Page 39 of Beyond the Hedge Maze

He felt like a wet rag wrung out, his eyes drooping with exhaustion when Oliver took his hand and steered them out of the maze and around the house to the kitchen door in the back.

This was the first time Jesse had been inside, but he was too despondent to be curious. A fire had already been lit in the stone fireplace in the corner of the kitchen, and Oliver took him straight to it, holding Jesse’s hands in his own, outstretched towards the flame.

“I’ll be right back.”

Jesse watched fondly as Oliver filled a kettle with water and lit the stovetop burner. Minutes later, Jesse was sitting at a small table in the kitchen, his hands warmed by a cup of tea instead of the flame. Oliver placed a plate of Jaffa Cakes in front of him and lifted his eyebrows, clearly signaling that he expected Jesse to take one.

He ate seven.

The sugar helped, acting like a factory reset to his mood, and Oliver looked equally pleased that his at home remedy of tea and chocolate was working.

“Feeling better?” Oliver asked.

“Much. Thank you. I’m sorry,” Jesse eventually said. “I didn’t mean to unload all of that onto you. I know talking about death makes people uncomfortable.”

“Please don’t apologize. You can talk about her as much as you want, and I’ll be here to listen.”

Oliver’s voice dripped with sincerity, and amidst the sadness of the day, something else stirred inside of him.

Jesse stared long and hard at Oliver, who sat patiently, waiting for his response. He was sure this feeling had a name, but certainly that feeling was reserved for those much older than he was. It was a feeling for adults, ones who were in control of their own fate. It couldn’t be for him, couldn’t be for a fifteen-year-old merely passing through.

But logic didn’t have a place here, and Jesse knew what its name was.

Chapter 18

Oliver

Present

“That’s the lowest you can go?”

Oliver was as close to a panic attack as he’d ever been. He’d been searching for a reputable contractor to take a look at the roof, the water damage he’d found finally impossible to ignore.

The first two he met with were clearly there to rip him off, but Terry Wright had come recommended by someone from the village, and was the first to be honest with him.

However, honesty came at a cost—and today that cost was £200,000.

“I wish I could do better. Your grandfather was a good man, and I can only imagine how much work a place like this takes. I’ll let you think about it, but with the damage I saw, I suspect the rafters supporting the roof may be beginning to rot. You need to act sooner rather than later,” Terry explained.

They shook hands, and Oliver swallowed back tears and his lunch as the man left.

This was not how he had wanted the day to go. He wanted to reset to that morning with Jesse in the kitchen. He wanted to go back to that fleeting feeling of joy and excitement when Jesse’s lips pressed against his cheek, even if it was brief.

He was tired of the never ending setbacks, the never ending disappointments.

Rose was waiting for him in the foyer, her hands on her hips. “Well? How bad is it?” Oliver tried to walk past her, but she swiftly held up her hand to stop him. “Oliver Catesby, I don’t know who you think you are, or who you think I am, but we are going to have a conversation.”

Oliver swiped a hand across his face before addressing her. “Substantial water damage, potentially rotting rafters, and a starting price tag of two hundred thousand pounds to repair.”

“Oh, deary.” Rose pulled him in for a hug, and Oliver deflated into her embrace. He was much taller than she was, but her hold was tight and her curly hair smelled like jasmine, the same as it had his entire life.

“Rosie, what am I going to do?”

She let him go and cupped his cheek. “Isn’t that what Jesse is here to figure out? How to raise money to keep the lights on? Or, I guess I should say the water out?”

He rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway. “Don’t joke. We really do have a water problem. And you’re right. He found some things in the library, after all. Hopefully it’ll be enough.”

“You two have been spending quite a bit of time together. And I saw him carrying in an armful of groceries an hour ago. Are you joining him for dinner?”