Trying Not To Love You

Part Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

A/N Ok so after the "extra" bonus chapter a few hours back, here is today's chapter. "It's getting hot in here!" Literally! Thanks ONCE again to Kaisha for the amazing new cover, she just manages to capture the essence of my stories in a perfect way! Hope you enjoy guys! :)

Sonny looked at the display on his phone; it was Jade, her third phone call of the day. He really regretted giving her his number, but not as much as he regretted dancing with her, or the pool games. She seemed to think that there was something tangible between them, and that was his fault. He normally selected things better, but in his hurry to push his feelings for Martha aside, he’d unearthed something dangerous with Jade.  Rolling his eyes he helped the chef put away the last of the order. Paul was in soon, he could finish in a couple of hours time and he had a date with a pint of beer in the Oak, that was his only priority...then he thought about Jade, and more importantly James who’d be there behind the bar watching his every move. And he didn’t need a confrontation with Jade, not now.

Sighing he picked up his phone and called Johnny, his only true ally in all this, he’d be up for a few drinks and some relaxation. Just what he needed.

“You loved the film?”

Ethan sat opposite her at a small table, outside the cinema blinking in the sunshine as he licked his ice-cream, He nodded enthusiastically, and Martha smiled in relief at Disney PIXAR, in the face of adversity they came good every time.

She was glad of the sunshine as the cut to her eyebrow had turned into a full on black eye. Not on a par with Sonny’s from the other week, but bruised and puffy nonetheless. She’d managed to escape that morning without seeing Sonny, he would still be angry she was sure, and she needed space, distance. She also didn’t want her father seeing her bruised eye, he’d blame himself, and that wasn’t his fault, none of this was really. It was her fault for succumbing to the apparent charms of Scott Oldbury in the first place, he’d marked her life in SO many ways since, but she could never wish she’d not dated him, without him she wouldn’t have Ethan, and he was her life, her everything.

                “Can we go to the fair?”

Earlier they’d passed a market, and there’d been a small carousel there, he’d skipped all the way to the cinema at the thought of a ride on it afterwards.

                “OK. We’ll walk through the park, and we’ll see if there are any swings free too.”

Smiling he skipped up the path ahead of her, and for a moment Martha wished time would stand still.

                “I’m worried Martha. That looks awful.”

Martha was touching up the makeup on her eye when her godmother walked in. She’d tried the old “caught it on a door” line when she’d arrived, but Stephanie was both wily and worldly, and very in tune with her goddaughter.

                “I’ll be fine, we’ve got our lodger living in, he’s more than a match for Scott. We’ll be fine, I promise.” As she said it, she realised she was speaking the truth, she knew that Sonny would look after her, her Dad and Lucy, but she couldn’t trust anyone with Ethan. He was too vulnerable, and she was too, when he was around. After the previous night, and with Michael offering no support, there was even less chance of Ethan coming back to the farm with her. And that broke her heart.

She was back at the farm by nine o’clock, exhausted. Martha hadn’t slept the previous night, her face had ached and she couldn’t get the images of Sonny and Scott fighting out of her head. Not that it had really been a fight, but the vision of Sonny booting the rather still body of Scott took her back to the night she’d left town, when she’d truly seen the truth about the man she’d planned to marry.