“We are,” he said, glancing at the large bed. He had more to say, but he couldn’t remember what it was, so instead he captured her mouth with his and kissed her.
Her response was more than he’d hoped, fearing that he’d been too forward. He’d been trying to take things easy even though he felt like doing the opposite. He liked Sorrell. A lot. Enough to consider how things could go wrong.
She pushed her fingers through his hair and deepened the kiss. He felt her moan as his hands wandered and then he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.
It was another few seconds before they pulled apart, the phone becoming too insistent.
Zack let go of her with just one hand and fumbled in his pocket. A picture of Jake with two chopsticks coming down from his nose and a napkin tied around his head stared at him. He needed to change that photo. Maybe with an alpaca or something to remember Jake by.
“Cousin. What perfect timing you have,” he said.
“You coming over or you too busy keeping your dick warm?” Jake said. “Not that I blame you.”
“What’s happened?” Zack knew that Jake’s body was going to make very little difference to the soil content, so he was considering donating it to medical science once he’d murdered him. He heard Sorrell laugh quietly. Unfortunately, she could hear Jake’s side of the conversation.
“Niall James had a heart attack shoveling snow this morning. The air ambulance has picked him up but none of his animals have been sorted and there’s a fence down at the south of the field where the elm trees are. I need to get all hands on deck. The fence can wait as the animals will need to be kept in, but can you come as soon as possible? He’s not going to be back to work for a long time, if he makes it,” Jake said, the teasing tone completely out of his voice now.
“Sure,” Zack said. “I’ll be there in ten. What’s first?”
Jake listed a few jobs, all of which were standard but would take a couple of hours.
“Scott’s coming down as well and Alex is already here. Your dad and his buddies are working out a rota for the next few days,” Jake added at the end.
“You’re going to offer to buy it, aren’t you?” Zack said. Sorrell was watching him with interest.
“I was in talks with Niall about it, but not yet. He was happy to carry on for another couple of years. I think it’ll happen soon now, but if I buy it, he and his wife can stay in the house for as long as they want. Hell, he can do whatever work he’s fit for, if he makes it. From what Glenys said, it doesn’t look good though.”
“Shit.” Zack wrapped his arm around Sorrell’s waist. Severton was a close town, the farming community even closer, especially since there were so few of them. Farming was a tough industry and they relied on each other for survival. If Niall didn’t make it, it would hit his father and his mates hard. “See you in a few. I’ve got what I need in my car so I don’t need to call home.”
Sorrell’s lips pressed against his shoulder. “I’m sorry about your friend,” she said once he ended the call with Jake. “Is there anything I can do? Does his wife need anything?”
Zack didn’t need to think this time. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in, needing just a little comfort for himself. “Not at the moment. She’ll be at the hospital for a while I would’ve thought. At some point today the coven will send out smoke signals to let everyone know what needs to be done and we’ll rally round. I’ll text you a time when we’re ready to go tree cutting.” He broke away, backing towards the door.
“We’re still going?” she said, surprised.
“Even more so now. I’ll see you later.” He gave her one quick kiss and left, wanting to go and do his part.
Chapter 22
Rayah’s car was a banged up jeep that had clearly seen better days. Sorrell had half expected her to have something flashier, as the girl liked her pretty things, but the jeep would never be described as pretty by anyone other than a liar.
“Howdy, sister,” Rayah said. “Ready to fell some trees?” She was dressed in a thick coat and a scarf that was clearly one of Gran’s creations. In fact, it seemed Gran had kitted out most of the residents of Severton with scarfs, so her gin distillery fund was clearly going well.
“I keep asking Zack if this is legal and he doesn’t really answer,” she said, pulling on leather gloves that had been new last Christmas, a present from Gwensi.
Rayah laughed, her light brown hair tumbling out of her hat. “The boys do it as a favour to the landowner. They fell a load of the trees for him to sell—most of Severton and some of the nearby towns will get their real trees from him—and they choose what they want for themselves as payment. Today’s the best day of the year for my brother—he gets to play with chainsaws!”
“Why didn’t Zack just tell me that?”
“Because he’s a bloke and he likes winding his woman up. That’s what they all do. Not that I’ve had any form of relationship for too long. I think my vagina’s healed up.” Rayah started the jeep which rattled into life.
“You sound like Keren,” Sorrell said. Keren had spent a recent evening at the bar berating yet another disastrous date she’d been on through a dating website.
Rayah took it slowly as she went down the drive. The snow was still falling, but not as heavily as the day before. Someone—Sorrell suspected Jake—had ploughed the drive to the hotel and the road that morning, clearing the way for the care home too. She hated to think what time Jake would’ve been up.
“I’m wondering if me and Keren should just get together and have done with it. It would be a viable option, except I rather like penises. As long as they’re clean,” Rayah said, taking the road smoothly and with practiced ease.
Sorrell decided not to get any more details about the non-clean penises and instead the conversation changed to Christmas, the town, the light switch-on and Gran’s distillery plans. They took roads Sorrell hadn’t been down before, narrow single track drives through fields, heading up towards one of the peaks that Sorrell couldn’t yet name.
