Country Lovers (21 page)

Rhodri nodded. “Good. Good.”

“He could make a go of it, you know, breeding dogs. Nice little earner if it's done properly. And with that sister of his behind him…”

“He could. But he'd have to do a sight better than he is now if he's to attract enthusiastic buyers.” Rhodri gave a heavy sigh. “I wouldn't buy one off him at the moment.”

“What's up, Rhod? It's not just the dog dying, is it?”

Rhodri stood up. “You don't want to know my troubles.”

“That's for me to decide.” Dan deliberately planted himself on a chair and made himself comfortable.

Rhodri sat down again but stayed silent. Then opened his mouth as though he was going to speak, closed it, and then changed his mind again. “My ferret, you know, Harry? I found him dead this morning. Old age, you know. And this dog dying on me hasn't helped. I've had Harry since he was a few weeks old. We knew each other so well, and he could still surprise me.”

“In the scheme of things, Harry going is really quite a small thing…You—”

“Small thing? It might be to you, but it isn't to me. That's your trouble—always seeing things in black and white. I wonder sometimes if you have a heart at all.”

“Oh, I have, indeed I have, but you need to get your priorities right. I think Megan is far more important. I saw Gab in a shop in the town the other day. The assistants were around him like bees around a honeypot. You can see why, where women are concerned, us lesser mortals can't hold a candle to him.”

Rhodri was standing up looking out of the window by now and ignoring Dan's remarks. He was thinking of Harry. Of how, that morning, Harry had not come to the bars of his cage when he'd gone out to bring him in the house for a run before he left for work. Of how he'd dreaded opening up Harry's sleeping quarters, guessing what he'd find. But there he was, his eyes wide open, his mouth open, his lips drawn back in a grimace, and dead. He'd picked him up and held him to his cheek to remind himself of the feel of him and for a last good-bye, but it simply wasn't Harry anymore; he'd left already for wherever it was ferrets went at the end of their lives. There'd never be another Harry; he couldn't bear another parting like this.

“Rhod?”

“Sorry. We were talking about Megan, weren't we? I don't need you to tell me that. Megan herself admits how attractive he is. Not that
she
finds him attractive, but she knows he is, which he is and I wish he weren't. You don't know of a farm hand in need of a job, do you? Because that's what she wants, someone to replace Gabriel Bridges.”

“I don't, no, but I do wonder if you should persuade Megan to marry you and say that you'll live at the house with Old Man Jones.”

Dan thought Rhodri would explode, the expression on his face was so outraged as he turned from the window. “
Live
with that conniving, nasty old beggar? Not likely.”

“But when he sees he's not threatened with being left on his own or having to go into a nursing home, he'll come around to it. Heavens above, the house is big enough. I bet it would be possible to make quite separate living quarters. You and Megan in one part and him in the other. He's scared he'll be no longer in command of himself, no longer in charge of his life and all that. You've got to try to see it from his point of view.”

“You haven't had him raise his stick to you and miss hitting you by a hairbreadth. That is humiliating, see.”

“I can believe that, but that's what I'm saying: He's not given up on himself and isn't likely to, so you do some compromising and I think he is enough of a man to do the same. He'll want to match up with you because you're treating him as though he's a man and not an embittered invalid. It's not giving in, Rhodri, on your part; it's using your brain. He's a tough chap, as well you know, so it's the two of you at loggerheads.” Dan clenched his fists and banged his knuckles together imitating the two opposing forces. “You're just as stubborn as he is in your own way, Rhod, but it's for you to make the first move.”

“It's just the thought of living under the same roof. I have this picture in my mind of us getting married and living in my house, see. On our own. That's what I wanted above everything, to
rescue
Megan.”

“But he wouldn't be in
bed
with the two of you, would he? It would be you and Megan at the other end of the house. Just think of that. Every night in bed together.”

Rhodri blushed bright red. He looked away out of the window again and quietly asked, “Would you compromise like that for Rose?”

Dan nodded his head. “I'd find it very difficult, if not impossible, but for Rose's sake, yes, I would. And believe me, her mother would be twenty times more difficult to live with than that old man because she's chosen to be a bitch for absolutely no reason at all. And think, you'd be better placed for keeping an eye on Gab too; there is some merit in that.”

