Page 147 of Rough Around the Hedges

“No, I just… Maybe I should have talked to her first.”

“You’re the one who said you didn’t want Rose to know.”

“I know, but—”

“Just sign the fucking contract, Oli. Get it over and done with. You know you’re making the right choice, so just do it.” He slapped it down on my desk in front of me and clicked a pen before dropping it on top of the contract. “Do it. Now. Deal with the fallout afterwards.”

I picked up the pen and flipped through the contract to the page that required my first signature. I’d read this thing a thousand times, and I wanted this—I wanted to hand stewardship of the land over to the allotment committee, so why was I hesitating?

I’d never hesitated when I wanted to sell it.

“What if this is the wrong decision?” I asked him.

“Sign the fucking contract!” Luke shouted, slapping his hand against the table. “Now, or I’ll shove that bloody pen so far up your arse it pops out of your eyeballs!”

And he said Rose was the weird one.

“All right, all right! No need to shout! I’m signing!” I scribbled my signature on the dotted line, printed my name, and added the date.

“Now the other one.” He flipped to the next spot, and I did the same. The third spot came, and I repeated it yet again, and no sooner had my pen left the page than Luke whisked the contract away from me. “I’m going to look after this until you hand it over.”

That was probably for the best.

“I…” I sighed, setting the pen down. “Jesus Christ. What’s wrong with me today?”

“You’re scared,” he said, his voice quieter. “You know you’re doing the right thing—for the people here, for their community, and for yourself, but that’s not really why you’re doing it. You’re doing it for Rose. I know you, Oli, and you’re not just making a business decision here—you’re putting your heart on the line, and you’re scared it won’t be enough.”

I rested my chin in my head and looked out of the window as a bird fluttered past and landed on a branch. “Yeah,” I said softly. “I just hope that, at the very least, it’s enough for her to forgive me for ever wanting to sell the land in the first place.”

31

ROSE

The Disappearing Redhead

Isank into Ramona and rested my head on the steering wheel. Today had been one of the longest days of my life, and I could scarcely believe that a day that had started so brightly was ending so darkly.

And all because I’d done what I shouldn’t have.

Because I’d walked into Hanbury House.

I’d gone to Oliver’s office.

And I’d heard everything.

Both his and words and Luke’s had been ringing in my mind all day.

The contract.

There was only one contract that would cause their conversation to be that heated.

The allotments.

I squeezed my eyes tightly shut to stop the tears spilling out. This was it—this was the end. Everything we’d done, every moment I’d fought it, it’d all been for nothing. I knew that, of course. I’d known from the start that the chance of being able to overturn his decision was slim to none, but that hadn’t stopped me from trying.

And God, I’d tried. I’d tried so fucking hard. I’d given everything I had to it, but I hadn’t been able to succeed.

He’d won.

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