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Mia would be getting an extension to her grounding.
    Another hour on and the earth was looking pretty good and fairly tilth-like, which was just as well because I had had enough for one day. I signalled to Charlie to turn off the motor when he got to the end of the far side and he gave me the thumbs-up.
    ‘Tea break,’ I yelled. Christine downed tools and Gemma emerged from the shed with a sullen Mia. I poured the dregs from the flasks and handed cups round.
    ‘Phew, this is hot work,’ said Charlie, peeling off his jacket. Underneath he was wearing a T-shirt, revealing a muscular chest, tanned arms and bulging biceps, one of which was adorned with a large tattoo of a dragon. There was an oestrogen-filled moment of gawping while we got an eyeful. All the man needed was a can of Diet Coke to complete the look.
    ‘Wow,’ whispered Mia in hallowed tones.
    Gemma and I exchanged looks.
    ’Nothing wrong with checking out the menu,’ murmured Gemma with a sly wink, ‘even if I am married. What about you?’
    She glanced at my left hand and I felt my face heat up.
    ‘Single.’ I said quietly. ‘And happy to stay that way,’ I added hurriedly as Gemma started to interrupt. ‘Anyway.’ I handed round the biscuits, smiling as Charlie took three. Time to change the subject. ‘Let’s talk tools. What, where and how much?’
    ‘If you’d got a shed,’ said Charlie, with a sidelong glance at Gemma, ‘I’d say spend as much as you can afford. But otherwise just get the basics.’
    ‘I’ve only got the basics,’ said Gemma, looking a bit pink. ‘Cheapo stuff. I borrow if I need anything special.’
    I’d seen Gemma’s selection of gardening tools, they looked brand new. ‘You must look after yours very well, Gemma, they’re spotless.’
    ‘Well, I—’
    A gravelly voice joined in the debate. ‘Look after your tools and they’ll look after you. That’s my motto.’ A silver-haired man with impressive ear-hair rocked backwards and forwards on his heels with his hands clasped behind his back on the path between my plot and the next. He was swiftly introduced as Alf and offered a biscuit.
    Roy snorted in his sleep and woke himself up. ‘Any chance of a drink?’
    ‘I think I’d have to disagree with you there, Alf,’ said Christine, yanking Roy to his feet roughly. ‘I’ve been looking after this tool for nearly forty years and I’m still waiting for my end of the bargain. Come on, you great lummox.’
    We watched Christine march a contrite Roy off towards the allotment gates. Charlie shook the drips from his cup and placed it back on the flask. ‘I’ll help you clean up and then I’ll make a move.’
    ‘Thanks again, Charlie,’ I said once we had scraped the worst of the mud off the rotavator and given it a wash. ‘If I can repay the favour, please let me know. As long as it doesn’t require any gardening skills.’
    ‘I’m sure I’ll think of something,’ he said, waggling his eyebrows and wiping the smile off my face. ‘I’ll return this for you, shall I? Bye then, ladies.’
    Gemma and I watched as Charlie manfully manhandled the rotavator back along the road towards the pavilion.
    ‘I’m sorry you heard all that, you know, earlier, about Mia’s dad,’ said Gemma, twisting her sleeve round and round her finger until it threatened to cut off her circulation. ‘It sounds much worse than it is and I want you to think well of me. I want us to be friends.’
    ‘So do I,’ I said, patting her arm and chuckling at the way her smile immediately sparkled to match the spider in her hair. And the weird thing was, I meant it.

Chapter 6
    My good intentions to heed Charlie’s advice and ‘keep on top of the weeds’ had gone out of the window and it was two weeks before I made it back to Ivy Lane. Not entirely my fault; apparently, although I was doing a job share, according to my head teacher I didn’t have to share the task of writing twenty-nine mid-year school reports, I could do them all