They went back to discussing the festival and when his sister said they didn’t need him for anything else, Zac left the noisykitchen. They didn’t need him to add to the chatter; Lettie and Melody knew what they were doing better than he did, especially as his expertise was the sound, rather than who did what and when. He would wait for them to let him know the finalised programme when it was ready and would then work out whether they needed him to set up microphones for people like Melody who would be holding classes at the event, or pull together playlists for background music.
He had discussed ideas enough to know where some of the events would be held and decided to go and check out the barns and outbuildings to try and get an idea of what might be needed of him and his electrical equipment.
Standing in the largest barn, he studied the sheet of paper in his hand. It looked as if Lettie was suggesting having a few stalls across one of the walls at the back of the room, with the rest of the room cleared to give space for yoga displays and classes. He had no experience of an event like this, having mostly been a sound engineer in recording studios and at music festivals. He would have rather this be for music, too.
Zac looked at the plan again and the notes Lettie had printed on one side, trying to imagine how it would work. It seemed that various aspects of a healthy lifestyle would be brought together covering mental health, physical fitness, as well as emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
Some of the place settings had been reserved for the experts taking part. Zac wondered if he might have a chat with the personal trainer. He also liked the look of the aromatherapy. Anything that was calming was good as far as he was concerned.
The barns were going to need a lot of work, he decided. They might be clean but they were not ready to invite in people wanting to do exercises, even if the attendees were using floor mats. He leant against one of the stall doors. This event meant a lot to his sister. To him, too.
He thought of Melody and how much of a support she was being to Lettie and knowing she was there for her was bound to be reassuring to their mother. Melody. She was so different to most of the people he came across and he felt that her entry into their lives had happened for a reason. He wasn’t sure if that was purely to help his family over the next few months, or something else. He knew that he liked her though and not only because she was attractive, but also because she was calm, kind and enthusiastic, and wanted to help his family.
An hour or so later, he heard voices coming out of the house and realised the meeting must be over and the friendly group about to leave.
Not wishing to spend ages chatting to them all again, he decided to nip out of the barn and go up to the field and check on the animals. They were all outside for the day and although he knew Lettie would have sorted out their feed and checked their water, it was a good excuse for him to take a walk and go and check that everything was fine while getting a bit of exercise.
10
MELODY
Melody helped Lettie harvest plums and tomatoes to wash, weigh and pack up into brown paper bags for the honesty box. She loved that here in Jersey people could still leave produce on a stall by the side of the road and know that most of those taking bags would leave the correct money in the money tin. Several staff had come to help the previous day for deliveries to local restaurants and a few of the smaller parish stores. Her grandmother was sourcing yoga mats for the festival. She had offered to help with the harvesting but neither Melody nor Lettie had thought it a good idea, especially in the heat. And Melody suspected her grandmother had only offered her assistance because she had thought it was expected of her.
It had been another beautiful, cloudless day and Melody wondered if she should take a walk over the fields to see where she ended up. She liked the idea of going for a walk but wasn’t sure where. She was in the kitchen washing her hands, trying to think of places she had heard the Torels mentioning, when Zac came in humming to himself.
‘There you are,’ he said, smiling.
‘I’ve been helping Lettie around the farm.’ She wasn’t sure why she was stating the obvious because what else would she have been doing? ‘Have you had a good day?’
She listened as he told her about starting work clearing the store area at the back of one of the barns and how he thought both barns needed a thorough deep clean before the festival.
‘I agree,’ she said, thinking about rolling out the yoga mats they would be using on a floor that wasn’t spotless. ‘We should make fairly short work of it with several of us doing it though.’ She took the hand towel from the hook it was hanging from and dried her hands, unsure if she had missed something when he didn’t reply. ‘You weren’t thinking of starting the cleaning this evening, were you?’
He shook his head and seemed to relax slightly. ‘No. I was hoping you might accompany me for a walk instead.’
She hadn’t expected him to say that. ‘I’d love to go,’ she said, then a thought occurred to her.
‘Is something the matter?’
She didn’t feel comfortable admitting she had been about to ask him what Kathleen had meant when she had referred to his past the other day, deciding straight after she’d had the urge that she didn’t know him well enough to broach something obviously personal. Her next thought had been about how she was keeping her own past a secret from him, so really wasn’t in a position to ask anyway.
‘I was thinking of Gran,’ she fibbed, certain he would believe her. ‘Lettie and Brodie have gone out somewhere for the evening and I don’t like to leave her here alone.’ She wasn’t sure if her grandmother might in fact enjoy a bit of time by herself. ‘Although…’
‘Why don’t you go and ask her if she wants to join us? I’ll wait here for you to ask her, then we can head off.’
‘I won’t be long,’ she said, hurrying past him and running up the stairs to find her grandmother. She reached her bedroom door and knocked lightly, not wishing to wake her in case she was dozing.
‘Come in, Melody.’
Melody pushed the door open. ‘Er, how did you know it was me?’ she asked as she walked into the room to find Patsy reading.
Patsy raised an eyebrow at the question.
Her grandmother lowered her book to rest it on her chest. Melody noticed she had pulled across one of the curtains to block the sun from shining on her face but left the other drawn back. Both were swaying lightly in the wind.
‘Did you want me for something?’ Patsy asked.
Aware she had probably interrupted an interesting part in her grandmother’s book, Melody said, ‘Zac has invited us both out for a walk and I’ve come to check if you want to join us.’ She smiled. ‘You seem rather comfortable where you are, but the offer is there.’
