‘It’s you I’ve come to see,’ he said, nodding a brief acknowledgement to Pip, who was doing a far worse job of hiding her curiosity as she watched him approach the counter. ‘Is there somewhere we can have a quick word in private?’
‘Of course—’ she began, but Shay’s voice came from behind her. She turned to see him at the doorway of the kitchen, his expression somewhere between fear and distaste.
‘What’s he doing here?’ Shay addressed Harper, but his gaze never moved from Greg.
Harper was about to reply – Shay had no right to insult a neighbour in their café no matter how much he disliked him – but Greg got in first.
‘I’d have thought that much was obvious,’ he said.
It took a moment of uncertainty, but as the pieces slotted into place Harper’s heart began to thump in her chest. She looked from one to the other. Surely this wasn’t how it looked? Her stricken gaze turned to Shay.
‘Please tell me it’s not true.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Greg said, ‘but he’s been seeing my wife.’
‘But that was ages ago…’
Greg shook his head. ‘I thought it was over too. Allie told me time and time again. But then I find her in his bed.’
‘When?’
‘Last week.’
Harper turned to Shay, her eyes swimming, sick to her stomach. ‘Tell me it’s not true. You said…’
Shay didn’t deny it. He was silent, and the twist in Harper’s gut tightened. All this time she’d defended him, trusted him, promised her life, her heart and her loyalty… had fought off the most incredible temptations for his sake. And he’d been laughing at her while he lay in Allie Wicklow’s bed? She doubled over, the cry of anguish in her throat choking her. Pip raced over to catch her as she began to sob, while Shay turned his rage on Greg.
‘You couldn’t keep your nose out, could you? Your marriage is ruined so everyone else has to be miserable too!’
‘My marriage is ruined because of you!’ Greg yelled. He stabbed at his temple. ‘Have you got a screw loose or something? You thought you could take my wife, wreck my marriage and go back to your girlfriend and nobody would call you to account? You think you get to live as you please because you’re Shay McArthur and the world fucking loves you? It doesn’t work like that, and I’m going to make sure your life is screwed, just like mine is.’
‘Allie went with me because you couldn’t give her what she needed! She told me—’
Greg launched himself at Shay, barrelling him into the doorway, both crashing to the floor together. The shock dried Harper’s tears instantly.
‘Stop it!’ she cried. ‘Stop! Do you think this is helping?’
But they were deaf to her pleas as they traded blows; not majestic bare-chested fighting like you saw in films, but savage, animalistic scrapping as they rolled on the floor pummelling and pulling, biting and punching.
‘Please! Shay, please!’
‘Let them get on with it,’ Pip said, pulling Harper away as she danced to get between the men. ‘If they beat each other to death they’d be doing everyone a favour.’
‘That’s just what they will do!’ Harper cried. ‘Shay… get off him!’ She wrenched herself from Pip’s hold and dragged Shay by the collar to pull him up. All she succeeded in doing was pulling him across the floor, so that he skidded to a halt at the base of the counter while Greg sat up and glared at him as he licked a feather of blood from his lip. ‘For the love of God!’
‘You know what the worst thing is?’ Greg spat. ‘She actually thought you cared about her. But you don’t care about anyone. Better for Harper to find out now that the only person you love is yourself.’
‘You’d better leave right now,’ Shay said, getting to his feet as Greg did the same. It looked dangerously close to round two, and neither Harper nor Pip – had she been inclined and she didn’t appear to be – would be strong enough to stop them if they went for each other again.
‘You probably should go, Greg,’ Harper agreed. Greg looked from one to the other.
‘Don’t tell me you’re going to let him off!’ he said, exasperation in his tone. ‘Surely you can’t be that weak-willed and forgiving—’
‘Don’t tell me what to do!’ Harper yelled, finally snapping. ‘Nobody in this room gets to tell me what to do! If I want to talk to Shay about this then I will, but you…’ she pointed at Greg, trying hard to level her voice, ‘or you…’ then she jabbed a finger at Shay, ‘do not get a say. I decide how I deal with this and when I deal with it! Now please, Greg… I appreciate why you came here but you need to leave.’
