Midsummer's Magic

Chapter 6

Beth frowned and for a moment, felt her hackles rise, but she bit back the anger as the group around Ginny looked at her expectantly. 

"No, I just think life's too short for relationships. I'm just out for plenty of fun." She grinned at the group. 

With that, they all laughed and surrounded her. Introducing themselves, Beth thought to herself, there seems to be plenty of hot guys to choose from. She decided things were definitely looking up. 

She was engrossed in a conversation with a moderately handsome, blonde guy called Rory. He was telling her about the best local beaches to use if she wanted to stay away from 'emmits,' as he called the tourists, that she didn't hear the roar of Liam's jeep as it parked at the front of the house. The first she knew of his arrival was a high pitched squeal from Ginny. 

"Liam, you came!" she cried as she ran and leapt into his arms, almost bowling him over. She planted a noisy kiss on his lips, which brought a blush to his cheeks. He muttered, "Hi, Ginny. How are you?" He struggled to push her away to a safer distance. Beth's head had whipped around at the sound of the squeal to see what was going on, and felt a small tug in her stomach. She watched Ginny pour herself all over Liam. He caught her eye as he pushed Ginny away, and she quickly turned back around to continue her conversation with Rory. She could hear Bunny welcoming him and saying how pleased she was that he had come, telling Ginny to look after him. Beth didn't realise how much her mind had wandered until Rory put his hand on her arm. "Hey!" he said, "Is there anyone in there?" 

She shook her head and looked at him "Sorry. What did you say?" 

"I said, how about I show you that beach I was talking about sometime. There's usually a gang of us going if the weather is good." 

She smiled as her eyes appraised his slim, but muscular, body again. "That sounds like fun. Let me give you my number so that you can contact me with the details." 

"Great," he smiled back. "Do you want another drink?" 

"I'll get them," she said and started towards the bar, acutely aware that Liam was standing there, raising a bottle to his lips as Ginny fawned over him. 

"Come on, Liam, say hello to the gang. It won't hurt you to have some fun for once," Beth heard her say. Trying to pull him away from the bar, Liam said something low to Ginny that Beth didn't catch, but she did hear Ginny's sharp retort. 

"For gods' sake, Liam you have to snap out of this sometime you know. You can't bury yourself on the farm for ever. Get over it," she snapped and stalked back to her friends. 

Beth reached the bar just as Liam turned around to say something back to Ginny. She could see the look of pain in his eyes. Beth took a sharp intake of breath as that pain seemed to shoot through her. Seeing her staring at him with a look of anguish, his face suddenly closed off, and he turned back to the bar. 

What had happened to this seemingly strong man that could have hurt him so much, she thought to herself, but knowing how deep she buried her own secrets she wasn't about to pry into his. She would just be friendly, say hi, and get back to Rory with the drinks. 

Grabbing two bottles, she turned and nudged his arm. His taught body jumped as if he had been shot. His head whipped towards her, and his eyes bored into hers. Feeling that tug in her stomach again, she stuttered. "I um..." her voice trailed off. God, she thought, I'm acting like some stupid teen. She shook her head and tried again. 

"Hi, just thought I would say hello. Erm, Bunny invited me after we had a bit of a disagreement in the village shop today." 

His face relaxed a little, and he smiled sheepishly back. "Hallo, Beth. Sorry about that, my mind was somewhere else. So, it's not only me you have been upsetting then." 

Beth felt the colour rise in her cheeks again and decided attack was the best form of defence. "I don't usually make a habit of upsetting everyone I meet, you know. For gods' sake, I have only been here two days, and everyone seems to be of the opinion that I'm some bad tempered harpy who will scare the sheep." 

Liam started to laugh, which had a few heads turning in their direction as it wasn't something he did a lot of these days. When he had managed to control himself, he stared at her with those fathomless blue eyes twinkling. 

"Well, seeing as my farm is arable, and I don't have any sheep. I think I may be safe, but I will keep it in mind not to let you get anywhere near my horses," he chuckled again. She was just about to make a snippy retort when Rory called over to her, "Hey, Beth, where are those drinks? A man could die of thirst here." 

Liam noticed the look of annoyance on her face as she turned and walked back to the group. When Rory took the bottle and promptly put his arm around her waist, he felt that strange twist in his gut again. Feeling his mood drop once again and not really knowing why, he thought he would make his excuses and leave, but just as he was turning to leave Bunny grabbed him. "There you are, Liam. Now come along with me and say hello to everyone. You really mustn't keep hiding yourself away, you know." Reluctantly, he followed Bunny towards a group of her friends, some of whom he knew were other farmers in the area. Great, he thought, shop talk, just what I need to help me relax. He braced himself for the slaps on the back from the men and looks of sympathy from the women. In the background, he could hear loud roars of laughter from Ginny and her friends in the midst of a raucous drinking game. In the past, Liam would have been right in the middle of it. Ginny's comments came back to him again. So what if he was burying himself in the farm and work? Why should he enjoy his life when his family weren't there to enjoy it with him? With the familiar pangs of guilt turning the beer in his stomach to bile, he made his excuses to Bunny and left. 

Beth was in the middle of trying to negotiate her way around a pole in the field after another tequila slammer that the group had moved on to, when she spotted Liam striding off towards his jeep. His shoulders were hunched, and his hands in his jean pockets. Feeling a stab of disappointment that he was leaving, she stumbled back towards the group as they all screamed, "Come on, Beth, we're going to lose if you don't hurry up." She put on a burst of speed, weaved her way back to them, stumbled, and fell into Rory's arms, laughing. He promptly lifted her up and kissed her on the lips, swinging her round as they all cheered that their team had won. This is more like it, she thought. A few too many drinks, good company, and handsome hunk for a bit of fun, who needed the dark broody type? Oh no, not me she smiled to herself and grabbed Rory for another kiss.