‘No, we weren’t. Maybe if we had been a little more confident,’ Melody said with a grin, ‘all of us would have been able to sleep better these past couple of weeks.’
‘I mentioned the festival again on my show yesterday,’ Callum said. ‘I also said I’d be available for selfies for those wanting to give a donation to the festival.’
Lettie laughed. ‘You didn’t!’
He pretended to be shocked. ‘What, you don’t think people will pay to have a selfie with me?’
Melody giggled. ‘Crikey, if I’d known I was having a drink with a celebrity that time, I would have taken a few selfies of us together to post on my social media accounts.’
He narrowed his eyes. ‘You lot are bad for my ego – do you know that?’
Zac came out of the barn. ‘I might have guessed you’re the reason these two are keeping me waiting,’ he teased.
‘Don’t blame me,’ Callum said, pointing at Lettie and Melody. ‘They’re the ones distracting me and keeping me from helping.’ He began walking to the barn. ‘Well, come on then, you lot, what are you waiting for? Point me in the right direction and let me know what you need me to do.’
Melody stood with Lettie, both watching the two friends disappear into the barn. Melody was relieved to see that her evening out with Callum and then her closeness with Zac hadn’t seemed to put a dampener on the men’s friendship. She had enough conflict in her life with Rhys and didn’t need to be involved in another drama, especially between two men that she liked.
‘Those two have always been great friends,’ Lettie said quietly. Melody wasn’t sure if she was making a point to her, or simply stating a fact, and chose to go with the latter.
She wondered if Zac had confided in Callum about Rhys, immediately deciding that she didn’t mind and trusted whatever Zac had decided to do, aware that he was acting in her best interests.
Lettie tilted her head to one side and then to the other and for the first time Melody noticed she was nervous. They needed to be busy, she decided.
‘Come along,’ Melody said. ‘Let’s get in there and slay today.’
Lettie linked arms with her. ‘Yes, let’s do that.’
Just like the previous day, crowds of people arrived at the farm. The queue to the café area in the small barn was continually out of the door and Melody wondered if she had made an error persuading Lettie to reduce the duration of the festival to only two days.
Zac walked up to her as she stood at the back of the barn watching people, trying to see if there was anything she might need to do.
He took her hand, his face serious. ‘Would you mind coming with me for a moment?’
Wondering what he might need to speak privately to her about, she agreed. ‘We’ll have to be quick,’ she said. ‘It’s so busy here that I’d hate to not be here if I’m needed for something.’
‘This will only take a minute.’
He opened the storeroom door and led her inside, closing the door quietly behind them before leaning against it.
Seeing the twinkle in Zac’s eye, Melody instinctively knew why he had taken her there. She didn’t say anything but waited for him to act.
Melody slipped her arms around his waist, holding him tightly against her, smiling to herself when his arms wrapped around her and held her close against him. She felt him kiss the top of her head and for a moment neither spoke as they stood there. She wondered what he was thinking then decided she didn’t care. All that mattered right now was that he was in this room with her.
She raised her head to kiss him, but his expression changed and he looked down at her neck. He let go of her and, liftingher chin gently, turned her head one way and then the other, checking her neck. ‘You’ve got bruises,’ he said, his eyes steely. ‘Does it hurt much?’
She shook her head, realising that the make-up she had used to try and cover up the purple patches Rhys’s fingertips had caused on her neck hadn’t been enough to hide them completely.
‘No. Not really.’ Not wanting him to focus on her injuries, she took hold of his hand. ‘I’m fine. I promise.’ Wanting to kiss him, she added, ‘We’d better go and help Lettie, so if you want to kiss me you’d better get on with it.’
‘You don’t need to tell me twice.’
He lowered his head and their lips met. Pushing aside all thoughts of Rhys, Melody held Zac tightly and lost herself in the sensation of being with him.
Melody was grateful to have been kept busy all day, running from helping one person to clearing up from a class and setting up for another. She was glad they had set up ice baths near the small barn with the noisy café area nearby. All the chatting and laughter from people sitting and eating was proving to be a great distraction for those brave enough to try the extreme cold, with lots of encouragement being called out to them. But it was something to note down should Lettie decide to continue with the wellness festival the following year.
With all that she had to do, the one constant thought on her mind was Rhys and whether he would appear from around a corner, from a car, or follow someone inside and get past her friends and colleagues looking out for him. Zac barely left her line of vision – whenever she looked over to find him he was either nearby or glancing at her to keep an eye on her.
She thought about what Gareth and Lindy had said and was relieved to know she was welcome to stay at the farm for as long as she wanted. She realised she had become very fond of the whole family and, she thought, their friends too. The whole community seemed to take people under their wing, and she wasn’t sure if it was an island thing, or because those around the Torel family liked and respected them so much that they also wanted to take care of their friends. She was glad to be considered one of them now and was in no rush to leave.