Greg stared at her. But then he grabbed his jacket where it had been wrenched from his shoulder and pulled it straight. ‘Don’t let him make a fool of you like he did Allie.’
The room was silent as he turned for the door. But then Harper’s stomach lurched as she heard Shay utter a single word.
‘Prick.’
Greg whipped round, taking the room in three strides, a right hook connecting with the side of Shay’s face and sending him sprawling across a nearby table.
Harper ran forward as Greg moved in for a second go, Pip screaming at her to come away, and in the chaos nobody noticed the newcomers. But Harper felt hands close around her arms, pulling her back, and heard a familiar voice yell, ‘Wicklow! Whatever he’s done it’s not worth it!’
Harper wrenched herself free and spun round to find Will trying to restrain Greg. Greg shook him off and turned on him this time, Cesca running to get between them, and as she did, Shay sent a blow to Greg’s kidneys that crumpled him. She stared as he lay gasping on the floor. Then Shay rounded on Will.
‘That’s all I need – a Frampton trying to save me!’
‘I was saving Greg, you idiot! He’s got a reputation to uphold, one which brawling would do nothing but damage, but you have not.’
‘You pompous twat!’ Shay hissed, and this time he charged at Will. But Greg was on his feet again, and he threw himself into the fray, pulling Shay back. Shay twisted to land a blow, but Greg was too close. Will moved to get hold of Greg again, trying to break it up, but succeeded only in widening the gap so that Shay now had a clear shot – which he took. Greg dodged at the last moment and the punch meant for him landed squarely in Will’s face. He went down, Cesca screaming as she ran to catch him. For the briefest moment, both Shay and Greg looked shocked as they turned to where Will lay, groaning and barely conscious on the floor. Cesca pulled his head onto her lap and stroked the hair from his forehead.
‘Will…’ she whispered. ‘Oh God, Will… are you OK?’
‘Get out.’ Harper stood before Shay and Greg.
Shay turned to Greg, wiping a sleeve across his brow. ‘You heard her.’
Harper looked at him. ‘No,’ she said, her voice strangely calm now. ‘I meant you, Shay.’
‘You can’t be serious?’
‘Get out. Leave my property now and don’t come back.’
‘But…’
‘Go! You’ve done more damage than a thousand years of apologies would fix. Go now or I’ll call the police and have them throw you off my land!’
Pip appeared at her side. ‘You heard her.’
Shay’s lip curled into a sneer. ‘Of course you’d side with her… you never wanted us to be together. Probably wanted her for yourself, you—’
‘One more word, Shay, and I swear to God I’ll knock you out myself!’ Harper shouted.
He stared at them all in turn: Greg breathing heavily, a cut to his lip and his hair sticking up; Will now coming to on the ground where Cesca was kissing his head and murmuring to him; Pip with her arms folded tight across her chest and a defiant tilt of her chin; and Harper, fighting back the tears that she would never let him see again.
‘This is not over,’ he said.
‘Yes, it is.’ Harper nodded towards the door. ‘Please leave. I don’t want to see you again.’
He cast one last glance around the room and then left, slamming
the door behind him.
Chapter 30
Once everyone was happy Will’s injury had caused no lasting damage, the conversation turned to dissecting recent events. Greg, Cesca, Will and Harper sat at a table while Pip fetched everyone coffee.
‘Given the history, you must have known how Shay would react,’ Harper said, looking directly at Greg.
‘I had hoped to find you here alone. Which is why I came just after closing time. And it wasn’t the sort of information I wanted to give by telephone.’
Harper nodded. ‘I suppose not.’
She was still processing events that had escalated so quickly she’d barely had time to scratch the surface of what their consequences might be. Right now, she could think only as far as making sure everyone was alright and how she was going to get the many belongings Shay had left at the farm to him without actually having to see him.
