Back to the Farm Ch. 05

"How are you holding up? This must be such a difficult day for you."

She stared, disconcerted by the familiar manner in which the words were spoken. He was speaking as though they'd met before--but she couldn't place him at all. "I've had better," she admitted, for once not having to force a smile. "But it's lovely to see so many people here. Thank you for coming. Did you know Charlie well?" she added, hoping for a clue to his identity.

When he gave her another smile Melissa's knees weakened. "Oh yes, we went way back. Known him since I was a kid. Things really won't be the same around here without him."

"No," she agreed, puzzled now. Since he was a kid? At a guess, he wasn't much older than she was, a year or two at the most. Why didn't she recognise him then?

"Can I get you a drink?"

"Er--" On the verge of declining, Melissa suddenly caught sight of Matt. He was chatting with a couple she vaguely recognised as owning the bakery in the village and as her gaze connected with his, she promptly found herself changing her mind. "Actually, yes," she said, feeling a strange inward glow of victory. After all, Matt had been the one who wanted her to talk to people, right? So he could watch her talking tothis guy. "Dry white wine, please."

But within moments of them finding two empty bar stools at the bar and settling down with their drinks, Melissa froze, staring in horror at the woman charging towards them. "Oh God," she murmured.

"What?" The mystery man followed her gaze, taking a sip from his own wine glass. "Oh, don't worry. Leave this to me."

She gave him an astonished glance. "You know Ruth?"

But before he could reply, Matt's mother had already drawn level. "Mrs McKenzie!" he said genially, standing up. "How lovely to see you again."

Ruth frowned, ignoring his proffered hand. "Have you seen Matthew?" she demanded, behaving as though Melissa wasn't there at all. "I've just received a phone call and I'm going to need to catch an earlier flight. I really need to speak to him before the taxi arrives."

"Okay," he replied, apparently unfazed by her bluntness. "He's just over there," he added, pointing across the room. Following the direction of his finger, Melissa's eyes once again met Matt's. He'd been watching them, she realised, experiencing an odd tug in her stomach.

"Right." Having already turned around, Ruth suddenly stopped, looking back over her shoulder. "Thank you, Jason," she added, seeming to realise she'd been rather rude. "Lovely to see you again too," she went on. "Remember me to your mother, won't you?"

Barely repressing a gasp, Melissa stared at the man standing beside her. No wonder Matt had been watching them, she realised, her heart sinking. Oh God, how could she not have recognised him?

Jason took another sip of wine. "You're going to stop speaking to me now, aren't you?" he said calmly.

Melissa continued to gaze at him, helpless with humiliation, knowing she needed to prove him wrong, that somehow she needed to engage him in polite conversation, that she needed to pretend that finding out his identity hadn't been a shock. Unfortunately, although she knew for sure that would've been the right thing to do--the mature thing to do, even--her body had other ideas. And as she began to tremble, tears welling uncontrollably in her eyes, she thrust her wine glass down on the bar, jumped off the stool and fled.

Finding herself in the kitchen--she couldn't remember how she'd got there but thankfully it was deserted again--she grabbed the kitchen roll from the counter top and slid down the cupboards to the floor. "Grow up," she muttered furiously, tearing off a strip of the rather rough paper and swiping at her cheeks. "Grow up, grow up, growup..." But chastising herself proved rather less than effective and defeated by her emotions at last, she finally allowed herself to dissolve into sobs.

Maybe she should've done it earlier, she realised, pulling herself together several minutes later and deciding she felt better. Exhausted, but better. It seemed as though Jean had been right, it did no good to bottle things up. Though she really wasn't sure what to do next. Going back out into the pub didn't seem a particularly attractive option. But... A look at the clock proved reassuring this time. She could call Gemma now. All she needed to do was reach the public payphone at the end of the bar.

Acutely aware that after so much crying she probably looked quite a sight, Melissa made her way to the door that came out behind the lounge bar and opened it cautiously. To her relief, all of the bar staff were working at the far end. So far, so good, she thought, easing out and heading in the opposite direction. But just as she rounded the corner and found the phone, she heard Matt's voice and immediately ducked down behind the bar, finding herself face to face with dozens of pint glasses.

"Mother, you're being ridiculous," she heard him say, praying fervently no one was about to come down this end and betray her location. "There's no way I'm going to do that."

"I don't think it's ridiculous at all," Ruth snapped back. "Just think about this for a moment. She has no right to any of it. Suzie died years ago, for heaven's sake. That girl shouldn't have any claim to his estate."

Melissa forgot all about being discovered, a cold wave sweeping over her from head to toe.Was Ruth really saying what she thought she was saying?

Matt gave a startled-sounding laugh. "I don't believe I'm hearing this. Mother, I'mnot going to contest the will, okay?"

Oh God, she was...

"Well, I think you're being incredibly naïve. That land is worth a small fortune. I can't believe you're prepared to split it with the girl."

"I know exactly what the land's worth, okay? But I'm not about to go against what Charlie wanted. He wanted Lissy to inherit her share--"

"Her share? What share?" Though her voice was low, Ruth sounded almost apoplectic. "You're Charlie's heir, Matthew."

"And Lissy is Suzie's heir. It's that simple."

"You know damned well it isn't that simple. Besides, the girl won't know what to do with all that money. She'll end up squandering the lot, just like her mother would have done. She was useless with money. What a waste."

