Midsummer's Magic

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

Liam was in the yard with Joe trying to fix a baler when he heard the unmistakable sound of a range rover coming up the drive, he grimaced knowing only too well who was visiting. Losing his concentration, the spanner he was using slipped and rammed his thumb up against a sharp piece of metal. "Shit!" he exclaimed as blood poured from a gash and he sucked at it to ease the pain. Joe looked behind him then back to Liam. "You know why Bunny's here don't you Liam?" 

"Only too well Joe, I suppose I'll have to make an appearance at that bloody party tonight." 

The he heard her voice "Cooee Liam," she waved at him and strode over. "Liam my dear how are you?" She leaned forward to peck him on the cheek. 

"Hi Bunny I'm fine what can I do for you today? I'm rather in the middle of something, we have to get this baler fixed today." 

"Liam all work and no play as they say," at this she barked with laughter. "You will be coming tonight I hope? I don't want any excuses, Ginny gets back this afternoon and is dying to see you." 

Joe, who had his back to Bunny raised his eyebrows and smirked at Liam, who scowled back at him. 

"I will try and pop up for an hour or so Bunny, but I'm not making any promises you know how busy it is here." 

"Come on Liam we hardly ever see you these days and you have to relax some time you know." 

He nodded acceptance of the inevitable and hoped this would keep her happy for a few weeks, before she started badgering him again. The last thing he wanted to do was give Ginny the impression he had any interest in her, as she obviously wanted to get her hooks in him and that was not going to happen. 

Bunny smiled and turned back towards her range rover and then stopped abruptly. 

"By the way I hear you gave that new gal a piece of your mind over access to the bridle path, jolly good show Liam. We had a bit of a set to in the shop earlier, but it's all sorted now and I have extended the olive branch so to speak and invited her tonight as well." 

At this comment Liam's spanner slipped again and he grazed a knuckle this time "Shit!" he cried and pulled his hand out from the inside of the baler. 

"Are you alright Liam? You really should be more careful you know, anyway see you tonight toodle pip." With a wave she jumped into the range rover and roared back down the lane. 

Joe sniggered at Liam who scowled back at him. "Come on Joe let's get this bloody thing finished before it takes my arm off." 

They worked together for the rest of the afternoon, the quiet interspersed with expletives as the baler continued to bite back. Finally they got it running smoothly and both returned to the farmhouse to wash up. Liam glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall and saw that it was 7pm. "Jeez Joe why didn't you tell me how late it was? Get yourself home and ready for the party." 

"No problem Liam it doesn't take me long to get ready, I'll see you later then?" he raised an eyebrow at Liam. 

Liam sighed heavily "Yeah I'll put in appearance just to keep Bunny quiet, see you later Joe." 

The dogs reminded him they needed feeding and after a quick grapple with them on the kitchen floor he sorted out their bowls and then put the kettle on. 

He fixed a quick sandwich and a mug of tea and then headed upstairs to shower and change. Taking his time under the shower his mind went over the days work and what's left to do. Always something to keep him busy, he thought and turned off the shower and stepped out wrapping a towel round his waist. He had a quick shave then walked into the bedroom rubbing his hair dry with a towel. Feeling mildly refreshed from the days hard labour he grabbed clean jeans and a t-shirt, pulled on clean socks and then tied the laces on his timberlands.

Back in the kitchen he had another quick play with the dogs, telling them to behave while he was gone, then grabbed a leather jacket from the hall and headed out to his jeep. Jumping in he started it up and headed off down the drive and wondered again about Beth and whether she would be there. He smiled to himself again at the thought of her pert arse wiggling round the kitchen and felt a lot happier about heading off to Bunny's.