‘I’m deeply sorry things happened the way they did,’ Greg added. ‘Had I known, I would have done it differently. But you had a right to be told…’
‘I appreciate the intent, but perhaps not so much the method.’ Harper gave a wan smile.
‘You keep asking everyone else if they’re OK,’ Cesca put in gently. ‘But are you OK, Harper?’
‘I don’t know what I am.’ She let out a breath and stared up at the ceiling, trying desperately to keep the tears at bay. After a moment, she turned her gaze back to Cesca and Will. ‘I think what’s more important here is that you two might have some news to tell us,’ she added, doing her best to lift the mood. What she wanted was to slink away and lick her wounds, but there would be time for that later. Now she needed something to restore her faith in love, and perhaps the beginnings of a love story for someone else might do just that.
‘We do, but the tale will wait for another time.’ Cesca stole a fond glance at Will, who covered her hand with his as it rested on the table.
‘I’m very happy for you both and I look forward to hearing all about it,’ Harper said.
Pip returned to the table with a tray of mugs. Putting it down, she dragged an extra chair from a nearby table and squeezed in between Harper and Cesca.
‘Thanks,’ Harper said, shooting her friend a grateful smile.
‘Far be it for me to comment,’ Cesca said to Harper, ‘but it looks as though you had a lucky escape.’
‘That’s what I think,’ Pip said. ‘Harsh as it was, better to find out now than three years down the line when you’re married and your lives are tied up together.’
‘I wish there had been another way,’ Greg said.
‘It’s not your fault.’ Pip grabbed a mug of coffee and spooned a sugar into it. ‘Personally, I think you did the right thing coming here. I don’t suppose it’s been easy for you.’
‘Allie was supposed to come clean,’ he said, his gaze pensive as it went to the darkening windows. ‘She said she would come and speak to you. But when it came to it she bottled it; said she couldn’t hurt you. Now I understand why she didn’t want to – I feel like a total shit for my part in today.’
‘Sometimes…’ Will spoke now where he had been quiet for most of the conversation, ‘the honourable course of action is the most painful.’
‘The worst thing is, I don’t know that it’s done any good at all in the end,’ Greg said. ‘I’ve ruined things for you and it won’t fix what’s happened to me and Allie.’
‘It seems to me she was taken in by Shay just as Harper was,’ Pip said. ‘Could you forgive her for a mistake that goodness knows how many others have probably made?’
He shook his head. ‘The trust is gone, and I don’t see how we can come back from that. One night – I could and did try to forgive that. But more than once… How can I ever be sure she’s not seeing him again? How do I know that someone else won’t turn her head in the same way? If she was tempted then, why not again?’
‘She looked very sorry when we saw her at the Rising Sun last night,’ Pip said. ‘What about your boy?’
‘Josh?’ Greg wrapped his hands around his mug and stared miserably at her. ‘He’s at his grandparents’; took him over last night. I’ll have to break the news to him when I pick him up later that his mother’s not coming home and his parents are getting a divorce. If I thought coming here to see you was hard, that’s going to be a thousand times worse.’
‘It doesn’t have to be that way,’ Harper said. ‘You could work it out?’
‘Will you be working it out with Shay?’ he asked.
Harper’s gaze went to the depths of her mug.
‘I didn’t think so,’ he said. He reached across the table and held his hand out to Will. ‘I know we’ve never exactly had a lot to do with each other but I appreciate your intervention today. And I’m sorry you got thumped.’
Will shook his hand with a wry smile. ‘It’s lucky for you I’ve had rather a good day up until this point or I might have taken the whole business rather badly.’
‘And it was nice to meet you,’ Greg said, looking at Cesca. He stood. ‘Harper… Pip…’ He nodded to each of them in turn. ‘I’m sorry about everything.’
‘You’re going?’ Harper said. ‘You don’t have to.’
