Trying Not to Love You - Part Four

Chapter Four

                “One of those?”

Martha had pondered that thought as she’d showered, then dressed in what little else she had left that hadn’t been ruined by the farm activities. Her phone had been buzzing all afternoon, both her London life and her home town life colliding and wanting more of her. She’d pacified those in London and agreed to go out to the pub that night. Her old friends wanted a catch up, and whilst last night had been difficult, she hated the attention, she’d dealt with it, tonight would be far easier, the jungle drums would have told everyone that she was home. Now her priority was to find out what Scott Oldbury was up to, and how and why that involved her father. And that meant socialising.

Just the thought of Scott’s name had sent shudders of fear up her spine for so many years, but seeing her father ill, she realised for the first time how devastating running away had been for her family. She should have been there, should have been helping him, protecting him, instead he was a shadow of the man he was lying in a hospital bed. Was she part of this? Was this Scott finally gaining revenge on her? Hurting her in the only way left? Or was there something else afoot? Was she only scratching the surface?

She pulled on her only other pair of boots and gave Aunt Lucy a kiss on the cheek; she was going to her WI meeting, so Martha didn’t feel guilty at going out again. She’d fed the dogs, checked on the horses; her fence job was secure so far, so finally she could take the path to the pub.

Unlike the previous night the place was packed, standing room only, and she managed to slip in the back door unannounced.

Helen and James were sat in the corner with a couple of other familiar faces; Martha was swamped by hugs before being able to sit down. When she finally took a seat, she was back to the wall, facing into the busy lounge and could feel so many people staring, but she had to ignore that, even if she had her back to them they’d stare, this way she could front things out. Helen was beside her, and pushed an empty wine glass in front of her, before reaching for the bottle that sat on the table.

                “Drink up!”

She accepted the chardonnay and sipped it thoughtfully.

                “You ok?”

Helen was smiling beside her. When they were in school Helen was the glamorous one, the one who attracted the boys, she had early curves and didn’t battle with her weight as Martha had constantly. She was also good at everything that she did, from sports, to dancing, to Physics exams. Martha had always lived in her shadow, been the one to follow where Helen led, so when Scott Oldbury asked Martha out on a date Helen had been the most shocked, after all the older rich boy who zoomed around town in a brand new Range Rover with an entourage was good looking, charming and definitely the ultimate catch. Most of the girls in their year at school had hankered after him, and he’d had more than his fair share of glamorous arm candy over the years. But for some reason he was interested in Martha. She of course refused to date him in the beginning, but he was both persistent and flamboyant and he wore her down.

The first time that she appeared in the front seat of that infamous car, Helen had distanced herself. Jealousy? Martha presumed it was that, because no one could have predicted where it was going to end. The very public dressing down in front of everyone, all her dirty laundry being aired in the pub, with Scott snarling and gloating and everyone hanging on his every word.

Had the years washed the distance and the humiliation away? Could she trust her friends again?

An hour in the bookies following the horses in Oz at this ridiculous hour had seen Sonny reap a two hundred quid reward, he loved that whatever time it was, somewhere in the world there was something to bet on. So feeling flush he shouted across to Shirley on the desk, “fifteen to one Shirl, you said it wouldn’t pay!”

The older woman smiled, “you have the luck of the gods some days.”

He sighed, “you reckon?”

His life to date had been anything but lucky, he’d been to hell and back on more than one occasion, but she didn’t need to know that.

                “You’ve been in town less than six months and you’ve had more than your fair share of luck.”

He laughed as she piled up the notes that made his winnings, “ladies and horses?”

Handing him the money she added, “and Carl Mansell.”

Carl had been like a fairy god father, he’d seen the good him in when no one else did and had given him the break that no one else would. Turning up in this town with a name on a piece of paper, that’s all he had. But thanks to Carl he had a roof over his head, a bed to sleep in and a place to call home. That was something he hadn’t had since he was a kid...

Shaking his head he looked at Shirley and took the wad of money, “he gave me a break.”

                “He had no need to.” Shirley, always one to gossip gave him a telling smile.

                “What?”

She sighed, “think I’m just surprised that he trusted someone like you.”

Sonny felt his heckles rise, “someone like me?”

She reached out and patted his hand, “he hasn’t trusted anyone for years, it’s more about him than you.”

He took the money and moved towards the door, the place was virtually empty, they were due to close soon, then he paused, turned back to the woman, “why?”

“Why what?”

Putting his hands on his hips he looked at her, “why hasn’t he trusted anyone?”

                “Your ‘mate’ Oldbury...broke his daughter’s heart. She ran away after calling off their engagement, she’s not been back here in years. Think he felt the guilt over it all. Made him an unhappy man for years.”

He was frozen in the doorway unable to fathom it, Martha, the woman he’d laughed at this afternoon ruined by that bastard. He already hated the man, and didn’t need any more ammunition for his bow, but the thought made him more than angry.

                “Oldbury?” He managed to snatch out the word, but he didn’t vocalise the rest of his thought, merely nodded and filed the information for later.