“Do you know, you're right there.” Rhodri became seized by the idea. “I could rent out my house to someone, live at Beulah Bank Farm married to Megan, and see how it all pans out. It's not the solution I would have preferred, but you've made me see it's better than nothing at all.” Rhodri pounded his right fist into the palm of his other hand and looked triumphantly at Dan. “You've persuaded me—I don't know how, but you have.”

“I'm sure it would take the edge off Gab's obession too, her being married.”

“Oh yes. I think it would. Why have I never thought like this before? I can't believe I've been so blinkered. Of course old Jones is frightened and quite rightly so. The poor beggar.” Rhodri paused and then said, with a wry smile on his face, “It crosses my mind he won't live to an old age, will he? Not in his state.”

“Now Rhod, now Rhod, I didn't put that in my equation.” Dan wagged a warning finger at him. “But it is a thought.” Then he burst into laughter.

Rhodri caught the infectiousness of it and laughed too. “By God! I'll do it. Yes, I will.”

“You're a wise man and kind with it.”

Rhodri smiled and said, his voice full of excitement and energy, “I'm off to propose.”

Chapter
• 14 •

H
e did just that with flowers, a bottle of champagne, and the engagement ring he'd bought months before.

Halfway there he rang her on his mobile and suggested she walk down to the bridge to meet him because he had something special to say.

She hadn't got there by the time he arrived, so he sat in the car admiring the emerald and diamond ring he'd bought her. It sat so beautifully in its box, contrasted so well with the black velvet lining, it almost seemed a pity to take it out, but he knew how much better it would look on her finger. The oblong emerald caught the rays of the sun and dazzled him, to say nothing of the wonderful sparkle of the diamonds surrounding it. Apart from his house and his car, it was the most expensive thing he'd ever bought.

Rhodri looked up when he heard her quick step on the tarmac of the road. His heart leaped. Having her da under the same roof seemed a small price to pay for such a prize. He closed his fingers over the box.

They held hands as they walked down the slope to the edge of the stream. Silently Megan drew his attention to a kingfisher poised alertly on a stone just above the water's edge. His bright eyes shone in the sunlight as he made to fly off, changed his mind, and then in a flash he was gone. Rhodri tried to follow his darting flight down the stream and thought what a good omen it was to have seen such a rare sight. It gave him courage.

“Megan. I've decided. I want us to be married, and I'm willing to live at the farm with you and your da. I've always imagined that you would come to live with me in my house, always thought it was the only way because I wanted to rescue you from slaving for your da—Sir Galahad to the rescue, you know—but I realize that's not possible, so I thought if he saw I was willing to compromise, then he might compromise as well, if that's possible.”

She said nothing, but he felt her fingers tighten on his.

“So I've bought you an engagement ring. I love it and I hope you do, but if you don't, I'll gladly exchange it for another one. It's an emerald with diamonds round it and it will suit, I'm sure, but, as I say, if it doesn't, then that's all right by me and we'll go back to the jewelers. Of course, it may not be to your taste, so if it isn't…well we'll change it. I don't mind in the slightest.”

“Rhodri! Hush! Show me.” His hands were shaking so much he couldn't open the box. Megan placed a gentle hand on his and said, “Darling! Why the nerves?”

Rhodri, filled with hope, calmed his racing heart and opened the box. Megan gasped with pleasure when she saw it, a gasp so genuine he knew instantly that she loved it. It slid on her finger as if it had been designed especially for her. She held up her hand and admired the fire in the diamonds and the wonderful, deep, flashing green of the emerald. In a hoarse, reverent whisper she said, “I love this. Absolutely love it. If I'd been with you, I'd have chosen this very ring myself. And I want to say how much I appreciate your offering to live at the farm. It's a big sacrifice and I realize how much you must love me to make it. I'm proud to wear a ring given to me by such a loving man, such a dear, kind man like you. It's an honor, it truly is.”

