A Home On Bramble Hill. Holly Martin

to have some problems. Though I didn’t expect this,’ Casey said.

      ‘Are you saying that my landlord Joe kicked out some old lady from her home and I’m now being punished for it?’

      ‘Sums it up, yes.’ Casey eyed his brother suspiciously over her shoulder.

      Joy turned round to see what Zach was doing and regretted it immediately when she nearly clashed mouths with him. She shuffled away from him and he moved back as well.

      ‘Er… your cut to your shoulder is pretty deep and as it was a nail, I’d recommend getting a tetanus jab.’

      She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘And what the hell is this thing with Chloe about?’

      ‘She is an absolute fruit loop. I slept with her, three, four years ago, just one drunken night. She’s been like my stalker ever since. I’ve made it clear that it was a one night only thing, that I’m not interested, but she won’t listen. Sorry about that. I’ll talk to her.’

      ‘So… that’s your thing is it, sleeping with a different woman each week, not worrying about the broken hearts you leave behind?’

      ‘No.’

      ‘Yes,’ Casey said. ‘She summed you up pretty quickly.’

      ‘With a little help from you no doubt.’ Zach glared at his brother. ‘I’m looking for love, Joy. It’s just very hard to find. And when you know that the person you’re with is not the one you’re going to spend the rest of your life with, there’s no point in continuing with it is there?’

      His eyes were so honest and she suddenly felt like she’d found a kindred spirit. That’s what she had felt about all the places she had lived in over the last few years. She knew almost instantly that a place wasn’t going to be her home, so there seemed little point in sticking it out.

      She felt her frown soften slightly. ‘I suppose not.’

      She smirked when she heard Casey let out a sigh of exasperation behind her.

      ‘Listen both of you, get out. I need to think about how I’m going to persuade the village I’m really very lovely.’

      Zach stood and with the sexy smile fixed back on his face, he moved towards the door. ‘I’m already persuaded.’

      Casey rolled his eyes as he watched him go, then turned back to her. ‘You ok?’

      She nodded.

      He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. ‘I’ll probably see you tomorrow.’

      She smiled as she watched him go. Damn his sexual preference.

      *

      Finn was lying in bed when he heard Joy come upstairs and start to move about in her room. He switched the TV off and listened.

      The four houses in Blackberry Row used to be two larger houses and were converted into four smaller cottages, many years before. He shared floorboards with Joy. Zach shared them with Mr and Mrs Butterworth. The split had been done very successfully downstairs, so that you would never know that it once had been one large house. But up in the smaller back bedroom, they had either run out of time, money or patience and the dividing wall between his and Joy’s houses was so thin that he could hear everything. This hadn’t been a problem when Mrs Kemblewick lived there. Her bedroom, the one she shared with the previous owner of the house, was the front one, so Finn didn’t get to hear their sexual antics two or three times a week. But Joy, it seemed, preferred the amazing view that the back bedroom gave, which was the very reason he had chosen it to sleep in too.

      The wall was so thin, or built so badly, that he could even see a thin sliver of light underneath the skirting boards. He rolled over to his side to watch the shadows move around the room as she did, finding it oddly comforting to have her there.

      He heard her on the phone, putting the person she was calling on loud speaker as she no doubt got undressed.

      ‘Hello my lovely,’ said a man’s voice, which gave Finn an unexpected surge of jealousy.

      ‘Hey Al,’

      Alex. That was her brother.

      ‘How’s your first night going?’

      Finn heard the hesitation in her voice. She clearly wanted to tell Alex all about Chloe and the pond incident and the nasty man next door, but she didn’t.

      ‘Fine.’

      ‘Joy, I know that tone, what’s happened? Is it that moody sod that you spilt ice cream over, is he giving you grief?’

      Little did Alex know that the moody sod next door was the least of Joy’s worries.

      ‘No, well I don’t think I’m going to win him round with my famous apple pie, but … everything’s fine. I’ve met some other people, there’s Casey, he’s lovely. I may give him your number actually; you might be able to advise him on a few things.’

      ‘Oh yes?’

      ‘Well I’ll let him tell you all about it, it wouldn’t be fair for me to tell you. And I’ve met his brother Zach who lives the other side of me.’

      There was a pause from Alex and Finn could hear the laughter in his voice when he spoke.

      ‘And Zach, is he lovely too?’

      Joy laughed. ‘Yes he is, but by all accounts he’s a complete tart. Casey warned me off him, so I’m staying well clear. We can just be friends.’

      ‘Men and women can’t be friends.’

      Finn nodded in agreement. He certainly didn’t want to be friends with Joy, because then it would be friends who would hang out together, friends that would kiss, friends that would… No it would be better all round if he stayed as the moody sod next door.

      ‘Sure they can. You’ve got lots of women friends,’ Joy said.

      ‘That’s because I’m gay. That’s like being an honorary female. Besides they know they’re never going to get anywhere with me, so they don’t have to worry about impressing me or making me jealous, they can just be themselves. That’s the only time male/female friendships works. You can sort of be friends with the husband of a female friend, that’s ok as long as the female friend is laidback enough or comfortable enough in their relationship not to get all jealous and psycho every time the two of you speak. Other than that, being friends with a man doesn’t work, especially not when you’re both single and both attracted to each other.’

      ‘Well I’m going to prove you wrong. Absolutely nothing is going to happen between me and Zach.’

      ‘How much do you want to bet?’

      ‘A million pounds.’

      ‘Done.’

      Finn sat up. Bloody hell. Was she that rich that she could so easily bandy about that kind of money?

      ‘Anyway, I’m going to sleep now, that’s if I can shift Darcy off the bed, she’s slept all afternoon, lazy sod.’

      ‘Joy, are you sure you’re ok?’

      ‘I’m fine, everything’s okay. Goodnight. I love you.’

      ‘Love you too, kid.’

      There was a beep to indicate the call had finished and then there was a heavy sigh.

      ‘Yeah, everything’s fine Al, the moody sod next door hates me, the locals are going to run me out of the town with pitchforks and burning torches, I was pushed in a pond, had a fight with a barmaid and I’m now covered in so many cuts and bruises I look like I’ve had a run in with Mike Tyson. Yeah everything is absolutely fine.’ She sighed again. ‘Shift your arse Darcy, you big fatty.’

      There was the sound of the bed creaking, the light went out and then silence.

      Finn lay back on his pillow. She’d not