Page 170 of Rough Around the Hedges

I glanced at Shaun, and a flash of panic crossed his gaze. He stepped forwards, holding his hand out, and said my name desperately. “Rose—”

“His hot water wasn’t broken,” I said, pushing away from Oliver. “He was using it as an excuse to seduce you with his half-naked body because he’s been in love with you for years.”

Isadora gasped. “Don’t you da—”

I turned to Shaun. “She knew you were lying about your hot water being broken and let you come over to use her shower because she likes it when you’re naked and wanted to see if you’d finally make a move on her.”

I grabbed Isa and shoved her in his direction, and he caught her mid-squeak, right before she stumbled onto her sneaky arse.

“Two can play at this game,” I said. “Now, Isadora, why don’t you and Shauntalk?”

“You little—” She jerked towards me, but Shaun held her back, his lips pulling to one side.

“Is that our punishment?” he asked, fighting as his smile threatened to widen.

“Yes. Now everybody knows you want to do the dance with no pants and will ask you if you’re in a relationship every time they see you for the next six months.” I nodded, folding my arms across my chest. “You can thank me later.”

“Thank you? I’m going to throttle you!” Isa leapt for me again, but Shaun was quicker, and he threw her over his shoulder despite her scream for him to let her go.

“Byeeee!” I shouted, waving my hand. I linked my fingers and stretched my arms out in front of me. “Ah, that’s been about five years coming.”

“Yes, you’re a real matchmaker.” Oliver spun me around and looked down at me, interlacing his fingers at the small of myback. “Now that cat is out of the bag with, well, everyone, does this mean we don’t have to sneak around anymore?”

“Oh, shit.” I looked around at everyone still watching our show in amusement. “Um… It’s probably a bit late for that, yeah.”

“It was about a month ago, dear,” Susan piped up, approaching us with Hades hanging from her arms. “You’re not very discreet.”

The day in the shed flashed through my mind. “Um, we weren’t?”

“No. You didn’t act like two people who hated each other, so most of us were waiting to see how it played out. And now I need to collect my winnings.”

“Speaking of,” George said, hobbling up behind Oliver. “You owe me twenty quid.”

Oliver sighed, digging into his pocket and pulling out his wallet. He produced two ten-pound notes from it and handed them over to a gleeful George. “There you go, as promised.”

“What winnings? Why do you owe him twenty quid?” I asked.

“It’s a very long story,” Susan said, taking ten pounds from each plot holder on her way around. “But you’ve made me a very rich woman, Rose. Very rich, indeed.”

I turned my attention to Oliver. “Should I… ask?”

He shook his head. “I’ll explain it to you later.”

35

ROSE

Dearly Beloved

“Don’t use that,” I said to Eleanor as she opened the sugar pot.

She stared into it. “Why not?”

“Just trust me.”

She leant down and sniffed it. “Ah. I see. I thought Oli’s punishment for the contract debacle was over when you finally put him out of his misery and handed him back the stewardship contract last week.”

“Mm,” I said, scrolling my Instagram feed absent-mindedly. “This one is for killing one of my new raspberry canes two days ago.”

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