Page 91 of Rough Around the Hedges

Nothing would replace the allotments.

For the first time since this all began a few weeks ago, the reality of the situation was almost too much for me to bear.

Oliver wasn’t going to change his mind.

I wouldn’t stop fighting, no matter how futile it was.

But in the end, he would win. He had the legal standing and the money to do something about it.

All we had was hope.

Unfortunately, hope wasn’t a currency, and it wouldn’t buy us the land our precious plots sat on.

But moping like this didn’t do me any good, either. I wasn’t exactly a patient person—my grandmother used to say I was a real go-getter, but I wasn’t sure that was a compliment from a woman who strung along two men and married the one who was better in bed.

Then again, she might have been onto something.

Not that I had plans to string anyone along. Nor was I in need of sex. I’d had far too much of that with the wrong person lately, and I had the mark under a plaster on my neck to prove it. I certainly wasn’t going to marry Oliver just because he was a MENSA-level genius between the sheets.

I’d just have to make do with a lifetime of wet dreams.

“Rose?”

I jolted at the sharp tap on the van’s window and turned to see Eleanor’s face practically pressed against it.

Talk about a jump scare.

At least this was the de Havilland I didn’t mind seeing right now.

I lowered the window and greeted her with a smile. “Morning, Eleanor.”

“Morning, love. I didn’t scare you, did I?”

Yes, actually. You scared what little sanity I have left right out of me.

Not that I was going to say that out loud.

“Startled me a bit,” I settled on, somewhat truthfully. “I was in my own little world. What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing. I just finished ordering a regular bouquet delivery to spruce up my bedroom and saw you here. How about a cup of tea?”

I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “I have some time before my next client. Make it a coffee, and I’m all yours for a little bit.”

“A girl after my own heart. I’m a bit tea’d out after my recent jaunt through East Asia. It wasn’t forced on me, but I did rather make it my personal business to try as many different types as I could.”

I didn’t understand the fascination with tea. Susan was always telling me that I just hadn’t found the right tea yet, but who had the time for that?

If I was going to look for anything, it’d be a hot sugar daddy who’d fall for me at first sight and gift me the allotment ownership papers in place of an engagement ring.

I hopped out of the van and locked her behind me, following Eleanor towards the coffee shop on the corner. She nattered on about her recent trip, but I was only half-listening.

And she knew.

Nothing much got past this woman, so I didn’t bother hide it at all. I’d learnt well from my mother in that it was utterly useless to hide my inattention, but Eleanor didn’t seem to care. I suspected she just wanted to talk about her trip to someone who wasn’t going to ask her to stop, and I needed to listen to something other than the sound of my own voice inside my head.

I was only talking myself into circles, and God only knew the voices were crazy enough without me making them dizzy.

We ordered our coffees, with Eleanor beating me to paying, and took a cosy corner table away from the busiest part of the shop.

---