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‘Wasn’t that the reason your family converted the Hall into a hotel in the first place?’ Zap had said something about that when she’d come for dinner on her first night.
‘That’s right, and when Monty goes, it’ll be the same thing all over again. Hopefully he’s got a good few years left in him, but you never know what the future holds.’ He leaned back against the counter. ‘I want us to do more than survive, I want this place to thrive and grow, and the only thing that’s going to make that happen is money, unfortunately.’
‘So expanding the camping business is a gamble for you? Speculate to accumulate?’
He knew she’d see the bigger picture. ‘Exactly. And I need to find the right people to help me succeed. That’s why I brought you on board, and if I can get Mikey to come and work for me at the farm then that’s another step in the right direction. Meanwhile, I’ll have to keep looking for other ways to diversify and bring in more income.’
‘Have you thought about something like school day trips?’ Tasha asked as she loaded the last few glasses into the dishwasher. ‘If the activity packs are a success over Easter then perhaps we could talk to schools in the local area about them, see if we could adapt them to fit in with a particular learning module.’
That was exactly the kind of thing he wanted to do. ‘You get it, don’t you? You understand what I’m trying to do.’
‘Yes.’ Tasha closed the dishwasher and moved to stand in front of him. ‘I think I’m starting to understand a lot of things.’ She reached up and tugged the elastic band out of her hair.
Rhys stared at her for a long moment, wanting to believe that she was ready to take a chance on him. He reached out and captured one of her wild, electric curls, wrapping it slowly around his finger the way she was beginning to wrap herself around his heart. ‘You know I’ll wait for you if you need more time to think.’
Tasha placed her hand on his chest. ‘I’m done with waiting. I’m done with thinking and hesitating and second-guessing myself. I want to live in the moment.’
Her words were music to his ears, but he had to know for sure. ‘What about tomorrow?’
‘Tomorrow can take care of itself. Right now there’s nothing and nobody, just Tasha and Rhys.’
There was only so much a man could resist and Rhys had done more than he thought was humanly possible to give her a way out. She was beautiful and warm and willing, and he’d never wanted anything more than to accept what was being offered to him. He slid an arm around her waist to pull her close, then froze as a burst of laughter sounded close outside. ‘Come on,’ he said, grabbing her hand. They escaped into the relative privacy of the hall before the voices reached the kitchen. Somehow they made it up the stairs without being caught, though Rhys was sure someone would hear them when he tried to kiss Tasha as they were halfway up, making them both stumble. By the time he ushered her into his room they were breathless from giggling.
‘I never had the courage to sneak a boy up to my bedroom when I was a teenager,’ Tasha said as she collapsed back on the bed. ‘I feel like I’ve missed out.’
Rhys lay on his side next to her, propping his head on his hand so he could drink in the sparkling mischief dancing in her eyes. ‘It’s a first for me too.’
‘No way! And there was me imagining you were the hottest property in the neighbourhood. I bet the girls were queuing up at the gate.’
He laughed. ‘I’m what you might class as a late bloomer. I didn’t come into my own until I was in my late teens and by then I only had eyes for Amelia.’
Tasha reached up and touched his cheek. ‘Do you mind me asking what happened between you two? I know you said she called you a control freak, but I don’t get that vibe from you at all. You remind me of Samson.’
‘I’m a sheepdog? Gee, that’s a boost to my ego.’
She laughed. ‘Silly man. I mean you’re the responsible one, always keeping an eye out for everyone and you have a protective streak a mile wide.’
Rhys bent over and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. ‘Okay, I like the analogy but I know I’m overbearing sometimes. I tend to get a bit single-minded when I see a problem that I know I can fix.’ Now, that wasn’t strictly true. ‘I’m even worse when I think it’s a problem I should be able to fix and can’t.’
‘And that’s what happened with Amelia? You tried too hard to fix something?’
‘Yeah. I don’t want to go into too much detail because it’s her business, but there was some stuff with her dad. I tried to help out by giving him a job but in the end I had to sack him and it tipped him over the edge. He was the one that caused all the trouble last year on the estate.’
‘Oh.’ Tasha was quiet for a long moment. ‘I understand now why you weren’t keen to talk about it at my interview.’
‘It’s going to get messy again at some point when he goes on trial. I’ve already spoken to the detectives as part of the case and they’re going to want me to give evidence when the time comes.’
‘That’s going to put you in a really difficult position. Have you spoken to either Amelia or her mother about it?’
Rhys rolled onto his back and stared up at the beams criss-crossing the ceiling. ‘No.’ Even if he’d been able to find the words, he’d decided it was for both Daisy and Amelia to decide if they wanted to talk about it. ‘Honestly though, I’m going to do it whether they want me to or not.’
Tasha rolled towards him, her arm coming across his chest as she cuddled into his side. ‘I can’t imagine being put in such an awful position, but I suppose you have to do what you think is right.’
She understood, it seemed. ‘It’s the only way I can be sure that Keith goes down for what he’s done. The only way I can protect Amelia and Daisy and keep him out of their lives for at least a few years.’
Tasha rested her arms on his chest and looked up at him. ‘You can’t look after everybody, Rhys.’
Maybe not, but that wouldn’t stop him from damn well trying. Not when it came to his family. ‘What about you?’
