by Fay Keenan
‘When you say accommodation…?’
‘Yurts,’ Sophie replied. ‘A pair of them. One for you, and one for me. Have you ever glamped before?’
Alex looked quizzical. ‘Uh… what exactly is glamping?’
‘It’s camping, but not as you might know it. Tents, yes, but also proper beds, a fridge and probably several rugs. You’ll love it!’
‘Sounds like camping but without all the bits that make it camping,’ Alex observed. ‘But I’ll reserve judgement until we get there.’
‘Probably best!’ Sophie smiled. ‘And at least we’ll have somewhere comfortable to lay our heads after a hard day’s selling.’
‘Amen to that,’ Alex replied.
Sophie glanced at her watch. ‘Anyway, I’d best get back to the floor. Let me know if you’re definitely up for it, and I’ll confirm to Tom this afternoon.’
‘Will do,’ Alex replied. ‘I’ll see you in a little while.’
‘No rush,’ Sophie said, relieved to be able to make her excuses. The relationship with Alex was at such a delicate stage; they were colleagues, but now also slightly more than just friends, too. What would three nights at the Royal West Country Show bring for them?
19
Meredith was fine; so long as she didn’t think too much. She got up, made some time to read a chapter or two from a book on her summer reading list, checked to see if there were any new additions to the family museum and then headed off to a shift at The Cider Kitchen. Provided she didn’t let her thoughts wander, she was absolutely, unequivocally, totally, fine. She’d even volunteered to cover a shift at the Little Orchard Tea Shop, although the memory of all the times she’d spent with Flynn there had become a bit too much and she’d had to bow back out again, or her tears would have made Anna’s delectable sponge cakes the wrong kind of moist. She was prepared to admit to a moment of not-fineness at that point.
In her downtime, she stuck close to home, trying to be gentle with herself, not assuming that the heartbreak would go away overnight. It was the first time she’d had her heart broken; she was pretty sure it wouldn’t be the last. She’d found that taking Rosa, her pony, out for long hacks definitely helped, though. During university term time, she kept the pony in livery at a friend’s stable over in Lower Langford, a mile and a half from Little Somerby, but since she was back home for three months, she decided to move Rosa back home for the summer. Her father had tentatively suggested that perhaps the pony should be sold, now that Meredith was spending so much time away from home, but Meredith couldn’t bear to take that final step. Rosa had been with her since she was twelve, and she fully intended to keep her until the end of the pony’s days. Matthew had acquiesced with a resigned smile; the way Rosa was going, she’d be around until Meredith was at least thirty.
After tacking her up for an early ride one morning, Meredith was just hacking her gently across the cider farm’s land when she saw a figure striding across the orchard towards her. Halting Rosa, feeling slightly awkward, she slid down from the saddle and waited for the figure to draw closer. Remembering the tone of their previous encounter in the Royal Orchard, Meredith was torn between wanting to jump back on Rosa and ignore the person, or stand her ground and try to clear the air.
‘Hi,’ Meredith said guardedly, when Joe Flanagan was in speaking distance. Then, when he didn’t respond, ‘How’s the Royal Orchard going?’
‘Fine,’ Joe replied shortly.
Meredith felt a flare of irritation. ‘Just trying to be friendly,’ she said. ‘I thought, since our dads are still such good friends, we should perhaps try to be civil, too. Even if you did try to kill me with a tree branch.’
‘No, thanks,’ Joe said. ‘Excuse me, but I’ve got a job to get to.’ He went to walk past her, but Meredith had the strong will and even stronger sense of justice of her father, and she wasn’t going to let things lie.
‘Don’t you think you should tell me what I’ve done to upset you?’ Meredith asked, blocking his path. She had Rosa’s reins in one hand, and she wasn’t above turning the pony to block Joe further if need be. ‘I mean, you’ve been well off with me since that afternoon in the orchard.’
‘You really don’t take a hint, do you?’ Joe snapped. He went to get past her again, unfazed by both rider and pony, but Meredith blocked his path again. ‘I’ve got work to do.’
