Page 53 of Rough Around the Hedges

I was losing my fucking mind—and if not right now, I was most definitely on the verge of it.

“Then I shall begin my stealth takeover,” I replied, sipping my beer. “One by one, I’ll convince the young people of Hanbury to take my side and wage war on the old guard.”

“A flawless plan, sir,” Rose replied flatly. “It can’t possibly go wrong.”

“I take that as praise, given how much of a plotter you are.”

“You do that.” She glanced at me. “Please, please do that.”

I stared at the side of her head for a moment before looking away with a chuckle. “You don’t have much of a poker face, do you?”

“Actually, I have a fantastic poker face,” she replied. “That’s what makes me so formidable.”

“Can you play poker?”

“Why would I play poker? Monopoly is stressful enough without adding real money into the equation with something as unpredictable as poker.” She set her can down and stretched her arms out, then pulled her hands back and cracked her fingers one by one. “Ah, that feels good.”

I was about to reply when my phone rang in my pocket. I handed Rose my beer can and pulled out the phone to see Luke’s name on the screen. “Hi,” I answered. “Why are you calling?”

“Where are you?” he demanded.

“Why?”

“Because I want to know.”

“Why?”

“It’s a matter of urgency.”

“Then be urgent in your explanation, Lucas.”

Rose wrinkled her nose up. “Ugh, is that the snoop?”

Luke gasped, making the line crackle in my ear. “Are you with that woman?”

“If you’re calling to come and get me, I’m in Rock Park. Rose’s van is near the entrance to the secondary school,” I explained. “If my absence is not the emergency, go and find a hobby to fill the rest of your evening, Luke.”

“I had plenty of hobbies until you dragged me to the middle of nowhere,” he grumbled. “I’m not far. I’ll be right there.”

Beep.

I stared at my phone.

Rose leant over, bumping her shoulder into mine. “Bit of a moody git, isn’t he?”

“Mm, but it’s reasonable,” I replied. “Unlike me, he’s never lived anywhere like this. I don’t think he was truly prepared for the difference in lifestyle between a major city and small, rural village.”

“Is anyone?”

“Huh?”

“Well, it’s a thing, isn’t it? Living in a place like Hanbury isn’t for everyone,” she said. “We’re twenty miles from the nearest major supermarket, if it can even be called that. Our shops are either small, locally owned places or little corporate stores that are wildly overpriced to take advantage of us. Regular busservices outside of the school buses are a luxury, and trains are so extortionately expensive in general. Emergency services are miles away, there’s no such thing as A&E or even a minor injuries unit unless you drive for at least twenty minutes, and places like cinemas or theatres are almost non-existent.”

“Wow. You’re really selling the rural life here.”

Rose laughed, throwing her head back in what was perhaps the deepest, most genuine thing I’d ever heard her express. “I’m just saying that I get it. This isn’t for everyone, and I don’t begrudge those who feel that way. It’s gotta be pretty tough to go from everything at your fingertips to next to nothing. I have to travel sometimes, and I’m overwhelmed even in bigger towns. I can’t imagine being somewhere like London where everything and its creator is within touching difference. We’re products of our environments, and changing them is overwhelming, no matter the direction of change.”

I rubbed my hand over my mouth and looked away from her. If I ever heard that laugh again, there was a good chance I’d lose my mind completely.

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