Jack by the Hedge (Jack of All Trades Book 4) Read Free

lunchtime. She’d go to Greggs down the road for something, unless she could cadge a bite from Liz – and perhaps put some laundry in at the same time and get some clothes. And even have a shower there.
    It might be possible to move back in. In stages.
    Small stages. Or risk another almighty row with her sister, who could be worse than their mother. Not that she’d seen her mother for eighteen months. Lord God save her from those third degrees in the suburban semi.
    When do you stop being treated like a child?
    Carefully, she looked out of the window. Across the bowling green was the entrance of the park compound, now open. There was a man out there working on the broken wall. Damn. Not that he mattered, but she couldn’t simply come out of the pavilion, too likely she’d be seen by one of the park’s staff coming in to work. The way, she’d worked out, was to climb out through the back window, not the front door, too public, then duck down and sneak along the hedge and on to the drive. She’d have to wait until everyone was in. A little while yet. Oh, there was her sister. She pulled back in.
     
    Liz had crossed the main lawn and was nearing the bowling green, where the builder was knocking at the mortar between the bricks with a hammer and chisel. He was wearing a yellow hard hat and safety goggles.
    ‘Lovely morning,’ he called, raising his hat slightly.
    ‘Beautiful,’ said Liz. ‘We haven’t had a frost yet, though I like the sharpness.’ She looked over his work. ‘Are you going to put the old bricks back?’
    ‘I’ve been thinking about that,’ said Jack. ‘The bricks in the yard are the wrong colour.’
    ‘Most of those could be reused,’ she said, indicating the bricks he’d knocked out.
    Jack picked up a brick and shook his head. ‘It would take me ages to knock the mortar off all of them.’
    ‘But it would look so much better,’ she insisted.
    He nodded. ‘It would. But the manager wants…’
    ‘Knocking on the head,’ she interrupted with a laugh, ‘with that hammer.’
    Jack smiled. A long smile that faded into the intensity of his stare.
    She held the look, thinking: Oh. His eyes, the curl of hair sticking out of the helmet, his hands on the hammer and chisel. A hit out of nowhere. She wasn’t used to this. Not for a long time. Had Rose made her vulnerable?
    ‘Do you work here?’ he said at last, without looking away.
    ‘Yes,’ she was able to manage. ‘There.’ She pointed, her arm still able to move. ‘In the greenhouses.’
    Neither spoke for a few seconds, eyes liquid light. In slow motion, he put the hammer onto the top of the wall.
    She said hesitantly, ‘You can come over when I open up. No, come for a tea break. Ten thirty.’ She took a couple of steps away and gave him a shy wave. ‘I really must go, the manager gets shirty if anyone’s late.’
    ‘I’ve met the creep,’ he said, almost normally. ‘See you for tea.’
    She turned away, crossed the drive and went into the yard, her stomach swirling like a roll of tumbleweed.

Chapter 3
    The job was simple enough. Begin by separating the broken wall from the good wall and then, when the broken wall was isolated, knock it down and take it away. Then build a new section in the space. Easy enough in theory.
    But what bricks to use?
    The sun had come out again. Looking up at the skittering cloud, he guessed it would be going in and out all day. Sunshine always enlivened him. Fallen leaves drifted along the drive in the easy wind. Jack had rolled up his sleeves, warm enough with his steady chipping.
    A young woman suddenly appeared. Had she come out of the hedge? He dismissed the thought. He just hadn’t been looking. She was pretty, slim with blonde hair emboldened with red streaks. Tight jeans.
    All these distractions on a Monday morning.
    ‘Where did you come from?’ he called as she approached.
    ‘I’ve just been born,’ said Rose, giving him a broad smile. ‘Aged 30. Isn’t that clever of