‘Oh, come on, Joe,’ Meredith replied. ‘This is getting really stupid now. Just tell me why you’re so pissy with me. From what I remember, I was never anything but polite to you when we saw each other.’
‘Yeah, it was all very polite, wasn’t it?’ Joe snapped. ‘You, your posh boyfriend and your posh mates, nice to our faces and then laughing at the scum from the local comprehensive school behind our backs.’
‘No!’ Meredith said, her own voice rising. ‘It was never like that. I had friends from your school, too.’
‘Oh, what, you mean those kids your dad invited to your birthday parties just because they were the kids of the people who worked for him? Don’t make me laugh.’
‘And what the hell would you know?’ Meredith snapped, feeling stung by the harsh tone of Joe’s voice. ‘You never spoke much to me anyway. What, was I too posh for you? Don’t you think that’s its own form of snobbery?’
‘You have no idea, do you?’ Joe stopped walking and tugged a stray dead leaf from one of the line of trees that ran parallel to where they were standing.
‘About what? Why don’t you just tell me instead of dropping all these stupid hints?’ Meredith grabbed Joe’s arm and forced him back round to look at her. She still had hold of Rosa’s reins in her other hand, but had to resist the urge to drop them and let the pony stand on Joe’s foot; he was being so vile to her.
‘Why don’t you ask your boyfriend?’ Joe snapped. ‘I’m sure he’s got plenty to say.’
Meredith’s eyes burned with sadness and hurt. ‘He’s not my boyfriend any more. We broke up.’
Joe stopped fiddling with the branch. ‘I wish I could say I’m sorry,’ he said, but his voice was a fraction softer. ‘But I’m not. He was a twat.’
‘What makes you say that? You didn’t know him.’
‘Oh, yeah?’ Joe turned back to Meredith and looked her straight in the eye. ‘Do you remember that time down the rugby club a few summers ago? You were there with him and all your friends, but you had to get home by ten o’clock or your dad would worry. Flynn walked you home. All very cosy. Until him and his mates came back. I’d been up there playing football with a couple of my friends and we were just about to head home. They cornered us. They were full of shit, thinking they owned the place. They kept asking us if we wanted to play them, but we knew they were just going to stitch us up. They thought they were so much better than us. In the end, we’d had enough, and when we walked away they jumped us.
‘My mate, Louis, had just got a new phone for his birthday – and he had it in his back pocket. His mum had saved up for months to buy it. Your boyfriend grabbed it off him and started chucking it around with his mates. One of them missed the catch and the phone hit the ground. The screen smashed. But that wasn’t enough for them. Flynn went over to the phone, and I thought he was going to pick it up and return it to Louis, but instead he just stood on it. They didn’t even bother picking it up, they just walked away. Probably wouldn’t even have thought about the cost of it – I guess you private school kids just ask Mummy and Daddy to buy new stuff any time something gets broken, but for Louis it was different. He was gutted, and he knew his mum would go crazy if she found out the phone had been broken.’
Joe paused, as if gauging Meredith’s reaction. ‘I shouted after Flynn as they all left, but all he did was turn round and laugh. If I hadn’t stopped him, Louis would have gone after him, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to stand up to Flynn and his mates. They were all top rugby players and a year older than us. We wouldn’t have stood a chance against them.’
Meredith shook her head. ‘You’re making it up. Flynn would
never do that.’
‘Why would I make it up?’ Joe asked flatly. ‘I don’t owe you anything. I just thought you should know that your boyfriend wasn’t the top bloke you seemed to think he was back then.’
‘He’s not my boyfriend any more,’ Meredith repeated. ‘We broke up at the start of the holidays.’
‘Well, if I gave a shit, I’d be glad,’ Joe replied. ‘Not that it’s anything to do with me.’
