‘And what exactly are you going to tell him?’
Noah looked down at her, a strange expression on his face. ‘Well, firstly I’m going to tell him to stay the hell away from you. You’re not a part of this, and he has no right to come around here trying to lay down the law.’
‘OK, and after that?’
‘Honestly?’ Noah paused. ‘I’m going to apologise to him. I never should have gone ahead with this arrangement without talking to him and Marc first. He’s every right to be angry with me, but absolutely no right to be mad at you. I don’t want you being collateral damage in all of this.’
‘Well, at least we agree on that.’
The pause between them felt loaded, as if neither wanted to broach the next, inevitable subject. But Bella needed certainty, now more than ever. The question that had been plaguing her since she’d discovered Monty’s body under the plum tree had to be asked.
‘What happens now, Noah? To me and this place, I mean.’
Noah looked shocked. ‘Nothing,’ he said firmly. ‘I’m not going to throw you out of here just because Monty’s died. Besides, there’s a lot more work needed before the cottage is in any shape to go on the market.’
Bella shook her head. ‘Really? More? The foam guys are in next week, the electrician finished on Friday, and you sorted the garden yourself. Surely it’s in saleable condition now?’
‘Well, the kitchen’s out of date, and the whole house could do with a coat of paint. And then there’s the carpets, they all need replacing.’ Noah reeled off this list so quickly that Bella knew he was basically making it up as he went along.
‘I’m not daft,’ she said, feeling irritated that he seemed to think he could give her the sales patter. ‘All of the things you’ve mentioned are the sorts of issues any buyers might expect to fix once they’ve bought the place. It makes no sense to rip out the kitchen now, when any prospective buyer might want to change it again. And surely they’d do the same for the carpets? Why are you stalling on selling the place?’
Noah shook his head. ‘Christ. Am I being that obvious?’
Bella gave him a smile. ‘A bit.’
He turned and looked back down the garden, towards the plum tree, and out across the expanse of lawn he’d done battle with the weekend earlier. ‘The truth is, Bella, if it was up to me, I wouldn’t sell this cottage. The more time I’ve spent here, the more I’m beginning to realise that it’s where I was happiest. Where Iamhappiest. The thought of not being able to come here, that someone else will buy it and change it, that it won’t be mine any more… I’m not ready to face that yet.’ He clenched his fists at his sides, and Bella sensed his frustration. ‘Having you here, living with Monty, it made me feel as though I didn’t have to face the awfulness of moving on, not yet. In my mind, I hoped that Monty would live for a few more years, and I could somehow put off selling. He would have been the perfect excuse. But now he’s gone, I’ve got to admit to myself I’m holding onto it because I can’t let it go.’
‘So where does that leave your brothers?’
Noah looked back at her. ‘That’s so you.’ He put his arms around her, but it didn’t quell her confusion at his comment.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I would have thought the question you’d be asking is where that leaves you?’
Bella smiled sadly into his chest. ‘It leaves me where I always am,’ she said quietly. ‘Getting my stuff together, finding somewhere new.’
‘Not if I can help it,’ Noah replied.
‘What?’ Bella’s head snapped up. She saw Noah smiling down at her.
‘You might choose to leave,’ he said gently, ‘and perhaps you don’t want to be my informal tenant any more, and that’s fine, but I don’t want you to move on from me.’ He pulled back so she could get a better view of him. ‘Whatever you decide to do, wherever you decide to go, Bella, there’s something I want you to know. You see?—’
‘Noah! It’s about bloody time you got here.’ Joel’s voice rang out from where he’d strode through the garden gate. ‘I think you and I need to have a long talk about what the fuck you’ve been doing for the past few months.’
Bella’s heart sank. Whatever Noah was about to say vanished into the ether as she felt him tense against her.
52
‘I said I’d see you at the pub later.’ Noah gritted his teeth and he tried not to bristle as he instinctively did whenever Joel started throwing his weight around.
‘Well, I got fed up with waiting. I figured you’d be here, checking in on yourtenant.’ Joel’s tone was calculated to rile him.
‘Monty died last night,’ Noah replied. ‘We were burying him.’
‘Well, at least that clears up one complication, then.’ Joel didn’t flicker an eyelid at the news. ‘And hopefully the other one, too.’ Noah saw Joel glance towards Bella and then back to him.
‘Look,’ Noah replied. ‘Why don’t we go and get a drink and talk things through, like we planned. Bella’s working later and I’d rather get this all sorted out so that you don’t glower at her from the other end of the bar all evening.’