When Matt spoke again, Melissa recognised the barely-restrained anger in his tone. "I'm not going to contest the will, and that's final. I don't care whether you think it's the right thing to do or whether you don't. I know what Charlie wanted and I'm going to make sure that what he wanted is what happens."

There was another silence. Staring miserably at the glasses, Melissa found she could hardly breathe. She'd always known Ruth didn't like her but to discover that she hadn't thought much of her mother either came as a horrible shock.

"Mrs McKenzie?" That was Jean's voice. Even she sounded uncharacteristically timid. "Your taxi's waiting outside for you."

"Right."

Not 'Thank you', Melissa noted bitterly. How rude.

"I'll call you when I get back," Ruth said, various shuffling noises indicating she was already on the move. "Maybe by the time I do you'll have come to your senses."

Melissa closed her eyes until the sound of Ruth's high heels clicking across the tiles died away then dug deep for what remained of her strength. All she needed to do was call Gemma, she told herself firmly. Stand up, get to the phone, call Gemma. But before she could find her feet, she heard another familiar voice and found herself rooted to the spot all over again.

"I'm really sorry, mate. I can't find Lissy anywhere."

Jason. Matt was still there?

Sure enough, she heard him heave a sigh. "Don't worry. I'll find her."

"Look, I had no idea she'd go off like that. I didn't realise she'd be so upset."

"It's okay. I'll talk to her."

"She wouldn't have done anything stupid, would she?" To Melissa's surprise, Jason sounded rather worried.

"I'm sure she hasn't. She probably just needed some time on her own. I'll go and have a look for her."

"I'll go and have another look outside. Ask if anyone's seen her."

Stand up, get to the phone, call Gemma...

Melissa held her breath for a moment, trying to discern whether she could hear any movement. Had they gone? Just to be sure, she counted to ten under her breath then slowly rose to her feet, only to gasp as she found herself face to face with Matt.

For a moment, he simply stared at her, his expression unreadable. "How long have you been down there?" he asked at last, leaning forward and peering over the bar.

She swallowed hard. "Long--long enough."

He nodded, clearly understanding the implication of her words. "You look terrible."

"Thanks." Rather to her astonishment, she found herself smiling. "You don't look so hot yourself, actually."

After rolling his eyes, Matt smiled back. "Come on," he said, gesturing towards the gap in the bar. "Let's get out of here." And taking her hand as she joined him on the other side, he led her past the throng of laughing mourners and back out through the front door of the pub.

Neither of them spoke as they strolled down the lane that led to the village centre, the noise from the pub fading away with every step, Melissa breaking the silence only as they reached the war memorial. "Your mother really doesn't think very much of me, does she?"

He sighed. "It's complicated, Liss."

"It didn't sound very complicated to me." Melissa stared up at the list of names.To the twenty-two men who lost their lives... "She hates me."

"She hates everyone. It isn't personal. And it isn't up to her, either. Charlie left the farm to both of us."

"You can contest the will if you like." Melissa bit her lip. "I wouldn't put up a fight. She's right, after all. Youare Charlie's heir."

"I have no intention of contesting the will. Charlie wanted you to have half the farm, okay? That's what's in his will, that's what's going to happen."

She turned around, giving him a curious look. "Is the farm really worth a fortune?"

Matt shrugged. "It depends what you mean by 'fortune'. If we build those houses, there'll be enough for you not to have to--I mean, for neither of us--" he corrected hastily "--to have to worry about money for quite a while."

"If we build those houses?"

He nodded, holding her gaze. "This isn't a done deal. Not yet. Those houses can only be built if that's what you want too. We both own the farm now. Neither one of us can do anything without the other one's say so."

"So if I said I just wanted us to sell up...?"

"Then that's what we'd do." Matt gave her a small smile. "That's what I've been wanting to explain to you, but I haven't exactly had the chance until now."

She stared at him, her spirits lifting abruptly. "So the farm could stay as it is?"

He grimaced. "It might, but I doubt it. Anyone who buys it is probably going to build there. It's already got planning permission for eight houses. There's a good chance the purchaser might get permission for more."

"Right." Melissa felt her face fall. "I see."

"Liss." Matt rested his hand on her shoulder. "This isn't something we have to decide right now, okay? Whatever we decide, we've got to go and sort through Charlie's things. That is, if you still want to do that with me?"

She frowned. "Of course I do."

"Good." He breathed a sigh. "Okay, how about this? We'll spend a week there clearing everything out like we said we would. And then, when we get to the end of that week, we'll decide what we're going to do then. How does that sound?"

"We really don't have to make a decision until then?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Actually, we don't have to make it then either, if you don't want to. Though we're going to have to make it sooner or later."

"No, it's okay. We'll make the decision then." Much to her surprise, Melissa suddenly realised she felt a lot better. "I s'pose we'd better head back," she said reluctantly. "We really ought to go and--what was it you said?" She grimaced. "'Share our memories'?"

He smirked. "Nah," he said, shaking his head. "Not yet. Let's just keep them between ourselves for now, eh? Let's just keep walking for a while."

And taking her hand in his again, Matt tugged her onwards down the hill.

*

Thanks for reading me. All votes and comments are gratefully appreciated.

Lily

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