‘No. You’re right,’ Meredith snapped, hurt by the bitterness in Joe’s voice. ‘It’s got nothing to do with you. You might be working for my dad now, but that doesn’t mean you have to talk to me. So perhaps you’d better leave me alone from now on after all.’ Confused, head spinning, trying to process the information that Joe had given her, she turned away. How could Flynn have done that? He’d always come across as so caring, so lovely. She’d never seen him behave that way to anyone. But then it was a few years ago; they’d all been younger. Struggling to get her image of her now ex-boyfriend into some kind of shape, and having lost interest in a longer ride, she walked Rosa back to Cowslip Barn. Joe, of course, could be lying, but then why would he? What would he have to gain by it? And something about the way he’d spoken, the outrage and anger in his voice, made her instinctively know he’d been telling the truth. Confused and more heartbroken than ever, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had to make amends.
20
Later that day, over on the other side of the village, Anna had just cleared the last lunchtime table in the Little Orchard Tea Shop when Jonathan poked his head around the door. Back before he’d been reconciled with his brother, Matthew, Jonathan had been a regular fixture at the table in the bay window of the tea room, choosing to work there at his laptop, and Anna still thought of that table as his, even though he’d moved back into his old office on the cider farm these days. Anna’s husband, Matthew, was the major shareholder in Carter’s Cider, Jonathan having handed his own share of the business that he’d inherited from their father Jack’s estate to Matthew in return for the building, deeds and title to the flagship restaurant, The Cider Kitchen, in the spring of last year. Jonathan had then gifted the entirety of The Cider Kitchen, bricks, building and brand, to his now wife Caroline as a gesture of his love for her. The two of them had been running the restaurant ever since, although it was noted by the Carter’s Cider accountants that the crockery bills had increased exponentially since the pair had been working full-time together. Either Jonathan was very clumsy, or their rows had involved throwing dinner plates from time to time.
‘Hello, stranger!’ Anna called as she took the last of the dirty plates to the kitchen. ‘Long time, no see.’
‘Hi, darling,’ Jonathan called, settling himself at the table in the bay window. As Anna came back out from the kitchen, she noticed that her brother-in-law didn’t look his usually perky self, and that, far from being busy on his phone, he was just gazing out of the bay window, chin resting on his hand, as if he was mentally somewhere else entirely.
‘Everything OK?’ she asked.
Jonathan’s head jerked up, and, a beat too late, he turned on his usual smile. ‘Sorry, Anna, I was miles away.’
‘Anywhere interesting?’
Jonathan laughed. ‘Not really.’ His laugh stopped as soon as it started. ‘Look… have you got five minutes for a chat?’
Anna gestured to the now empty tea room. ‘I’m not exactly busy after the lunchtime rush, and my high tea regulars aren’t due in for another hour or so. Why don’t I grab us a couple of coffees and you can tell me what’s on your mind?’
‘Sounds like a good plan,’ Jonathan replied. As Anna walked over to the chrome coffee machine and prepared them a drink each, he began to talk. ‘I came to pick your brains.’
‘About?’
Jonathan sighed. ‘About Caroline.’
Anna was glad that the milk frother was quite loud; it gave her time to formulate a diplomatic response. Since Jonathan and Caroline had married, she’d found herself acting as an intermediary on a few occasions, and it was beginning to become a bit too regular for her liking. Marriage had been a challenge for them both, and at first Anna had put it down to the novelty of the situation, but she was beginning to concede that actually it was because the two of them were just plain set in their ways. She usually had an infinite well of patience, but she didn’t like being stuck in the middle.
‘What’s happened this time?’ she said when the milk was ready to pour.
‘Nothing, really,’ Jonathan sighed. ‘That’s kind of the problem.’
‘In what sense?’
‘Caroline’s been quite distant lately. Every time I try to get close to her, she backs off. I’m starting to think that maybe…’ He trailed off, clearly not wanting to put his fears into words. ‘Has she said anything to you?’ Jonathan asked as Anna placed a steaming hot latte in front of him on the table.
Anna shook her head. ‘Nope. Not a thing.’ She looked thoughtful. ‘Although you’re right, she has been a little bit elusive. She usually pops in to see Ellie after school at least once a week, but it’s been about three weeks since she’s been over. I did have a quick chat with her when she came in here the other day, but she didn’t stay too long.’
‘Well, there’s something up,’ Jonathan said. ‘I mean, it’s like we’re back where we were when we first met. And not in a good way. I feel like she’s closed off from me, and I haven’t got a clue why. Are you sure she’s not said anything to you?’