Megan flung her arms around Rhodri, and she kissed him like she'd never kissed him: Gone was the sweet tenderness of her kisses, replaced by a wild, fierce loving, the depths of which he had not seen before. This was a Megan full of a deep, rousing passion. When she gave him time to draw breath, he said, “Put me down! Put me down!” Then clutched her tighter than ever and kissed her frantically. When they stopped kissing from shortage of breath, Rhodri burst out with, “Harry Ferret died today.”

Megan released herself from his arms and said, “Well, honestly! That's nice! Harry dies, so suddenly you're willing to come to live at the farm. Would you prefer to stay where you are and get another ferret instead of me?”

Rhodri took her seriously and shook his head sorrowfully from side to side. “It's been an awful blow losing Harry, but no I shan't get another.”

“I suppose that's some consolation even if I, obviously, come second best.”

“Now, Megan, you know I don't mean that, what I really meant to say was…” Rhodri saw she was laughing and knew he'd dropped himself right in it. “Sorry, I didn't mean it to sound like that. I'd have proposed even if he hadn't died this morning.”

Megan's eyes filled with tears. “I know. I shall miss him. I'm so sorry, love. It must have been dreadful.”

“I knew it was coming; he hadn't been himself for a few days. Not interested in anything and not a pest when he was out, so I knew.” He turned away from her and bent to retie his shoelace, so his voice was muffled. “It won't be easy for me, coming to live at the farm, but I'll do my best. Perhaps if I'm willing to compromise on what I would have preferred, your da might too.”

“Don't spoil a lovely moment talking about how stubborn Da is. Let's go tell him. Better still, ask his permission.”

“His permission?”

“His permission to marry his daughter, see.”

“Ahhh! Right.”

He stood outside the sitting-room door, nervous beyond measure, knowing he musn't make a mess of asking permission this time, knowing he must do it thoroughly and properly and, most of all, humbly but firmly. He felt Megan's hand push him right in the middle of his back as she whispered, “Go on, he can't bite.” Oh no? Rhodri pushed open the door.

He put the ring in its box on the table beside his chair. “Good evening, Mr. Jones.”

A twisted index finger pointed at the box. “What's this?”

Courage came to him when it was most needed, and he spoke without a stammer, plainly and forthrightly. “An engagement ring. I've asked Megan to marry me, and before you say anything, I've asked her on the understanding that we live here, in this house after we're married. I know there might be difficulties, but I realize you can't live on your own, and I wouldn't want to deprive you of your daughter. Maybe if we both try to be civilized, we would manage quite nicely. It's what I want. It's what Megan wants and we both hope it's what you will want. So I'm asking for your daughter's hand in marriage, and I hope you'll give us your blessing.”

Mr. Jones didn't reply.

Rhodri, running out of steam, sat down abruptly and waited patiently, and when Mr. Jones still didn't speak, he suggested he should open the box and have a look at the ring.

“You open it.”

So Rhodri did and Mr. Jones for once in his life was quite taken aback. “Has Megan seen it?”

Rhodri nodded. “Just now.”

“She likes it?”

“Loves it.”

“I see.”

He seemed very calm and Rhodri became anxious that it might be the calm before the storm. He closed the box and put it in his pocket. “Well?”

“She's very precious to me. Never realized how much till a week or two ago. Always felt boys were more important in a family, see. Then I saw that Gab, of the lustful eyes, admiring her and I thought, no, you're not getting this precious daughter of mine.” He paused, looked up at Rhodri with what passed for a smile for Mr. Jones, and said, “I wish we had champagne in the house; we need to crack a bottle open.”

“Great minds think alike. I've just put one in your fridge.”

“What are you waiting for then? Open it. Never mind waiting for it to chill. Go on, boy.”

Rhodri stood up. “It's all right with you, then?”

“I wouldn't be opening champagne just for fun, now would I?”

“Thank you.” Rhodri put out his hand. “Let's shake on it.” Mr. Jones extended his arm and they shook hands.

His heart bursting with love and complete delight that he'd finally got Old Man Jones on his side, though he'd never actually said he could marry Megan, not in so many words, Rhodri charged at the kitchen door, flung it open and shouted, “Crack open the champagne! Your da says—”

Seated at the table drinking tea was Gab, with a face like thunder.

