She nodded curtly. “What did Miss Knight want? Have you finally hired a lawyer you think can defeat me?”
“I told you, Miss Knight is one of the church workers. She came to arrange the bonfire party for November fifth.” He tore his gaze from the dark eyes before they took him in and swallowed him whole.
A large crow perched on the gate post, cawing loudly. The hair on the back of his neck rose, and his whole body prickled. But this time out of fear, not for any imagined attraction he might have felt earlier. Tanis had always given him the creeps. Even as a little boy he’d tried to avoid her. Not that it was possible. She had this uncanny ability to know what he was thinking, sometimes almost before he did. Nothing got past her, and it was almost impossible to say no to her.
“Do you know anything about her?” Tanis asked, blowing smoke in his direction.
The less Tanis knew, the better. A desire to protect Meggie flooded him. He didn’t want another unexplainable accident on his conscience. There had been far too many of those...Paul lost an arm in a combine harvester accident. Rick got injured after a hay rake fell on him. And Roland just disappeared. No trace of him was ever found. Never mind the spate of animal mutilations.
Health and safety could find nothing wrong with the way Aaron ran things, but it was more than enough to make him uncomfortable. Especially as it was only people who crossed Tanis or those she didn’t like, who succumbed to accidents.
“I’ve only just met her. Jack sent her.”
“I think it’s a mistake letting the church up here.” Tanis grabbed his arm; her touch burned through his thick jacket, and sent a bolt of alarm through him.
He shook her off. “Yeah, well, it’s not up to you, is it?”
“Yet.”
“Until the end of the tax year in March, the farm is mine, and I’ll thank you to remember that. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a field to finish plowing and a farm to run.” He took several long strides.
“You’re wasting your time. I’m planning a dozen houses on that field alone, at least. If not more.” Her voice and footsteps followed him.
Aaron stopped dead and spun on his heel. “Like I said. The farm, and all its land, is mine until the end of March. Up until that date, I will run it as I normally do. Plowing, planting, and growing crops, along with milking the few cows we have.”
Tanis smirked. She dropped the cigarette butt at his feet and trod on it. “Sure thing, Aaron.”
Aaron followed her every move until the office door slammed behind her. Tanis oozed darkness and something almost evil. So different from Meggie. He may have just met her, but she radiated warmth and life.
He looked heavenward.
Where do I even begin to find the two hundred and fifty grand Tanis wants for the farm? A miracle would be nice about now. Might even go to church again if—
Don’t tempt God, Aaron. You never know if He’ll take the bait and call you on your promises.
Normally his father’s face frowned at him about now, but this time the face was framed by black bunches and had bright brown eyes and an adorable Welsh lilt.
2
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer; by night, and am not silent. Psalm 22:2
Meggie turned out of the gate and stopped the car in the lane. Her whole body shook, and she felt sick. Bile rose in her throat, and she staggered from the car just before her stomach rebelled. She heaved several times, losing her breakfast. She’d never felt anything like that before. As soon as Mrs. Field had touched her, a sense of overriding evil flooded her—terror such as she had never known before.
Terror she was well acquainted with. But this…this was different.
Her head pounded as she leaned against the side of the car, sucking in one deep breath after another. She clenched her fists to stop her hands from shaking and then wrapped her arms tightly around her stomach. She closed her eyes, praying hard. The overpowering need to get back to the church flooded through her. At least there, she’d be safe.
Safe?
Where had that thought come from? But yes,
safe
from Mrs. Field. Usually it was only men she feared. Men, who got too close in her personal space, or whose gaze lingered for more than a second or two. Aaron hadn’t. While she’d avoided his touch the first time he’d offered his hand, she’d let him help her out of the tractor before seeing her rather roughly into the car. She’d picked up the change in his stance as the woman had approached. His roughness and brusqueness all shouted
leave now
. Perhaps that was why she was sick. Maybe she’d just gotten a vibe from him.
Or was it something deeper and more sinister? Although, if so, it hadn’t come from being around Aaron. Only his stepmother.
