‘You don’t have to thank me. Enough people in this town see you as a cash cow, why should you pay for everything?’ She gave Flick a glare, obviously notimpressed with Flick inadvertently letting Luke pay for her gift shop, and Flick shifted uneasily. ‘And you’re leaving, the tree isn’t going to benefit you in any way. If they want to save the tree then they need to put their hands in their pockets.’
Luke was clearly surprised by this attitude. He cleared his throat. ‘I want to save the tree as much as anyone else. I’m happy to contribute.’
‘One pound, you’ll pay the same as everyone else,’ Ethel said.
Luke nodded. ‘OK.’
‘Right, I’ve got some calls to make,’ Ethel said, and walked off before they could say another word.
‘Well, it’s nice to see Ethel finally rally behind something, even if it is just the tree and not the studios itself,’ Flick said.
‘Who knew it would take a storm and the tree falling down to get her to do it.’
‘Now we just need to figure out what it will take to get Aidan on our side.’
‘That might take a small miracle,’ Luke said. ‘Fancy a walk?’
‘Yes, that would be lovely.’
He took her hand and they started walking along the clifftop coastal path that went straight past the house. The sky was already starting to turn a candyfloss pink painting the town below them in a rosy glow. It looked beautiful. Out in the bay, Flick could see dolphins playing and jumping through the waves. She wouldnever get tired of watching them or looking at that view.
They were quiet as they walked along and Flick couldn’t stop thinking about Ethel’s comment about everyone seeing Luke as a cash cow and her glare that inferred that Flick was clearly as bad as everyone else.
‘You’re thinking about what Ethel said, aren’t you?’
She smiled. ‘How did you know?’
‘I can feel it when you’re worried. You go all quiet and inside yourself.’
She loved that he knew her so well already. ‘A lot of people will assume I’m only with you for your money.’
‘I know. Natalia has already told me that you’re a gold digger and she heard you plotting to get my money.’
‘What?’ Flick was outraged.
‘Well, it was quite obvious she wasn’t going to politely take a step back when she has been so relentless in her pursuit of me. She was obviously going to try devious means to get me to dump you and go out with her instead.’
‘Why are you so blasé about this?’
‘I know it’s hurtful, but people will think what they want to think and there isn’t a lot we can do about that. Sadly, most people will see us together and assume the only reason you’re with me is because of my money rather than because of any of my qualities.’
Her heart broke for him. She could live with people thinking she was a gold digger, if that was what they wanted to believe. At least she knew the truth. But forLuke it was worse, another dent in his confidence. Because if they believed that, it meant they didn’t believe that Luke would be able to get a woman without his cash. And she wondered if that would make him start to believe that too and doubt what they had.
‘I’m not with you for your money.’
‘I know.’
‘I don’t know how to prove that to you but I’m not.’
‘I know.’
‘I mean, how could I have been plotting to get your money? I didn’t know you were rich. How would I have known? Millionaires normally live in fancy houses with swimming pools and flashy cars, you live in a tiny two-bedroom flat with my nan.’
‘I don’t need or want those things. Being rich means I can spend my days wood carving which I love instead of commuting to a job I hate, it means I never have to worry about paying a bill or where my next meal is coming from. That’s all I need to be content in my life. And I’m living with your nan because she needed the rent money and because she was lonely. We got on well, she makes the best chicken pie in the world, it seemed like the obvious solution.’
She smiled. ‘You moved in with my nan because of her chicken pie?’ There was something so sweet and endearing about that.
‘Have you tried her chicken pie?’