L
OOKING
back on the whole episode that night before she slipped into what proved to be a fitful sleep, Megan cringed at the horror of it. Immediately before Rhodri had flung the door open with such heartfelt delight, Gab, in a wild burst of silent anger, had broken every stem of the flowers Rhodri had given her and flung them in the waste bin. When he'd returned to sit down, his hands shook so violently they were almost beating a tattoo on the table, and the tea was jumping out of his mug at every beat. She wished she'd never told him.

Megan had leaped out of her skin when the door had bounced open and revealed Rhodri standing there, his face glowing with his overwhelming happiness. There must have been much less than thirty seconds of silence, but it felt an age and then Gab, with a snarl on his face like that of a cornered fox, said, “You'll never have a moment's joy, Meggie. Never! I'm the man for you. I've told you before and I'm telling you now, you're mine.
Mine,
do you hear!” Gab had got to his feet and in one surprising fluid movement had skirted the end of the table, grabbed her by the arms, and kissed her full on the lips. Taken so completely by surprise, Rhodri took action after a stunned moment.

He'd run around the end of the kitchen table to pry Gab's arms from Megan, but Gab held her in a vicelike grip. She struggled to escape, fearful for Rhodri's safety, but neither he nor she could get her away from him. Gab threw his head back and gave a tortured roar, “Leave her be! She's mine!”

Megan's da came in. “Let her go! Do you hear me? Let her go!”

Gab shook her like a terrier with a rat, till her brains felt as though they were thudding against her skull. “Listen to me! Listen to me! You're mine! Mine! Do you hear?”

Megan cried out, “Please, Gab! Please stop.” Gab's fury fell away from him just as quickly as it had come. What all three of them were fearful of was the anguish of his eyes and the violence of his shaking body. For a moment he stood there looking at them standing in a tight cluster by the table. He spun on his heel and headed for the kitchen door in a wild zigzag, as though his legs didn't belong to him, muttering to himself. Megan knew he was in love with her, that he was passionate about her, but she had never realized just how deeply he felt. She was terribly shocked by his reaction to her engagement, shocked to the core.

They listened for his next move. His car ground and whined as it always did as he strived to start it up, then it fired and he roared away out of the yard.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

Till Megan pulled her frock straight.

Her da picked up his walking stick from the table.

Rhodri tried to pull himself together.

In a strange, high voice Megan said, “I think we'll have tea and leave the champagne till later.”

Her da said, “Thank God he's done the milking before he left.”

Rhodri said, “You're not having him back after that, are you?”

“No! Put a drop of whisky in mine, Megan.”

Megan put a drop in each of their cups and carried them through into the sitting room.

For two hours they'd debated how they'd manage the farm without Gab, and whether or not they should tell Mr. Bridges exactly why he wouldn't be allowed back.

In the end, Megan's da had said firmly, “I shall tell him. In fact, I'll tell him right away. Pass me the phone, Rhodri. Please.”

Before Rhodri had found the number in the telephone book, there was a loud knocking at the door.

They'd looked at each other in turn, uncertain what to do. “Who's that?” they said. “Who's that?” “Is it Gab?”

The hammering began again, so Mr. Jones said, “Rhodri, would you be so kind as to answer the door?”

Megan recalled the fear she'd felt in her bones when she heard Richie Jamieson's voice in the hallway. What did he want with them? Questions had raced through her head, one after the other.

The inspector had removed his hat before he spoke, and they all watched him intently as he smoothed his ruffled hair. “I might as well come straight out with it. I'm sorry to have to tell you that Gabriel Bridges has been shot. As you apparently were the last people to see him, we wondered if you wouldn't mind making a statement?”

Rhodri flinched at the word “shot,” feeling this was one shock too many. He licked his dry lips before he spoke. “When you say shot, do you mean he's
dead
?”

“No, but it would appear he's very close.”

The inspector had taken statements from all three of them. They'd each described the events of the evening as they saw them, trying desperately to be accurate. Finally the question came. “Rhodri. Did you leave the house at all? For any reason.”

“No, I met Megan at the bridge and then came on here, and I have never left the house at all. I've not even gone into the yard since I got here.”