Meggie got back in the car and restarted the engine. On the drive back into town, she forced her mind to concentrate on the tall, gruff farmer she’d met. She pictured Aaron in her mind. A hint of chest hair showed at top of his shirt which matched the blond spikes poking out from under his flat cap.
Pastor Jack had warned her that Aaron might be gruff, and he certainly had been, but there was something else going on under that tough exterior of his. Aside from the fact he was tall and… well, she couldn’t say handsome. At least, not in the traditional sense of the word. The scar over his right eye, the way his little finger on his right hand curved inwards and the faint white line on his left ring finger all added a layer to the man. As did the depth of worry that masked the beauty in his eyes. His voice was deep and, no doubt, he would have the most amazing singing tone. And he seemed more than a little distracted.
She’d have to ask Pastor Jack about him.
The fields gave way to built-up areas and she sighed. A country girl at heart, she could never let the city get under her skin the way her some of her brothers had. She shook her head as Aaron Field crept back in her mind.
OK, she could say he was handsome. Very handsome. He’d seemed a little interested in her, too. As if that was something new... There were hundreds of good looking blokes at uni who’d shown an interest…well, maybe not hundreds. Fifty…ten… one or two. And neither of them was right for various reasons.
I mean, look where it got you. And the one that was…
She shook her head.
‘Sides, this bloke couldn’t wait to get shot of you. He almost pushed you into the car in his eagerness to get you off his land.
Good looks alone did not a man make. Manners went a long way. As did faith. And Farmer Field didn’t appear to have either.
Lord, soften his heart, speak to him through the bonfire and bring him into a relationship with You.
And please, since I’m working with him, ease my fears. You know what happened that night. How scared I was, how he wouldn’t stop even though I asked him to. How I can’t let any man get close now, cept my brothers. Aaron wouldn’t hurt me, would he? It took so much courage to meet with him alone like that, yet it wasn’t him that scared me. And not being scared of him is down to You, because I still flinch when Pastor Jack is the only person in the room, and that’s silly.
She pulled into the church car park and carefully reversed into the only remaining space. She locked the door and headed into the church office. Once inside, she sank into the chair behind the desk and, propping her elbows on the edge, buried her head in her hands.
“Everything OK, Meggie?”
Pastor Jack’s voice made her jump, and she looked up to see him perch a hip on the desk next to her.
She nodded, trying to shove aside her instant reaction to move away as quickly as possible. “Yeah, I’m fine. I gave Mr. Field the papers.” The words tumbled from her lips in double quick time. “Saw the field he wants to use. It looks plenty big enough. Parking and catering look fine. He’s got a couple of felled trees we can use if needed, said he can get the farm hands to help build the fire on Friday and Saturday as well. He’s got tarps to put over it in case it rains and—”
“Slow down.” Pastor Jack’s hand covered hers for an instant before he pulled back. Like most pastors he was very careful to show concern, but not affection.
Meggie took a deep shuddering breath, trying to calm her shattered nerves. “Sorry…”
“It’s OK. Here, drink this.” He handed her the mug of tea.
“Thanks.” She cradled it tightly, relishing in the heat piercing her cold skin.
He got off the desk and pulled a chair across. He sat and crossed his legs. “Let’s start again, slowly this time.”
“Yeah,” she whispered, answering his original question. “I found the farm all right.”
“Good. So you think it’ll be fine?”
“Yeah. He’s picked out a good sized field for the fire and a large enough area to fence off for the fireworks. And he’ll cover it in case it rains. The fire, not the field.” She paused, taking a long drink of the tea. “He seemed really distracted. Sad almost. I must have caught him on a bad day.”
“Aaron’s had a rough time the past few years. His father had a heart attack just over three years ago, and by the time he was missed, he’d been dead several hours. Three months later, just before Christmas, Aaron’s wife died.”
Tears burned her eyes. “Oh…that’s sad.”
“It completely knocked him for six. He hasn’t been the same man since.” Pastor Jack took a deep breath. “Which I understand completely, having been widowed myself. He threw himself into the farm, stopped coming to church. I’m worried about him, which is why I asked to hire the farm for this. I’m hoping it’ll help bring him back.”
“Have you met his stepmother?”