The pub was heaving, he wanted food, a stiff drink and his bed, but hearing that last bit of news he knew that wasn’t enough. Walking into the pub Sonny held his head high, smirking at the fact that the patrons of the pub, much like the town were split in their regard for him. The younger ones were intrigued, they didn’t know much about him but they wanted to, the rest looked down at him, expected the worst.  And who was he to disappoint?

Walking up to the bar he ignored the snippy comment from one of the men who was obviously aggrieved with him for some reason, he gave up trying to work out why.

                “Vodka, large.”

James was helping out behind the bar, and he was another one who hated him, but he didn’t care. Throwing a tenner down onto the bar he gave him a sarcastic smile.

The drink was the ease again, the hot burn of alcohol started to calm the rage that he barely kept a lid on most days. He couldn’t lose it, he was SO close, he had to stay calm.

                “Another,” he snarled when he cleared the glass.

At the bottom of that one he felt easier; turning to lean against the bar he perused the room.

Martha had switched off to Helen’s incessant chatter the moment that HE walked into the room, the irony that she still didn’t know his name. He was at the bar downing drinks and winding up James, she could see that from her distance. The lodger was tense, but as he stirred up James, who’d been the relaxed King of the Castle until then, the tension visibly switched between the two men, And like her, everyone in the bar was aware of him, she couldn’t believe how palpable the atmosphere was since he’d walked in.

                “He’s hot isn’t he? And living in your home...lucky you!”

Helen’s voice was a whisper at her ear.

                “Really?” She turned slowly to look at her friend incredulously. Then realised that most of the women were salivating in his direction. “What is it with you lot?”

Mandy, Helen’s older sister leaned across and hissed, “tall, dark, handsome, a dark past and very mysterious...a real bad boy. What’s not to like?”

Martha shook her head, “can’t see it myself.”

Helen laughed, “well, you’re in the minority here.” She gestured with her head towards the bar; a skinny blonde had approached Sonny and was battering her eyelashes in his direction. Martha sighed as she spotted his shoulders relax completely, the final ounce of tension disappearing, he’d looked wired until then, ready for something.

Mandy laughed, “bang, and there it goes again, he’s had more women in here than Scott ever did.”

Everyone hushed at the sound of her ex fiancé’s name.

                “You can mention his name,” Martha finally offered, “it was a long time ago.”

Helen covered her hand with her own, “it WAS a long time ago, and whilst things change, you now have Denbrooke’s enemy number one living on your farm, that’s more excitement than the rest of us. You keep beating us hands down.”

                “Enemy number one?”

Mandy laughed, “Sonny Carter.” As Martha followed the direction of her glance she came eye to eye with that man again. Their eyes locked at the very moment that Mandy leaned across and whispered, “fresh from prison and upsetting everyone in this town, screwing his way through the single and the not so single, and all on your doorstep!”

Turning back to the bar it was Sonny that broke the gaze, and all she could do was watch as he bought a drink for him and the blonde, then led her to the corner of the room.

Another early start was not what the doctor ordered after too much wine, but helping Eamonn and the boys with the early checks cleared her head. Then there was the round of feeding, and tending of the animals, but now she also checked the fences, she didn’t want to get caught out again.

It was seven o’clock when she let herself back into the kitchen.

Aunt Lucy was sat at the kitchen table and smiled as she entered.

                “You ok?”

The older woman nodded, “I’m going to see your father today, but I’ll head to town first.”

Martha smiled, “he’ll be glad to see you. I was going to go over this morning too. Shall I drop you into town first?”

Aunt Lucy smiled, “are you sure? I worry about you doing too much.”

Martha smiled, “of course I’d rather that my father was well, but he isn’t and that’s life. I’m liking being home though; just wish the circumstances were different. Let me sort out the horses, then I’ll have a quick shower, be ready for town in forty minutes?”

Herman had failed to start on three occasions, she needed to push him out of the mud and around into the yard where she could cover him in tarpaulin, that would at least mean he was safe and dry, she couldn’t afford a new car, but alone that wasn’t happening. So instead she had to haul Aunt Lucy into the archaic Land Rover, it was high, and her aunt wasn’t very mobile, what with her ‘new hip’, and by the time the woman was ensconced in the passenger seat both women were laughing hysterically.

                “More hassle than it’s worth!” Martha gasped as the tears of laughter rolled down her face. Lucy’s response was a peal of laughter and the car door being slammed shut. At that very second Martha heard a noise behind her, and as she turned to travel around to the driver’s side of the vehicle, she saw the coach house door open and Sonny, looking like some sort of god wearing just a towel around his waist, appear at the doorway, and then the blonde from the previous night emerged beside him, clinging to him like her life depended on it.

The kiss they shared was bordering on obscene, and it wasn’t until she was in the driver’s seat and she started the engine that his eyes met hers over the top of the dependent blonde. As ever it was an unsettling gaze, and as she reversed the truck like car, Aunt Lucy snapped, “harlot!”

Martha sighed, “he’s the slut, not them.”

Lucy laughed, “your virtue is your own, and life has always dictated that women are far more governed by that than women.”