‘I need to see my son, and I think that’s the place I can do the most good at the moment. Let’s face it – I’ve hardly done any good elsewhere lately.’
Pip rose to unlock the café doors for him while Harper reached for her cup and took a sip.
‘I take it you came down to see us for a reason and not just to stumble into a fight,’ she said, eyeing Cesca and Will over the top of her mug. ‘Although I do have to thank you for stepping in and preventing Greg and Shay from killing each other.’
‘We did, but it doesn’t seem like the right time to discuss it now,’ Cesca said.
‘It’s as good as any. Honestly, don’t worry about me; I’m not as fragile as everyone thinks.’
‘I…’ Cesca glanced at Will, who nodded in encouragement. ‘We. We wanted to be certain about the reward for the find. Will told me what you’d promised – which is incredible, by the way – but…’
‘You think I’m crazy?’
‘No. Without sounding patronising, I’m not sure you fully understand just what you’ll be giving up. It’s going to be a lot of money. Life-changing money.’
‘I often find money brings changes of the wrong kind,’ Harper said ruefully. Her mind went back to Shay. She was still numb, and it would take a long time to process what had just happened, but had it all been about money in the end? Had he ever loved her, or had he just seen an opportunity to acquire property in the farm? And then the box had been found – that bloody cursed box – and he’d clung on harder than ever. ‘I’ve thought about it carefully, and I’ve discussed it at length with Pip… with Kristofer too.’
Cesca raised her eyebrows. ‘Kristofer? I had no idea…’
‘Oh, he helped me out in the tearoom last week,’ Harper said, heading off a conversation that might take an uncomfortable turn. Because while Shay had been unfaithful, Harper had been involved in a battle with temptation herself that had left her feeling less than virtuous. In many ways, her anger at Shay was tempered by the fact that she couldn’t wholly justify it. If they’d both been looking elsewhere before they’d even got as far as the church for their wedding, then perhaps they’d both had a lucky escape. Maybe Shay would even go to Allie and make a go of things, and good luck to them both if they did. As for her own future… she didn’t even know where to begin making sense of this mess right now, and she wasn’t ready to throw herself into another relationship, no matter how strong the attraction.
‘The way I see it,’ she continued, ‘is that if you get Silver Hill House up and running and attracting visitors, then that must be good for the economy of the whole area, me included. So indirectly I am helping the farm with the money. And in truth, I feel in my heart that it was never mine to take.’
‘You don’t think you might need it now that… Well—’ Cesca glanced uneasi
ly at Pip, who’d silently returned to the table.
‘Now that Shay’s gone?’ Harper finished for her.
‘She never needed his help before and she doesn’t need it now,’ Pip cut in. ‘Independent woman, eh?’ She gave Harper an encouraging smile.
‘Yeah.’ Harper nodded, though she felt far from it.
* * *
Allie lay on the bed of the attic room at the Rising Sun, staring at the old beams that criss-crossed the rafters. The window was so small it was barely possible to tell what time of day it was, the room in perpetual twilight. It was a fitting metaphor for Allie’s life right now.
She reached for her phone from the bedside table, relieved to see that it was still connected – she’d half expected Greg to get her cut off. He hadn’t answered any of her overnight texts and phone calls though. She couldn’t expect him to take her back, of course, but she would have liked the chance to explain properly what had prevented her from speaking to Harper about her affair with Shay. She needed to sort some long-term accommodation too – while the pub was fine for a couple of days, it was far from ideal for longer.
Her finger hovered over the unlock button. How would Shay react if she called to ask for help? He was partly to blame for the mess she was in now, and why shouldn’t he? But then she let the phone drop to the bed and turned her face to the ceiling again. What was the point? What if he was still with Harper? If Greg had decided to keep quiet for now then she might open a huge can of worms. If Greg had told Harper but she’d forgiven Shay – though the idea was a galling one – it wasn’t for her to complicate things between them further. No, this mess was of her making, and she had to clear it up.
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