A Home On Bramble Hill: A feel-good, romantic comedy to make you smile. Holly Martin

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СКАЧАТЬ which Chloe had inadvertently thrown her against.

      ‘Zach’s mine,’ Chloe growled.

      ‘Seriously!! You’ve just attacked me over Zach? Honey, I have absolutely no interest in Zach whatsoever. Casey has already warned me off him, says he’s with a different woman every week. I have no desire to be another notch on his bedpost. I’ve just moved next door to him, that’s all.’

      ‘He loves me. Those other women mean nothing to him. He’s just sowing his seed. When he’s finished, he’ll come back to me. You’ll see. He’s mine, so keep your filthy hands off him.’

      Joy shook her head at the lack of comprehending on Chloe’s part. ‘And you’re welcome to him.’

      ‘And Casey is with one of my friends, so you can’t have him.’

      ‘He…? Erm… I’m not interested in Casey either.’ That was a turn up for the books.

      ‘Or Finn…’

      ‘The man’s an arse, I’m definitely not interested in him.’

      All the fight seemed to go out of Chloe. ‘Zach does love me.’

      Still not sure whether to let her up, Joy kept her foot on Chloe’s chest a moment longer. ‘I’m sure he does.’

      The toilet door suddenly opened and another lady that worked behind the bar came in. Joy presumed she was the pub landlady. She was a large, short woman who would look right at home on a rugby field.

      ‘What the hell is going on here?’

      Joy thought this might be an opportune moment to let Chloe off the floor. ‘Just a difference of opinion, right Chloe? I think we’ve sorted things out now.’

      Chloe scrabbled up, clearly still winded by the knee to the stomach, and shot Joy a filthy look. ‘She attacked me Pam, said I was to stay away from Zach, she just threw me to the ground for no reason.’

      Joy opened her mouth to protest, but stopped. The landlady’s face was like an open book. Joy could tell that Pam knew Chloe was lying, Pam clearly knew of Chloe’s inappropriate infatuation for a man who didn’t return her feelings, and she had already seen the blood trickling down Joy’s arm. But Pam had already decided whose side she was on, and it wasn’t the side where the customer was always right.

      ‘How dare you come into my pub and attack my staff like this. Get out now.’

      ‘But…’

      Pam took a threatening step towards her and, recognising that that was one fight she certainly didn’t want to have, Joy held up her hands in a symbol of defeat and surrender. ‘I’m going.’

      ‘And don’t you dare show your face in this pub again.’

      Joy scooted out, past Pam and into the pub. She hurried over to Zach’s table and grabbed her jacket.

      ‘Hey, where you going? I’ve just bought you a drink.’ Casey said, as he sat back down.

      ‘I’ve got to go. Sorry, you boys stay here, enjoy your evening. Don’t worry about me.’

      ‘Are you ok?’ Zach stood up, suddenly filled with concern. ‘You’re bleeding. Here, let me walk you back.’

      She edged to the door. ‘No, I’m fine. My house is only a minute away. I’ll be fine. Stay here, please and finish your drinks.’

      With concerned looks from both of them, she hurried out the pub.

      *

      Finn glared at Joy as she ran out the pub. He felt annoyed by the protective feelings she provoked in him.

      Chloe was about as unhinged as Kathy Bates’s character in Misery so when he had seen her stalking into the bathroom after Joy, he’d known it was going to lead to some confrontation. He had to physically stop himself from going into the bathroom after them. He was shocked to see Joy hurrying out of the bathroom a few minutes later, bleeding and shaken, but stunned that Pam had to physically help Chloe out of the bathroom seconds after Joy had left. Little Joy Cartier had obviously given as good as she’d got. But he still had this need to go after her to make sure she was ok.

      He would not get involved. That would only lead down one path and he wasn’t going to let that happen again.

      His eyes flitted to Mrs Brannigan who was hurriedly finishing her pint and heading out the door after Joy. Albert Cole, with a dark look of venom in his eyes, met her at the door and with a mutual nod of understanding between them they quickly left.

      Finn was already on his feet as he slammed down the pint that he knew would now go to waste. He cursed Joy for making him care and stormed out of the pub after them.

      *

      Outside, Joy slipped off her shoes and leaving her jacket on top of them, she walked down to the edge of the small pond. Moonlight bathed the waters with silvery ribbons. The village was so quiet. There was not a single sound to be heard. It was a beautiful place and she was so desperate to finally find a place that she could call home. But now it seemed that Bramble Hill would go the same way as the other places she had tried, though she had never left because she had been involved in a fight before. She had thought the tiny little village would be the answer. London and the other big cities, where her neighbours had barely said two words to her for the entire time she had lived there, certainly hadn’t been.

      She hadn’t even been here a day and she had alienated her neighbour by spilling ice cream down him, had a fight with a barmaid and been banned from her local. It wasn’t the rose-tinted start to village life she had hoped for. Suddenly she was pushed hard from behind and as she tumbled head first into the inky cold water she heard a man speak.

      ‘Piss off back to Ascot you little bitch,’

      But then she also heard a far off shout that sounded like, ‘Oi, leave her alone.’

      The coldness of the water was shocking against her hot skin, reeds closed around her like fingers, dragging her down as she fought against them to reach the surface. She gasped out as her head burst through the water and she struggled against the reeds to get to the side. She grabbed a log and pushed her hair out of her eyes, shivering against the cold.

      Finn was standing on the edge of the pond, his expression thunderous and she wondered if he was capable of any other expression.

      ‘Oh very good, payback for me covering you with ice cream was it? A bit childish, but yes revenge is certainly a dish best served cold.’ She was trying to laugh it off, keep some dignity even though she looked like a drowned rat, but she had been shocked by the maliciousness of the push. She heaved herself out of the cold water and clambered up onto her knees, aware of pain in her ankle and shin. The heat of the night did nothing to stop the chill of the cold water on her skin.

      ‘It wasn’t me,’ he said.

      She looked around; the village was quiet and deserted. ‘Well who then? The ghost of the pond perhaps. Oh was it Chloe?’

      ‘No she was still clutching her stomach when I left. People here are not going to take kindly to you after what you did.’

      ‘To СКАЧАТЬ