“Just the once at his father’s funeral. She wasn’t around when I visited Aaron after his father’s death to make the arrangements.”
Just the thought of Tanis Field made her shiver. “I met her today. How did you find her?”
Pastor Jack raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not asking you to gossip about her, Pastor, I just wondered. Forget I said anything.” She sipped her tea then put the mug down as her head began to throb. Resting her elbows on the desk, she massaged her temples.
“Are you OK?”
“I’ve got a headache. Ever since the farm…well, meeting Mrs. Field actually. I don’t suppose you have any paracetamol or anything, do you?”
Pastor Jack nodded. “Yeah. I’ll get some.”
“Thanks.” Meggie didn’t move. Maybe if she just kept still for a while, the pain would go away. Why had she felt so ill at ease around that woman? Maybe it had just been the headache coming on. Surely, she was reading too much into this. Too many horror novels in her past or the wrong sort of films on the television perhaps, at least she hoped so.
****
Aaron headed into the small office to one side of the farmhouse. He could smell his stepmother before he saw her—the sickly scent of honeysuckle that she loved, mixed with the stench of tobacco. He sighed, wishing she’d stay in her part of the house. She sat at his desk, the mouse clicking away. Was nothing sacred? “Can I help you with anything, Tanis?”
“You changed your password.”
He dropped the file on the desk. “The key word there is
my. My
password for
my
computer.” He rounded the desk, his stomach plummeting as he saw the images of Meggie on the screen. “Where did you get those?”
“The CCTV feed I set up. Thought it might come in handy. I was wondering about our visitor.”
“My visitor,” he said protectively. “And like I already told you, I don’t know anything about her. Jack sent her.”
“You didn’t engage her in idle conversation? You look very friendly in these.” Tanis pointed to images of him holding Meggie’s hand, guiding her from the tractor.
“She almost fell, not that it’s any of your business.” He leaned over and closed all the windows. He could still feel Meggie on his fingers. He hadn’t been that close to a woman since Nancy died. Present company didn’t count.
“She must have told you her name.”
“Like I told you, her name is Miss Knight. Now if you don’t mind vacating my office, I have paperwork to do.” He gestured to the door.
Cold hands gripped his shoulders, although Tanis was still behind the desk. A spine-chilling numbness spread through him, freezing him to the spot.
She fixed cold, black eyes on him. He felt them boring through to his soul, and her voice echoed in his mind. “Her name, Aaron.”
An unpleasant sensation jarred him…as if she was searching for something, but that wasn’t possible.
“Tell me her name.” But her lips didn’t move. Her voice was in his head.
He couldn’t move, could hardly breathe. He fought not to give up the information she wanted.
The phone rang, and Aaron shook free, grateful for the release. He staggered to the desk, his movements slow as if walking through lime.
Tanis got to the handset first. “Hello?” She listened for a moment, her face contorting into what could be pain or anger, then she held the phone out. “It’s for you.”
Unable to give the snide retort he wanted, Aaron took the phone. What had just happened? Three deep breaths later, he fought to keep his voice calm. “Aaron Field.”
“Aaron, it’s Jack.” Pastor Jack’s voice washed over Aaron like a breath of fresh air. “How are you?”
“I—I’m fine…”
“You don’t sound it.”
He could feel Tanis’s eyes on him. “Let me call you back on the other line, Pastor Chambers. One minute.” He hung up and left the office, the cold rain dispersing the rest of the odd sensation. He took several deep breaths, wiped the sweat from his upper lip and then drew his phone from his pocket and dialed the manse.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Jack. Sorry about that.”
“Did I catch you at a bad time? The Pastor Chambers line kind of gave it away.” Concern filled his friend’s voice, far more than just the pastoral concern Jack was so good at.
Actually yes, there is no such thing as a good time here.
“Just a tad distracted, that’s all. I didn’t want to talk in front of Tanis.” He took a couple of steps across the farm yard.
“She doesn’t approve of the bonfire, I take it?”
“Nope. But it’s my land, so it’s tough. At least for the next few months.” He sucked in a deep breath. “Actually, Jack, thanks for calling. You did me a favour ringing when you did.”