not be left standing like an abandoned suitcase in the middle of the station. If someone walks away from you, look busy, find something to do. Quickly.
Even as my heart and mind are stunned at the sudden change in Osian, I turn back to investigate the blue tiles.
Teacup in hand, I walk toward the steps, scoffing the last of the bread roll Osian had given me as I study the wall.
The ivy is thick, so it takes a lot of work to push even a small part of it out of the way. To be honest, wrestling with long-dead twisty gnarled branches and dry leaves is the last thing I feel like doing, but I make myself grab handfuls of the stuff and peel them off the wall. The blue tiles continue all the way down to the bottom step. But the wall doesn’t end there as expected. No, it curves around in a tight circle. It’s hard to make out with all the bushes obscuring it.
Now is as good a time as any to start my job. Let’s face it, working is better than running after Osian to assure him I’m not a celebrity chaser.