‘Honestly, Jonathan, I think you’re having this conversation with the wrong person,’ Anna said gently. ‘Don’t you think you should be talking to Caroline?’ She’d offered the same advice to both of them on a few occasions over the year they’d been married, but it obviously hadn’t sunk in yet.
‘You’re right, of course,’ Jonathan sighed. ‘The problem is, every time I try to do it, she makes up some excuse to talk about something else. She’s just so difficult to read sometimes. Even now I’m married to her, sometimes I feel I still don’t know her at all.’
‘You know the history,’ Anna said. ‘She struggles to trust anyone. And she’s spent so long being her own support, it’s likely she’s still adapting to having you in her corner.’
‘No.’ Jonathan shook his head vehemently. ‘A year ago I’d have bought that excuse. Six months ago I probably would have, too, but not now. She knows I’m completely crazy about her, and that I would go into battle for her over anything. Why won’t she just talk to me?’
‘You need to be saying this to her, not me,’ Anna said gently. ‘If being subtle hasn’t worked, then you need to be more direct. She’s complicated, Jonathan. You both are. If you think there’s something wrong, then there probably is.’
Jonathan shook his head. ‘I’d ask you to have a word, but I think that’s a bit of a cop out, isn’t it?’
Anna smiled. ‘Sorry. This is one conversation you need to have yourself.’
‘Why didn’t anyone warn me that marriage was so hard?’ Jonathan grumbled as he took another sip of his latte.
‘Would it have made any difference if we had?’ Anna said wryly.
‘Probably not. It’s just that you and Matthew make it look so easy.’
‘Oh, believe me, we have our moments,’ Anna replied. ‘But in the end, everyone’s marriage is a mystery to those on the outside. You just have to do the best you can, and love the best you can. And I know how much you love Caroline.’
‘I do,’ Jonathan said. ‘I really do. That’s what makes this whole thing so frustrating.’
‘Go and talk to her,’ Anna said. ‘Instead of sitting here in a tea shop, talking to me.’
‘OK, boss.’ Jonathan finished his coffee and stood up. ‘Thanks for the friendly ear.’
‘Any time,’ Anna replied, taking the coffee cups back to the counter. ‘Keep me posted.’
‘I will.’ And with that, Jonathan wandered back out of the tea shop.
Anna watched him leave and tried to pu
t aside the worry that he’d stirred up. She hoped that whatever was bugging Caroline so much, Caroline would see just how much Jonathan loved her, and that she would confide in him. Jonathan was worth the trust.
21
After a busy day, Sophie headed home. She was intending to go and visit Lily that evening, so she didn’t want to hang about at home too long. She needed to talk to her mother, too, who was determined to visit Lily. Sophie realised that having Jane back in Little Somerby might be the answer to the logistical problem of the Royal West Country Show. If she could convince her mother to come and stay for the duration of the show, Lily would have someone to keep an eye on her while Sophie was away. She hoped that her mother would go for it. Despite the fact that Jane Henderson had been widowed over a quarter of a century ago, she still adored her former mother-in-law, and was concerned about her since the fall. Dumping her handbag on the kitchen table, Sophie went to freshen up before heading out to the hospital, resolving to contact her mother when she got back. Just as she was pulling a brush through her hair, the doorbell chimed.
‘I’ll be down in a sec,’ she called through her open bedroom window. She couldn’t see who was there, as they’d obviously stepped into the shade of the porch, and they didn’t reply. Hoping whoever it was would be brief, Sophie hurried down to the door. Her heart sank as she opened it, and for the umpteenth time she wished she’d replaced the old, solid, windowless front door with something a little more transparent.
‘What do you want?’ Sophie asked as Mark Simpson took a step towards her.
‘To talk.’
‘You’ve got a bloody nerve coming here!’ Sophie went to close the door, but Mark put out a hand and prevented her.
‘Please, Soph, will you at least let me explain?’
‘Explain what?’ Sophie felt her temper flare, much as she tried not to let it. ‘How you and your bloody dog landed my grandmother in the hospital?’
